Pentangle in London: for this I miss the European football final?

Pentangle at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday didn't engage me. I left at the interval to catch the end of the Euro 2008 football final.

I’d booked because I’m keen on early Pentangle recordings. The eponymous 1960s album is a classic; 2001’s Sweet Child is fine, too. I rate Bert Jansch’s 1960s heyday stuff, and his guitar picking has few equals.

I’m not averse to folk/roots music: I’ve swooned at gigs by folkies like Jim Moray, the Copper Family and the Waterboys. And Dylan’s early LPs are favourites round these parts.

The playing of the four-piece was competent-going-on-accomplished.

But therein lay my problem. I’m used to watching virtuoso players, whether in poprock, jazz, orchestral or whatever, who – and here’s the rub - take wing and visit exciting new places.

Pentangle’s music last night had too little invention, insufficient vitality for my liking. Even the solos, on guitar, bass and drums lacked ambition - they sounded pre-planned, improvisation-free. I found singer Jacqui McShee’s constant swooping, with nary a melisma-free line, irritating after only about ten minutes.

The first half sounded as if it could have been played circa 1970. Maybe the second half was different - brim-full of recent creative endeavour - but I’ll never know, as I escaped to catch the end of the final, which saw Spain claiming their rightful place at the peak of European football. Viva Espana!

Pentangle in London: music for grown-ups? Naah: it hurts to admit it, but it looked like folkpop for easily pleased nostalgic oldies to me.



Gerry Smith

Utah Phillips: RIP

Thanks to Martin Cowan for this link to the obituary in The Guardian newspaper for Utah Phillips:

http://music.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2287142,00.html

FREE! Music for grown-ups on air in the next 10 days

Tempting TV/radio broadcasts in the next 10 days:


Wed 25 June
2045 Franz Liszt, Composer Of The Week – BBC Radio 3
(3/5, continues Thurs-Fri)

Thurs 26 June
2300 Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan (Rpt) – BBC Radio 2

Friday 27 June
2000 La Fille du Regiment (Dessay, Florez in once-in-a-lifetime London 2007 production) – BBC4

Friday-Sunday: Glastonbury – not my cup of Darjeeling, but there’s blanket BBC coverage on Radio 2 and TV. Among the musical mush for the mainstream middle-aged (in wellies), about 5% of the acts play for grown-ups: I’ll be watching out for Amy Winehouse on Saturday evening, and Leonard Cohen.

Sat 28 June
1030 What’s So Great About… Bob Dylan? – BBC Radio 4
1900 The Definitive History of UK Dance Music (2/3) – BBC Radio 2

Sun 29 June
2400 Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan (Series 2) – BBC 6 Music

Tues 1 July
2330 The Greatest Dance Records Of All Time (1/3) – BBC Radio 2

Fri 4 July
2230 Cassandra Wilson, Jazz Library, BBC Radio 3


Online access: many BBC radio and TV programmes are available online, streamed and/or archived. You can access radio via BBC Listen Again and TV via BBC iPlayer: please see BBC channel web sites for details.



Gerry Smith

Ariadne auf Naxos: first-class singing, occasionally silly opera

“Bunch of bullsh*t!”, opined the obese Texan in the next seat as the curtain came down on Ariadne auf Naxos. Not really a surprising reaction – he’d been checking his watch every few minutes all evening.

But was Saturday’s Royal Opera House production really that bad?

Well, the score and libretto are only intermittently engaging. The Prologue/first act is superfluous. And some of the staging was creaky.

But this production also has considerable strengths, particularly some first-class singing. It was well worth seeing controversial American soprano Deborah Voigt for the first time, and exulting in her enormous voice. House favourite Thomas Allen was, as usual, vibrant. Gillian Keith, Kristine Jepson and Markus Werba also caught the eye. The band, under Mark Elder, gave a very good account of itself.

An irksome, unsatisfying, occasionally silly opera - yes. For that, I blame Richard Strauss. But Bunch of BS? No – a bit over the top, that.




Gerry Smith

Great rockpop lyricists – new series of collectable free booklets

Bob Dylan was the launch title of Great Lyricists, a new series of collectable booklets given away with Saturday 21 June’s edition of The Guardian, the London liberal-left daily newspaper.

The nicely designed booklet, running to 26 pages, includes the lyrics of eight Bob songs, six from the 1960s, plus Tangled Up In Blue and Blind Willie McTell.

