jennyarntzen.music

Ferris Wheel written by Jenny Arntzen, 2025 My brother Tom, he is playing the accordion in the video, took me and my dog for a walk to the PNE grounds in East Vancouver. I did not know that a section of the grounds had been turned into a 4 hectare wetland bird sanctuary. This sanctuary is right beside Playland, the amusement park where generations of us have stood in line every summer for a chance to ride the Ferris Wheel. It was about 6 months since Mom had passed at home and my caregiving service had ended after 33 months. I had been to a Vancouver Folk Song Society evening and an ancient version of Scarborough Fair got me thinking about fairs, amusement parks, and life journeys. The calliope intro speaks to the utter madness that lies near the surface of all our human experiences: being able to face life milestones with humour, sharing our losses, celebrating our wins, and having a good laugh at our ambitions when they threaten to overwhelm us. My children are grown now, they are ra...

Lynn Canyon - 2005 03 03 - the cool, late afternoon light of early spring glancing off cold stream tossed boulders  Entry - Taking the Plunge by Virginia Bowden Well into the afternoon, on the day of the concert, I was reviewing my lists and checking what was left to do. It occurred to me that I was going to need introductory words to set expectations and get us all on the same page. Where to start? Virginia brought this poem and shared it at our Neighbourhood Folk - First Sunday - September 2025. As soon as I thought of it, I knew it needed to be the cornerstone of my introductory words to set the stage for the house concert. Today it is the 30th of September. A full week since I started this writing. It has taken me days and many hours to prepare to write this short piece. I had an idea of bringing in interleaving stories, of swimming, over generations, of women. Of our creative works, both domestic and artistic, that mark the passing of our lifetimes into our collective history....

Tom is practicing the calliope intro and outro to Ferris Wheel, our first song in the program this evening. It came out perfectly.  It is 6:30 pm and we are getting ready to open the doors at 7 pm for our first Neighbourhood Folk house concert. It is Monday, September 22, 2025. We are gathered to inspire our efforts for the season ahead, to build strength and confidence enough to get us through to Winter Solstice. We presented a program of a poem written by a friend and neighbour, and eleven songs written and performed by myself, my family, and neighbourhood musician friends. We decluttered the livingroom and set up seating for 15 friends and neighbours. An ipad is up high on a stand for the Zoom attendees. A stationary camera is on a tripod to capture the performance. Tucked in the back corner of the living room Adele is in her crate with a bone to chew. She does not like the sound of camera beeps.  Final preparation - Matt is taping down the sound cable, Michel and Tom are f...

  View from my chair this morning. Musical instruments, recording equipment, broadcast equipment. Getting ready for Monday evening house concert. Trying not to check email for registrations. It takes courage to for a shy musician to make friends.  I was listening to my mom and dad sing folk songs before I could walk. I took piano lessons while I was in Grade 1 and 2. My dad gave me a second hand guitar from the Salvation Army when I was about 10 years old. I played double bass in my dad's elementary school band. I played double bass in the Vancouver Youth Orchestra, Junior and Senior level. I played clarinet in the North Van Youth Band while I was still in elementary school. I played my first 'show' at the Argyle Secondary High School Talent Show in 1969, singing folk songs with my sister. I played french horn in Mr. O'Malley's high school music program, switching to double bass in grade 10. I studied double bass with Ken Friedman, Principal Bassist with Vancouver S...

  2025 09 12 - morning view  - you can't hear them, but the leaves of the Lombardi Poplar are gently rustling in a light, cool breeze. The hollyhocks are going through a second blooming. The sunflowers reach for the sunlight, growing strong and tall. As usual, I am moving furniture and re-arranging the living/dining room for music. It is happening. I am going to host my first house concert on Monday, September 22, 2025. I need to get moving on the invite! I am going to be the feature artist, sharing a selection of songs written by me, my family, friends, and kindred spirits. The concept for this house concert is based on the 'tiny desk concert' format. We will perform for a small audience here in the house. No amplification for our voices and instruments. Floor mics will record the sound in the room. Two video cameras (one stationary, one steadycam) will capture audio and video of the event. A Zoom live feed will broadcast the event to the Interwebs for sharing across geogr...

  The house is ready to host another Sunday afternoon of Neighbourhood Folk. Every month I re-arrange the furniture to make sure there are enough places to sit, there are enough music stands, and the house is somewhat clean and presentable. Today was our 12th month of Neighbourhood Folk. There were 12 of us, which turns out to be about the right number of people. There are enough chairs for both instrumentalists and non-players, we were pretty comfortable. We are scheduled to start at 2 pm - that is, people start arriving at 2. Today we started playing at 2:20, after everyone got settled. We had some new people today, so we started with introductions, sharing our names and what brought us to this gathering. I made some introductory remarks, tracing my interest in Neighbourhood Folk back to my coming of age in the early 1970s and the back-to-the-land movement. The desire to be part of a community with a shared purpose, a trustworthy group, a place to share creative works that are le...