This is one of two small live music venues in Bremen. The other is an Irish themed pub. Both attract concert artists and session players. The one held here is called Breaking Borders because it mixes music from a number of genres. Cafe Paganini, run by Roland Eberle, is a very special place and Ray has played here four times over many years. He was reminded that on one visit, it was the first live music event when restrictions were eased after Covid. Tonight, probably half the audience were musicians and many had seen him before. They were ready for a good evening of song.
The concerts here are organised by Willie Burger. He has been singing in bands since the 1970’s and is also a well known organiser of music events. Willie began the evening himself, singing The Old Triangle, written by Brenden Behan, as a tribute to the Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard who died recently followed by playing a lament on his fiddle to Paddy Kenan.
As you can see from the photos, Ray set up in a corner of the room.
Ray began his set with The Calling Of The Dove, with his memories of visiting Hamburg, followed by Sleeping Giant inspired by the view over the river Clyde of the Isle of Arran.
He then moved to cello which brought a cheer from the crowd even before he played it.
Next came a tune and a song on the piano. Both are from his latest album, Even For A Shadow where they follow each other but with the usual gap between tracks. When played live, Ray begins with the lovely tune Tynne Laine, which is Finnish for Calm Wave before moving straight into The Wind.
Willie joined Ray for the last two songs of the first set: Black Is The Colour Of My True Loves Hair and The Sky Is Black With Diamonds.
Ray started the second set with two commentaries on modern life: Whistleblower and The Promised Land. He returned to the piano for The Golden Age which he wrote after a visit to Venice.
There was another cheer when Ray picked up his mandolin. Firstly, he play two Swedish folk tunes and everybody clapped along to the infectious melody of the second tune. He stayed with the mandolin for Little Flame, a song he wrote for his daughters.
The set ended with two songs: Falling Like Thunder, which many of the audience knew and sang along with, and The Puritan.
The applause brought Ray back again to his stage in the corner. He sang Even For A Shadow but that wasn’t enough for the audience and he picked up the mandolin again to play The Unknown Soldier Has A Name, with the distinctive instrumental section that often receives a cheer.
I must tell a story about Willie Berger who organised this gig. He has one band that has been playing together for over 35 years then, nearly four years ago, he found that he shared a birthday with another musician he knew. They decided to form a duo and then they found a third and a fourth musician, all with the same birthday. Two were even born in the same year. Their collective birthday is the 14th of February and so they call themselves ‘The Valentine Boys’.
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