MurphyStout goes to Montreal, Toronto and the Chris Langan weekend.
THE CAST
Me- do I need an introduction?
Azalin- or Guillaume if you think you can pronounce it. You cannot ask for a better travelling companion that Azalin (I won't say about him as a host but more on that later.) I don't think there is a nicer, friendlier, funnier, hairier person out there. But before I get sick complementing Az, I'll stop. Now if ever you're staying at az's when in Montreal, be prepared for the following: sleeping on the floor, Az checking you out in the morning when he is in a drunken fog, and there will be nothing in the fridge but juice and a GIANT jar of mayo.
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18561
StevieJ- You all know this guy, he's the guy that gets blamed for everyone's horrible ornamentation cause they didn't follow his instructions good enough on the website, the very same man indeed. Steve is a great whistle player and a very entertaining individual. I can't say enough good things about Steve.
Brad Hurley- I get tired of telling everybody how nice chiffers are and Brad is no exception. I just wish one of you guys would turn out to be an ass so I'd have some exciting gossip to spread. But alas, the truth of hte matter Brad is a great guy. Alot of fun in any setting whether it be on a train, in a session or just having dinner. And just let me mention his flute playing which is really top notch; lovely phrasing, rthyhm, and all the other naunces that go along with a good player. Brad is very friendly, approachable and very supportive. I won't comment on his passtimes though, for example, here's a pic of Brad playing with his... flute... um.. by himself... er.. in the bathroom. Ah hell, there's no nondirty way of saying that so just click on the picture and you'll see what I mean.
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18564
Moxy- I got a chance to meet this lovely young lady and spend a few good hours on the train getting to know one another. She is a great example of much progress you can make on the whistle when you've got good teachers around like Steve, Brad and Az. She sounds amazing for the small time she's been playing the whistle. Hehe, I won't mention the fact that she is often seen ah... rubbing "elbows" with big name players in itm, or at least that's what i hear
Thurlowe- I won't mention Cara's dissapointment when she found out that it was the Chris Langan weekend rather than a Chris Norman weekend. Aside from that Cara is quite simply another great chiffer. I didn't get that much time to hang out with her cause she was often off in some corner with Azalin but that's another story. She is a lovely flute player and i was blown away at her ease of picking up tunes.
NicoMoreno- I'm getting sick of telling all you guys how great these Canadians are but I cannot tell a lie. Nick is a great guy and i had the oppurtunity to share some tunes and try out a few flutes with him. I regret that i didn't get a chance to hear his pipes but maybe some other time. We didn't get to hang that much but I'm sure our paths will cross sometime in the future.
PaulReid- AGAIN, another very nice chiffer. I got the impression that Paul is very funny and a very nice man but I didn't see much of Paul cause he had his head hidden behind a camera the whole weekend. Hopefully we'll get a chance to meet up sometime again.
THE STORY
So my trip began in the cold powerless Sierra Nevadas. I was getting pounded with snow and the weather was quite poor so I decided I'd escape to seek out warmer places, Montreal! So I thru on my sandals, shorts and hawaiian t'shirt and headed off to the airport. So naturally at LAX, on the plane and at the Montreal airport all the Canadians were trying to inform me that I couldn't dress or go outside like that. And when I left the arrival area and went outside to look for Az (who was late) everybody in the damn place got quite and turned around to see my reactions. So for a gas, I went back inside and said in a loud voice, "This isn't Miami!" It got a few laughs but most of hte people there just though I was crazy. So when Az got there we hope on a bus and the metro and then walked to his place. It was one of those weird social experiments watching everyone's reaction when they saw me walking thru the freezing temps of Montreal in my beach outfit. Anyways, it was fun and here's a pic.
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18551
So we got to Guillaumes and immediatly we got on the phone with StevieJ and told him to come pick us up and drive us around the city. Steve was very nice to hang out with me cause he's extremely busy with his job and the "factory" at the moment so I really appreciated him coming to hang out with us. So Az, Steve, Joyce and I headed to a pub. When we got there my old vietnam war wound in my knee acted up so I had to sit out the ceili so BrotherSteve had to take my place with Joyce. The caller woman was very loud and she pointed and yelled alot at people messing up. It was in french so I didn't understand a word but I suppose it was better cause I got to make my up subtitles. Here's a pic of brother steve shaking a leg.
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18556
After the dancing got finished we got out our instruments and crashed the stage to play some tunes. Hehe, I was bit suprised at the various forms of music being played but we took over and got rid of all the Quebicoousiuseious players, and the scottish players so it ended up being basically an irish session. We had some tunes and it was great finally getting a chance to play a bit with Steve. We even got Joyce to dust off a few tunes and join us. Here's a pic with Me, Steve, Brad (a very nice fiddler from Montreal) and Az.
