Joe Jackson live. Paradiso, Amsterdam Monday 8 April 2019

Photo: Wo.

"There are bands and there are bands", commented My Love when we exited Paradiso and that is a truth like a cow.

Paradiso was filled to the brim. Clad in my now supertight t-shirt from spring 1984's 'Body and Soul' tour I went to see Joe Jackson, for sure, for the third time. In my mind there is a show at De Doelen in Rotterdam, but can't find any recollection of it in there. Joe Jackson played there in the winter of 1983, so this might just have been my fourth show in the 40 year anniversary of 'Look Sharp''s release. For sure there is Ahoy in 1984 and the Pepsi Stage in 2003.

Jazz music filled Paradiso, including some tremendous swing. This was Jackson's own choice for sure. Something changed when just a drum started, the stage empty. Lights slowly faded. A man walked on stage, sat himself on his stool and after some ostentatious preparatory movements picked up the beat. Graham Maby, Jackson's career long bass player, picked up his bass and joined. The sound was so clear, so right and above all so groovy. A third man walked on stage, strapped on his guitar and joined. Finally Joe Jackson walked on sat him lanky body behind the keyboards and threw in some piano chords. In a way, if this had been the show, it would already have been perfect. The groove laid down by the band was so fantastic. The ease of playing is phenomenal to view, while everyone ever having tried to master an instrument knows how many hours of practice it takes to attain such a level. All against a red lightning projected on a stage-high draping of curtains.

The slow groove of 'Alchemy', one of the many strong songs on Joe Jackson's latest album 'Fool', proved the start, and close, of a perfect evening. The show was centered around one album from each decade: 'Look Sharp' (1979), 'Night And Day' (1982), 'Laughter And Lust' (1991), 'Rain' (2008) and 'Fool' (2019). From 'Alchemy' we all shot back 40 years in time with the totally energetic 'One More Time'. The angry young Joe still has a role to play. This was as punk as punk came, despite the fact the punk thing was over by that time. The album is full of punk energy that still is easy to feel and undergo in 2019. Fans all around me were singing along like there is no tomorrow for us all.

Photo: Wo.

This show to me proved a few things. How smart Joe Jackson was to pursue his own musical desires. Had he stuck with what he did in 1979-1980, we might have gone to a reunion tour of 40 years 'Look Sharp' yesterday, but not to the musical richness we were in witness of now. With 'Jumping Jive' Joe Jackson had said goodbye to his band and music, allowing him to produce 'Night & Day', Body & Soul' and everything that followed. Yes, he lost me from circa 1991 to 2016, with the exception of 'IV'. Listening now I wonder why. 'Rain' is a fine album I found out this week and I am about to catch up with some of the albums I skipped, until I put on 'Fast Forward' any way a couple of months after its release in 2015. An album that should have scored high in my top 10 of the year but did not due to my Joe Jackson prejudice and so undeserved I'm finding out.

Quite often on these pages I'm attesting to my, in general, abhorrence of 80s music. I am going to make an exception here for two albums, 'Night & Day' and 'Body & Soul'. I remember hearing 'Cha Cha Loco' for the first time or 'The Verdict' and thinking what is Joe Jackson doing now?, yet noticing how incredibly clear the music sounded. Having digested 'Night & Day' by then. These both were defining albums, in sound, in mood, in boldness. If I am singing a Joe Jackson song in the house, it is always 'You Can't Get What You Want, 'Till You Know What You Want'. Another truth as a cow. And, yes, he played it in the closing medley. The start of the medley was the only song that did not really come across fully. The Steely Dan cover worked perfectly on the bonus single that came with the 'Fool' LP, but less on stage. All the other songs were perfect. From the first beats to the last, as the band left the stage in reversed order, again playing 'Alchemy' with the drums moving from real to tape as effortlessly as when picked up at the start.

Photo: Wo.

Compliments to the fabulous drummer, Doug Yowell, the too big, but great guitar player, Teddy Kumpel, Graham Maby the bass palyer who can play anything and sing great as well. Together they make Joe Jackson's music come totally alive. And there's that old drum computer from 1979, still working and so we got 'Stepping Out' in the encore, played as on the record!

