Far too many recording artists fail to deliver the goods when singing live; Rihanna is not one of them, as evidenced when she performed "Stay" on Saturday Night Live hosted by Anne Hathaway November 10.
The gorgeous ballad is from her November 19 full-length release 'Unapologetic', but this excellent live arrangement beats the album version: stripped down, slowed down, with Rihanna's vocals up front, not buried in the mix, it allows her to truly showcase her stunning voice.
The 'Diamonds' North America/UK/continental Europe tour kicks off March 8 in Buffalo, NY and wraps July 26 in Bergen, Norway.
Now if only she would permanently sever all ties with her abusive on-off boyfriend and focus on what she does best: singing.
It's been ten days since the murder of 21-year-old Jonas Thomsen Sekyere inside a Copenhagen, Denmark nightclub. His alleged killer is a fugitive at this point.[Note: August 2016 update at the end of this post.]
The funeral service will be held Wednesday November 28 at noon local time at Copenhagen's cathedral 'Vor Frue Kirke' in the city's historic Latin Quarter where Jonas spent much of his time: he was in law school at the University at the time of his death and a resident at the prestigious dormitory 'Regensen.' The public has been invited by the family to accompany the hearse to Jonas' final resting place a mile away at the 'Assistens' cemetery where world famous Danes Hans Christian Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard are buried. (Andersen's and Kierkegaard's funeral services were also held at 'Vor Frue Kirke', in 1875 and 1855, respectively.)
At age seven Jonas became a member of the renowned Copenhagen Boys Choir which often performs at the church where his funeral will be. The first video is a performance by the CBC, performing at 'Vor Frue Kirke' alongside a male choir; the piece is by Rachmaninoff.
The second video is the popular South London boys choir Libera performing "Time".
A personal note, July 2013:
On my annual summer visit to my original hometown of Copenhagen I visited Jonas' grave and left a single black velvet like flower from my parents' garden. My cousin who lives a stone's throw from the Assistens cemetery in the borough of Nørrebro accompanied me, and we spoke of Jonas and spent some time looking at the photos, poems, flowers and other gifts left by family, friends and people like myself who did not personally know this remarkable young man, but wish to pay tribute to him.
I've been a Southern California resident for a long time, but being a native Dane I naturally like to keep up with Danish news on a daily basis via the Internet.
Today, I was deeply affected when I learned that 21-year-old Jonas Thomsen Sekyere had died at the trauma center at Rigshospitalet [Copenhagen´s main hospital] on Saturday morning at 6:13 am local time [Friday 9:13 pm California time], less than two hours after he was stabbed in the chest inside a popular Vesterbro city borough nightclub. His killer is still at large.[see August 2016 update at the end of this post.]
I did not know Jonas personally, but upon seeing his photo online I immediately recalled his moving article published last year in Denmark's largest daily paper Politiken, a piece which earned him much praise and respect. It was a humble thank-you to the system that took him under its wing, and gave him a chance that he might otherwise not have had.
The son of a Ghanaian father and a Danish mother, Jonas was born in Denmark, was raised first by his mother in Copenhagen, then by foster parents in the city of Vordingborg [60 miles south of Copenhagen] from the age of ten through eighteen. He excelled in school, was in law school at the University of Copenhagen at the time of his death, spent summers volunteering at an orphanage in Ghana, wrote freelance articles and opinion pieces, and founded several Danish info websites for students.
Clearly a highly accomplished and intelligent young man, he was also blessed with extraordinary physical beauty. However, what ultimately struck me more than anything as I watched him speak was his passion for life, excitement about the future, and his utter lack of arrogance or cynicism.
I am posting this blog entry to honor Jonas who will be remembered long after the coward who snuffed out his brief but extraordinary life.
NOTE:
Non-Danish speakers who wish to read Jonas' opinion piece published in Politiken July 2, 2011 will find Google Translate useful. (computer generated translations unfortunately often contain numerous errors, but are better than nothing.)
Video 1:
Danish multi-instrumentalist/producer/DJ Anders Trentemøller's 'Miss You' never fails to move me; it seems a fitting track to post, and goes out to everyone, but especially to Jonas' family and friends in Denmark as well as outside Denmark.
Video 2:
A tribute song to Jonas by Danish duo marstal:lidell: Henrik Marstal and Anne Liddell; the latter was a friend of Jonas; they lived at the same Copenhagen dormitory, Regensen. The title translates to "In My Heart Is a Rhythm/Beat."
A personal note, July 2013:
on my annual summer visit to my original hometown of Copenhagen in July of 2013 I visited Jonas' grave and left a single black velvet like flower from my parents' garden. My cousin who lives a stone's throw from the Assistens cemetery accompanied me and we spoke of Jonas and spent some time looking at the photos, poems, flowers and other gifts left by family, friends and people like myself who did not personally know this remarkable young man, but wanted to pay tribute to him.
Alcoholic Faith Mission released their fourth album 'Ask Me This' almost a year ago and have just finished a long string of gigs in Europe and the U.S.
This year the Danish band released five very different videos to accompany tracks off the album. My two favorites:
'Throw Us to the Wolves' from October is the most recent one; it was directed by Mads Find and features contemporary Danish circus duo Tin Can Company.
'Ask Me This' from April was directed by Matthew Thompson & Oliver Hartman aka NYC based creative production company GuyManly and stars former Broadway and concert stage dancer Sharry Underwood.
Mumford & Sons' new video 'Lover of the Light' stars the very gifted British actor Idris Elba as a blind man; the rest is open to interpretation in this mesmerizing clip directed and co-written by Elba.
The London quartet has two shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Saturday November 10 and Monday November 12. They'll be touring the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe between November 21 and April 11, but will squeeze in four U.S. East Coast gigs in February.
Published since 2008, The Nightfly is a non-profit one-woman operation based out of Long Beach/Los Angeles, California. An eclectic virtual music magazine with readers in more than 100 countries, it features videos along with interviews, reviews, news and points of views.
