Manu Katché, haut de gamme

Sélection CD - 26.09.05

Manu Katché, membre du jury de l'émission de télévision "A la recherche de la nouvelle star" ­ - équivalent pour la chaîne M6 de "Star Academy" sur TF1 ­ - où se bousculent des apprentis chanteurs pour grappiller un instant de gloire, a enregistré un disque, Neighbourhood. Du jazz, pour la compagnie phonographique allemande ECM, avec trois musiciens polonais et un norvégien.

Du jazz instrumental qui considère avec attention la rigueur d'exécution, la pensée musicale, l'élan collectif, l'élégance mélodique, la recherche. Du jazz peu "Nouvelle Star" qui aurait plutôt pu appeler un enregistrement avec de plaisantes chansons arrangées sans accrocs, un peu pop, un peu jazz. Un disque comme l'avait été It's About Time en 1991 (BMG), pas honteux, mais peu marquant.

S'étonner de ce grand écart (caricaturalement, il y aurait d'un côté la variété la moins inspirante et de l'autre le machin jazz intello auquel les productions d'ECM sont souvent identifiées), c'est ne pas avoir suivi le parcours du batteur, pianiste et compositeur né le 27 octobre 1958 à Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (Val-de-Marne). Katché a mis son talent, sa finesse de mélodiste dans les musiques de Robbie Robertson (du groupe The Band) et de Jan Garbarek, dans celles de Peter Gabriel ou Sting et de Franck Avitabile, de Laurent Voulzy et Michel Petrucciani, de Joni Mitchell et Ralph Towner.

Donc Manu Katché, batteur chez qui la relation entre binaire (la part rock) et ternaire (la part jazz) n'est pas tranchée, sans pour autant être floue. Manu Katché, qui ne se pose pas en point central du trio avec le pianiste Marcin Wasilewski et le contrebassiste Slavomir Kurkiewicz rejoints sur la plupart des dix titres de l'album par Jan Garbarek (saxophones, star norvégienne) et Tomasz Stanko (trompette). Le haut de gamme du son européen.

Neighbourhood est un disque qui assemble des idées, des parcours, des origines (Katché est né d'un père ivoirien et d'une mère franco-haïtienne) sans que cela s'impose aux oreilles. Et la musique qui en découle est toute de grâce, de discrétion et de vigueur sans effet rentre-dedans.

Neighbourhood, de Manu Katché, 1 CD ECM/Universal Music.

Sylvain Siclier

Youssou N’Dour & Friends en direct sur Couleur3

Samedi 8 octobre, le grand concert de lutte contre la malaria, à l’Arena de Genève, sera retransmis sur Couleur3, qui a obtenu l’exclusivité radio de l’événement.

Des places pour le concert sont d'ailleurs à gagner en écoutant Couleur3. Autour du chanteur sénégalais, des artistes de tous les continents : Neneh Cherry, Anggun, Stephan Eicher, Axelle Red, Rokia Traoré, Gilberto Gil, Tiken Jah Fakoly ou encore Cheb Mami.

Le concert est organisé dans le cadre du 60e anniversaire des Nations Unies. Un de ses buts : réduire de moitié le taux de mortalité dû au paludisme (malaria) d’ici 2010. La maladie tue chaque jour 3000 enfants…

Transmis par des moustiques, le paludisme provoque la mort de deux millions de personnes par an et en touche quelque 500 millions en tout. Les moyens de lutte sont pourtant connus et disponibles (insecticides, moustiquaires, médicaments…) ; c’est la volonté et l’argent qui manquent.

Dans le cadre du 60e anniversaire des Nations Unies, la Fondation pour Genève et le Fonds mondial de lutte contre le sida, la tuberculose et le paludisme ont fait appel à Youssou N’Dour, déjà engagé dans ce combat, pour la mise sur pied d’un spectacle exceptionnel à même de sensibiliser le public suisse et international.

Le 8 octobre, Youssou N’Dour, Rokia Traoré, Cheb Mami et Tiken Jah Fakoly représenteront l’Afrique ; Stephan Eicher, Neneh Cherry et Axelle Red l’Europe ; Gilberto Gil l’Amérique, et Anggun l’Asie. Mais bien d’autres invités prestigieux sont attendus pour des duos exclusifs.

