festival comments

[Kenny]

Whatever your feelings about the current festival, you really should spend at least one afternoon from noon at Federation Square.

In fact, given the fact it's free and the kind of music on offer, it's also a great opportunity to take friends and family of the not-really-that-into-music variety for a fine afternoon's entertainment.

I thought Funk Off were pretty good, if not quite as goosey and loosey as their New Orleans counterparts.

I could only stay for about half the gospel outfit's set before I had to return to the office, but it was truly a kick.

Kinda hokey, but just about all US gospel is.

But when folks like these start cutting up, the electricfying, spontaneous response among themselves and the frission it transmits to the audience is viscerally unlike any other kind of music I have ever experienced in terms of speed, goose bumps and goofy grins.

It was good to be reminded of that. And I'm glad I was wearing my sunnies so's folkses couldn't see I was crying.

Love Train, Baby!

The two chilli sausages I had from the farmers' Market were pretty darn heavenly, too.

I'd never been in the Edge venue before - pretty cool. I stayed for and enjoyed just a few Chindamo tunes before heading back to the sunshine.

I thought Chindamo and Morrison were wonderful last night, the Italians less so, although they were hampered by the venue's dodgy sound.

Hoping to see the new Choulai aggregation tonight.

[aj]

Crying ? They weren't THAT bad !!!

(Although they were rather Las Vegas for my liking).

[Kenny]

AJ and I had phone conversation about the Las Vegas jibe this afternoon.

AJ felt they were too Las Vegas, and that an outfit like the Five Blind Boys have more depth. That may be so, but to me that's like comparing apples and oranges

Let me explain where I'm at with this sort of thing.

I've seen oddles of live gospel in the US, both at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and elsewhere.

I accept that these artists are (mostly) practising Christians.

But they are also entertainers. They love dressing up. They love putting on a show. They love the whole theatrical thing. And, as with so many aspects of American culture, sentimentality is rife.

If there are comparisons with Las Vegas glitz in gospel - or soul or R&B or even zydeco - it doesn't mean it COMES from Las Vegas.

It reminds me of seeing bluesman Jimmy Rogers in London many moons ago with a couple of work friends. They were absolutely appalled by his natty suit and continual "Thank yous" to the band and promoter.

I guess they couldn't handle the fact he wasn't wearing a sackcloth and didn't conform to their idea of the Noble Negro Artist.

Or some such crap.

[vickihb2]

Practising Christians? The Five Blind Boys needed some practice, their harmonies were so bloody awful I seem to recall. Anyway, are they dead yet? I may have them confused with another group of ghastly singers. Or perhaps it's because they couldn't see the charts very well.

When I was studying music - a billion years ago - the school had a big Gospel choir of young singers of West Indian and African backgrounds. The jazz mob used to joke that you could tell who was who, Gospel singers turned up to rehearsal dressed for a wedding and the jazz students looked like ... they did the gardening for the Las Vegas Gospel artists. Except for me, I was and always shall be the most glamorous woman on earth with a hair toss[glow=red,2,300]sexier[/glow]than Michael Bolton's.

[aj]

Bloody awful Vicki ? I'm pretty sure you're thinking of someone else (maybe the Holmes Bros ?), surely not the Blind Boys of Alabama.

re the gospel choir in town this week, I thought they were a bit Vegas (ie slick, contrived). But I should add, for anyone who had the misfortune to see the so-called Harlem Gospel Choir at the Melburne Arts Festival a few years back, nowhere near as bad as that lot.

[me]

Bit like being the world's tallest midget then.

[vickihb2]

Hey my memory could be foggy, for sure.

I was in Accra, circa 1984 at a concert where several blind men from southern United States of America performed to the enthusiastic Ghanain audience.

Gerry Rawlins the Ghanain/Scots dictator was running the country. His method of dealing with the opposition was by shooting them. So the Ghanains needed a distraction!

Anyway, these guys had been brought over by the US embassy and I was with a mate who was President of the Musicians Union of Ghana! Yes the musos were still going, coup or no coup. Dan Banini, was his name. He was a master percussionist. I remember he introduced me to some local musicians. They played logs and drums and one had a guitar with two strings on it. You couldn't get guitar strings, soap or toilet paper etc. becuase of the coup.

I heard some great live music in Ghana but the blind bloke singers from southern ____ US weren't very good.
Neither was that Harlem Choir, gee whiz AJ were you at that too? That was a tad uninspiring, I agree.

If you have ever read any of the Ladies Detective Agency stories that is exactly what my favourite parts of Africa are like. Botswana and Ghana are very similar. I do miss Africa when I read those books.

[Kenny]

aj said:

re the gospel choir in town this week, I thought they were a bit Vegas (ie slick, contrived). But I should add, for anyone who had the misfortune to see the so-called Harlem Gospel Choir at the Melburne Arts Festival a few years back, nowhere near as bad as that lot.

Slick, contrived? Well, yeah - but in my experience that goes with the territory, so much so that I hardly even notice.

The Harlem crew, which I also caught, had all that - and very little of anything else. Dreadful.

[God]

I'll share a secret with you. I did fail when I created those Blind Boys of Alabama. Oft times their harmonies were way out, in a bad way out way. But ya know I can't be expected to get everything right. I mean, like, competition with the other side is so totally gettin hard, dudes, with their marketing and globalisation tactics and Paris Hilton. I don't even own an ipod. No one ever remembers MY birthday.

[Kenny]

Hell, Daddy-o, you must be doing something right - the Tigers are hammering Carlton by about 100 points.

[Milly]

I saw James Morrison quintet last night at the Forum..I have had my doubts about JM but have been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt..saw him with Joe Chindamo on Thurs and was ok if a show off..last night though confirmed my doubts..why he is seen as a face of jazz by esp commercial media smaks of laziness...he can play all those instruments but where's the music?..what we got was a (long) cabaret show that followed a great set by Stefano Bollini Quintet showing why jazz never sits still.. nice guy JM but there is so much going on outside what he recycles night after night..great band he had but stifled by dogged conservatism....

[Kenny]

So is your boyfriend called Lollipop?

[Milly]

I was hoping for some sort of intelligent response....

[Kenny]

OK then ...

Thursday night's bash was only the second time I had seen Morrison live. The first time was so awful, I wasn't in hurry to make it happen again.

As it was, I thought the joking and stuff was more than bearable and the chops simply astonlshing. If he had a hankering to overuse them, I reckon Joe - so rooted in the song - put paid to it. I thought it was very, very good.

But going by your reports of his own outfit, it seems that tiger ain't gonna be changing his spots anytime soon.

And as you've seemingly never posted here before, you're lucky to get any response at all - especially on a Saturday night during a jazz festival!

Me, I'm just an offfice tragic on Saturday nights! Sob! Moan! Wahhhhh!!!!!

[festy]

Shame on me haven't made it to any Umbria shows yet but saw a couple of corkers last night at the fringe fest - tinkler solo trumpet astonishing at make it up club, and then jamie o joining jules to tear it up across the road at cape lounge. i've always appreciated jamie's playing, but just lately he seems to have taken the shackles off and he sounds fantastic (don't worry jules, you're always beautiful)