viewfromthemarc : Year End

Album of 2011:

Keith Jarrett RIO

Single of 2011:

Kate Bush WILD MAN

Favourite Movie of 2011:

SALT OF LIFE

Best Gig of 2011:

THE BLOCKHEADS @ Exeter Corn Exchange

Best Book:

NILE RODGERS - LE FREAK

The Blockheads, Ronnie Scott's - 23/11/11

I left the unbelievably grey depressing King's Cross on Wednesday via a tube to Piccadilly Circus and then walked to Soho, and Frith Street home to Ronnie Scott's and all the colour and excitement of the world came flooding back with The Blockheads playing the 3rd night of their 4 night residency at the legendary jazz club.  My sight line was pretty good, could have been better considering I had Priority Seating but The Blockheads were on form and played a very cool set including "Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)", "What A Waste", "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll", "Wake Up and Make Love With Me" and an absolutely blinding "Inbetweenies" which was my highlight of the night with some great squelchy synth lines from Chaz Jankel along with a roaring "Spasticus Autisticus" and the obligatory "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" with bass supremo Norman Watt Roy accentuating the bass line with some nifty playing.  Front man Derek Hussey is doing a superb job as successor to the late, great Ian Dury and penning some excellent lyrics, many surfacing this evening from The Blockheads last excellent studio album "Staring Down The Barrel".

                                                            with Derek Hussey

                                                            

Ronnie Wood @ Castle Galleries, Exeter 22/10/11

I sunk a Mint Julep at the cocktail bar at the Royal Clarence and headed down the road past Exeter Cathedral into Castle Galleries who are the first to exhibit Ronnie Wood's debut collection for Washington Green Fine Art featuring four pieces entitled The Famous Flames Suite focusing on the members of The Rolling Stones and a fifth piece entitled Stones On Stage - Got Me Rockin'.

I am instantly grabbed by Ronnie's strong use of colour with orange wave like flames swirling around the Stones caught in the live arena and the energy of the piece captured by Ronnie working in acrylics, oils and oil pastels.

Cassandra Keeley , Art Consultant at Castle Galleries kindly allowed me to take some photographs of Ronnie's latest collection.

Cara Dillon, Exeter Phoenix October 6 2011

The Irish folk singer Cara Dillon returned to the Exeter Phoenix on Wednesday, still touting the excellent Hill of Thieves album around the concert halls of the UK.  A front row seat assured me of the best sight line in the sold out Phoenix and Cara in a beautiful red dress sung like an angel throughout ably supported by her excellent band. 

Cara performed a scattering of songs from her fine back catalogue; After The Morning brought in a slowed down version of I Wish You Well and a truly sublime Garden Valley caught Cara bathed in blue light, totally absorbed in the moment.  Black Is The Colour from Cara's debut eponymous album was another highlight and there is definitely a spiritual, tranquil vibe to Cara's music steeped in Celtic tradition. 

Cara aired Come Flying With Me which appears in the Disney cartoon Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue which she commented she sings as a lullaby to her two 4 year old sons !!  The whole gig was magnificent and concluded with the haunting The Parting Glass from Hill of Thieves

If you haven't seen Cara live you are in for a treat and she is touring the UK and Ireland over October and November.

                                                           with Cara 06/10/11

ROBERT PALMER + exclusive DONY WYNN INTERVIEW

September 26th 2011 saw the 8th anniversary of Robert Palmer's passing and as to be expected generally no mention of Robert in the media or music press and no attempt by Island or EMI to release a retrospective box set of Robert's illustrious back catalogue.

It appears EMI are only concerned with Pink Floyd reissues and Island is certainly no longer the Chris Blackwell managed label it once was.  Robert's solo career certainly kicked off in fine style after Vinegar Joe with "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" employing Little Feat as Robert's backing band and Steve Smith and Phill Brown on production duties and follow up albums "Pressure Drop" and "Some People Can Do What They Like" continued the party and Tom Moulton produced "Double Fun" added lush beautiful soulful numbers and "Clues" offered 1980 new wave stylings, cementing Robert as a leading player in the industry.

