A Nod to Verdi

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Despite my allegiance to Wagner, it’s worth mentioning this year’s other bicentennial birthday boy, Giuseppe Verdi, who turned 200 this week. I won’t mislead here: I’m familiar enough with Verdi and his music but he’s not a strong personal interest of mine outside of work. I do enjoy his music, but I don’t want to write some insincere, longwinded post just because it’s 2013. Simply an anecdote or two and a few words.

Verdi’s Il Trovatore was the first opera I saw performed live by a professional company. While on a family vacation in London in 2004, I queued up at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden the morning of a performance and scored a last-minute cheap seat. The fact that Il Trovatore – or anything by Verdi – was on the docket was almost peripheral. I came to opera relatively “late” – approximately a year before this trip – and decided that while in London I’d try to see something at Covent Garden. I’d visited the city years before but lacked the interest at that time. That one of opera’s biggest composers was on the bill was simply a bonus. I went alone as I often do to concerts and had a lovely time. The performance was solid, and I was pleasantly surprised in Act II upon recognizing the “Anvil Chorus.”  That, coupled with the pretty traditional production, made for a delightful first time for me. (Though, I must admit that I found the plot to be a little much…)

This past summer I saw Verdi’s rarely-performed ninth opera Attila at another historic theater: Vienna’s Theater an der Wien. Unlike my experience at Covent Garden, I knew the opera beforehand. Also unlike London, this modern production was by Peter Konwitschny – pure Regietheater (director’s theater). The cast and orchestra gave a superb performance, and I absolutely loved the production. Konwitschny respected Verdi’s material without taking himself too seriously. I certainly hope the production gets a video release. That performance really made an impression on me and I’ve since wanted to actively seek out more Verdi.

[It’s worth noting that I saw Attila less than a week after attending an excellent performance of another rare opera, Rienzi, in Bayreuth, written by another birthday boy…]

Although I’ve made my bicentennial preference clear in posts throughout this year, a nod to Verdi is definitely in order. After all, Il Trovatore got my foot in the operatic door, and for that I’m grateful.

MTH-V: Elton John Live in ’71

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Following up on the recent New Listen, I’d like to honor Elton‘s piano trio format by featuring the incarnation that helped to catapult his career. Notably, it was with this trio that he made his US debut at the LA’s The Troubadour in 1970. The trio is:

Elton John – piano & vocals
Dee Murray – bass & backing vocals
Nigel Olsson – drums & backing vocals

For various contractual reasons, Murray and Olsson didn’t regularly play on a lot of Elton’s early studio albums. But, along with the eventual addition of guitarist Davey Johnstone, they were Elton’s core live band until 1975. Johnstone has pretty much remained in the band since, with Murray and Olsson both sporadically rejoining Elton since. Olsson once again joined Elton in 2000 and continues to tour with him through present day.

The below videos are from a live set at the BBC studios in 1971 in support of Madman Across the Water, the album from which these songs come. If you’ve not explored much of Elton’s material beyond the radio, then you’re in for a real treat. It’s a side of him often obscured by fanciful wardrobes and the hit parade. No costumes. No spectacle. Just three musicians and excellent songs.

“Razor Face”

“Rotten Peaches”

“Holiday Inn”

Previous Elton entries are here, here, and here.

New Listen: Elton John’s ‘The Diving Board’

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divingboard

Artist: Elton John
Album: The Diving Board (2013)

The Tin Pan Alley Twins strike again, and strongly so. Elton’s recently released The Diving Board is a strong addition to a large, eclectic catalogue that spans five decades. Like many of his musical peers (of which there are few), he’s often saddled with the stereotype of being a legacy act – a touring, nostalgic jukebox of greatest hits. He may continue to sing “Your Song” at just about every performance, but he and lyricist Bernie Taupin are writing some of their strongest material almost fifty years after meeting. I’ve had The Diving Board since its 09.24 US release and can’t get enough.