The only song I missed was 'It's Different For Girls'. If only to see and hear Joe Jackson silencing the audience once more and let Graham Maby play his outro on bass again in utter silence like in 1984. We got 'I'm The Man' instead, so can live with this miss. What a show! A deep extension of gratitude is due and thus given: Thank you, gentlemen!

Wo.

Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Out Of Control. Cromm Fallon

It is 2019. That's 56 years after The Kingsmen recorded its seminal single 'Louie Louie'. It appears to be a piece of cake to alter that riff of riffs just a little and come up with an enormously strong song called Out of Control. Just add the power and attack of Nirvana's, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', guitars and the drums and and we are halfway the years between now and then.

Of course this is not all to explain a fiery song called Out Of Control. The stop starts in the verses lend the song the right dynamics but also a sense of urgency it would never have achieved had the song just pounded on for 3.15 minutes. (It is actually longer than it seems.)

The sneery way of singing lends the single the garage rock and punk authority it needs to convince in the last few percentages. Making Out Of Control rock just a little more.

Of course it is easy in 2019. This has all been done before. With one difference. In 1963 it was impossible to play like this. This loud, this wildness of sound, is not found on 'Louie Louie'. The singer, the late Jack Ely, is the one going to the cliff's edge and way over without dropping down, Cromm Fallon and his mates all have hoverboards and jetpacks to manage this feat. Distortion is built into amps and pedals, the powerful drumming a staple since at least the late 80s, recording can be done anywhere with a laptop and software.

And then comes the music itself. Without a spark of imagination and inspiration all the rest is useless. Cromm Fallon has found that part alright. What is added is the love for this music and the fun the musicians obviously get from playing it. Yes, this is as old as the road to Rome, but who cares when it is this much fun to listen to? To think there's a whole album coming in May, I can't wait to hear it.

Wo.

You can pre-order the album 'Electric Bloom' here:

https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/electric-bloom


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Kairos 104, March 2019 on Concertzender

And roughly another month has passed. They seem to speed up more and more the older I get. Luckily there's my monthly dose of Kairos to unwind with. What has .No presented me with in March of 2019?

The wondrous starting tune blends beautifully with the Japan/David Sylvian like piano notes of Jeroen Elfferich's 'New Dream'. This really sounds like a variation on 'Forbidden Colours' and 'Nightporter' in one. The piano has an eastern tone to it, until I notice the 'Tubular Bells' repetitiveness and chords changes. I never knew Oldfield and Sylvian were so close together musically. Enough about other artists. The spacious recording of the piano sounds magnificent and the music actually is beautiful. My only complaint being that the composition does not really lead me somewhere. Now that is not a necessity, but nice to have. Certainly as I am a song kind of person. Darker notes and a synthesizer enters the whole, creating a minor diversion that is welcome.

Darker tones enter as well and my guess is that Elfferich's piano is joined by Harrold Roeland. I am bracing myself as I notice Roeland gets over 25 minutes from .No to test my resolve. All comes from a movie soundtrack called 'Ceres'. 'Boomgaard' (orchard), 'Geboorte' (birth), 'Klankschalen (Staat 2)' (something Tibetan), 'Levis Exsurgit Zephirus' (something with blue jeans). In the first minutes the only thought that enters my head is, this is experimental. With almost nothing musical happening. Sounds, sparse notes. The singing went as unexpected as it came in. Circa 2 minutes into 'Klankschalen (Staat 2)' a sequence of chord changes is discernable. It is also the only thing happening. I notice I cannot find the rest in my head to submit, as this is a necessity to really get into these sole notes Roeland plays. .No throws in some birds and he or Harrold Roeland does an 'Oh Superman' voice. The peeps return, a sound all this started out with. Listening more closely, yes I am listening now, I notice there are two sounds in the notes played. One fairly straightforward and the other oscillating around and around the basic note played. I also notice that the buzz in my left ear is louder than this music. And that is a discovery I could have done without.

The Levis enter the whole. Dark voices enter left and right making some sort of humming sounds, while a lighter male voice sings in the middle, a quasi Latin church liturgy it seems to me. I realise I have 10 minutes to go. In the background the same organ sound continues. A female voice takes over if only for a few seconds. Listening more intently it is possible to hear just more, although it all is so subtle. When did Harrold Roeland know that his music was just like he wanted it? How many hours of just playing something did it take to find these slow and oh so subtle changes? To my surprise I can actually live with this music. I am even willing to concede that it is music. Something that does not always happen on Kairos. Would I play this again voluntarily? Asking the question is answering it.

