Not to be outdone by what went before, Thursday decided it was going to be a special day too! This seems to happen quite often at Ce Soir, as you will see…

In honour of International Women’s Day, Ce Soir poet Russell Eponym read for us. His theme was “1,000 Years of Women’s Poetry,” and it was an outstanding programme! Reading with warmth, humour, and grace, Russell always provides lovely readings mixed with fascinating information about the poems and their writers. A lovely group gathered beneath The Magic Tree Reading Spot at Ce Soir to hear Russell, and all enjoyed his most entertaining reading! Again, the hour sped by, and we all left the reading uplifted and a bit more knowledgeable than we had been before. What a delight! Russell Eponym will read for us again on 21 March at 2 PM. Please join us!

After a break, we returned at 5 PM to hear the beautiful music of Christopher 135 Quan. We always enjoy Christopher and his shows at Ce Soir, and this one was no exception. His artistry at the piano is striking and his choice of music is always just right! He seems to know what we wish to hear – even without requests, although he truly enjoys hearing from us what we’d most like to hear. Always gracious and engaged with the audience, Christopher brings his professional musicianship to bear in every show, sharing his quite expressive voice as well as his songwriting skills. We danced and sang along and had a grand time as the crowd grew and grew. Wonderful!

Next, at 6 PM, our fortnightly visit from the dazzling Gina Stella began. She was in fine voice as usual, and the angelic tones of her singing wafted over us as we danced. What a beautiful voice! What sweet music! Gina‘s way with the guitar suits each song, and she can play…well…pretty much anything! People send her a request, and 99.9% of the time, she provides it. Amazing how she does that! Everyone enjoyed the hour – which passed all too quickly – and Gina was a delight throughout. Come catch her next at Ce Soir at 6 PM on 22 March. We can’t wait!

The evening just kept going…and with this particular server we happen to be on, without a hitch! We experienced very few crashes and manageable lag levels for most. Can we keep this server? Oh, how we hope so!

At 7 PM, a new SL performer stepped to the piano. Curious Ireman is a quite affable young man whose talents are obvious and plentiful. He plays piano, guitar, drums, and a host of other instruments as needed…and he has a wonderful voice! Despite a few early issues with his stream, the show was excellent – enjoyed by all! Curious can sing traditional love songs, do a little rock, hit the blue notes, and croon out a country ballad – all in the same show and make it work. Impressive! He’ll be back to Ce Soir, so look for the date to appear here soon – and don’t miss it!

It was a busy night…and then…time to CHILL with MoShang Zhao! We always take a deep breath and relax when MoShang takes the stage. His downbeat electronica, inspired by the street sounds of busy cities in Taiwan, is just perfect for the end of the day. We enjoy MoShang‘s music any time, but how happy we are that he is with us at Ce Soir every Thursday evening at 8 PM. Well…he’s on vacation now for three weeks, traveling with his family to South Aftrica. We will miss him, of course, but wish him well for his travels. He will return April 05…and we’ll be ready! In the meantime, we do have some CDs…and you can catch a listen at his website: http://moshang.net.

Wow. That was a busy week! All of it good and lots of fun for us – and we hope for those who came along with listen, dance, chat, and enjoy the ambience of Ce Soir with us. Join us, won’t you? Next week…well…it starts early and goes late! Read on…for there are surprises in store!