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LEONARD COHEN IN AUSTIN

Nov 2 |20:38


Austin, Texas, November 2, 2012



Leonard Cohen launched the North American leg of his world tour onNovember  1
and 2 to two sold out shows at the Bass Concert Hall in Austin, Texas.  Cohen,
with the assistance of his musical director Roscoe Beck, assembled a world-class
nine-piece ensemble to accompany him on tour dates which began last summer in
Canada and then continued on to eastern and western Europe in the fall.  They
played in New Zealand and Australia earlier this year before coming back to
North America for a two-month jaunt across the states.

Cohen, a sprite and limber 74 year old, moves around stage effortlessly,
kneeling down as if in prayer numerous times throughout the three-hour show,
dancing through the instrumental solos, and skipping on and off stage in between
sets and multiple encores.  His performance simultaneously invokes the
debauchery of a cabaret and the reverence of a monastery.  His presence is
austere and lighthearted, serene and uplifting, humble and magnificent.

Cohen is well known for his dapper choice in wardrobe.  He wears his signature
uniform, a tailored suit, fedora, and bolo tie.  His entire supporting cast is
dressed equally to impress in crisp shirts, suits, and fedoras, newsboy hats, or
berets.  Even his technicians and road crew wear black pants and shirts and
sport fedoras and ties.  The stage design is simple and elegant with long, sheer
layers of curtains that are lit throughout the show with a beautiful display of
light, color, and shadow.

As one would naturally expect from a class act like Leonard Cohen, the level of
talent backing him on stage is nothing short of breathtaking. The entire
ensemble is noteworthy, each musician is a significant and massive talent in his
or her own right.  Native Austinite Roscoe Beck, musical director and bass
player, has worked with Cohen since the 1979 recording Recent Songs. Sharon
Robinson, a long time collaborator and co-writer of numerous Cohen songs, is a
powerful presence on stage with her rich alto voice; Rafael Gayol is a masterful
and highly finessed percussionist who also has a history in Austin; Neil Larsen
raises the B-3 up to new levels; Bob Metzger brings a wonderful blues dimension
with guitar and pedal steel; and Hattie and Charley Webb really do sing (and
look) like angels.  For me, there are two particularly exceptional highlights –
Spanish guitar virtuoso Javier Mas and the young master of multiple brass and
woodwind instruments Dino Soldo.  Mas is undeniably sophisticated and inspired
in his instrumentation, with his exotic rhythms and sounds of traditional
Spanish string instruments weaving seamlessly throughout Cohen’s compositions
with a rare and awe inspiring sensibility.  Soldo’s range in terms of his
apparent musical and spiritual depth and his mastery of multiple instruments is
astonishing; his presence on stage outshines even the brightest of his already
brilliant peers; and his saxophone solos are an occasion to lose yourself, just
so he can lead you back again.

Cohen and his band open the show with “Dance Me to the End of Love” with its
sultry intro and rolling Spanish rhythms.  The sound is magnificent, perfect
balances of B-3 and wind, 12-string and bass, airy vocal harmonies and perfectly
understated drums.  Cohen kneels in front of Mas as he masterfully strums the
12-string guitar, Cohen crooning in his baritone voice, “Oh let me see your
beauty when the witnesses are gone… Dance me to the end of love.”  Cohen
instantly and effortlessly has the crowd captivated on a journey that will
conclude more than three hours later.



“The Future” comes next, complete with the cartwheeling Webb sisters who throw
in a bit of gymnastics without missing a beat in their sublime vocal
accompaniment.  Soldo opens “No Cure For Love” with a beautiful tenor sax solo. 
He is an electrifying talent, effortlessly switching from tenor saxophone to an
electric wind instrument, to chromatic harmonica, to keyboards and backup
vocals, to bassoon and bass clarinet, all while dancing and moving to the music
with a look of divine possession on his face.

The audience cheers as the band plays the first few notes of “Bird on a Wire”
with its soulful Hammond B-3 riffs, Spanish guitar accents, and angelic backup
vocals.  Cohen closes his eyes, raising his face toward the sky, in reverence,
as he takes off his fedora and places it over his heart during Metzger’s
electric guitar and Soldo’s sax solos.