As there is enough time, I googled "Levis exsurgit Zephirus". It is followed by "et Sol procedit tepidus". It comes from a so called Cambridge song and is translated by "Now Zephyr's rising lightly While Sun comes on more brightly". The female voice is allowed to sing it home. I found the blue jeans more intriguing, but hey, we are talking about a Medieval love poem from Cambridge or
Carmina Cantabrigiensia here. A joke only last as long as this in serious Latin.

Slowly I am hearing a far more modern sound. Klockworks must have taken over. This fragment of 'Luna' actually sounds like Armin van Buren is about to let it all rip but for now is building up some ambient suspense first. That I would ever entertain such a thought on Kairos and about Armin van Buren at that is extremely surprising. Whoa, .No, what are we getting to?

The fragment is short, the thought departs my head as a soundscape of some sort enters. It is not the first time Dmitri Evgrafov appears on Kairos. 'Sattva' slowly unwinds. It is a musical piece that somehow combines modern soundscapes, esoteric sounds, but also a few times seems about to burst into a traditional classic piece, just for a second or two before it is mixed away again. Traditional instruments are a part of 'Sattva' but are not allowed to play a traditional melody (for long). It is more like they are tuning up on a repetitive single note.

Next up is two minutes KJ Rothweiler. Sounds rise and fall, swell and recede like waves on the beach. .No's birds come and go as well. Believe it or not, again I am waiting for David Gilmour's four guitar notes opening the guitar section of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'. Rothweiler must be a fan of Rick Wright hearing his synths swell.

A soft piano melody takes over, with a strange noise and a creaking sound (the chair on which the pianist sits?). Annelie returns with a contribution from her album 'After Midnight'. Again I'm surprised by the fact that by now I know three Dutch pianists playing slow, soft, romantic, instrumental piano music. All three have found their way to this program over the past year. And I like all three. I could almost play this myself (although I admit that I'll be returning to the indie dreampop of Dakota and finish that review). This music is soothing. Annelie caresses my ears and my soul with 'At Night'. But what is the wooden sound in the background? It is not percussion, so is it made while playing by herself? The piece is 9 minutes but that is totally fine. My mind has emptied by now and Kairos has done its work once again.

There are two compositions left. The first is 'Inner' by Emanuele Errante. It starts during the final piano notes. A soundscape enters my ears. A like a saw is added to the sound, before some sort of keyboard plays a sonorous chord, only to disappear again. Something that is repeated. There is no heads or tales. In the distant mix it is like the acoustic guitar starting 'Nights In White Satin' is played, deep beneath all else. What am I hearing?, I am wondering. Until two acoustic guitars do enter for real, mixed hard left and right. They seem to be testing a certain chord, without really becoming part of the soundscape. When they return it is less hesitantly and there are three of them. With minutes still left to go, I decide that I cannot make head nor tails from this musical experiment. Why not make a song instead? But everyone his own and this is not mine. Things can be extremely simple in life.

Harrold Roeland returns for the final two minutes of this Kairos. A fragment from the same album, called 'Lentebloesem' (spring blossom). It does not really add to what has been written above, so I wish you until the next time we say hello to Kairos.

Wo.

You can listen to this Kairos here:

https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/kairos_491713/


Playlist 20190307 2300 Kairos 104
00:00  Jeroen Elfferich. New Dream. Jeroen Elfferich. Album ‘The Essence’ Blue Spiral Records.
05:33  Harrold Roeland. Boomgaard. Album ‘Ceres OST’. Self-released.
06:16  Harrold Roeland. Geboorte. Album ‘Ceres OST’. Self-released.
07:56  Harrold Roeland. Klankschalen (staat2). Album ‘Ceres OST’. Self-released.
17:27  Harrold Roeland. Levis Exsurgit Zephirus. Album ‘Ceres OST’. Self-released.
30:04  Harrold Roeland. Geboorte. Album ‘Ceres OST’. Self-released.
31:36  Etapp Kyle. Luna (fragment). Album ‘Klockworks 16’. Klockworks / Modern Matters.
33:33  Dmitry Evgrafov. Sattva. Album ‘Comprehension of Light’. FatCat Records CD13-27P.
38:27  KJ Rothweiler. Sile. Album ‘Ex’. DRONARIVM RD-54.
40:34  Annelie. At night. Album ‘After Midnight’. Sony Music Entertainment/DGR.
49:25  Emanuele Errante. Inner. Album ‘Time Elapsing Handheld’. Karaoke Kalk CD 75.
57:25  Harrold Roeland Lentebloesem (fragment). Album ‘Ceres OST’. Self-released.

