Today we’ve seen the abovementioned work perfomed by Bernd Gnann and Hans Rüdiger Kucich. Frankly, it was a great joy and pleasure. After the show, the performers asked to advertize it as there are still places available. My recommendation: do not miss this show. Grab a ticket for one of the remaining shows till sunday.

Diese Hochrippe wird es, nachdem beide Seiten die Pfanne kurz gesehen haben, eine Stunde lang im Ofen bei 50°C schön kuschelig warm haben, bevor abschließend nochmal fünf Minuten lang bei 100°C nachgeholfen wird.

Ich bin gespannt, wie das schmeckt. Bei Schwein und Lamm bin ich ein großer Freund des Niedrigtemperaturgarens, beim Rind bisher nicht. Vielleicht ändert sich das heute – schleck :) .

Though I do not want to complain about the weather this year, it often is accompanied by some light wind of about 15 kilometers per hour. Today it got even worse. Some heavy weather was brewing near Wissembourg. Heck, cyclists who rode the opposit direction had better luck :) .

I needed more then three hours for the 40 kilometers, including a short delay at the ferry in Neuburgweier and a short rest. Once again I visited my favourite restaurant to try some local alsacien food. That’s Pressé de joues de bœf avec vinaigrette de raifort et crudités (brawn of cow, horseradish, and raw food).

There was nothing to map for openstreetmap, as I did this already in the last four years. I found some new streets under construction in Wissembourg, but there was no access. Obviously I need to drop by again in the near future :) .

»Return to Forever« probably is the most famous fusion band this planet has ever seen. I remember the days of my youth when I programmed my Waldorf Microwave synthesizer to get some Corea-like sounds and playing along their recordings.

Fortunately there was a reunion tour in 2008 where I’ve seen them performing live at Gruga-Halle in Essen. The 2008 lineup consited of Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola and Lenny White.

Meola obviously left the band and was replaced by Frank Gambale. Additionally, Jean-Luc Ponty joined the group.

Corea on the left hand side was almost invisible (though not inaudible), hidden behind his Yamaha Motif and Moog synthesizers. Ponty was also almost invisible, as the tall Clarke at the center of the stage just dominated everything :) . Gambale followed right of Clarke, and White’s drums have been placed on the right hand side of the stage, opposite of Corea’s keyboard towers.

BTW: Hey, Lenny, I already knew your boy-group joke. Time to invent a new one, just to avoid boredom of your colleagues ;-) .

Ponty and Gambale both fit the band perfectly, and the mixture of playing old tunes combined with some improvisation and soloing was just right.

Though Corea might be the musical director behind the scenes, Clarke was the master this evening, dominating the show with several solos. Stanley’s capabilities on the bass are simply incredible. And he’s fast. Really fast. Have you ever heard a bass sounding like a machine gun, and have you ever heard a speed race between a bass and a violin player?!?

At the end of the show, there was one bonus set, and they turned the volume up completely. Again it was Clarke who controlled everything – the guy behind the mixing console, his co-musicians, and the audience.

This band is a must-see for every musician. It’s not enough to listen to their recordings. You must see them performing live. Thanks a bunch for the nice evening. This was the most enjoyable concert of my life – til today, at least :) .

Just as yesterday, I grabbed the occasion for a black forest trip. Again I wanted to test the via points for routes I recently hacked for MoNav. I was creating the route while using the public transport to Baiersbronn, giving MoNav a couple of points I wanted to pass. With this new feature, MoNav more and more becomes the perfect companion for osm-addicted cyclists.

The tour led me from Baiersbronn via Obertal, the Ruhestein, the Bosenstein and Ottenhöfen to Achern, where I took the train back to Karlsruhe. MoNav was able to create an almost perfect route, thanks to the via points and the data of openstreetmap:

Though the trees have still less leaves as in the Rhine valley, it’s not that the black forest still is in hibernation:

It’s april 10th, and I’ve already been to Wissembourg, Rote Lache and Ruhestein. It seems I need to find some new destinations this year to avoid boredom :) .

The party itself was held outdoors, thanks to the excellent weather conditions.

BTW: If you ever get a chance to play with GeoMag, then grab it. Even if you’re not a chemist:

GeoMag

Today I visited my favourite weekend destination, Wissembourg, France, using the great cross-border map I just created a couple of days before. A great day to enjoy alsacien food as a reward:

Like last year, Lyambiko once again was on stage at the Tollhaus. The musicians were the same as last year, as was the acoustical sound. Frankly, I’d enjoy some electric bass, guitar or keyboard sound every now and then, so it’s not exactly the music I’d listen to at home. But the live experience was just marvellous.

Thanks guys and girl :) .

Aeolus did all friends of white Xmas a favour and brought fresh snow right at christmas eve. Many streets (except for motorways) have not been salted by the winter service and are still covered by snow and ice, so the trips to visit family members and friends have been demanding.

Thanks to the early snow, the black forest had open during the holidays and allowed for all kinds of winter sport activities.

According to the forecast, the snow will probably melt the upcoming weekend, at least in the lower regions. I’m curious what weather conditions the rest of this winter will bring.

That’s two stère of firewood in the cellar, ready to aliment the tile stove:

Should be sufficient for the rest of the cold and dark winter months :) .

After Lee Ritenour the next master did me a favour and came close enough to make me spend some money. His works do not exactly fit my taste, so I mainly know his most popular works. He has always been a very progressive musician (remember »Future Shock«?) and he played with some of my favorite artists like Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea. Baden-Baden is just about 40km south, and as the synth addict and fusion enthusiast I am, attending the concert was a must.

The lineup consisted of Herbie Hancock (grand piano, Korg Oasys), Kristina Train (vocals, violin), James Genus (bass), Trevor Lawrence (drums), Lionel Loueke (guitar) and Greg Phillinganes (Korg Oasys, Korg Triton, vocals). His current project is called »The Imagine Project«, but of course he could not resist to play some of the hits (like Cantaloupe Island) that made him popular. The way he puts different influences and styles together is pretty interesting. Plus it is a great joy to see how he treats the piano and his synthesizers. He also used a Roland AX-Synth twice, really excessively during the last tune.

A great concert indeed. There are some further tour dates nearby during the next couple of days, so don’t miss your chance.