Arts Projects Australia. Botanic Park. Fri Mar 10 – Mon Mar 13
There's nothing quite as daunting for a music journo than to begin writing a review of a WOMADelaide festival. With the event having grown into a juggernaut now spanning four days and hosting more artists than ever (both changes having good and bad aspects from a WOMAD veteran's perspective), it's difficult to know where to begin, even for me, who's attended the festival for half of its 25-year lifespan; which means I've been to well over half, since it was initially a bi-annual event.
With that in mind, I'll start somewhere entirely unexpected: Detroit Michigan, U.S.A! An odd place, yes, but I start there because, last year, I was lucky enough to stumble across the Detroit Jazz Festival while visiting the beautiful and underrated city as part of a motoring mecca pilgrimage of a classic motoring enthusiast. In many ways, the experience reminded me of my first forays into WOMADelaide: I didn't really know any bands that were there; I had an extensive interest in the music that would be on offer; and I became completely immersed in the event. Detroit Jazz Festival is like WOMAD on steroids – there is a bunch of stages spread across the city, participation of more food trucks than you can imagine, contributions from local businesses all around, and best of all, it is all free, so the patronage is through the roof (if there had been a roof - it's an open air affair!).
It is great fun to hang out with all those African American jazz aficionados and others grooving the nights away and definitely a grand experience that really took me back…
The highlight of the Jazz Festival for me was a New Orleans band called The Soul Rebels. Eight members strong, with all brass and percussion, they had an unbelievable urban sound that brought together culture and music from across the ages... it was definitely a blast, and the perfect segue into this years' WOMADelaide highlight for me, The Hot 8 Brass Band.
Also hailing from New Orleans, I was lucky enough to see these guys last time they were at WOMADelaide, and I was blown away. Needless to say, I've been hanging out to see them again, and they were my main motivation for attending this year.
They do not disappoint!
Kicking of early with these guys on Friday is truly brilliant. They play a bunch of tunes from their 20-year history, plus a few covers and interludes into other tunes too, and bring some real American culture to Adelaide. Of course, jazz is at the heart of what they do – a truly American art form – and these guys allow it to be fully expressed as they improvise and interweave solos with each other, building on each other’s vibe and that of the crowd.
But the Hot 8 isn’t just about jazz. There’s blues, African, soul and hip hop all thrown in for good measure. There are some great call-and-response moments, and some pretty good crowd participation too. Tunes like What’s My Name (Rock With The Hot 8) and Take It To The House, the latter from the band’s latest long player Tombstone, went down well (and lasted a good ten minutes each!). While covers of The Wailers’ Waiting In Vain, the Temptations’ Papa Was A Rolling Stone and Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing each produce the expected level of crowd satisfaction!
To round things off, the band comes out into the crowd for the last tune, instruments in tow, and goes all acoustic in the round! It is truly fantastic stuff, reminiscent of Ozomatli sambaing through the crowd way back at my first WOMADelaide.
It’s great to see this sort of thing still happening; it restores one’s faith in music. The Hot 8 Brass Band are brilliant, and I plan to try catching them again on Sunday.
For something completely different, I wander down to stage 3 to catch Argentinean band, Orquesta Tipica Fernández Fierro. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Argentina, and tasted plenty of local culture, including folkloric and traditional music. I’ve taken quite a shine to what the country offers.
Fernández Fierro are a massive 12-piece act who essentially play tango music, with a folkloric wistfulness. Argentinean music, much like its people, is passionate and emotive with a massive emotional flair that really tugs at the heart-strings. The Orquesta manage to capture all of that emotion and bottle it into a brilliant set. My Spanish is not too bad (Argentinean Spanish is hard to understand and singing makes it harder as you lose context and intonation) but some of the lyrical content was quite dark and almost depressive, with the singer pouring her soul into every word! Couple that with sharply staccato music that creates a sense of urgency and pain, and you have the makings of a great show.
