Thursday, November 28, 2019

Concert Review: The Vardaman Ensemble

The Vardaman Ensemble was the second band on the bill Saturday night at Kelly's Olympian.

The theme of multi-instrumentalism continued as one member alternated between French horn and theremin, and the keyboard player also played a small (maybe piccolo?) trumpet. There was also a guitar and drums.

(My pictures are terrible, but I saw some video from another source and everyone came out kind of green, so I don't think it was just me.)


The musical theme seemed to be more cacophony than anything else. It was interesting in how it could still effectively evoke different emotions; there was a subtle menace in the opening number.

However, for me the lack of melody meant that it was gone after I left. No passages came back to me. It was interesting to see, but I did not connect to it.

I must say, the show did not have a large audience, but for those who believe deeply in keeping Portland weird, they should have been here.

https://www.facebook.com/thevardamanensemble/

https://thevardamanensemble.bandcamp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkOmXetH15AQsNe3X79_i_A

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