Jackson Browne - 17/11/2014

This was my third Jackson Browne gig in the space of about five years or so having missed out on seeing him during most of his long career. Each has been quite different and whilst he is well into his sixties he is still creating new music and touring with a purpose and with a band and a sound that varies from tour to tour. More importantly he is a A-list songwriter and delivers a superb musical gig. I was particularly impressed with the quality of the three guitarists and the way that they melded together; Jackson on rhythm, Greg Leisz on Pedal Steel and Lap Steel guitars and Val Macullum on lead. However it is the quality of the songwriting that ensures that the gigs are special and he did as usual a selction from his huge back catalogue as well the majority of the tracks on the new album. The gig started with the excellent 'The Barricades of Heaven', stirring and purposeful and after that track from the 90s and one from the 70's he played a couple of tracks of the new album before a version of the classic 'These Days'. By this time he had added a couple of backing singers to the six-piece band and the band sound was very sweet indeed. Maybe if I am being picky Jackson's voice has lost a little range and emotion over the decades but that song resonates strongly despite having been written fifty years ago by Jackson. A few more from the back catalogue followed including the excellent 'Shaky Town' and the impeccable 'Fountain of Sorrow'. All the while Greg and Val added beautiful guitar with Jackson either on guitar or piano. After an interval there followed some tracks from the new album and for me the two outstanding new songs were 'The Birds of St Marks' and 'Standing in the Breach'. JB told us that the former had been written decades ago (47 years actually according to Wikipedia)but he had only just recorded and issued it after Greg Leisz had provided the missing ingredient. It definitely had the feel of an early JB song. JB finished the gig with a run of four classic songs, 'The Pretender' , 'Running on Empty', 'Taking it Easy' and 'The Lady of the Well'. That is some finish. I particularly loved the last track - my highlight of the evening. I wouldn't have brought it to mind in a list of top ten Jackson Browne tracks before the gig but it ranks with the best. It has the sweep of the big picture and the details that bring the picture to life. Come back soon JB.

Tim Richard's Hextet - 9/11/2014

I go and see Tim play whenever he is close by so the full six-piece playing in Bristol was a nice surprise when I found out about the gig the day before. It's hard to believe that you can hear such expert musicians who play so well together in the room above a pub. They deserve a wider audience. The tunes were mostly familiar and included particular favourites of mine such as 'Shapeshifting' and the other Shamanism suite pieces as well as 'Discovery' and an encore of 'Ticket to Tomorrow'. There were also some interesting pieces I don't think I had heard before such as 'Ease Up' by Dominic Howles the bassist and 'Sorebaeltsbroedn' by Ralph Wyld the vibes player, both of which added variety to the more traditional setlist. Each musician was a master of his own instrument with Ed Jones on sax and Dick Pearce on trumpet outstanding as usual as the frontmen for the band. Next time Tim is around here I'll be back for more.

Seckou Keita & Catrin Finch 15/10/14

This was a reprise of a gig seen in the Brough Theatre in Abergavenny in May. That tour was obviously successful and more dates were added in October including this one at St Georges in Bristol. It was a like last time an exuberant and deeply moving musical experience, the more so because I was now more familiar with the tunes which had received a lot of air time with me in between the gigs. There's not much to add to my last report - the swirling rhythms; the waterfall of melody; the call and response between the two musicians - all of it impeccable and enjoyable. 'Les Bras de Mer' stood out for me this time but it was all superb. Can't wait for the next edition.