The series of eight freebies continued in yesterday’s sister paper The Observer, with Broooooooooce Springsteen, and today’s Guardian with Morrissey.

Remaining subjects include Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, as well as Chuck D, Patti Smith and a young lad from the Arctic-Something-or-Others.

I’ll be buying all bar two, filing the beautifully designed but unwanted rag in the bin, on my out of the filling station shop.



Gerry Smith

Thomas Quasthoff and Esbjorn Svensson celebrated on Radio 3

Regular readers will know of my fondness for BBC Radio 3: it’s as near as English radio gets to a Music For Grown-Ups station.

This week’s schedules included two pieces of programming which were outstanding even by Radio 3’s toweringly high standards:

* German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff is ever more prominent, and I’d been wondering what all the fuss is about. After hearing the four-programme profile in the Artist Focus series, I now know. What a talent!

* the tragic death of pianist Esbjorn Svensson, founder of EST, the magnificent trio named after him, in a diving accident near his Stockholm home last weekend, has saddened the world of jazz. EST took their tumultuous brand of populist jazz to a mainstream European audience, including many younger listeners; they’ve been one of the brightest stars in the improv universe for some years.

Radio 3 paid tribute to Svensson in Jazz on 3 at 2330 on Friday 20 June, by replaying extracts from no fewer than four EST gigs recorded for the BBC over the last dozen or so years.

RIP: Esbjorn Svensson, a great musician.

Many BBC radio programmes are available online, streamed and/or archived. You can access them via Listen Again:

www.bbc.co.uk/radio3





Gerry Smith

Conor Oberst’s English gigs

My, my, my.

The year 2008 is turning into an annus mirabilis for this grown-up rockpop fan. After fulfilling long-held ambitions of seeing Morrissey and Bjork in concert, I then booked to catch Beck and Leonard Cohen: which will give me four ticks out of a must-see list of about eight artists.

Tomorrow I hope to add Conor Oberst (erstwhile Bright Eyes), who’s just announced English gigs this summer.

At this rate, before very long, there’ll be no-one left on my poprock must-see list. Joni Mitchell… Radiohead… Paul Weller… and, er, that’s about it.




Gerry Smith

FREE! Music for grown-ups on air in the next 10 days

Tempting TV/radio broadcasts in the next 10 days:


Wed 18 June
2230 Thomas Quasthoff (bass-baritone), Artist Focus (3/4) - BBC Radio 3

Thurs 19 June
2230 Thomas Quasthoff, Artist Focus (4/4) - BBC Radio 3
2300 Paul Weller: Live at the IndigO2 – ITV2
2300 Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan (Rpt) – BBC Radio 2

Sat 21 June
1900 The Definitive History of UK Dance Music (1/3) – BBC Radio 2

Sun 22 June
2400 Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan (Series 2) – BBC 6 Music

Mon 23 June
2045 Franz Liszt, Composer Of The Week – BBC Radio 3
(1/5, continues Tues-Fri)

Fri 27 June
2000 La Fille du Regiment (Dessay, Florez in once-in-a-lifetime London 2007 production) – BBC4


Online access: many BBC radio and TV programmes are available online, streamed and/or archived. You can access radio programmes via BBC Listen Again and TV via BBC iPlayer: please see BBC channel web sites for details.




Gerry Smith

Don Carlo at London’s Royal Opera House: mediocre, missable

Verdi’s late-career Don Carlo is a fanciful rewrite of political shenanigans at the Habsburg court in mid-16thC Spain, just as its imperial power was peaking.

The score is only intermittently engaging. The libretto is tosh – a propagandist’s fairy tale. It’s dramatically weak, too, with some incomprehensible character motivation. And it’s far, far too long – Don Carlo could easily lose half of its 3 hours 30 running time without adversely affecting the telling of the tale.

So Saturday’s performance at London’s Royal Opera House was always going to be an uphill struggle.

The singing ranged from competent to utterly wonderful. Marina Poplavskaya, the Russian soprano playing Elizabeth, has a beautiful tone and impresses throughout her range. Baritone Simon Keenlyside was his usual Covent Garden self – commanding, authentic, inspired. It’s not difficult to see why he’s such a house favourite. I’d queue to watch these two fine artists sing almost anything.