The Orquesta consists mainly of violins (and a cello and bass) and accordions creating a sound that’s relatively unique in Australia, and enhancing the whole experience. On top of that, there is an excess of dry ice to heighten the atmosphere. This coupled with band members who could easily pass as heavy metal dudes and the set is very impressive indeed. It’s a shame the folks behind me wanted to chat so loudly, that is, until I asked them to be quiet!
From the heart of Argentina to the desert plains of Africa, my Friday is rounded out by the bluesy grooves of Malian musical queen Oumou Sangaré and her fine band. Malian music is a big part of any WOMADelaide line-up, and with a rich musical heritage to draw from it makes sense to showcase the West African sounds regularly.
Malian music is often described as ‘desert blues’, and it’s a fair description. The West African sounds, including those from Mali, form the basis of today’s blues and rock music. The Africans brought their musical culture with them to America during the times of the slave trade, and listening to the traditional sounds always provides an interesting allegory and comparison.
Things have come full circle too, with western instruments like guitars, bass, and keys featuring in many modern Malian acts. Oumou Sangaré is no exception and, joined by a kora player and some singers and dancers, the whole spectacle is something to behold. The music drones on, almost lulling you into a musical trance, and one can’t help but groove along. Oumou’s amazing, powerful voice cuts through it all, bringing a stark focus to the otherwise trance-inducing grooves.
Though I have visited Africa many times, West Africa remains absent from my list; despite not physically travelling there, listening to music like this takes me there spiritually.
So rounds out the first day of WOMADelaide for 2017. There’s plenty more in store throughout the weekend so stay tuned! To be continued…!
Luke Balzan
When: 10 to 13 Mar
Where: Botanic Park
Bookings: womadelaide.com.au
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in association with the Adelaide Festival Centre. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 16 Feb 2017
Tonight’s concert was a well-received salute to the career of the legendary David Bowie, who sadly died just over a year ago from cancer. To say that he was controversial and an innovator is an understatement. His music was distinctive, and it soars when it is seen, as well as heard – the visuals are all important.
Above the mighty assembled forces of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra was a giant lightning bolt, the sort that was emblazoned over the face of Ziggy Stardust. The myriad number of LEDs built into it became an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colors and became a focal point for the performance. It almost smacked of iconography. (Is there a symbol that encapsulates Bowie?). In front of the orchestra was a six-piece band: drum kit, grand piano – always impressive to look at, but wasted on this occasion – assorted guitars and hand-held percussion. Five vocalists stood in front of them all, mostly costumed in ways to help ‘sell’ the songs they sang. The stage was full, and the stimulating iridescent lighting plot was empathetic to the music. The visuals were impressive, but the vocals did not always soar to the same heights.
Bowie is singular and his various musical personas are idiosyncratic. To bring them to life without becoming cheesy and (dangerously) stumbling into trying to ape his style, needs the performer to bring something special and more than pub-singing to the challenge.
iOTA was first up with Space Oddity, and he was superb. He looked the part and inflected the piece with the requisite mix of angst and derision; the sound mixing wasn’t quite up to the mark however. His depth of understanding of the songs was a highlight of the evening, as was his theatricality, his musicality and the sheer force of his fine voice. Everything he sang demanded to be watched and listened to intently. His Ashes to Ashes was touching, and the carefully constructed sparseness of his Life on Mars was something Bowie himself would have approved of. The musical arrangement was ‘just right’ and the might of the orchestra did not get in the way as it did in some other pieces.
iOTA was the standout, but Deborah Conway also helped carry the success of the concert. Conway’s husky performances of Ziggy Stardust and Oh You Pretty Things were also highlights. Tim Rogers at times looked as if he was channeling Elvis, and his performance strengthened and became more stylised as the programme unfolded. His rendition of Lazarus was captivating. Adalita was a foil for iOTA, Conway and Rogers. She injected ‘coolness’, but it just wasn’t Bowie. However, her duets and trios were well received by the large audience, in particular Suffragette City and Fame. Steve Kilbey was vocally lack-lustre throughout the evening, but Changes and China Girl were well handled.