In The Clear. Suzanne Jarvie

Acht jaar geleden was Suzanne Jarvie nog advocaat en had ze nog nooit een song geschreven, maar inmiddels kan ze mee met de allerbesten in het rootsgenre.

Wat was ik alweer iets meer dan vier jaar geleden onder de indruk van het debuut van Suzanne Jarvie. De Canadese singer-songwriter imponeerde met mooie verhalen, aansprekende songs en een stem die van alles met me deed. De fraaie instrumentatie en productie maakten het af. Alle ingrediënten die dit debuut zo bijzonder maakten, zijn terug op In The Clear, maar Suzanne Jarvie is in alle opzichten gegroeid. De verhalen zijn nog persoonlijk en intenser en worden vertolkt met nog wat meer gevoel en emotie in de prachtige stem van Suzanne Jarvie. In The Clear klinkt bovendien nog wat warmer en smaakvoller. Het levert een rootsplaat op die er momenteel een flink stuk bovenuit steekt.

Acht jaar geleden was Suzanne Jarvie nog werkzaam als advocaat en was ze bovendien moeder van vier kinderen. Toen haar oudste zoon in 2011 na een ongelukkige val in coma raakte en de vooruitzichten uiterst somber waren, ontdekte Suzanne Jarvie de singer-songwriter in zichzelf.

Ze begon met het schrijven van songs en debuteerde uiteindelijk aan het einde van 2014 met het prachtige Spiral Road, dat met superlatieven werd ontvangen en flink wat jaarlijstjes haalde, waaronder die van mij.

We hebben vervolgens heel lang moeten wachten op de tweede plaat van Suzanne Jarvie, maar In The Clear was het wachten gelukkig meer dan waard.

De singer-songwriter uit het Canadese Toronto imponeerde op haar debuut met songs die van alles met je deden. Suzanne Jarvie vertelde op Spiral Road fraaie, indringende en doorleefde verhalen en vertolkte ze vol gevoel. De voormalige advocaat bleek ook nog eens gezegend met een geweldige stem en had in Hugh Christopher Brown een producer gevonden die de bijzondere stem van Suzanne Jarvie wist te omgeven met een prachtig en uiterst trefzeker geluid.

Vier jaren zijn verstreken sinds het debuut van Suzanne Jarvie, maar op In The Clear lijkt de tijd stil te hebben gestaan. Ook op haar tweede plaat werkt de Canadese singer-songwriter samen met de talentvolle producer Hugh Christopher Brown. De eveneens uit Toronto afkomstige muzikant en producer heeft In The Clear voorzien van een sfeervol en stemmig klankentapijt.

Het is een vrijwel volledig akoestisch klankentapijt waarin dobro, mandoline, gitaar, viool en bas domineren, maar ook een keer blazers opduiken. Hugh Christopher Brown heeft ook dit keer gekozen voor een heldere productie waarin alle details hoorbaar zijn, wat het prachtige snarenwerk op de plaat een extra dimensie geeft.

Het kleurt mooi bij de doorleefde stem van Suzanne Jarvie, die nog een stuk beter is gaan zingen dan op haar debuut. Op dit debuut deed de Canadese singer-songwriter me meer dan eens denken aan Lucinda Williams en dat is nog steeds relevant vergelijkingsmateriaal. De naam van koningin Emmylou Harris mag er dit keer best aan worden toegevoegd, want de zang van Suzanne Jarvie snijdt op In The Clear bijna onophoudelijk door de ziel.