Richard Thompson 23/7/2014

It had been a while since I last saw Richard Thompson and he was on at an interesting venue I hadn't been to - the art deco former cinema known as The Bath Forum so we trouped off to catch the gig. The support were superb - a folky duo comprising Richard's daughter Kami and her husband James Walbourne. His guitar picking was exemplary - I really enjoyed the feeling, energy and sheer skill of it, the songs were great and Kami's singing voice had more than a hint of Linda Thompson's haunting vocal style as you might expect. All in all as good a support act as you could hope for. 'Fair Warning' the title track of their first album was particularly strong. Richard Thompson's set is never predictable even when he is doing an acoustic tour to promote a CD of his acoustic 'classic songs'. You can maybe predict he will do 'Wall of Death' and '1952 Vincent Black Lightning' and those classics were included I'm delighted to say, but he probably played only about half the tracks he included on the just-released acoustic album. It is nice that his setlist is not predictable and he has such a huge back catalogue to choose from you can guarantee a gig of wonderful songs whatever he chooses. 'Valerie' was memorable as was 'I want to see the bright lights tonight' as was 'Dimming of the day' - I could go on but the essence is a master guitarist playing an acoustic guitar he completely owns singing classic and interesting songs. It is essentially a masterclass without anye need for expensive guitars being tuned and changed by guitar techs - just a musician in his element inspiring an emotional response from the audience. Having talked about his back catalogue I would have to say the highlight of the gig was the very last song which was a new unreleased song from a Thompson 'family' album. The Rails joined him for a song called 'That's enough' and the guitar playing on it was an absolute joy. James Walbourne poured his heart into a solo which Richard Thompson then had to emulate followed by more from James then Richard again. Kami just looked at this point with a big smile on her face as the men in her life jostled for guitar perfection. When the gig dies down in my memory I look forward to listening to the new albums from The Rails and Richard Thompson.

Tempero - 4/7/2014

Tempero perform most nights in the Isaac synagogue in Krakow - it's a tourist gig really, presumably to raise funds for the place but for all that it is a superb set based on traditional Klezmer music with four excellent musicians. The accordion player was perfect and his interplay with the fiddle player as they ramped up the tempo was the heart of the music. The drummer was also notable - he seemed to have an endless variety of means to produce percussive sounds from blocks of wood, rattles, shakers and of course his small set of drums as well. The set was not pure traditional Klezmer but there was an authenticity to the overall sound and the acoustics and setting of the old synagogue were ideal. A bargain for 60 zloty.

A-wa 3/7/2014

Staying in the Jewish quarter of Krakov whilst there happened to be a Jewish Festival on meant there were some gigs of - you guessed it - Jewish music. the first one we took in was a band called A-Wa who were based around three vocalist sisters with accompanying synthesiser, bass and drums. The festival programme promised traditional Yemenite songs but the main thrust of the set was beat-based dance music with a distinctively modern feel. There weere a couple of songs introduced as Yemenite traditional tunes and for me they were the best two tracks of the gig. You could feel the desert atmosphere and the cultural constraints of whatever was being forbidden or lost - well that was what came across to me anyway. The sisters' voices were great and of course perfectly harmonised. The beats were a little relentless though, although a section dancing in a corner of the synagogue were obviously enjoying them. The guy playing the keyboard/guitar synthesiser was the weak link - he banged out pretty simple rhythms a bit too loudly but it was an enjoyable hour and a quarter nonetheless.

Emmylou Harris/Daniel Lanois 27/5/2014

Daniel Lanois deserves equal billing for this gig although Emmylou may be the bigger name, for his contribution to the album that the tour celebrates (Wrecking Ball), and to the gig itself including the support set. His guitar playing was exemplary all evening, nuanced and complex and beautifully judged. There are some guitarists who change from one expensive guitar to another all through a set and you could argue they are perfectionists and craftsmen and I'm not saying it is a bad thing. There are some who just seem to have an old guitar and can make it do anything as if it is directly wired into their central nervous system. Daniel Lanois is in that category (along with Richard Thompson and Jack White to mention a couple that come to mind). He started off the gig with the other two members of the Emmylou Harris band, Steven Nistor on drums and Jim Wilson on bass. Steven was a superb drummer just about as relaxed as it is possible to be and still keep time. Daniel played pedal steel for a couple of tracks before switching to his trusty guitar. On one of his later tracks in the set I could have closed my eyes and thought it was Neil Young playing. That's as good a compliment as I give. After the interval Emmylou came on and they played all the 'Wrecking Ball' tracks in order. This is my favourite Emmylou album for the combination of the sound (thanks in large part to Lanois)and a simply great set of songs which are mainly covers but covers from the likes of Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Anna McCarrigle, Gillian Welch and Steve Earle. In addition there are a couple from the Lanois/Harris axis. It is difficult to pick a favourite from the album but live the version of 'Deeper Well' stood out in particular for some amazing guitar from Lanois. His guitar plunged us deeper into the well with astonishing dexterity and feeling. Bravo. I also particularly enjoyed a beautifully paced version of the exemplary title track with more great guitar and stunning singing, 'Every Grain of Sand' for some powerful vocals from Emmylou and 'Going Back to Harlan' just 'cos it's a great song. At the end of the album they added a couple of tracks that were not included on the original album release, both up to scratch for the top quality of the album; 'Still Waters' and 'The Maker'. There was still more to come however as Emmylou picked out a couple of classics from her even backer catalogue for the encore, 'From Boulder to Birmingham' and the incomparable 'Pancho and Lefty'. Sitting in the front row centre that was perfection. A couple more tracks followed a vocal harmony track about lost children and 'Songbird'. I think I was about done by the end of 'Pancho and Lefty' though.