The concert was named after the album Nothing Has Changed, which is a compilation album by David Bowie. It was released in November 2014 and is the first album to showcase Bowie's entire career, and it included previously unreleased material. The album peaked at number 5 on the UK charts following Bowie's death in early 2016 and a revised version was released in November of the same year.
If they could have physically handled it, the performance of the play list would have been more impressive if it was just sung by iOTA, Conway and Rogers.
The very large audience just adored this concert, and it is a testimony to the genius of Bowie that mature ladies in their 70s enjoyed the concert as much as those who were in their 30s!
Thank you ASO.
Thank you band.
Thank you singers.
But most of all, thank you David Bowie.
Kym Clayton
When: 16 and 17 Feb
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 11 Feb 2017
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which is essentially a piano concerto, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No.2 are perhaps strange bedfellows when presented on the same “great classics” programme, but together they worked a treat. There are some connections between them: the rhapsody includes ‘that’ famous clarinet glissando, and the third movement of the symphony also features a hauntingly beautiful clarinet solo. Both were brought to us by ASO principal clarinet Dean Newcomb who was at his best and greatly deserved his individual applause; and back in 1924, when the concerto had its debut performance, Rachmaninoff himself was in the audience.
The music of Gerswhin is quintessentially American. Its rhythms and melodies are idiosyncratic, it is jazz inflected, and it bears some of the impressionistic hallmarks of Ravel and Debussy. The famous Rhapsody is all those things, and from the opening clarinet gliss through to the final crashing chords on the piano, it is a roller coaster of invention, melody and toe-tapping good fun. Early in the piece, Carter threw out the challenge to pianist Simon Tedeschi and from then on it was an exciting conversation between soloist and orchestra that pushed the piece to its limits. At times the orchestra seemed overpowered, but Tedeschi always responded with something that shone thorough: at times it was his almost ruthless strength, and at other times it was his gentle and calming lyricism. The large audience lapped it up and didn’t let Tedeschi escape without an encore. He is an Australian treasure.
Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No.2 in E minor comes in at around sixty minutes. Whichever way you look at it, it is vast in its conception. Where the Gershwin announces it numerous melodies with little fuss, the Rachmaninoff takes its time – lots of it – but there is not a wasted moment. Every bar is needed and the result is full of light and shade, simplicity and complexity, brooding and cheerfulness. Whereas Carter threw himself onto the podium and into the first beat of the Gershwin, he approached the Rachmaninoff with considered care and thoughtfulness. The audience knows what to expect in the third movement, when the piece announces what is surely one of the finest Rachmaninoff tunes ever, but Carter also drew out the more subtle beauty of the first and second movements as well, before strapping us in for the bumpy ride of the finale.
This was the first major concert of the ASO’s 2017 calendar. What a ride, but there’s a lot more to come!
Kym Clayton
When: 11 Feb
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Arts Projects Australia. Festival Theatre. 8 Feb 2017
Ludovico’s music is not classic concert music. It most likely will survive neither the ravages of the passing years nor the fickleness of changing fashions, but in the here and now it has something that draws appreciative crowds of devotees in their thousands. Last night’s near-capacity audience at the Festival Theatre was captivated, and for a brief two hours and ten minutes had their cares massaged away in what was a meditative yet provoking sensory experience.
Einaudi’s music is best appreciated in the concert hall, because it is about more than the music. Listening to it is one thing, but seeing it performed and perforce having to concentrate without yielding to the distractions of one’s home when listening to it on CD, draws you into another dimension which gives the music an altogether different meaning. Einaudi’s music is not programme music – it is not written with a story in mind – yet it coerces one’s mind to create a narrative; to search out meaning. But there is no meaning, it is just uncomplicated absolute music that ‘draws’ you in. It is truly the stuff of deep introspection, and it is special. In some respects it reminds me of the effect that the Mahler’s symphonies have on me: eventually you forget that you are actually listening to it – you know it’s there but it has taken your mind on a journey to some other place.
