Harmony Open Mic No. 2 was a quiet intimate evening hosted by Heather. First up were Di, Liz, Richard and Tony singing ‘Upalo’, a piece of ancient religious music from Georgia, thought to be amongst the first pieces of music ever written down.

 

Then the Oak Street Quartet (Carolyn, Liz, Cat and Tony) changed the mood with ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’, ‘California Dreaming’ (Mamas and Papas), and ‘Singing In The Rain’.

 

 

Liz and Helen sang a haunting song from the story of Cold Mountain, ‘That I Should Know Your Face’. (Luarilyn Dosset)

 

Harmony At t’ Mill (Joan, Katie, Di and Richard) followed with Pete Seger’s ‘’Oh Had I a Golden Thread’, then the Georgian ‘Shenka Venakhi’ about fragrant poplars – Di quoted from a poem by Alan Bennet which referred to these poplars as ‘the scent of spring’, They then donned straw hats for a rendition of ‘Harvest’

After the break, Cowgirls’ Revenge (Helen, Liz and Di, straw hats again) bemoaned having the ‘Blues for Company’ (from the Davies Sisters), tongue firmly in cheek, then sang Doc Watson’s ‘Southbound’.

 

 

Katie and Susan followed with three fabulous duets – ‘Koyahma Michka’ from Bulgaria, and two Romany Gypsy songs – ‘Jaori’ and ‘Tay May Mara’ (the spelling of all three is a phonetic guess, and the meaning is a mystery!) Beautifully blended voices.

 

Corista (Joan, Helen, Sekina, Debs, David, Alan and Leo) had the unenviable task of following that act, which they did admirably with the tragic ‘Onama’s Waltz’. They then sang ‘the Good friend’ as a round in three parts, and finally invited ex Corista members (Di, Richard, and Cat to join them for a fabulously full rendition of ‘Fenland’. (At this point there were ten people singing and sixteen listening!)

Altogether a most enjoyable evening with some great singing, a good range of musical styles, and some very welcome new acts!

Thanks to Liz for the words and Richard for the pictures.