Sylvia's Journal

We cashed in on another Christmas present, this one from Tessa, and attended a concert of Chick Corea and Bela Fleck, two virtuoso musicians, one on the piano and the other on the banjo. They have been playing together for 10 years – though I only knew them as soloists. The concert was in Concord (NH) which required that I head up north with thousands of car commuters who work in Boston and live in New Hamsphire, exactly at 5 PM. First Axel got to commute at rush hour by public transport and now I got to check out the road system at the high point of rush hour.

Well prepared I had a good story on, the final moments of the threesome that gave us Wonder Woman, a wonderful book (The Secrete History of Wonder Woman) that brings three strands together: feminism, the birth control movement and the comic book industry. Enthralled by the story, the one hour and 45 minute commute to Tessa wasn’t so bad, though I wouldn’t want to do it daily.  I gather that would make one angry, as I watched driver behavior in stop-and-go traffic. I tried to keep a distance with the car in front and for that got the finger and much angry eye darts thrown at me, and a bit of road rage.

The concert hall in Concord is hidden behind a new and beautiful façade and entry way (pattern language at work!) but is itself old and funky. Decorated in faux Egyptian style (much teal, orange and ochre) is it enormous. Tessa brought down the average age by a tad, but I gather it was probably still around 60 – good whistlers and shouters (in a nice way) who know the repertoire of the two together and separate.

We were treated to a nice mix of old, new, classic and modern music, all complex as Bela reminded us. He didn’t need to. Unfortunately the front row seats Tessa got us where on the wrong side and we only got to see Bela’s back, and the back of the concert piano obscuring Chick. We didn’t get to see any of the fanciful finger work that both displayed – we could only hear it. Still, it was a phenomenal concert and I felt very lucky to have seen them live, playing together with so much joy.

The next morning I got up at 4:30, as I would have done in Manchester (MA) and throw myself into the morning commute from Concord to Boston. This time I was ahead of the rush and it took only one hour and 15 minutes. Bless my ordinary commute from Lobster Cove, a mere 40 minutes.