NAMM 2020 – Part Two

Music is everywhere at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show. Most of it is made by random musicians trying out pianos, guitars, drums and every other instrument imaginable. There are, however, concerts scheduled morning until night both in the huge buildings and also on the outdoor mall areas. There are so many concerts available to choose from that it’s impossible to attend them all. I decided to intentionally attend three concerts and was blessed by an unexpected bonus concert which happened while waiting for my chosen event.

The convention opened on Thursday at 9:00 a.m. with a Marine Corps Marching Band. The concert brought happy tears to my eyes and a huge smile to my face. Why? First of all, I am very patriotic and, secondly, I played flute in our high school marching band. I loved marching on the football field, playing for basketball games and pep rallies as well as marching in parades, even the ones that were Minnesota cold. While waiting for the soldiers to march in, I met Scott, who sent me an overview video he made of the NAMM show as he experienced it. https://youtu.be/BTlm6Wz88eA Be sure to look closely in the bell of the tuba on the photo I took. I didn’t realize how “artsy” it was until later that day.

Keith was able to attend the second concert with me – Michael W. Smith. It was a good but very loud concert.  We only stayed a half hour because we had a dinner appointment in Downtown Disney at the Jazz Kitchen.   On Saturday morning, I arrived early to a concert featuring Bobby McFerrin. He is an extremely talented and creative musician who performs musically in a wide variety of ways. I thought he might sing “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” because people would recognize it. Instead, his performance was entirely acapella with “Gimme5” who sang songs without actual words. The sounds they make with their voices are astounding and the performance was absolutely amazing. The audience was captivated. Although not the actual performance I saw, here’s an example of their music. 

He also performs a beautiful arrangement of Bach prelude with Ave Maria which you can find on YouTube.  

The surprise concert I attended was the way-too-short half hour preceding Bobby. It featured children and adults from Canada playing ukuleles and singing. They were tremendous! Looking around the audience of at least a thousand, there were nothing but smiles and dancing eyes – such sweet and happy music. I enjoyed the concert so much that I’ve purchased a ukulele. I’ll let you know when I give my recital. LOL 

In Part 3 of my NAMM blog, I will write about selecting pianos for our Hendersonville showroom which is one of the main reasons we attend the  NAMM Show.