Allready a while ago, the 29th of September to be precise, I went to a concert by the Estonian singer/musician Maarja Nuut and musician Ruum at one of the last record/cd stores of Amsterdam called Concerto. This record store is still trying to survive not only by selling cd’s and records but also, among other things, by way of selling comics, organising concerts, selling coffee and cakes. It is a well-known recordstore in town and especially on saturdays it can become very crowded. I know how hard it is to survive in this business because I had a cd shop for twelve years myself together with my businesspartner. It was called ‘Le Disque d ‘Or’ and was located in the southern part of Amsterdam. For us the competition with the internet and big chains was just too much.
The concerts that are being held at Concerto are attended by a small but curious audience and it feels like you are attending a concert in a living room. You can get very close to the artists and the audience is really concentrated. They played a set of about five or six songs but this was enough to get a good idea of the music they are making together.
It is not easy to describe the music Maarja and Ruum were performing. I tried to translate one of the songs because I don’t understand any Estonian and found out that the lyrics are very poetic. The music is made by a combination of acoustic ( Maarja is playing the violin) and electronic instruments and ofcourse Maarja’s singing. The songs are being build up in very clever way. Maarja is using loops both when she is singing and when she is playing the violin. But maybe you should check out her website and watch a clip of the concert I made and see for yourself.
Maarja has toured the USA, Canada and Europe but she and Ruum are now touring Europe. In December they will give concerts in different places in Germany. They will even give a concert on the 13th of December at the Elb Philharmonie in Hamburg, a classical concert hall that just opened its doors a couple of years ago and is allready renowned for its architecture and acoustics. On Maarja’s website you can find the dates as well as a recommendation by Simon le Bon of Duran Duran.
I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do!
Amsterdam, the 26th of November 2018.
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