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18557
And in the spirit of the Milltown Malbay cabride, we all pilled in Steve's car for the ride home. Az, Joyce and Dave had some whiskey but fortunatly me and steve didn't as I only drink pepsi and Steve was driving.
I guess they don't have hte open container law up there
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18560
Me and Az ended the evening by terrorizing the chatroom under the penname "JackAz".
So the next day I got to sleep in and then I wondered around Montreal being the dumb American and then I got hungry so I decided I'd try some exotic Canadian cousine, Subway. Later that night, Steve, Az, Az's girlfriend, Joyce and I met up in a pub by the name of Hurley's. While this gathering was suppose to be an oppurtunity to hang out and socialize, it ended up being an inquisition. Steve, Joyce, and I felt the need to fill in Az's girl on Guillaumes dubious activities and shadey forms of employment. It was a blast and Az held up to the questioning well and suprisingly enough Az's girlfriend was still there when we were finished. We had quite a good time but it had to end so I said my goodbye's to steve (We'll meet again) and me and Az headed back to his place. Now the funny thing about Az is he pretends to be tired but then again he can't shut up so we ended up staying up too late both nights which had a negative effect on Az cause he is now and old man (almost 30). Incidentally Az cannont handle his liquir. So here's a pick of him so drunk he couldn't remember to talk off the other half of his jacket.
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18563
The next day we headed down to meet up with Brad and Moxy who we waiting for us at the train station.
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18565
As stated above they are both really great people so we had a pleasant 4 hour train ride getting to know each other, sharing recordings and lilting tunes. Azalin, being an old man, slept. So naturally the conversation was elevated to a normal level of intelligence with Azalin asleep.
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18558
Upon arrival in Toronto, we stopped by the place we were staying and headed off to the transac center were the Langan weekend was to be held. Of course we stopped off at the Future for some excellent dinner and PIE! Once at the Transac I got to meet Thurlowe, Nico and PaulReid. Before the concert we spent some time swapping flutes and chatting. The concert was good for the most part. I especially liked the tunes composed by Chris Langan that some of the musicians played. Also there was this great whistle player Cathline Conneely. I didn't care much for Harry Bradley's playing but I won't go into that. After the concert us chiffers headed upstairs to a room, turn off the lights and played some tunes for at least an hour or so. It was good fun and it was a pleasure playing with Brad, he really can play. Then Brad, Az and I headed into the bathroom for the tunes. Now before you call the health department let me explain the bathroom session. It is the venue of choice for the good players at the Langan weekend because the accoustics are so great and the session can only get so big. So yes, as Brad would say, at the Langan weekend you can spend the whole weekend int he batherroom and have a really great time! After that we all called it a night cause we had class in the morning. The 20 block walk home in the cold Toronto weather gave me a nice oppurtunity to try out my new terrorist mask.
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18553
I ended up ditching the Harry Bradley class and switch into Pat Gorman's class on Peter Horan. It was great. Then Moxy, Cara, Az and I sat in on the east clare workshop with Jocelyn Goerner. It was actually an east galway workshop so we learned a few wierd east galway tunes. Cara picked them up rather easily but I did not. Jocelyn BTW, is a very lovely flute player.
So after class, Brad, Az, a different Joyce from Montreal, Rose from Toronto, Charles (wolf?) from Toronto and I headed out for Sushi. It was great but unfortanalty I ate too much at lunch and was already full. The food was very good though and well worth the long walk and cold weather. After dinner me and Charles headed upstairs to the bathroom in the transac center (I'll explain later). We had some tunes and low and behold Brad Hurley comes in so we had a nice little three flute session (if that's legal?). A funny thing about the langan weekend is that the venue is so small that it feels like you're following people cause you run into the same musicians nomatter what room you go into. We had such a good time that we decided to blow off the Saturday night concert and we just stayed there playing tunes. Later on Brad pretended to be tired so our session broke up BUT miracoulsy we he saw Debbie Quigley, Benedict Koehler heading into the bathroom Brad suddenly wasn't tired anymore. A great session insued and I sat for about 2 hours listening to it. The music was top notch and I could really tell Brad was enjoying himself. But all things come to an end and musicians came and went so the session broke up LATE that night. Here's a pic of hte bathroom session.
http://www.solisstyle.com/ims/pic.php?u ... Ct&i=18566
The next morning we all gathered back at the Transac center to eat breakfast, say are goodbyes and have a few last tunes. So I said my goodbye's to all my chiffy friends and headed out to the airport. Originally Nico was going to drive me but I felt bad about dragging him away from the festivities so I ventured out on public transportation on my own. Naturally a series of unfortunate events followed and I missed my flight. But alls well that ends well I got the full search by homeland security and I caught the later flight and got a chance to watch some football games.
So in conclusion, I had a great time and thanks to everyone for being so nice and hospitible and hopefully I'll be back again someday.
Je M'en Chalice!
Jack
