Grounded

The eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, whose clouds of hazardous ash have shut down many European airports and disrupted the schedules of air carriers worldwide, is forcing many touring musicians to cancel engagements, Daniel J. Wakin and Ben Sisario report in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/arts/music/17musicians.html?ref=music

No word yet on concert cancellations in the Mid-Atlantic region; but checking with the presenter or venue to learn the status of a performance by an artist or ensemble from northern or eastern Europe, or en route from or through Europe, during the coming week could save you a wasted trip.

POSTSCRIPT: A fair amount of Internet bandwith is being burned up with guides to pronouncing "Eyjafjallajökull." (The Times' Andy Newman and Bao Ong quote an Icelandic consular employee as pronouncing it "EY-ya-fyat-lah-YOH-kuht," and suggest, tongues partially in cheeks, that a semi-English version would be, "Hey, ya fergot La Yogurt.") Some suggest condensing the name to "Kull." How about "Kull, the Ash-Spewer," which is descriptive and has an old-Nordic/sword-and-sorcery ring to it?

APRIL 20 UPDATE: More tales of musicians kicking ash (sorry, couldn't resist) to get to their gigs, from Warwick Thompson and Shirley Apthorp at Bloomberg News:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=an28H9jT7EWI