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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
ARTICLES
Soweto Kinch - The Anvil, Basingstoke -
Thursday April 20.
 One
of the most exciting young jazz musicians on the current scene plays a concert
at The Anvil in Basingstoke on Thursday April 20. Soweto Kinch, an alto sax
player and rapper, is one of the few jazz musicians with a degree in Modern
History from Oxford University. But he decided jazz was his bag and abandoned
history for music.
Aged 25, Soweto recently received a prestigious Mercury Music Prize nomination
for his debut album, “Conversations With The Unseen.” A graduate of the
acclaimed Tomorrow's Warriors programme (supported by the PRS Foundation), and
current member of the award-winning Jazz Jamaica All Stars, Birmingham-based
Soweto launched his solo career in 2002 when he won the International
Saxophonist Of The Year award at the Montreux Jazz Festival. He won the
prestigious White Saxophone for his performance there, and a week later grabbed
the BBC Jazz Award for Rising Star. Often compared to the late great sax player
Joe Harriott, Soweto list among his mentors such luminaries as Courtney Pine,
Denys Baptiste and Gary Crosby.
He made his recording debut with Crosby's Jazz Jamaica All Stars, before his
solo album “Conversations With The Unseen” which critics complimented for taking
jazz
in an exciting new direction without compromising its traditional heritage. The
album’s seamless blend of straight ahead jazz with funky hip hop, rap and ethnic
rhythms earned him many plaudits, as did his single “Jazz Planet.”
Fearless in his creative spirit, he takes hold of his jazz roots and infuses
them with other influences from the likes of De La Soul and The Roots. As The
Guardian noted: “A new British original with the confidence skill and vision to
take the music far.”
Tickets for The Anvil gig are £15 through the Box Office on 01256 844244.
Janis Ian - Ferneham Hall, Fareham -
Saturday April 15.
 A
performance by American singer-songwriter Janis Ian is one of the highlights of
this month’s Gosport and Fareham Easter Festival. Janis takes the stage at
Ferneham Hall in Fareham on Saturday April 15.
The child of a music teacher, Janis was originally named Janis Eddy Fink.
Born on May 7, 1951 in New York City she studied piano as a child, and, drawing
influence from idols like Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Odetta, wrote her first
songs at the age of 12. She then entered Manhattan's High School of Music and
Art, where she began performing at school functions. After adopting the surname
Ian, her brother's middle name, she quickly graduated to the New York folk
circuit.
Janice caused quite a stir when she released her eponymous album “Janis Ian”
when she was just 15. The album contained a track called "Society's Child (Baby
I've Been Thinking)," a meditation on interracial romance written by Janis while
waiting to meet with her school guidance counsellor. The taboo track was banned
by a few radio stations and the single failed to attract much notice until
conductor Leonard Bernstein invited Janice to perform the song on his television
special “Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution.” The ensuing publicity and furor over
its subject matter pushed "Society's Child" into the upper rungs of the pop
charts, and made Janis an overnight sensation.
Success did not agree with Janice, however; although she recorded three more
albums 1967's “For All the Seasons of Your Mind,” 1968's “The Secret Life of J.
Eddy Fink” and 1969's “Who Really Cares, ” she gave away the money she
earned to friends and charities. After meeting photojournalist Peter Cunningham
at a peace rally, the couple married, and at age 20, she announced her
retirement from the music business. But the marriage failed and she returned in
1971 with the poorly-received “Present Company.” After moving to California to
hone her writing skills in seclusion she reappeared three years later with
“Stars,” which featured the song "Jesse," later a Top 30 hit for Roberta Flack.
Major success returned with the album “Between the Lines” in 1975 - not only did
the album go platinum, but the single" At Seventeen" reached the Top Three and
won a Grammy. While subsequent releases like 1977's Latin-influenced “Miracle
Row,” 1979's “Night Rains” and 1981's “Restless Eyes” earned critical acclaim,
they sold poorly and Janice was dropped by her label. She then spent 12 years
without a contract before emerging in 1993 with “Breaking Silence” (the title a
reference to her recent admission of homosexuality), which pulled no punches in
tackling material like domestic violence, eroticism, and The Holocaust. More
taboo subjects were tackled on “Revenge” in 1995, namely prostitution and
homelessness. Two years later Janice released “Hunger; God and the FBI” in 2000.