Einaudi’s ensemble is comprised of himself at the grand piano and five other sharp-looking musicians all dressed in black who play guitars, acoustic violin, acoustic (and electric) cello, electronic keyboards, samplers and other special effects gadgetry, an array of hand percussion, and rhythm and bass guitars. It’s difficult to know whether they are fine musicians because of the amplification, overall simplicity of the compositions and arrangements, and the improvisation, but their combined impact is substantial. Curiously, each composition is ephemeral: barely seconds after it is over, or after one brief musical idea passes into another (not always elegantly or comfortably), it is forgotten. It was a thing of the moment, but the moment was sublime.
A feature of the performance are provoking visual images that were projected onto the entirety of the expansive upstage wall behind the ensemble. The connection between the image and the music at the time was never obvious, but that was entirely the point. The music and the image combined to oblige the conscious mind to seek meaning, and everyone’s meaning was surely different, and the result was a unique reflective experience. At times the images appeared to be ancient naïve maps. Then they became glimpses of ancient texts, and then reminiscences of geometrical theorems. And then there were harsh, obtrusive and almost blinding lighting effects that were the psychological equivalents of ‘control-alt-delete’: one’s mind was shocked out of its current state, reset, and thrown into the next musical idea.
It is not classic, but the experience was, and won’t be forgotten for a while. Einaudi designs musical experience, as much as he composes musical compositions.
Kym Clayton
When: 8 Feb
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Royal School Of Church Music. Wesley Uniting Church, Kent Town. 8 Jan 2017
Malcolm Archer is an important figure in the world of cathedral music (organ and choir), and his credentials are second to none. He has composed for HM Queen Elizabeth II and has been Director of Music in no less that St Paul’s Cathedral in London. He has performed across the globe and is a recorded artist.
Promoted by the Royal School of Church Music, it would have been reasonable to assume that this particular concert would be ‘churchy’, but it was anything but. Yes, it did feature some of the music of the greats from the classical and romantic eras, but it also included works from modern-day composers (including Archer himself) and gave the large audience a fabulous survey of organ music in all its majesty.
Beginning with Mendelssohn’s Sonata No.3 in A and following on with Bach’s very impressive Three Chorale Preludes from Orgelbüchlein, the programme then sprinted to more contemporary compositions. Without daring to ‘bag’ Bach and Mendelssohn, it wasn’t until Cesar Franck’s Chorale No.3 in A minor that the concert really ‘took off’.
Franck’s Chorale No.3 is a stunning example of the shifting of the epicentre of organ music from Germany to France, and what an earth moving experience it is! The Chorale amply demonstrates the sheer majesty, power, complexity and capability of the pipe organ. Curiously the Chorale almost anticipates the blues music of the late 19th century from the deep south of the USA! Archer’s extraordinary technical skills and expert registration of the organ allowed the individual voices to shine through clearly. No mean feat.
As Archer quipped, how on earth does one follow Franck’s Chorale in a recital? You can’t better it so, do something totally and weirdly different, and he did. Trotter’s humorous arrangement of Leroy Anderson’s much loved Sleigh Ride was just the ticket, and Archer’s two helpers – one on rhythm sticks and the other on sleigh bells – got the very large audience into a toe tapping mood. Archer’s mischievous ‘neigh’ at the end drew much applause and laughter (although he was likely out of key!)
Archer’s performance of Vierne’s Carillon de Westminster was superlative. It’s a relatively simple composition and hardly virtuose, but in the hands of someone less skilled and musically aware than Archer, it has the potential to stall in the blocks. Not so with this performance, which was beautifully understated with precisely executed syncopated rhythms and rolling broken chords in which every note could be clearly heard.
The final piece was an impromptu improvisation (!) of Christmas carols that the audience nominated there and then. Archer has no time to plan how he would bring together famous tunes like Joy to the World, White Christmas, Jingle Bells and Mary’s Boy Child to name a few. The result was mesmerising and it almost sounded like a composition of original themes.
This is the first concert I have attended in the Wesley Uniting Church, and the Dodd pipe organ is a spectacular focal point. So much the better to hear it in the hands of someone of Malcolm Archer’s musical stature. He is a true master.
Kym Clayton
When: 8 Jan
Where: Wesley Uniting Church
Bookings: Closed