Toutes les informations sur le concert, sur les artistes ainsi que sur la malaria - y compris de très nombreux liens pertinents- sont disponibles en français sur le site de l'événement.

Youssou N'Dour & Friends united against malaria, samedi 8 octobre, dès 20h30 à l'Arena de Genève ou en direct sur Couleur3 entre 20h et 23h.

Youssou N'Dour en interview dans Recto Verso le 27 septembre, ainsi que dans Radio Paradiso - en direct du lieu de répétition des musiciens - le 6 octobre sur La 1ère.

La Société Anonyme du jeudi 6 octobre (thème précis de la soirée communiqué ultérieurement) sur Couleur3.

Peter Gabriel's band in Austin ?

Yes, Austin, there'll be a party at Zilker – ACL gets go-ahead
So far 7 bands have canceled, but they've all been replaced.

With Hurricane Rita's threat to Austin reduced as it veers east of its earlier projected path, Austin City Limits Music Festival organizers and city officials said Thursday that the nearly sold-out event would go on today through Sunday.

...So far, only seven acts have canceled their performances, mostly because of travel difficulties. Festival organizers have replaced all the canceled acts, including Nashville, Tenn., favorite Mindy Smith.

When Iguanas guitarist Joe Cabral, evacuated to Austin from New Orleans, found out Thursday afternoon that Smith was forced to cancel, he put together a band calling itself The Texiles, featuring members of the Iguanas, the Radiators and Peter Gabriel's band. (NDR ???) ...

Tony Levin à Neuchâtel

SA 15 oct. 20h 30.- / préloc 25.- rock-pop

Tony Levin Band (USA)

www.papabear.com

Le virtuose de la basse Tony Levin vient à Neuchâtel.

Pierre angulaire dans la musique actuelle, Tony Levin débuta la basse à l’âge de 10 ans. Après avoir fait ses armes dans plusieurs groupes locaux de Boston, il rejoint Don Preston (ex-Mothers of Invention) pour créer le groupe Aha. Dès lors, une carrière bien remplie commence. Il faudrait un annuaire pour noter toutes ses collaborations (son nom apparaît sur plus de 430 albums). Il a entre autre collaboré avec David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Al Di Meola, Dire Straits, Brian Ferry, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Seal et même Jeanne Mas…

Nous pouvons également l’écouter dans l’album mythique de Lou Reed « Berlin ». Mais principalement dans le premier album de Peter Gabriel en 1977. Cette collaboration liera les deux musiciens par une amitié toujours existante et ainsi nous retrouvons Tony Levin dans toute la carrière de Peter Gabriel. C’est aussi pendant cette période, qu’il acquière la technique sur une « Chapman Stick Bass » (une basse de 12 cordes où le bassiste utilise la technique de « tapping » pour pouvoir jouer à deux mains…).

En 1978, Robert Fripp invite Tony Levin à prendre part au groupe King Crimson. Si l’on doit parler du rock progressif, on ne peut passer à côté de King Crimson. Ce groupe a réussi à incorporer dans les structures du rock, la pureté et la grâce du Jazz et de la musique classique, tout en gardant une sensibilité pop et psychédélique.

Malgré sa reconnaissance musicale mondiale et ses trente ans de carrière, Tony Levin attendra 1996 pour enfin sortir son premier album solo « World Diary », suivi de trois albums, dont le dernier en 2000 intitulé « Double Espresso » tout en continuant ses collaborations à travers le monde.

Tony Levin est une légende vivante de la musique, et sera à la Case à Chocs de Neuchâtel le samedi 15 octobre 2005 dans la formation suivante : Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, Jesse Gress, Larry Fast, Pete Levin, Robert Frazza et Tom Griesgraber

Marotta Griesgraber (USA)

www.jerrymarotta.com // www.thossounds.com

Depuis 2002, le duo étonnant de Jerry Marotta à la batterie et Tom Griesgraber à la Chapman Stick basse nous offre un mélange pop-rock tout en finesse et émotion.

Basse, guitare, batterie, voix, Chapman Stick basse

Exceptionnel! L'homme de l'ombre aux 300 collaborations débarque à la case…

Kate Bush back on form with first single in 12 years !