[I wrote about his previous album The Union, a collaboration with Leon Russell, soon after its release here.]

The Diving Board features John continuing his relationship with producer T. Bone Burnett, which began with The Union. Also, like The Union, The Diving Board features quasi-Americana and gospel-tinged themes reminiscent of much of Elton’s early material. (If you’re not too familiar with his deep cuts, his second through fifth albums – Elton John, Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across the Water, Honky Chateau – are rife with great piano-driven country rock songs.) Furthermore, The Diving Board is heavily piano-centric. While that may at first seem obvious, many of Elton’s albums feature such large bands and/or heavy production that his instrument is often obscured. Many of his early performances, including his US debut at The Troubadour in 1970 (also attended by T. Bone Burnett), featured a piano trio. In instrumentation and style, Elton is returning to his roots, even more so than with The Union.

The Union casts a small shadow here, mainly in tone. Though I’m sure that’s Burnett’s touch. Stylistically the album is a mix of The Union, Madman Across the Water, Tumbleweed Connection, and The Captain & The Kid. The album’s consistent core is the piano trio of Elton, bassist Raphael Saadiq, and drummer Jay Bellerose. (Bellerose also performed on The Union.) It’s a noticeable departure from Elton’s touring band, which features decades-long collaborators Davey Johnstone (guitar) and Nigel Olsson (drums, who has played with Elton since 1969’s Empty Sky). Other instruments – strings, brass, background vocals, occasional guitar – are used throughout the album, but sparingly so and without obscuring the core trio. When used, the guitar is still playing second to the piano, and the orchestral instruments are there primarily for texture. This relatively stripped down sound is more akin to a club than an arena or stadium. Make no mistake, however, because many of the songs groove hard.

Band aside, Elton himself sounds real nice. He long ago had to trade in his soaring tenor range for a silky baritone, and it’s on wonderful display here. This is evident right from the beginning with the gentle and nostalgic “Ocean’s Away,” the album’s overture featuring only Elton on voice and piano. Then, bit by bit, the rest of the the band joins in on the haunting but hard-driving “Oscar Wilde Gets Out.” This ode to the Irish writer is the sort of brooding saloon romp that conjures the best of The Union and Tumbleweed Connection. This is followed by the gospel-tinged “A Town Called Jubilee,” the first joyous number, with Taupin painting images of the open West. Taupin continues the Americana with “The Ballad of Blind Tom,” an ode to pianist Blind Tom Wiggins. The song’s narrative reads and sounds as if it were written for a musical, but it’s an effective standalone work. Elton keeps up the gospel- and old school country-influenced stylings on “Take This Dirty Water” and “Mexican Vacation (The Kids in the Candlelight).”

“Home Again,” the album’s first single, is a top shelf ballad that I’m sure will quickly find itself in his Greatest Hits canon. Single or not, it’s a crown jewel of the album and one of the best songs Elton’s written in years. “The New Fever Waltz” and “My Quicksand” are the other ballads, with the latter being the album’s weakest link for me. For those looking for a more recent “Elton sound” a la Songs From the West Coast or The Captain & The Kid, “Can’t Stay Along Tonight” and “Voyeur” scratch that adult contemporary itch. There are also three standalone instrumental interludes, each being a numbered “Dream.” None are as robust as “Funeral for a Friend,” but each provides a nice respite while moving the action along. The album closes with the title track, a mellow lounge number suggestive of a last call.

This could be my favorite of Elton’s late-era albums. If you’ve kept a safe distance from his recent output, this could be your foot in the door. As for me, I’m going to give it yet another spin…

Amazon Link
iTunes Link

MTH-V: Type O Negative

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With today having been Friday the 13th, I can think of few artists or groups more appropriate than Type O Negative. They’re not for the faint of heart, and it’s one of the things I love most about them. The last few weeks have been quite busy, and I’ve been trying to think of just the right video to break the recent streak of posts featuring blog regulars DMB, Dave Liebman, and Richard Wagner. Type O Negative do just that.

