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Buddy Guy in London

Buddy Guy once again! 🙂 This time in London! It is impossible to get tired of his shows! Buddy and his band always sound fantastic and they really love what they are doing, and the audience loves them back! The venue was filled with happiness, amazing music and smiles as usual.

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Spring in the city of music, Vienna!

Vienna in spring is something amazing, with all those flowers and trees blooming around!

Vienna is the city of music, music is literally in the air, many famous composers lived here, and nowadays you can find many concert halls, operettas, music museums everywhere in the city. One of the most famous musical genius of all time Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart spent his successful and creative years in Vienna. You can follow his footsteps, for example visit Schonbrunn Palace where he used to perform as a kid or the gothic St. Stephen’s Cathedral where he got married in 1782. Also it’s worth seeing the Mozarthaus, an impressive museum that includes Amadeus’ original apartment.

One of the most famous Mozart memorials is located in Burggarten.

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Vienna is also famous to be a point of Ludwig van Beethoven’s life for more than 35 years. Firstly he traveled to Vienna to study under Mozart. His house where he lived between 1804 and 1815 has a very spectacular view of the University and the Ringstrasse boulevard. There are also several monuments of Beethoven around the city, but in my opinion the most beautiful one is located on Beethovenplatz, opposite the Wiener Konzerthaus.

You can find monuments of other legendary composers in “Unsere Garten” in Vienna, this place really makes you feel the music vibes of the city.

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Johann Strauss
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Franz Schubert
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The colorful and unusual Hundertwasser House in Vienna is one of the main architectural highlights in Austria. The house was designed by Fredensreuch Hundertwasse between 1983 and 1985 and is known as an extraordinary building and a green oasis in the city with more than 200 trees on the balconies. I was so impressed by this building, it looks like a house from a fairytale where all dreams come true. “Art doesn’t reflect the visible, it makes it visible”. © Paul Klee. The Hunderwasser Village is located right opposite the Hunderwasserhaus and consists of a shopping center, a bar and a village square in the typical Hunderwasser style. This place is absolutely worth seeing.

If you want to visit some traditional Viennese places of interest you can’t miss Schonbrunn Palace, which was the former summer residence of the imperial family. This baroque complex contains a big beautiful park, the Palm House (which was opened in 1882), the Gloriette, a zoo and a Palace itself.

Another place which is impossible to miss while staying in Vienna is Stephansdom gothic cathedral and one of the tallest churches in the world which is located on the Stephansplatz (geographical centre of Vienna). Breathtaking view!

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The National History Museum

My next stop was Hofburg Palace which is the former imperial palace in the centre of Vienna. It was built in 13th century and expanded in the centuries. Until 1918, the Hofburg was the center of the gigantic Habsburg empire. And today, it is the official seat of the Austrian President.

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One of the most famous Vienna’s addresses is probably Berggasse 19 where Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis, lived for 47 years. The former apartment is now a museum, which shows the original furniture, selection of Freud’s private collection of antiques etc.

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Vienna is not only a cultural and historical centre but also a very cosy and beautiful city full of great monuments, universities and green parks.

You should also try some traditional Austrian dishes, which include Wiener Schnitzel, potato salad, Apfelstrudel, Sachertorte, different types of chocolate and coffee (Melange becomes my favorite drink even if I’m not a fan of coffee). Every dish that I tried looked and tasted really good.

And finally! I can’t miss vinyl shopping anywhere I’m travelling to! Vienna is a good place for music shopping, you can find many shops selling different kinds of old and new vinyls. My favorite shop is Scout Records which is located on Capistrangasse, 3, found there some great LPs of Eric Clapton, J.J. Cale and Jon Lord.

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Don Airey & Friends

Don Airey & Friends, what a great band! I was lucky to see them in Vienna for the second time, absolutely fantastic show, filled with so much energy and great music! If you have a chance to see their show, don’t miss it! Now I’m looking forward to their new album! 🙂
Many thanks to Don Airey, Carl Sentance, Laurence Cottle, Simon McBride, Jon Finnigan for the great show!
I was also photographing that concert, amazing experience!!

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“Meet me in Chicago where Buddy gotta play the Blues”

Buddy Guy plays at his Legends club in Chicago every January, Thursday-Sunday. I was lucky to see 8 his shows out of 16. Buddy is truly a Legend and amazing artist! He played more than 2 hours every night and seems that he wanted to play even longer. He sounds absolutely great and he always finds time to chat with the audience. He looks like he’s having a great time, and really enjoys what he’s doing. He smiles a lot, and the audience smiles back to him. Buddy’s band sounds fantastic too! It’s impossible to get tired of them, and even 8 shows weren’t enough for me!