Next we hear “Everybody Knows,” with its B-3, pedal steel, and Spanish guitar;
“My Secret Life,” is followed by a brilliant performance of “Who by Fire,” with
Mas performing a haunting intro on the archilaud, Cohen on guitar, Charlie Webb
on harp, Beck on upright bass, and Larsen on a particularly inspired B-3 solo. 
The crowd applauds as the band begins “Chelsea Hotel,” and Cohen gets a
thunderous cheer after the line “You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception.”  Cohen continues playing guitar on
“Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” which features Soldo on an unforgettable
chromatic harmonica solo.

The music pauses and Cohen says, “It’s been a long time since I stood on a stage
in America, it’s been about fourteen or fifteen years.  Back then, I was sixty
years old, just a kid with a crazy dream.”  The crowd laughs and cheers.  He
continues, “I turned myself toward a deep study of the philosophies and
religions, but cheerfulness, cheerfulness kept breaking through.”  The crowd
goes wild again.  He continues, the audience hanging on each of his words. 
“It’s not looking good out there friends, and some are saying it’s going to be
worse than Y2K.  [crowd laughs]  We are so privileged to be able to gather in
moments like this when so much of the world in plunged in darkness and chaos. 
We gather here in peace and a celebration of the heart, so ring the bells that
still can ring, forget our perfect offering, there is a crack, a crack in
everything.  That’s how the light gets in.”

During “Anthem,” Cohen introduces his band.  “From Barcelona, on bandurria,
laud, archilaud, and 12-string guitar, Javier Mas.  On vocals, keyboard, and the
instruments of wind, the master of breath, Dino Soldo. The signature of soul,
the architect of arpeggio, on electric guitar and pedal steel, Bob Metzger.  Our
timekeeper, the high priest of precision, Raphael Gayol.  On keyboard and the
legendary Hammond B3, the impeccable Neil Larsen.  On vocals and composition, my
collaborator, the incomparable Sharon Robinson.  On vocals, harp, and
gymnastics, Hattie and Charley Webb, the sublime Webb sisters.  On vocals, stand
up base and electric base, our musical director, our shepherd and our
conscience, from Austin, Texas, Roscoe Beck.”  As the band finishes the song,
Cohen skips off stage for intermission.

After intermission, Cohen skips back onto the stage to take his place behind his
keyboard for “Tower of Song,” accompanied only by a sampler, the Webb sisters
and Sharon Robinson on vocals, and Larsen on the B-3.  With the push of a
button, Cohen starts the song and then plays a charmingly clunky keyboard solo. 
The crowd cheers wildly, to which he replies, “You are very kind.”  Cohen pleads
to the women to keep going with their angelic “doo dum dum dum da doo dum
dum’s.”  “Don’t stop,” he says, “Oh please, don’t stop, I’m not ready to go on
to the next thing.  [crowd laughs] Ahhh sing me down to sleep angels, sing me
through the bitter morning.  I am gathering myself, we’re all gathering
ourselves, we are all healing ourselves, it’s almost done,” to which the ladies
kindly oblige until Cohen proclaims, “We are healed, thank you.”

The rest of the band comes back onstage for “Suzanne.”  Mas opens with a
beautiful intro on the bandurria for “The Gypsy’s Wife” and Soldo performs
another wonderful harmonica solo. “The Partisan” follows, and then Robinson
takes the lead vocals for “Boogie Street” with her rich, soulful alto voice. 
The verses are punctuated by Soldo’s lilting tenor sax.  Cohen then begins the
first verse of “Hallelujah” to the crowd’s enthusiastic cheers.  It is arguably
his most widely known and recognized composition, and many younger fans
discovered Cohen through other artist’s cover of this song.

Cohen woos the crowd with “I’m Your Man” and then performs a solemn recitation
of “A Thousand Kisses Deep” before ending the second set with “Take This
Waltz.”  Cohen thanks the audience and then skips off stage followed by his
band.

The crowd is on their feet, roaring applause, and the band comes back on stage
and Cohen comes out skipping for his first encore, “So Long, Marianne” and
“First We Take Manhattan.”  Off he goes skipping again, to more thunderous
applause and a standing ovation, and then skipping back onstage, we get a second
encore with “Famous Blue Raincoat,” “If It Be Your Will,” featuring the Webb
sisters on vocals, harp and guitar, and Larsen on B-3, followed by “Democracy.”