A challenging, uncompromising artist, Janis’s set at Fareham promises to be one
of the highlights of the festival.
Tasmin Little - Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton
Univerisity - Tuesday April 25.
 Tasmin
Little, one of the world's leading classical violinists appears at Southampton’s
Turner Sims Concert Hall on the Univerisity campus on Tuesday April 25. A great
favourite at the venue, Tasmin appears with pianist Piers Lane.
Born in London, Tasmin studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Guildhall
School of Music, before concluding her studies with private tuition from Lorand
Fenyves in Canada. Since becoming a professional, she has performed with many of
the world's greatest orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Berlin
Philharmonic, Cleveland, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Berlin Symphony, London
Symphony, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Stockholm
Philharmonic. The list of conductors she has worked with is equally impressive -
Sir Simon Rattle, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Mstislav Rostropovich, to name
just a few. Her repertoire includes fifty concertos and she is recognized as a
champion of contemporary works, giving several world premieres, including
concertos by Dominic Muldowney, David Earl, Robert Saxton, Paul Barker and most
recently Stuart MacRae's Violin Concerto at the BBC Proms 2001.
Tasmin is aso a devoted chamber musician, performing in recital with Martin
Roscoe, Piers Lane, John Lenehan, Wayne Marshall and Paul Watkins. Recent
recital and chamber music appearances include the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris,
Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Tokyo's Toppan Hall and Dublin's National Concert
Hall. A respected interpreter of Delius Tasmin made a television documentary
about the composer for BBC2's “The Works.” Her work in this field led to her
appointment as Music Director of a week-long festival to celebrate the life and
works of Delius to be held in Bradford in July 2006.
To date Tasmin has released twenty albums, including concerti by Bruch, Brahms,
Sibelius, Dvorak, Lalo, Walton and “The Lark Ascending” by Vaughan Williams. Her
interest in new works and neglected masterpieces has led her to record works by
Arvo Pärt, Dohnanyi, Rubbra, Robert Saxton and George Lloyd. Her more recent
discs include a premiere recording of Finzi's Violin Concerto on Chandos in 2001
and 'Tchaikovskiana', a recital disc with John Lenehan
released by EMI Classics for Pleasure in September 2003. Tasmin recorded the
violin concertos by Moszkowski and Karlowicz with the BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins, which was released by Hyperion in 2004.
The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash - The Talking Heads,
Southampton, Friday April 7.
 Coming
all the way from San Diego, California, The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash take the
stage at The Talking Heads in Southampton on Friday April 7.
OK, so they are not really the illegitimate offspring of the late “man in
black,” but the band formed a decade ago by Mark Stuart are true to the spirit
of Johnny, who actually gave the band his blessing, and whose own legitimate son
helped produce their first album. A former punk rocker, Mark says the name of
his band came to him in a dream: “I kinda got the calling like one of those
Pentecostal preachers gets the calling, it came like lightning out of the sky.
And Johnny Cash coming to me in my dreams wasn’t weird. It was just that I had
these dreams, and the dreams led to a body of work, to a bunch of songs, and
they led to all of this.”
For Mark and The Bastard Sons, the last ten years has been a blur of miles and
markers; they have played more shows most years than most bands do in their
entire careers, and they’ve done it the hard way, piling their own gear into
their own van and heading off into the night on a never-ending tour. Amidst this
gruelling schedule, Mark has managed to keep writing, delivering two albums
“Walk Alone” and “Distance Between,” that helped build a hardcore fanbase for
the band and receive critical recognition from the music press.
Mark sees the songs as landscapes, portraits and silhouettes. As he says: “This
is just me trying to be a picture painter with words. Finding a way to turn a
phrase in a song that is meaningful and unpredictable. My dad wanted to be a
writer. He didn’t get to be a writer but he had a bunch of books in the house. I
still don’t watch television. I read books exclusively.” Stuart heard about his
dad’s death before a show in Madison, Wisconsin. By a strange coincidence a year
later almost to the day, just before a show in Madison, Wisconsiin, he heard
about Johnny Cash’s death.