Buddy also has some surprise guests who join him on stage. Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks joined Buddy for a great jam session.

And another blues Legend Bobby Rush, who just won Best Traditional Blues Album at the Grammys, joined Buddy on stage for 2 nights in a row. They performed a couple of songs together, both of them are great showmen!

A very talented young musician Quinn Sullivan usually joins his mentor Buddy Guy on stage at Legends during Buddy’s residency in January, this year wasn’t an exception!

I saw Buddy’s concerts before, but nothing can be compared with shows at his club. It’s his home and I felt like at home there. I hope he will continue his annual residency next year, I will be there for sure!

“Meet me in Chicago where Buddy gotta play the blues..”

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Toronzo Cannon’s Chicago way

Chicago Bluesman Toronzo Cannon is a very talented and charismatic guitarist, singer and songwriter. “He is trying to tell the truth every time he sings the blues” © I think this quote from Buddy Guy’s lyrics fully describes the way Toronzo writes his music. His songs are very personal, his life is an inspiration. I think this fact makes him such a unique artist and proves his connection with the audience. I’ve seen Toronzo just once, he was playing at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago, and I was impressed by his show so much. Toronzo and his band sound absolutely great!

Some more information about Toronzo and his band can be found here:

https://www.toronzocannon.com/

 

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Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials

If you have never heard of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, I would highly recommend to check them out! They are not only playing the blues but living the blues. Their live shows are full of energy, joy and electrifying sound. They are performing everywhere around the USA and worldwide, but I have seen them in their hometown Chicago at Buddy Guy’s Legends. It was a night full of smiles, great music and fun! I really hope to see them again!

Here is some more information about the band, upcoming tour dates, discography etc.: http://www.alligator.com/artists/lil-ed-and-the-blues-imperials/

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Sweet home Chicago

Chicago is the city of amazing music, great people, breathtaking views, beautiful museums, parks and delicious food. Even if it’s cold and foggy in January sometimes, you can still fully enjoy the city exploring its major touristic places or streets of neighborhoods. I think everyone can find something interesting in this Windy city.

Chicago was and still is a sweet home for blues, that’s why I spent most of the time listening to my favorite music, shooting concerts, and what is the most valuable for me, learning photography from the greatest photographer and the nicest person Paul Natkin who made this trip absolutely unforgettable.

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Now What?! Deep Purple!

I think my love for music started with Deep Purple, that’s why they are very special to me. Later I discovered many other musicians but DP still means so much to me!

I saw Deep Purple 3 times during their Now What?! tour: in London, Moscow and very nice Italian town Brescia. Despite the similar setlist, all shows were different from each other! Ian, Roger, Ian, Steve and Don were great as always! It’s so incredible to see 5 legendary musicians at one stage. All 3 shows were filled with happiness, smiling people on stage and everywhere around. The band played their amazing classics and new songs, the sound was absolutely fantastic during each song!

“Now What?!” album is dedicated to the “Uncommon Man”, the greatest Jon Lord, who is sorely missed and always remembered. His music inspired and will always inspire so many people! Thanks for that, Maestro! “But the Man is still alive.. It’s good to be king..”

I’m looking forward to Deep Purple new album “Infinite” which will be released on 7th April 2017 and their Long goodbye tour. Anyway I still hope it will not be a goodbye, and they continue making people around the world happy with their music and live shows!

Ian Paice: “The music is infinite. The music is immortal. It’s a document in the same way you could go to a museum and see something that was done 300 years ago. It’s there forever, that’s infinite.”

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Nazareth

The veteran Scottish rockers are back on stage with the new singer Carl Sentence (actually Nazareth introduced Carl to fans almost 2 years ago, time flies!!) I heard different opinions if the band should continue touring considering founding lead singer Dan McCafferty had to step down from the lineup due to health problems. But I think after having experienced Carl on stage with Nazareth nobody would have any doubts how great he is. In my opinion it was absolutely right decision to continue touring and recording new albums (hopefully!) even without Dan. They are keeping the great music alive and giving people an opportunity to hear it live! I’ve seen Nazareth twice and both shows were amazing, full of passion and energy!

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Land of Smiles

Thailand.. People call it Land of Smiles, which is absolutely true, but for me it’s also a Land of incredibly beautiful sunsets and sunrises, delicious food, crystal clear beaches, and air filled with fragrance of tropical flowers, sweet spices, sea water and something special that is difficult to explain. But this air blows my mind and makes me come back again! Thailand is a country of contrasts, some people love it, some people hate it. For me it’s the best place to escape from reality and kill the stress.