Putative star Rolando Villazon, who missed much of the last year suffering from burn-out, was again, sadly, under the weather – suffering an “allergic reaction” in the first half, we were informed. He gamely continued, but was on half throttle thereafter.

I share the consensus view that Villazon’s a major tenor talent, but I’m becoming less inclined to book to see him – my last Villazon outing had been the ghastly popopera concert pairing with Ms Netrebko.

Great house band, as always. Staging/direction OK, a bit iffy.

Don Carlo, overall? Mediocre. Missable.




Gerry Smith

Leonard Cohen tour hits Europe

After a series of warm-ups in Canada, the Leonard Cohen tour finally hit Europe over the weekend, with two gigs in Dublin which, just like the overseas shows, were praised to the skies.

Leonard is reportedly in great voice and form, playing looooooooong gigs of about 25 songs. (By comparison, Dylan shows are a regulation 17 songs long).

Cohen plays Manchester (why?) for four nights from Tuesday 17 June, then moves to continental Europe. I’m salivating at the prospect of the London show, on 17 July.

Here’s the second Dublin show setlist – it looks wonderful:


DUBLIN 14 June

Dance Me to the End of Love
The Future
Ain’t No Cure For Love
Bird on a Wire
Everybody Knows
In My Secret Life
Who by Fire
Anthem

Tower of Song
Suzanne
The Gypsy’s Wife
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
Democracy
I’m Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (Recited)
Take This Waltz

Waiting for a Miracle
First We Take Manhattan

That Don’t Make it Junk
If It Be Your Will (1st 2 verses recited by Leonard, remainder sung by Webb Sisters)
Closing Time

I Tried to leave you

Whither Thou Goest


I’m following the tour on the marvellous fanlist –


www.leonardcohenforum.com





Gerry Smith

NOW that’s what I call Music for Grown-Ups! #1 - Late Junction, Radio 3

Thanks to Peter Truin:

“Dylan singing The Cuckoo, from Live at the Gaslight, was played on Radio 3's Late Junction on Tuesday night.

“It came after Glenn Gould playing a voluntary by William Byrd, eight minutes of change ringing on hand bells, and a field recording of a cuckoo.

“It was soon followed by the loop - pedals of the Danish minimalist rock band, Svartbag ...

“As the promotion for the programme says - ‘an eclectic mix’!"

MOJO the most grown-up rockpop mag in 2008 first half

MOJO, Uncut and The Word, the three London-based rockpop magazines, occasionally cover music for grown-ups, though only about 20% of their content – mainly their cover features - is of interest to this website.

In the first half of 2008, MOJO has had the most grown-up covers - five out of a possible six. Its covers have featured Radiohead, Mozza, Stones, Paul Weller and the Sex Pistols.

UNCUT has had four grown-up covers: Dylan, Stones, Led Zep and Bowie. While, so far in 2008, The Word has had three: Mozza, Elvis Costello and Radiohead.

It’s a reversal of the tally for the whole of 2007, which was headed by The Word, with 9 covers, followed by UNCUT (8) and MOJO (a mere 5 covers).




Gerry Smith

FREE! Music for grown-ups on air in the next seven days

Over the next seven days, I hope to catch/record these tempting TV/radio broadcasts:

Thurs 12 June
2300 Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan (Rpt) – BBC Radio 2

Sun 15 June
2400 Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan (Series 2) – BBC 6 Music

Mon 16 June
2230 Thomas Quasthoff (bass-baritone), Artist Focus - BBC Radio 3
(1/4, continues Tues-Thurs)


Online access: BBC radio and TV content is variously available on the internet, streamed and/or archived, subject to copyright. You can access radio programmes via BBC Listen Again and TV via BBC iPlayer: please see BBC channels’ web sites for details.



Gerry Smith

Major new Dylan interview/video promoting Drawn Blank exhibitions

Dylan has done a full-length interview for The Times (Friday 6 June) to promote several imminent UK Drawn Blank exhibitions - the original artwork and Limited Edition prints in London’s Halcyon Gallery, and prints in several provincial galleries such as Smart Gallery, Batley and Harrogate (Yorkshire):

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article4074327.ece

Make sure you also catch the five minute video on The Times website, in which the Halcyon President introduces seven of the key paintings from the show.


