Review: Esperanza Spalding

Esperanza Spalding (Barbican Centre, Friday 08 April. Review by Fran Hardcastle, photo credit: Roger Thomas)

Esperanza Spalding entered the Barbican stage in darkness, kicked off her shoes and poured a glass of wine. What followed was a short taste of honeyed chamber music for string trio (Jody Redhage, Sara Caswell and Lois Martin). The mini living room set brought a dash of theatricality, but it was a warm, welcoming and original touch, typical of the performing style that allowed her to defy the odds, and to win her the Grammy for Best New Artist.

While the music she performs draws influence from her classical roots, adding inflections of folk and world, the concoction is distinctly creatively fresh. Complex challenging time signatures sound organic. The sweetest songs avoid becoming overtly saccharine by the use of meaty harmony. The occasional use of vocals from Leala Cyr as part of the musical texture added to the orchestration of works like Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Spalding’s characterful voice slipped from soft smoky hues to wild free gut- wrenching cries of emotion. Her mature and heartfelt interpretation of Wild is the Wind belied her 26 years and brought me to tears. Whilst her vocal virtuousity was reflective of early Norma Winstone in the pitch perfect vocalese of Chacarera. On the bass, solos had her flying fingers dance around the instrument, or pulling out a warm sonorous tone with her bow.



Spalding displayed her flair for the dramatic in a captivating performance of Apple Blossoms, taking a seat to perform the song as though narrating a story. Her touching use of body language brought the lyrics to life. The exchange of spoken introductions for monologues building to recitative passages to segue into charts was effective if towards the end, a tad overused.

The highlight of the evening, the vibrant latin tinged What A Friend, saw a welcome opportunity for pianist Leo Genovese to let rip supported by brief spurts of fire from percussionist Richie Barshay. It was a shame there weren’t more chances to hear from these pretty spectacular musicians, but this didn’t mar the rapture of the audience in watching Spalding really hitting it on the bass, revelling in the interaction of her powerful band. Along with Winter Sun, it doesn’t seem far-reaching to liken her writing to Stevie Wonder in the ability to produce jubilant music that lives on in your head long after the performance.

Review: Richard Thompson

Richard Thompson
(Royal Festival Hall, January 18th 2011, Review by Rod Fogg, photo richardthompson-music.com )

This was the first of a two-nighter at London’s Royal Festival Hall, part of a UK tour extending on into February before heading off to Europe, the USA and eventually Japan. The tour is in support of the new album “Dream Attic”.

Thompson takes the stage as part of a five piece band; his sonic blue Strat is accompanied by Michael Jerome on drums and Teras Prodaniuk on bass; texture and contrast are supplied by Joel Zifkin on violin and mandolin and the multi-talented Pete Zorn on sax, guitar, mandolin and flute.

Full credit to the team at the RFH, the band sounded fantastic (believe me, that’s not always the case with electric music at this classical venue) and there was a cool light show running too.

At a time when most musicians’ careers have long since hit the buffers (he is in his early sixties) Thompson’s is, if anything, gathering pace. For many years the critical acclaim that he has enjoyed has not always resulted in public approval or large-scale record sales. Nowadays, however, given his self-deprecating humour and gentle wit he seems to be heading for the role of household name meets national treasure, a position confirmed by the recent bestowing of an O.B.E. - an award for “a significant non-military contribution to British Empire.”

Where he gets his energy from is anyone’s guess, but this is an inspiring group of musicians and given the packed house and the obvious fondness of the audience he doesn’t hold back. We are treated to two full sets - the first of tracks from the new album, the second a kind of “greatest hits” which included a brief acoustic interlude.

Thompson’s recording career dates back to the late 60s with folk rock band Fairport Convention. Since 1983 he has effectively been a solo artist recording a wide range of albums with various selected backing bands, while also participating in other projects with other musicians. Over the years he has soaked up many influences and journeyed far from his folk roots; much of his excellent and inspired guitar soloing - including some climactic extended solos - owes its flavour to American country guitar. “Tear Stained Letter” is cajun-inspired, while tracks on the current album such as “Bad again” mix country with Chicago boogie.

His influences range wide but somehow it all comes out as Richard Thompson’s music. However much Americana may be on the surface there’s something British about his song writing that sets him apart. One part of this is his traditional British folk influence - there’s a freedom in the cadence and rhythm of his lyric writing that is purely British. Another part of the equation is the quality of the songs - some have great hooks, some have singalong choruses; others are quiet, deeply felt and moving or inspiring. His ability to keep moving forward in his career is key to his success - aspiring singer/songwriters take note if you too want a long career.

I confess to being a Richard Thompson newbie. After last night, I understand what all the fuss is about.

Tour Details from richardthompson-music.com