TON hold a special place in my heart. They not only write and play heavy, dark, high quality rock – a powerful mixture of baritone vocals, organs, and metal – but they don’t take themselves too seriously. Many of their songs include very dark humor, which I of course always appreciate. Though there are some that at least appear to be relatively seriously, even if the tongue was planted firmly in cheek upon writing. Regardless of any humor, these self-described “four dicks from Brooklyn” bring it musically. In that sense they fall into a lineage not far removed from Frank Zappa. It’s a subtle subversion: for those fans that may be somewhat literalist with the lyrical content, they’re missing the point. It’s rock and roll – you’re not supposed to take yourself too seriously. But the boys still rock. HARD.

Well, they rocked. Bassist and lead singer Peter Steele died in 2010. That wasn’t without some confusion, however, as, due to a gag in 2005, a number of fans didn’t believe the initial reports. I remember walking through an airport in Colorado around that time of the hoax wearing a Type O Negative t-shirt and being stopped by another fan asking, “Is it true?” Ha! Joking aside, Peter’s death was a musical loss for me. I miss him.

I became an active fan around the time of October Rust‘s release (late ’96/early ’97). I saw the band three times: twice at Grand Rapids’s Orbit Room and once at Detroit’s infamous Harpos. (Unfortunately I didn’t attend that Halloween 2009 show at Harpos, which turned out the be the band’s last show.) They were always solid and the shows were tons of fun. The last time I saw them, which was at Harpos in April 2007, they pulled out a couple nice surprises including a renditions of “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Hey Joe” (which they dubbed “Hey Pete”).

I try to keep this blog safe for work, greatly limiting my choices to feature. But this performance of World Coming Down‘s title track in Germany in 1999 is solid. This song is one of their serious numbers, and its album isn’t nearly as humorous as some others (e.g., Origin of the Feces), but if you’ve ever had a tendency to headbang then this should scratch you where you itch. Dig it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN_BlF9Vtvw

 

And a nice audience tape of “Magical Mystery Tour” from the April ’07 show at Harpos:

Dave Liebman at the 2013 Detroit Jazz Festival

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This past weekend was something special: three disparate sets by Dave Liebman over as many days and stages at the Detroit Jazz Festival. I mentioned my excitement in my last post, and the performances met and exceeded the hype. Not only was it three days of The Master, but each performance featured a group I hadn’t before seen live.

Saturday’s headliner at the JP Morgan Chase Main Stage was Saxophone Summit: Lieb, Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane, Billy Hart, Cecil McBee, and Phil Markowitz. This burnin’ 75-minute set consisted of four tunes from the group’s debut album Gathering of Spirits: “Alexander the Great,” “The 12th Man,” “Tricycle,” and Trane’s “India.” After a bit of a loose start – mainly because of sound – it was off to the races with “Alexander the Great,” and the momentum let up not once. It may have just been the mix (i.e., balance) but it sounded as if the scoring was a bit different in parts. Either way I liked it. Cecil McBee’s dark bass lines gave the set a sinister undertone which I greatly enjoyed, and Jabali‘s driving yet unpredictable drumming continually propelled the group forward. And hats off to Phil Markowitz for such tasteful accompanying. He’s unafraid to both fill out the texture with dense harmonies and not play at all, and he knows exactly when to do both. “Tricycle” was perhaps the highlight, as each saxophonist got an opportunity to play in his own style – separate from the others – within the same piece. Lieb and Markowitz played a lovely improvised duo that could be transcribed and held up against most contemporary classical compositions; Lovano nimbly let loose over McBee and Hart’s drunken dance; Coltrane and Hart created an intense, fiery atmosphere reminiscent of the elder Trane and Elvin Jones. This led into Trane’s “India,” featuring Ravi on sopranino (with a great tone, something rarely heard on that instrument!), Lovano on tenor, and Lieb on soprano (and wood flute for the intro). Whatever was left of the metaphorical roof was decimated with Liebman’s final solo and Billy Hart’s drumming.

