Where the (big) bands are

Still cherishing memories of the E Street Band with a full horn section substituting for (but not replacing) Clarence, I'm reflecting on the way strong songs can flourish within fleshed-out arrangements and unusual instrumentation...

I'm off to see the great Tom Russell in ten days time. A relatively unsung hero of American songwriting I discovered 5000 miles away at an Edmonton Folk Festival, now conveniently booked into Hove's Palmeira, 15 minutes walk from where I live. And to whet the appetite a new album from Tom, Aztec Jazz, drawn from a live performance last year with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble. Tom and Thad Beckman's guitars augmented by a 32-piece orchestra, deployed by arranger Mats Halling with great subtlety and skill.

Russell has some form in this area, having deployed Calexico's widescreen, Tex-Mex brass on some recent recordings, but Aztec Jazz goes a whole step further. I've seen some reviews comparing it to Sketches of Spain - I wouldn't go that far, and that wouldn't really be what I'd want for Tom's songs anyway - but I see the point.

I've some quarrels with the song selection, but I've realised I'm probably in a minority amongst his fans after getting a sour reaction for criticisms of what I see as a tendency to over-sentimentalisation in some of his recent writing and delivery. There are rather too many of the crack-in-voice-I'm-about-to-be-overcome-with-emotion moments here again for me. But when he goes for the more uptempo songs and clearer-headed lyrics, I'm completely convinced. Try the autobographical 'East of Woodstock, West Of Vietnam' for size and you'll get the picture. A spritely reading of 'Criminology' is another highlight of the album for me, but not yet on YouTube (is there a full DVD to follow?).

Anyway, I don't think they'd fit a 32-piece band in the Palmeira - not if they want an audience in there. But I'm very much looking forward to seeing Tom, and it will be nice if Thad Beckman makes the trip too...

And finally, in big band territory, some kind soul has posted on YouTube the full version of the Old Grey Whistle Test special drawn from Van Morrison and the Caledonia Soul Orchestra's performance at the Rainbow on 24 July 1973. It's here.

I still have clear memories of when it was first broadcast, as what they called a simulcast, with stereo on the radio to accompany what was still solidly mono TV. Like thousands up and down the country, I carted my stereo system downstairs and positioned the speakers on either side of the small family set - no-one had a second telly upstairs back in the Dark Ages, children...

It was worth it. What an astonishing performance - Van, the band, the strings, tight from a long tour but brimming with energy and invention. You can hear that from the It's Too Late To Stop Now album, of course, but the visuals add a whole other dimension - particularly in making clear how much fun they were having. Check out the set-closer 'Cyprus Avenue', which has it all: stops and starts, ebbs and flows, false endings, high kicks, Shana on tambourine (looking decidedly younger than when I saw her on stage with her dad in Belfast this year). And if you only have a few seconds to spare, take a peek at the completely open and unguarded grin on the Morrison mug at 53:08 - the legendary grumpiness will never be quite so convincing for you again...

I've been hoping that with the current uncertainty of copyright on live recordings of this sort of vintage we might finally see a commercial DVD of this show. No luck so far, but thank goodness for YouTube: this is as good as it gets.

Van up close: Europa Hotel, 16 March

Well, the gamble paid off.

It was certainly worth the trip to Belfast and a stonking ticket price and braving the washed-out St Patrick's Day weekend weather to take front row seats to see Van Morrison playing on his home patch to an audience of 250.

The Man was in mellow mood, clearly enjoying himself: teasing the band and treating us to a range of apercus - on subjects ranging from grumpy people who manage to avoid the criticism he gets (eg HM The Queen) to the equally regal Cliff Richard (substituting 'when Sir Cliff shines his light' in the lyrics when he revisited their one - award winningly unlikely - collaboration).

We travelled up in the lift afterwards with MD Paul Moran, who confirmed with a grin that a good time had been had by all.

It was a jazzy set, geared to the supper club ambience - as the setlist shows. Two songs from last year's album, some standards; the band trading solos fluently and Van contributing a fair amount of sax himself.

The highlights for me were an unexpected rearrangement of 'Wavelength' and a beautiful, luminous, reading of 'In The Garden' - real hairs on the back of the neck stuff.

The bluesey triptych at the end was great,too - muscular performances with Van blowing some fine harp. The audience got up and crowded to the front of the stage and suddenly it could have been some small club, way back when.

Daughter Shana Morrison opened the evening with three songs of her own and then sang backing vocals through the evening, which also seemed to suit the home town vibe.

It's great that Van has found a way of working that really suits him, but the growing sequence of Irish supper club gigs this year may test his fans' wallets and diaries. People seem to be flying in from all over - we were sitting next to a Dutch couple, there was a good sprinkling of Americans, apparently some from Australia - and I hope they continue to do so and he can carry on filling the venues.

I leave you with a man and his mouth organ...

...in his element.

Saint Dominic's Flashback - available now

I am delighted to say that my book Saint Dominic's Flashback: Van Morrison's Classic Album, Forty Years On is now available.

The idea was to take an intensive look at Saint Dominic's Preview - both how it came to be made and how it sounds today - and to tell the story in a way that could say something interesting more generally about Van Morrison's art and the music scene of the early 70s.

You can find it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions: in the UK, US and even Japan (though sadly the book hasn't been translated just yet...)

I've posted a press release on the Work section of the site, which I hope will whet your appetite.

It has been a fascinating process getting to this point, digging into the history, talking and corresponding with many of the talented folk who made the record, and re-immersing myself in some wonderful music.

I'm sure there is an audience out there for it: the trick now is to connect with that audience. Watch this space.

Saint Dominic's Preview, etc.

The bad news is that 33 1/3 don't want to publish my projected slim volume on Saint Dominic's... Tant pis; their loss.

The good news is that I'm going to press on with the writing and get it out myself as close as possible to the fortieth anniversary of the album's release next month.

As a taster, I've posted the introductory chapter which formed part of my pitch to 33 1/3 here. If that whets your appetite, watch this space for news of more.

I'm off to Lewes tonight to see the fine Two Wings, whose album I'm really enjoying. It's having to fight for listening space with a whole slew of other fine releases, including new stuff from Patti Smith (in wonderful voice, and great to hear Tom Verlaine's guitar again, chiming alongside Lenny Kaye's), Dexys (bonkers but lovely), Neil Young (patchy, but a lot of fun and the good tracks are great), Alejandro Escovedo (only heard it once so far - no obvious surprises) and a whole lot more...