2008 April | Musical Taste Blog

I have a bit of a run of gigs coming up, which should be fun. Next up is Paul Haig, who recently started his first tour for 18 years with a gig in Edinburgh.  Sounds like it was a great gig and I’m looking forward to seeing him.

I meant to say, saw the great man at the Barbican last night and was suitably blown away. We had seats right at the front pretty much which made for some intense moments while the trumpet soloist really went for it!

There was Lalo (piano and conducting) along with the trumpet/trombone guy, a bassist, a drummer and a huge orchestra (the London symphony orchestra).  They played a mixture of latin jazz and soundtrack music.  Much of it had that amazing slightly scary discordent feel that a lot of Lalo’s string arrangements feature.  Hearing that close up was pretty special and the sound really surrounded us.

I was curious to see what kind of crowd would be at this sold out gig but it was hard to generalise really - I guess Lalo is so popular that it was just a mix of young and old. There were definitely a handful of beard stroking guys around my age and some 60s freaks, but a lot of soundtrack fans as well I guess.

Soundtrack-wise he played the Dirty Harry suite, an Enter the Dragon suite, and also a great The Fox.

Definitely one to remember…

Wow- I guess more and more people are getting time and/or money to do interesting stuff with music.  Mixwit is kind of like the muxtape thing I mentioned the other day but not quite as nice looking. Nice cassette turning animation as you listen though!  The link above is to a tasty latin jazz/afro funk mix that I happened on totally at random as the first thing I clicked on, which could be a good sign!

Jorge Ben’s ‘Mas Que Nada’ (1963) has been recorded a lot. I love the Sergio Mendes version but the Tamba Trio one is pretty great too. I also get a real kick out of hearing versions in other languages. Here are a few- one in French and one in German, and finally, a highlight, Astrud Gilberto’s version in Japanese!

 

 Isabelle Aubret - La Ville Est La [2:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 

 Astrud Gilberto - Mas Que Nada [2:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 

 Blauer Montag - Mary Roos [2:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Isabelle Aubret apparently won the Eurovision song contest for France in 1963