Theo Bleckmann: Origami

Let me begin this review by telling you the circumstances in which I had the opportunity to see Theo Bleckmann in concert. I've always had a lot of luck winning contests, and in this case, me and my girlfriend found ourselves in New York City because of a contest that I won in Las Vegas last year. I won a trip to New York, to see The Blue Man Group show.

Due to a crazy sequence of events (involving Greek Sangria at Niko's Greek Restaurant on Broadway), we ended up arriving ten minutes late to the Blue Man Group show. They informed us that they had sold our tickets, but that they would give us tickets to the ten o'clock show. We needed to find something to do for the next 3 hours or so, and I thought it would be cool to find a local bar (keep the party going'know what I mean?). Across the street, I saw the words Joe's Pub on an awning... 'I said to my girlfriend, 'come on my dear, I''ll show you my pub!'

Now, when I think of a pub, I think of a local British bar that specializes in beer, ale, and hopefully fish & chips, that type of thing. It turns out that in the case of Joe's Pub, Pub is short for Public Theater. We went inside, and they told us there was a show that evening, and there were still tickets available. We were just about the first people to arrive, so we got our choice of the best seats in the house. We ordered a couple of Cosmopolitans, and some appetizers, and we watched the audience slowly file in. We found it kind of funny, because they let us have our choice of seats, but all the seats around us were reserved for V.I.P.'s.

The audience quieted down when Theo Bleckmann arrived onstage'that also was kind of weird (we're used to L.A. audiences, who talk through the majority of the show, no matter who's performing). I could tell by the ambience that they saw Mr. Bleckmann as a very serious and talented artist. He began to sing'the song didn't have any words, just tones. A sort of playing of pretty sounds with the voice, I''d say', using the voice much more like a wind instrument than as a way of getting across words. Without a doubt'—modern jazz! The majority of the songs didn't have lyrics, rather a sequence of 'scatting' melodies.

He sang one song in French, and one in German. The only song that he sang in English was the classing 'I Remember You' (Chet Baker's version is one of my favorite recordings of all time). Mr. Bleckmann had a funny interpretation of the song, though'he would stop in the middle of a phrase, and repeat a small section over and over again, like a broken record! It was cool—'it sounded exactly like a skipping CD, but it was definitely not what I expected.

All in all, I thought it was a great show, and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to see this amazing performer. I recommend his music to anyone interested in hearing something new & different, very jazzy! Joe's Pub is located at 425 Lafayette Street, New York City.

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