Then we hear the beginnings of a very special debut of a new unreleased song,
“Lullaby” which is a down tempo tune with a triplet feel that weaves an
exquisite dance of slide guitar, harmonica, and B-3 while Cohen croons, “When
it’s much too late, and we’ve taken our stand, when they call out your name,
we’ll go hand in hand.  If your heart is torn, who can wonder why?  If the night
is long, here is my lullaby, here’s my lullaby.”

And then he goes one more time, skipping off stage with a beaming, childlike
playfulness and another wild standing ovation.  For the final encore, Cohen
sings “Closing Time” and “I Tried to Leave You,” to which the crowd laughs at
the ironic relevance of the opening line.  Each of the band members gets one
last solo as this haunting dirge sprawls out to nearly ten minutes long.  The
crowd soaks up every second of it.



For the final curtain call, Cohen has his entire crew join the band on stage to
sing “Whither Thou Goest” tutti a capella while he offers the following thanks
and blessing, “On behalf of the band and the crew… the sound, the lights, our
technicians, all of them musicians in their own right, on behalf of the drivers,
the wardrobe keepers, and the delightful woman who looks after our hats, on
behalf of everyone who keeps this show on the road, and on behalf of the
musicians with whom I am so privileged to play, I want to thank you for this
memorable evening, we will not forget it easily.

“I don’t know when we’ll meet again.  Until then, take care of yourselves.  May
you fall on the side of luck, may you be surrounded by friends and family, and
if none of these is yours, may the blessings find you in your solitude.  Thank
you so much friends, goodnight, take care.”

And with that, Leonard Cohen takes his final bow, with his devoted band and crew
lined up behind him, and he walks, his hand and hat over his heart and his head
bowed, back into the shadows.



written and photographed by Laura Lea Nalle, all rights reserved



 


SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS

Jun 26 |20:55


Have we told you lately how much AustinLiveMusic.Org loves Sharon Jones & the
Dap Kings?  Probably not since we saw them at SXSW back in March, so it’s worth
reiterating.  We LOVE them!  And not just SJDK, but everything coming out of
Daptone Records. In case you missed it the first time around, here’s what we had
to say about SJDK when we saw them during SXSW:

“Each [Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings] performance is a unique experience to
behold.  Sharon Jones is a spectacular vocalist and performer, her dance moves
evoke the spirit of James Brown, and the Dap Kings bring the funky soulshine
like few others.  Led by Bosco Mann, this group is unbelievably tight, they can
– and often do – turn on a dime while leaving plenty of space for Jones to do
her thing.  They dance the fine line between sophisticated complexity and simple
elegance, and they do it with loads of style.

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings are the most well known group off the Daptone
Records label which is co-owned by Dap King bandleader Bosco Mann and tenor
saxophonist Neal Sugarman.  Every single album released on Daptone is well worth
your time – and if you are a vinyl enthusiast and funky soul lover as much as I
am, I highly recommend getting every Daptone LP and 45 you can get your hands
on!!  Seriously!  I am particularly fond of the releases by Sugarman Three,
Poets of Rhythm, and Naomi Shelton.  I also have to give a shout out to Dap
Kings guitarist Binky Griptite who produces the Ghetto Funk Power Hour radio
show which is included in some of the Sharon Jones deluxe cd packages.   He is
smart, hilarious, and brings the deep funk back with impeccable class and
style.”

We love what Gabriel Roth (aka Bosco Mann) has to say about soul in the liner
notes of Naturally, “Where have we gone wrong when something so simple and
inherent in all of us has become so illusive and difficult to communicate? 
Somewhere between banging on logs and the invention of M.I.D.I. technology we
have made a terrible wrong turn. We must have ridden right past our stop. We
should have stepped down off the train at that moment when rhythm and harmony
and technology all culminated to a single Otis Redding whine. That moment of the
truest, most genuine expression of what it means to be human.”  Thank you,
Bosco, for communicating that soul so clearly in your music.

It’s testament to SJDK’s excellence that we ran into some of Austin’s own finest
musicians at the show.  Speaking of, we caught up with the phenomenal JJ Johnson
(John Mayer, Doyle Bramhall II) and found out that in addition to touring with
Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi, he’s recording a new album with them.  We are
looking forward to hearing more from JJ and all his various projects, he’s not
just an awesome drummer, he’s a f’in force of nature!  When he’s not on the
road, you can catch him playing around town with some of our favorites like Gary
Clark Jr. and Ephraim Owens.