Robert's departure from Island to EMI in 1988 fan fared "Heavy Nova" which was abundant in hit singles through to swansong "Honey" which is possibly the most criminally ignored rock album of all time.  Robert left EMI and offered "Rhythm and Blues" in 1999 and his final album "Drive" a bourbon soaked blues masterpiece, once again largely ignored and only consumed by the die-hard fan base.

In my interview with Dony Wynn - Robert's drummer extraordinaire for 23 years, Dony kindly shares his thoughts on Robert and the music.

Did you think "Honey" was poorly promoted by EMI on it's release and what were the sessions like recording.  It seems an album of two parts, ballady type affairs and then almost thrashy metal numbers.
"Poorly promoted indicates there was promotion. There was none. EMI got bought two months before Robert's release, so the project was left on the shelf and forgotten; that happens in mergers, anything associated with old staff, outgoing regime, is dismissed. The nothing that followed what we considered one of our best works, was the dismal reality that the music business was rapidly changing, losing the plot, and Robert, pretty much, decided to call it a day, let his catalogue work for him. So he did. I went my separate way musically, but we remained close close friends until his passing.

Is there a favourite Robert Palmer album of yours Dony and why? Clues -we advanced the ball in a major way, recorded in the Bahamas, a very sweet sweet time, and I received some watershed gifts from the process that I continue to utilize today in just about every recording session I do. One of our apexes, for sure.


Did Robert ask you to play on Rhythm & Blues or Drive or had you gone in different directions by this point? He was exploring home recording, a natural evolution for him given the state of the business at that time. I went into a self exile, keeping in touch with him by means of fax, and the occasional email. he preferred fax and real handwriting.

Any thoughts on the "Riptide" sessions?  did you drum on "Addicted To Love" or was it Tony Thompson.  you definitely played on "Disp of Love" and "Get It Through your Heart". A ton of fun. Met Jason Corsaro, arguably the best engineer on the planet. Tony performed Addicted. I was accepted by some NYC heavies who made me up my game quite a bit. So, very thankful for that experience, and also made some lifetime friendships, specifically with Eddie Martinez.

FISH - THE THUNDERBOLT, BRISTOL 10/06/11

Friday June 10th saw me head off to Bristol to see Fish play a blinding gig at The Thunderbolt in rainy Totterdown.  The venue is a 150 capacity, restored Grade 2 listed former 1830's tollhouse !  The gig was sold out and to be honest there was very little room to manoeuvre but I did manage to get a spot near the stage and enjoy  the set which sees  Fish, guitarist Frank Usher and keyboard extraordinaire Foss Paterson strip down the Fish and Marillion back catalogue into an acoustic format.  Highlights for me were Zoe 25,The Company, Vigil, Incubus and a brilliant Sugar Mice.  There were plenty more excellent songs aired into the low ceiling of The Thunderbolt but the real ales have blurred my memory ;-)))

Post show found me drinking with fellow Fish fans and a photo with Fish

Slainte Mhath !!

                                                     with Fish @ Thunderbolt
                                                 

Andrew Gold and Martin Rushent

Very sad news over the weekend to hear of Andrew Gold and Martin Rushent.

I can vividly remember being in a hotel disco in Norwich in 1987 drinking my "first" lagers as a 17 year old and first hearing Wax "Building A Bridge To Your Heart" booming from the speakers ; it was terrific, I didn't even know who Andrew Gold was until much later...  and then you discover he wrote the classic, timeless "Lonely Boy" and "Never Let Her Slip Away" which nail me every time I hear them.  Understated.  God bless Andrew Gold.

and then Martin Rushent who produced the first 3 Stranglers albums -  nuff' said - the guy was a genius.  a sad weekend indeed.

LITTLE FEAT

I ask Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett legendary guitar players with Little Feat how many goddamn sessions they have played on - the list is endless !!  From Paul laying down smokin' riffs with Robert Palmer in the heady Island Records days and Fred acting as in-house guitarist for Jimmy Webb in the seventies their CV is more than impressive...

... and one balmy, hot April evening (tonight) I am playing one of my all time favourite albums "Some Change" by Boz Scaggs and scanning the sleeve credits discover Fred Tackett plays guitar on "Sierra" a track I first heard back in 1994 when on vacation in La Coruna, North Spain !!

