Thursday and Friday’s very different concerts by Jeffery Straker, in aid of Niños Incapacitados, were enormous fun and extremely well received. Audiences were even persuaded to join in, clapping in time and copying various sounds sung by Straker, which they did with gusto at Ajijic’s Auditorio de la Ribera.
On Thursday afternoon, I sat in on a rehearsal for Friday’s concert, “Niños para Niños,” featuring young students of the Centro Regional de Estudios Musicales (CREM) conducted by Director Emmanuel Medeles, accompanying Straker on piano.
CREM’s Orquesta Infantil rehearsed three Straker compositions: “Birchbark Canoe,” “Fall From Grace” and “Oh God, I’m Cinderella,” followed by “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” sung by the CREM Coro Infantil. It was great to see the children really engrossed, producing such beautiful music with obvious enjoyment.
Parents report that their youngsters were thrilled to be performing with Straker and playing pop music for the first time. Apparently careful selection of rehearsal clothes suddenly became crucial, as did practicing their music at home!
Straker is a unique combination of pianist, pop-folk singer, songwriter and showman. Bubbly and friendly, he was equally at ease talking to the crowd from the stage, or during intermission when he came out to meet members of his audience.
Thursday’s “Simply Spectacular” concert was an intimate evening with Straker at the piano accompanied by Brodie Mohninger, the remarkably talented guitarist who tours with Jeffery and works on his albums. Nobody would have guessed from Mohninger’s exceptional performance just how ill this guitar wizard felt, cursed by “Montezuma’s Revenge.”
Introducing “Luck Ain’t Chasing Me” from his fifth album “North Star” (to be released March 10), Straker explained that he wrote it when he was feeling really sorry for himself after a burglary. All his electronics, including a laptop containing 60 new songs and both backups, were stolen so he had to start over from scratch.
His perceptive lyrics are thought provoking and profound. Ever the storyteller, his songs are interspersed with anecdotes about people he’s met, such as |The Wonderful Mrs. Bell” whom he knew when growing up in Punnichy, Saskatchewan - population 300 - or reflect his own experiences. “Birchbark Canoe,” with its strong, haunting melody, was inspired by his impulse purchase of a huge paddle that, he said, would have been really useful if he only had a canoe.
Straker was a top-ten finalist in the Canadian Radiostar Songwriting Competition, top 20 finalist in the Unisong International Songwriting Contest and twice top-ten placed in the prestigious Mountain Stage Newsong contest. In 2014 he won the trophy for best international song at Chile’s Viña del Mar Song Festival and now has a huge following in South America too.
Classically trained and a graduate of Trinity College of Music, England, Straker’s piano playing is superb. With his beautiful melodies and that distinctive voice, with its surprising range and signature high notes, the combination is irresistible.
At both concerts his expertly crafted songs represent many musical genres, from the vibrantly upbeat “Like it’s the Last One,” and “Friday Night Moves” with its wonderful rolling bass – allegedly written about his great grandmother, to the bluesy “Sad Song” or tangoed nuances of “The Storm,” with its idiosyncratic coffee percolator lyrics.
Straker reprised his magnificent interpretation of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” from November’s sellout concert, “UnCovered: Billy Joel & Elton John” at Toronto’s Koerner Hall, and his powerful version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” with Mohninger’s emotionally-charged guitar solo, brought the house down. He closed with one of his early songs, “Walk Away,” a lively, toe-tapping number with a country flavor.
Over all too soon, Straker thanked everyone, particularly organizers Carol Antcliffe of Niños Incapacitados, and MaryEllen Rushworth who suggested inviting him to Ajijic and made it happen. The cheering audience clearly loved him. Jeffery Straker will be welcome back any time, the sooner the better!