And keep watching sisiter site DylanDaily.com – I’ll be attending and reviewing these very important exhibitions. Barring a surprise UK tour, Drawn Blank is the biggest Dylan event in England in 2008.

www.halcyongallery.com

www.smartgallery.co.uk





Gerry Smith

Fine new introduction to Radiohead

If you’ve resisted the charms of Radiohead, but now want to check out what all the fuss is about, The Best Of Radiohead, released on Monday, is a long overdue new sampler.

Of course, some of the band’s fans are very sniffy about the release – “they’re an album band and you can’t cut up album tracks like this… it’s against the band’s wishes … blah, blah, blah… .”

But if you’re new to their music, this is a good way in. Just don’t expect easy listening singalongarock.


Tracklist:
1. Just
2. Paranoid Android
3. Karma Police
4. Creep
5. No Surprises
6. High and Dry
7. My Iron Lung
8. There There
9. Lucky
10. Fake Plastic Trees
11. Idioteque
12. 2+2=5
13. The Bends
14. Pyramid Song
15. Street Spirit (Fade Out)
16. Everything In Its Right Place

The 16 tracks sample the first six studio albums, with six songs from The Bends, four from OK Computer, the band’s masterpiece, two each from Kid A and Hail To The Thief, and one track each from Pablo Honey and Amnesiac (there’s nothing from the live album, or In Rainbows, the most recent release).

I bought my 1CD version from Bang CD for £5.99 delivered. If you spot the 2CD version of The Best Of for about £10, better buy that, instead of the single CD version.



Gerry Smith

FREE! Music for grown-ups on air in the next seven days

Over the next seven days, I hope to catch/record these tempting TV/radio broadcasts:

Wed 4 June
1900 Pentangle (on tour), Mike Harding (‘s folk mag) – BBC Radio 2

Thurs 5 June
2300 Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan (Rpt) – BBC Radio 2

Fri 6 June
2230 Teo Macero, Jazz Library - BBC Radio 3

Sun 8 June
0200 Van Morrison live from 1978, Live At Two – BBC 6 Music
2400 Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan (Series 2- Around The World) – BBC 6 Music


Gerry Smith

John McLaughlin, London, Saturday: virtuoso jazz guitar

Rounding off a month-long Euro tour to promote Floating Point, the new CD, John McLaughlin played a sell-out gig at London’s Barbican on Saturday. For over two and a half hours, his band, The Fourth Dimension, revisited McLaughlin’s back pages and introduced some recent sounds.

It was an outstanding gig – one for the scrapbook. The standing ovation was the only possible response.

As hoped, the leader’s picking ranged between divine and tumultuous. Technical brilliance and jaw-dropping agility, allied to endless innovation and a beautiful tone, made this an electric guitar master-class. There might be a stronger contender for the title of world’s leading guitarist, but I don’t know of one.

Jazz-fusion is a collaborative enterprise, though, and McLaughlin was well served by a trio of master musicians. An inspired Mark Mondesir kept the groove going all night. Gary Husband, doubling up on keyboards and second drums, and up for it from the off, should be paid twice for this gig. Stand-in bassist Dominique Di Piazza anchored the riffing with firmness and finesse.

Highlight? In addition to McLaughlin’s virtuosic melody lines, the finale featured a complex, heated percussive discussion between Mondesir and Husband, prompted, interrupted and encouraged by fills from the two guitarists. Rhythm improvisation simply doesn’t get any better than this.

Saturday’s London gig was one of those rare shows which moves you for days afterwards, inspiring you to investigate the musician’s back catalogue in its entirety. Pleasures in store.

Way back in the 1970s, I missed John McLaughlin the first time round. Or, to be more accurate, I DIS-missed him. Jazz-rock? Naaah - far too grown-up for me. Elton John, 10cc, Melanie …, mate. I cringe at the memory of those wasted years.

More recently, I found McLaughlin via Miles Davis. Not difficult for a Davis fan – John plays on no fewer than nine Miles albums, including fusion masterpieces In A Silent Way (my favourite album in al music), Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson. Miles even named tracks after him on two different LPs.

I’ve been dutifully seeking out gigs and by the musicians who play on In A Silent Way. Herbie Hancock? Seen him. Wayne Shorter? Yep. Dave Holland? Sure. Joe Zawinul. Tick. And now the great John McLaughlin. Which leaves only Tony Williams and the Great Man himself. I’m hoping to catch those two in Music Heaven.




Gerry Smith