                                             with Paul and Fred

MARILLION - SOMEWHERE ELSE SOUNDCHECK REVIEW

For any Marillion fans out there my review of their soundcheck @ Forum, London in 2007 that I wrote for Marillion The Web UK

http://www.theweb-uk.com/members/reviews/2007/SWETour/LondonMarc.htm

Smoke Room - Sadly It’s Forever

just a heads up on Smoke Room a new signing to the hip Mostar Records label who deliver on their new single "Sadly It's Forever" a nice slice of down-tempo,  atmospheric electronica which wouldn't sound out of place on the soundtrack to Yolande Zauberman's Clubbed To Death movie.  Fans of Massive Attack and Nightmares on Wax will instantly warm to this moody, cinematic number.  Pour yourself a nice chilled glass of sauvignon blanc and put the headphones on...

http://www.mostarrecords.com/releases/

CAITLIN ROSE @ EXETER PHOENIX - 09/03/2011

Nashville honey Caitlin Rose checks into a very "un-Americana" Exeter and plays a pretty much sold out gig at the Phoenix venue which laps up Caitlin's latest "Own Side Now" album which showcases her as (new) country's leading lady with beautiful torch songs steeped in pedal steel and electric guitars and even throws in a cover of the classic Rolling Stones number "Dead Flowers" and Patsy Cline's "Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray"

Caitlin is also a delight to watch and the whole evening passes by way too quickly.  I catch up with Caitlin post-show and find out to my great delight that Jimmy Webb is a "favourite" of hers and with that the clink of beer bottles toasts a fantastic Americana evening despite the very reserved Exeter audience in tow.

                                         with Caitlin Rose   

THUNDER TO REFORM @ HIGH VOLTAGE FESTIVAL 2011

Great news to hear Thunder are reforming for a one-date at this summer's High Voltage Festival.  This may somewhat surprise Thunder fans as the once EMI signed rockmeisters only ended a 'farewell' tour in the summer of 2009.  Nevertheless, Thunder's return is most welcome.  I last met guitarist Luke Morley a few years back at the Childline Rocks concert at the O2 Arena prior to Luke forming his current band The Union.

                                                           with Luke Morley

JIMMY WEBB @ QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL, Monday February 7 2011

I jumped off the Waterloo tube into the cold night air of the Southbank and strolled to the beautiful, stunning Queen Elizabeth Hall, the London Eye lit up in blue neon mesmerizing.

My reason this evening for my visit to the Southbank Centre is to see Jimmy Webb tour his current album "Just Across The River" and now chalking up my seventh Jimmy Webb gig this show did not disappoint and in the beautiful acoustics of the QEH amplify the classic, timeless Webb back catalogue which included tonight such gems as "The Highwayman", "Macarthur Park", "Galveston", "Up, Up and Away" and "Witchita Lineman". 

To see Jimmy Webb alone at the piano and perform these songs is utterly a wonderful thing and with Mark Knopfler in the audience I am on cloud nine.

Unfortunately, Jimmy was not doing an official signing session after the gig as he was still recovering from a flu bug which had cancelled the Brighton and Cambridge gigs over the weekend but I did manage to meet Jimmy briefly outside the Artist's Entrance at the QEH and did manage to get my Letters album signed before Jimmy sped away in his chauffeur driven car so I attach below a photograph from a previous Jimmy Webb outing taken @ Ronnie Scott's in September 2007 where I attended Jimmy's 3 night residency.

                                           with Jimmy Webb @ Ronnie Scott's

Smoke Fairies @ Exeter Phoenix - Monday January 31 2011

the two beautiful sirens in the shape of Jessica Davies and Katherine Blamire who make up Smoke Fairies are gracing the stage at the Exeter Phoenix this cold January evening and having caught them at the Acoustica Festival last year I know I am in for a treat.  The girls from Chichester play a moody, swampy guitar drenched set playing all the songs from their debut album "Through Low Light And Trees" and also an excellent cover of Killing Joke's "Requiem"

I had the great pleasure of meeting Katherine and Jessica after the show and I congratulated them both on a fantastic gig.  Highly recommended.

                                    with Katherine and Jessica