In tekstueel opzicht graaft de singer-songwriter uit Toronto nog wat dieper dan op haar debuut. Ze zoomt nog wat verder in op het noodlot dat haar inspireerde tot het schrijven van haar eerste songs (haar zoon overleefde het ongeval overigens) en vertelt verhalen die de songs op de plaat voorzien van emotie en diepgang.

Het was razendknap hoe Suzanne Jarvie vier jaar geleden als beginnend singer-songwriter debuteerde en het is minstens even knap hoe ze haar debuut nu opvolgt. In The Clear is een rootsplaat van een zeldzaam hoog niveau en het is een rootsplaat waarop alles klopt. De productie is prachtig, de instrumentatie sfeervol en trefzeker, de verhalen zijn mooi en indringend en de songs zijn aansprekend.

De hele mooie stem van Suzanne Jarvie maakt het af en zorgt voor een plaat die niet onder doet voor alle andere platen die momenteel in het genre verschijnen. Integendeel. Als ik In The Clear vergelijk met de andere rootsplaten van het moment, en dat zijn er verrassend veel, steekt Suzanne Jarvie er toch een stukje bovenuit.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt In The Clear hier kopen:

https://suzannejarvie.bandcamp.com/


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g
 
 

King Time. The Man From Managra

Again an album from Greece reached me via cyberoptics. Within seconds I was able to listen to King Time and again I was surprised by the quality of an album released by Inner Ear Records. How is it possible that none of this music can be heard over here on a regular basis? All I can do is throw in my effort. So here I go.

The Man From Managra? That suggests a location, but turns out it's based on fantasy. An island in the Mediterranean or Indian Ocean swallowed by the sea after a volcanic eruption, leaving just the man? Yes, sure. Mangara is the title of a Doctor Who novel though I found. So like The Tallest Man On Earth is not, Coti K. is not from Managra.

Coti K. is the musician behind King Time. Other musicians played on the album as well. Panos Galanis (drums), Rena Rasouli (backing vocals), Lambrini Grigoriadou (fifth bass and tenor guitar) and Thaleia Ioannidou (trumpet). Together with Σtella he sings 'Tonight', one of the finer songs of the album. King Time is the third album by The Man From Managra after the self-title debut in 2014 and 'Half A Century Sun' from 2017.

King Time is an album that intrigued me from the very first seconds. Somehow The Man From Managra manages to manoeuvre through the light while obviously moving through darkness. King Time is not so much an unhappy album, as a serious one. The lyrics are the reflection of a search for truth and knowledge and the music underscores this quest. It is here that King Time becomes so interesting as the music is allowed to go off into different directions, making the album, within limits, varied.

Promo photo: Freddie Faulkenberry

Where some songs underscore the dreamy way of singing by both Coti K. and Rena Rasouli, others are more direct or fit into a singer-songwriter category. 'Set Sail' starts with a sole keyboard yet slowly progresses into a dark pop song. Where the start is ordinary, the way 'Set Sail' is worked out sets it apart from the many. It is this sort of arrangements that won me over for The Man From Managra. Next to that laidback way of singing. Coti K. does not have an exceptional voice but knows just how to use it perfectly and to boost it through the dreamy backing vocals of Rasouli. By singing this way voice and music become more one and provide each other strength.

The album starts as simple as 'Set Sail' does further on. Just an electric guitar over which Coti K. sings. Rasouli enters for some doo-wah-diddies and there's a song that starts meandering away from its simple origins within the minute. Slowly the song keeps changing, e.g. through the directness when the drums enter. The doo-doo part works here too. Such a pleasant opener 'Sing Your Heart Out' is.

Promo photo: Martha Gian

If there is an overall influence in King Time I have a hard time pinpointing it. There is, in Coti K.'s voice and way of singing. It takes me back to the 80s. The music does not. The trumpet intro to the second song, 'In The Light Of Things', is all but glum. It shows how The Man From Mangara is able to let light enter his song, not unlike the trumpet in 'Torch', my favourite Soft Cell song.

Move deeper into King Time, passed the beautiful 'Tonight', and you will find that The Man From Managra does not falter and keeps up the quality he starts out with, surprising with the changes in the arrangements and instruments. A minor change already works like a miracle on King Time.

Wo.

You can buy King Time here:

https://inner-ear.gr/catalogue/artist/uncategorised/king-time/


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g