liebrich
(photo by me)

Sunday’s set at the Absopure Pyramid Stage was a duo performance by Lieb and longtime collaborator Richie Beirach. I was particularly excited for this concert because one of the first Liebman recordings I remember experiencing was Tribute to John Coltrane, which features a superb duo performance of “After the Rain” into “Naima.” (And, having purchased so many Lookout Farm, Quest, and other related recordings since then, I was ready to see the real deal in person.) They kicked off their hour set with a lovely tenor/piano rendition of “‘Round Midnight” that traveled quite a stylistic journey: a gentle ballad to bookend frenetic, chromatic solos, finished off with an exploratory cadenza. Liebman showed that, while he’s a Mt. Rushmore-level soprano saxophonist, he’s also dangerous on the tenor. Next was Beirach’s haunting “Testament,” followed by Wayne Shorter’s “Prince of Darkness” and an intense “Footprints.” Their duo rendition of “Footprints” was more intense than most versions I’ve heard by full groups, with Lieb’s characteristic soprano stylings and the pair’s ultra-chromatic approach in full flight. Closing out the set was Liebman’s “Tender” and the Quest classic “Pendulum.” The latter was a nice whetting of the audience’s appetite for the next day’s performance.

quest
(photo by me)

On Monday, Quest was featured at the Carhartt Ampitheater Stage, and it was a wonderful way to complete this triptych. Quest is a hard-charging acoustic quartet consisting of Liebman, Beirach, Billy Hart, and Ron McClure. Originally running from the early ’80s to ’91, Lieb exclusively played soprano with the group until the 2005 reunion. Living in Michigan, I thought I’d never be able to see this group without traveling to the east coast or overseas. (I’ve contemplated the former once or twice in the past.) Seeing them perform was a masterclass in ensemble communication. (The same could be said for the Lieb/Beirach duo and the now-defunct Dave Liebman Group.) Their musical empathy with one another allows for near telepathy, making the music unpredictable. They play without a safety net, and as a listener you know you’ll enjoy wherever they take you, even if it’s a complete mystery. They opened the set with a no-holds-barred “Pendulum” – their de facto theme – with Liebman on tenor. After the melody’s opening salvo, the group took off. Slowing things down a bit, next up was a treat for me: the Lookout Farm-era “M.D.” (Liebman). Of course, even Quest’s “slower” moments are rife with intensity, but they followed that up with a “Footprints” that took no prisoners – I thought his poor soprano would explode – and a “Re-Dial” that featured a complex collective improvisation. Beirach then demonstrated his command of both composition and improvisation on “Elm,” a beautiful ballad and now standard. (Or, rather, what best suits this quartet as a “ballad,” something still too strong for some listeners.) Much to my surprise, the group then played Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman,” featuring Lieb playing the wooden flute exclusively. In my review of DLG’s Ornette Plus – is mine really the only review of that album? – I praised DLG’s ability to create an almost electronic soundscape. Well, Quest may have one-upped that rendition, as they created a complementary haunting atmosphere with Lieb at the helm but with acoustic instruments. No pulse, just flowing sound and texture. It was definitely a highlight of the weekend. They then concluded their set with a version Wayne Shorter’s “Paraphernalia” that made Circular Dreaming‘s studio cut seem tame. Each time Billy Hart played his fleeting rock rhythms, I’m sure Danny Carey and Vinnie Paul felt a tremor in The Force. I’m surprised the stage remained standing at the performance’s end.

Needless to say, it was an amazing weekend. (…and I didn’t even discuss the great performances by Charles Lloyd and John Scofield!) I know that Dave is often considered “a musician’s musician,” which he definitely is, but I’m confident that he garnered many new fans over the weekend at the world’s largest free jazz festival. The NEA Jazz Master consistently demonstrated to the Detroit audience why he deserves to be counted among the pantheon of the jazz greats.