Toumani and Sidike Diabate 26/5/2014

It is widely acknowledged that Toumani Diabate is pretty much as good as it gets as far as kora playing goes. Yesterday's gig showed that his son Sidike is no slouch either. The two of them created kora magic that became a hypnotic blur of fingers and riffs and baselines and waterfalls of notes. The first couple of tracks after Sidikes solo opener gave Sidike the showier role and he could play with extraordinary speed and still throw in some percussive beats on the gourd surface. On the track before the interval Toumani showed his amazing skill with a mesmeric combination of base line and lead that was pure joy to hear. The interplay between the two of them responding to each others riffs was both delightful and breathtaking at times and all through the understanding between the two was total which I suppose you might expect with father and son from a long line of kora players. They played mostly from the new album that with one exception is based on the traditional kora repertoire. That exception is a song called 'Lampedusa' which they finished with as an encore. It was written after the mass drowning of African emigrants and is both beautiful and haunting and stays in the mind long after the gig is finished. Having missed Toumani on a couple of tours because of date clashes I will make sure I don't miss any more. Superb.

Jeff Beck 16/5/14

I normally prepare for a gig by listening to the latest album or at least tuning into the musicians back catalogue. However I came to this gig fresh mainly because I had been at the Seckou Keita/Catrin Finch gig the night before and in any case Jeff Beck doesn't seem to have released anything recently. I also still had the amazing gig from the day before running round in my head so it was a tough task for Jeff Beck but he did pretty well given the circumstances. He first really got my attention about three tracks in when he played 'Little Wing'. You need big guitarist cahones to play a song trademarked by Hendrix and then Clapton but Jeff Beck has those and the skill to back them up. His version owed more to Hendrix than Clapton but was also indisputably Beck and it was superb. A lot of the tracks he played I had heard before although I couldn't put a name to many of them. There were however enough moments of guitar brilliance to make this an enjoyable and impressive gig. The band were excellent musicians; Rhonda Smith a pocket-size bundle of energy on Bass, Nicholas Meier on guitar clearly had a spanish-guitar background and , Jonathan Joseph on Drums was full of drive. The one vocal track during the main part of the show didn't really work as Rhonda's singing voice was not strong enough for the band sound but what did work was the vocal encore when Joss Stone came on and sang a couple of storming power vocals for 'I put a spell on you' followed by 'Rollin' and Tumblin''. I had not seen her before but the Janis Joplin style delivery certainly worked with the Beck guitar and the band's energy. That was a great surprise finale to the gig.

Sekou Keita & Catrin Finch 15/5/2014

Around 150 strings on stage courtesy of two harps and two koras and add two musical maestros and the results were always going to be amazing. On stage at the Borough Theatre at Abergavenny we experienced the swirling, exhilarating fusion of Mandinka and Welsh traditional music and it was mesmerising music from start to finish. I much preferred it to the last Seckou Keita gig I saw around 18 months ago when his beautiful kora playing was muddied and diminished by other instruments and a more populist western fusion sound. This time round the mix of harp and kora was stunning and perfect. They are after all similar instruments in terms of the sounds they can make and the way they are played and the way that the two musicians played off each other and responded was breathtaking at times. The song before the interval was exactly that with Catrin challenging Seckou time and again to mimic her complex leads and of course he did so superbly. The first half was from the album they have recorded but the second half included some new songs and one of them 'Celtic Misty' was one highlight from the concert. It spiralled and circled up from the mists of time. Preceding that song was another special song which may have been 'Ceffylau' from the album. I'll check when the gig has faded a bit. Also memorable were 'Ropert AP Huw meets Nialing Sonko'. and 'Les Bras de Mer' but actually everything was superb. An early contender for gig of the year and a sign to try out some Catrin Finch music.