Opening for SJDK was an afro-beat funky soul ensemble out of LA called Orgone. 
Keep an eye out for them, they’re worth checking out next time they come through
your town, with or without Sharon Jones.



Written and photographed by Laura Lea Nalle, all rights reserved.



 


ESPERANZA RETURNS TO AUSTIN

May 6 |20:45


Grammy award winner Esperanza Spalding performed at the Paramount Theater this
past Friday.  Esperanza is exquisite in every way, she is nothing short of a
musical genius, her manner of speaking boarders on charming and endearingly
goofy, and her presence is magnetic and expansive.

She prefaces the performance by saying, “This is the part we usually give a
disclaimer about how we’re not playing traditional jazz, but we’re not going to
do that tonight, we’re just going to rock it from the get and let y’all work it
out for yourselves later.”  Indeed, some people might have to work it out as she
does not fit easily into any single genre or tradition.  Esperanza so
effortlessly synthesizes such diverse musical currents that her music completely
transcends categorization.

After the third or fourth song, Esperanza pauses to take off her shoes as she
explains, “No matter where in the world, what language, what culture, when the
shoes come off, you know it’s time to get down.”  And get down, she did.

In addition to debuting several new pieces to an enraptured crowd, she also
performed a riveting arrangement of Dorival Caymmi’s piece “O Bem do Mar.”  She
prefaced the piece by explaining how it is about being torn between two places,
in this case, a sailor being torn between the goodness of the sea and the
goodness of the earth.

Esperanza’s playing and songwriting are magnificent, and her musical sensibility
is far more sophisticated than her age would indicate.  I can’t wait to see how
she evolves over the years to come.  I will be sure to see her anytime the
opportunity presents itself and encourage all of you to do the same.  Now that
she lives in Austin, I hope I don’t have to wait long…



Here is a video of Esperanza performing at the White House Poetry Jam on May 12,
2009



Esperanza Spalding Performs at the White House Poetry Jam from The White House
on Vimeo.





Written and photographed by Laura Lea Nalle, all rights reserved.



 


SXSW 2011

Mar 23 |20:51


Full review coming soon…

See Laura Lea’s full gallery of SXSW 2011 here.

Photos by Laura Lea Nalle, all rights reserved.



 


SXSW PREVIEW

Mar 14 |18:11


SXSW Film & Interactive is in full swing, and with Music just around the corner,
we wanted to offer a quick preview of some of the artists we can’t wait to see.



There are, naturally, tons of Austin artists worth seeing, and if you’re in from
out of town, please take the time to see some of the awesome talent we enjoy in
Austin year round!  Among our favorites are Guy Forsyth, Carolyn Wonderland,
Gary Clark Jr., Sahara Smith, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, T Bird & the
Breaks, Suzanna Choffel, Joe Ely, Eliza Gikyson, Lincoln Durham, Ray Bonneville,
and Gurf Morlix.  Our friends over at Music Fog hold it down all weekend at
Threadgills showcasing some of the best local talent, so stop by, grab some food
and enjoy the show.  And of course there is an abundance of awesomeness coming
in from out of town.  Some of the ones we look forward to seeing the most are
Fitz & the Tantrums, Ivan & Aloysha, Raphael Saadiq, The Head & The Heart,
Jessica Lea Mayfield, Lupe Fiasco, Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band,
and Yoko Ono.  Alex Ebert, front man of the eleven piece ensemble Edward Sharpe
& the Magnetic Zeros, is performing under a new solo project called Alexander. 
We still remember with vivid fondness seeing Ed Sharpe for the first time at 4am
on the last night of SXSW two years ago.  No one outside of LA knew who they
were, and clearly their flavor of musical magic proved to be infectious beyond
belief.  They have blown up like wild fire, and we look forward to seeing what
they do in various other arrangements and incarnations.  There are, of course,
hundreds of bands we haven’t mentioned, and we look forward to randomly
happening upon their showcases and being blown away.  In fact, our favorite SXSW
moments are the ones that spontaneously and serendipitously happen in the midst
of all the craziness.  Have fun, stay in touch, and we’ll see you around town!

Photos: Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Gary Clark Jr.,
Raphael Saadiq

Written and photographed by Laura Lea Nalle, all right reserved.

See Laura Lea’s galleries of SXSW 2010 highlights and SXSW 2009 highlights.

Follow ALM.org on Facebook and Twitter.



 
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