There’s a lot of music magazines around with a wide range of styles, objectives and audiences. But there is only one Syncopation Journal: an online platform dedicated to texts about music. We’re not talking about the industry’s press releases or the pseudo-intellectual drivel in music journals. We’re talking about – no need to be afraidContinue reading “Writing about Music”
Category Archives: music
Beautiful Mandolins
Mandolins are not only fun to play; many are real beauties as you can see here. They form an extensive family of instruments with members in places like Italy, Brazil, India, Greece, the Balkans, the British Isles, the USA and others. They exist in a vast number of shapes, sizes and tunings from the piccolo mandolin’s c’Continue reading “Beautiful Mandolins”
Spanish Jazz & Signs in Spain
Jazzándaluz is an offspring of the International Festival of Music, Theatre and Dance of Priego de Córdoba, which has been around for more than 75 years. It is an event where the best musicians and bands of Spain get together. The organizers call it a “commitment to quality culture made in our country”. Since 2019Continue reading “Spanish Jazz & Signs in Spain”
Wirklich unwirklich
Am 10.10. wurde die Nummer 93 der niederösterreichischen Kulturzeitschrift etcetera, die von der Literarischen Gesellschaft St. Pölten herausgegeben wird, im Stadtmuseum vorgestellt. Beppo Beyerl (oben links) las seine Dokumentation einer Hexenverbrennung, und Christian Orou trug eine skurrile Fantasystory von Thomas Gobbele sowie aphoristische Prosa von Jutta Treiber vor. Eva Riebler präsentierte die bildnerischen Arbeiten JohannesContinue reading “Wirklich unwirklich”
Die Zeit
Peter Hömseder ist Lehrer an der Blankenstein-Grundschule in Steinheim an der Murr in Baden-Württemberg. Außerdem komponiert, arrangiert und singt er und zeigt Kindern, wieviel Spaß und Freude Musik machen kann. Nun hat er mit jungen Musikanten eine wunderschöne Fassung seines Liedes Die Zeit aufgenommen, zu dem Gerald Jatzek den Text beigesteuert hat. Es ist fraglosContinue reading “Die Zeit”
Music is your only Friend
What shall be our legacy? That was the question behind Puskás Pálma’s call for works on the subject of time capsule. Participants were invited to create a postcard which tells future generations what we enjoy the most in our lives. The results can be found as an online exhibition on the mailasmile.org. If there willContinue reading “Music is your only Friend”
Bella Ciao!
There are two Italian songs that everybody knows: O Sole Mio and Bella Ciao, the latter being an anthem of resistance against Italian fascism and German nazism. This makes it a fitting title for a cultural program around the festa della liberazione, the anniversary of Italy’s liberation on 25 April 1945. This year, the city of Stradella, which liesContinue reading “Bella Ciao!”
Griechischer Abend
Einen griechischen Abend mit Gerald Jatzek und Reinhard Wegerth gab es am 25. Februar im Salon von Gabriela Habenschuss in Laxenburg. Wegerth las Geschichten über das Griechenland von gestern und heute aus dem Band Fast unglaublich (Sisyphus Verlag). Das Leben unter der Militärdiktatur (1967-1974) hat in Texten ebenso Platz wie kulturelle Missverständnisse zwischen Einheimischen undContinue reading “Griechischer Abend”
“Music is your special friend…”
…sang Jim Morrison in 1967. And while the music is over for the legendary frontman of the Doors, the sentence still holds true for many people. What this friend can do for you, is the theme of an anthology, edited by the US-based author Steve Carr. From heartbeat to drumbeat, from birdsong to crooners fromContinue reading ““Music is your special friend…””
Yesterday’s News
Sometimes yesterday’s news can be quite exciting. While searching for children’s songs I stumbled over the recordings of an excellent choir from Germany. I checked their playlist – and found one of my poems that has been set to music by the composer Claudia Nicolai. Of course, I knew the song. But I had neverContinue reading “Yesterday’s News”
Music in Agia Galini
Οnce again in Agia Galini, Crete, the place where you may achieve a state of tranquility (γαλήνη). That doesn’t necessarily mean you stay silent all the time. Gerald played the guitar and the piccolo mandolin at Zorbas Cafe And Wine Bar. Why this really tiny mandolin? Because airlines nowadays tend to charge a fortune forContinue reading “Music in Agia Galini”
Joint Efforts
On July 18, 2021 Gerald and Gabriele were invited for a concert & poetry reading to the Halme Hof in Rohrendorf. Gerald played a mix of his own songs and international tunes in different languages. Gabriele entertained with her stories about ordinary people — which sometimes tend to be the strangest folks you can imagine.
Being Illegal
On Refugee Day we want to tell you a story in form of a song. On 27 August 2015 Austrian police discovered a truck along the A4 highway in Austria and found 71 deceased illegal migrants, including eight children. All persons had suffocated within hours of boarding. There were no survivors. Years before, Gerald had writtenContinue reading “Being Illegal”
mail your art 