Tinariwen 5/5/2014

There was an unusual support in the shape of a talk about the Tuareg situation based around quotations of their poetry. It was actually more interesting than it sounds and was a better lead in to the desert groove that some local support act. Last time I saw Tinariwen, Ibrahim took most of the lead guitar and vocal - this time it was just four songs from him and the rest were shared between Abdullah and Elaga. Ibrahim played the most complex rhythms, Abdullah grooves like no-one else and Elaga had slightly more of a Western nuance to his Tuareg licks. There were six of them this time with an additional guitarist, drummer and bassist supporting whichever of the three was on lead duty. When the ecore came round after about an hour and a quarter, Abdullah came out solo and showed his virtuoso guitar skills for the first part of the song with a spanish-style intro that was both subtle and powerful. Tinariwen come in many formats and with different vocalists/guitarists featured but you always leave with sand under your fingernails and dry desert air in your throat.

Goldfrapp 1/4/2014

I was in two minds about taking in Goldfrapp again after seeing them a few years ago but front row balcony seats swayed me and I am glad I went. The gig was touring the new album which is perhaps more ethereal and moody than some of the older techno beat vibe and I enjoyed the sound for those tracks immensely. In particular the violinist (Ellie Stanford) was sweeping and full of feeling and the drumming (Seb Sternberg) beautifully precise. After half a dozen tracks from the new album the violin was increasingly swapped for a synthesizer, the lightshow went from a single white spot gradually to a pulsating vivid strobe and the tempo ratcheted up several notches. The change was however perfectly consistent with what went before and it worked very well as a show. By the end the audience was largely on its feet enjoying the older favourites. I noticed how close to Donna Summer, or should I say Giorgio Moroder the sound was on one or two tracks. Both bands were dance floor favourites at one time or another and even a non-dancer like me could feel the energy from the swooping vocals over the pulsating beat. I have to admit to a tiny tinge of disappointment that 'Ooh La La' wasn't included but respect to the band for not pandering to the audience. I take away in particular some superb drumming, but in general a well-crafted and enjoyable show.

Tim Richards - 8/2/2014

This was another 'special' at King's Place for Tim following the anniversary gig in 2012. This time the first set was a solo piano set playing a range of songs from Thelonius Monk and Duke Ellington to a Latin piece, 'Summertime' and Tim's own compositions. It was great to hear the full-on sound of the grand piano and to immerse yourself into a varied mix of tunes. I always have the feeling that there is a hint of boogie-woogie bubbling under when Tim plays and that came through to me as he played the solo set. There was some sax on one track and trumpet on one other. Apart from that it was just Tim and the Steinway. The second set was played by a six piece band consisting of musicians Tim has played with over the years. Perhaps the most well-known were the brass musicians, Dick Pierce on trumpet and Ed Jones on sax but also taking the limelight at the gig was vibes player Ralph Wild. I particularly enjoyed the 'Shamanism Suite' and the encore 'Ticket to Tomorrow' which featured a sparkling solo from Ralph Wild. The audience loved the gig and so did I.

Transatlantic Sessions 6/2/2014

This year we made sure we were back from holiday in time for the annual Transatlantic Sessions gig at Symphony Hall. The core members of this huge band are reasonably settled now and as they include Aly Bain, Jerry Douglas, Danny Thompson, Mike McGoldrick, John McCusker, Bruce Molsky, John Doyle, Russ Barenburg and Tim O'Brien it is easy to see why this has become an annual pilgrimage for us. The 'house band' this year also included Donal Shaw, Phil Cunningham and James McIntosh and on top of that the 'guest vocalists' were Shawn Colvin, Sarah Jarosz, Daryll Scott, Julie Fowlis and Kris Drever. Such an array of talent and yet they never slip into the sludgy sound of some all-star benefit band. Each track is finely crafted and tightly played. They can achieve this because the are all superb musicians and because they all buy in to the central aim which is to deliver the music rooted in celtic tradition which has developed both sides of the Atlantic. Stand out moments included Phil Cunningham's slow air which was so new it didn't even have a name yet, the encore which had Aly Bain's fiddle front and central for the first time in the gig, Jerry Douglas' solo spot (always a highlight), the song written by and featuring Russ Barenberg and in terms of the guest vocalists I particularly liked Shawn Colvin and Sarah Janosz. Having said that there was not a weak moment in the entire gig. I'll be booking seats for the 2015 iteration of this long-running celtic music celebration.