The latest album by The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash is called “Mile Markers.” It
picked up a plaudit from Rolling Stone - “Almost as bad-ass as the man for whom
they’re named - pure Americana heart and soul.” The album is a story of drifting
and settling, of setting down roots and then having them torn up again, of
learning that you don’t dare settle down when you’re just going to be forced to
hit the road again. Basically a road album as Mark concurs: “I didn’t really
start out to write a road cycle. Some of ‘em I had written not that long before
I went into the studio and others I’d been carrying around with me for a long
time. I was driving along the 99, sleeping in the back seat, and when I woke up,
I had “The Road To Bakersfield,” “California Sky” and “Radio Girl” and 'The Road
To Bakersfield' - I wrote those in three day period.”
Tickets for the BSOJC gig at Talking Heads are a mere £6 so ring 02380 678446
and reserve a ticket right away!
Robin Trower - The Brook, Southampton - Wedneday April
26.
 One
of the finest guitarists in the history of rock plays a gig at The Brook in
Southampton on Wednesday April 26. Former Procul Harum member Robin Trower will
be demonstrating his dynamic blues-rock style which has often seen him labelled
“the white Hendrix.”
Robin's career has spanned more than four decades, starting in the early 60s
playing in several London-based bands, the best known of which was The
Paramounts. Then Robin got his big break in 1967 when he jointed Procul Harum,
best known for their massive hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” After leaving Procol
Harum in 1972, Robin embarked on a solo career honing a fluid and powerful
guitar style which featured on his debut album “Twice Removed From Yesterday”
released in 1973. But it was 1974's "Bridge of Sighs" which made it big,
hitting the US top ten and selling a million and a half copies. It still sells
around 15,000 copies a year worldwide.
Robin’s stock continued to rise throughout the mid 70's, as he became an arena
headliner, producing more hit albums like 1975's “For Earth Below,” “Robin
Trower Live” in 1976, “Long Misty Days” the same year and “In City Dreams” in
1977. The 80's saw Robin expand his audience with several releases that updated
his blues-rock style including the album “Passion in 1987. During the early
90's, Robin returned to Procol Harum for a brief reunion which resulted in a new
album “Prodigal Stranger” in 1991, before backing ex-Roxy Music singer Bryan
Ferry on a few releases.
For much of the 90s Robin consistently touring the USA with his power trio. In
the new millennium Robin returned to the production role, linking up with Bryan
Ferry again to work and play on Bryan's "Frantic" album. In the following years
Trower concentrated on writing and producing film music for releases such as
"Good Humour Man".
You can order tickets for The Brook gig online through www.the-brook.com or by
ringing 02380 555366.
Chris Difford and Lisa Fitzgibbon Song-Teller Series -
Talking Heads, Southampton - Friday April 21.
 Two
singer-songwriters with a passion for words and music get together at the
intimate Talking Heads venue in Portswood Road, Southampton on Friday April 21.
Ex-Squeeze member Chris Difford and Australian power folkstress Lisa Fitzgibbon
combine for a gig on their tour billed as the “Chris Difford and Lisa Fitzgibbon
Song-Teller Series.”
Chris Difford is one half of the legendary Difford/Tilbrook writing team which
produced so many hits for Squeeze. He penned the lyrics for some of the best
known power-pop songs of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s including “Tempted,” “ Up the
Junction,” “Cool for Cats,” and “Black Coffee in Bed.” Chris’s debut solo album
“I didn’t get where I am” has set precedence for his solo career and his follow
up live album/DVD “South East-Side Story” is a musical and visual depiction of
Chris live at the Albany Theatre.
Lisa Fitzgibbon grew up in the outback of Australia and her music is a mixture
of her Australian past, her English/European present and her global future. She
has written, recorded and produced four albums to date and is quickly building a
reputation for her no nonsense, powerfully original and refreshingly personal
style of Power Folk. As the magazine Time Out puts it: "When the world finds her
she’ll be ready."
The Chris Difford and Lisa Fitzgibbon Song-Teller Series will be playing The
Talking Heads in Southampton on Friday April 21. Tickets are £8 advance, £10 on
the door. For further details ring 02380 678446.
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Soweto Kinch
The Anvil, Basingstoke Thursday April 20
Janis Ian
Ferneham Hall, Fareham
Saturday April 15
Tasmin Little
Turner Sims
Concert Hall,
Southampton Univerisity
Tuesday April
25
The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash
The Talking Heads, Southampton
Friday April 7
Robin Trower
The Brook, Southampton Wednesday April 26
Chris Difford and
Lisa Fitzgibbon
Talking Heads, Southampton
Friday April 21 |
Southampton's No 1 recording studio
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