Kate Bush back on form with first single in 12 years

By Stephen McKenna

'For the first time anywhere in the world here is Kate Bush's new single King of the Mountain'

The eagerly anticipated new single from the enigmatic Kate Bush got an exclusive first play on Ken Bruce's show on BBC Radio 2 yesterday morning (September 21st). The very privileged Ken Bruce was inundated with phone calls and emails about his exclusive first play of the latest offering from the reclusive queen of British music.

I have had a chance to listen back to King of the Mountain a few times and it sounds really fresh. Opening with some delightful percussive synth noises, Kate's idiosyncratic voice comes through and the whole track feels very atmospheric and nonchalant. The song still has the inimitable Kate Bush sound about it but is a little more modern than material from her 1993 album The Red Shoes.

The brand new album from Kate Bush is called Aerial and will be released on November 7th. Aerial is reputed to be a double album and it is currently under lock and key in a vault deep in the depths of EMI records. The first disc consists of just one track lasting over half an hour! The second disc has seven tracks on it.

New single King of the Mountain will be released on CD on October 24th.

King of the Mountain is available for download on September 27th.

For more details visit: katebush.com

S.Lanka drums up post-tsunami tourism with festival

COLOMBO (Reuters) - With a burst of colour and a cacophony of beats, drummers from Ivory Coast to Iran kicked off a music festival in Sri Lanka on Wednesday that seeks to lure back tourists scared off by the ravages of Asia's tsunami.

In centuries-old traditional dress of white sarongs and red bodices, a troupe of Sri Lankan musicians kicked off the first World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival devoted to drums in the island's capital.

"This is a way of helping Sri Lanka restore what the tsunami destroyed," said percussionist Marco Vinicio Oyaga from Bogota, Colombia, whose band Toto Momposina y sus Tambores is due to headline on the second day of the five-day music festival.

"It was the poor who were hit hardest. We want to help them get started again."

The tsunami killed nearly 40,000 people along Sri Lanka's coastline, and displaced a million people -- around 5 percent of the population. Hundreds of thousands of displaced are now living in makeshift shelters of with family and friends.

Festival acts include world-renowned master drummer Bill Cobham of the United States, a band of drummers from Burundi, Indian composer Trilok Gurtu and musicians from Cuba to Britain.

Sri Lanka hopes that the drum festival, which it plans to stage annually, coupled with events including a spice festival, will help it claw back foreign visitors whose numbers slumped sharply after December's tsunami hammered its coastline and beach resorts. The island's tourism chief is hoping to double annual tourist arrivals to one million visitors by 2010 by targeting high-spending travellers who want to absorb the island's culture and not just the sun.

"After the tsunami, this is a repositioning of our tourism product ... to show this island, the splendour of everything we possess, is still intact," said Udaya Nanayakkara, chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board."

WOMAD Festival commence today in Sri Lanka

By Lalith Ganhewa - Asian Tribune Bureau, Germany

Berlin, 21 September, (Asiantribune.com): Music lovers in Sri Lanka will have a great opportunity to witness and listen to one of the most famous World Music Festival WOMAD from today in the island.

WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance, UK) was created by ex-Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel in 1982. Since then the festival has brought together great musicians regularly to perform in one stage. It has today turned out to be the window for ethnic musicians.

Teaming up with the Sri Lanka Tourist Board, WOMAD Music festival would be presented in Sri Lanka, for the first time, from September 21st-25th.

The WOMAD Sri Lanka is expected to concentrate by playing exclusively on the world of drums, rhythm and percussion. Long, traditional heritage of Sri Lanka’s drumming and music will also expected to take a centre stage with largest international presentation of drumming and percussion artists ever to have performed in the country.

The festival would showcase12 International acts from Bill Cobham, Toto La Momposina, Trilok Gurtu and others.

The Indian born Trilok, started off his international carrier way back in Berlin as a street musician. Although he lives in north Germany, he is a regular visitor to Europe's number one world music radio station ‘Radio Multikulti’ in Berlin. Trilok has visited Sri Lanka and performed with Ravi Bandu many times. It would be a feast for percussion music fans to enjoy a live performance of Ravibandu and Trilok one more time.

The Festival is pitched as a National Tourism Recovery Programme by the advertising firm in Singapore which handles the Sri Lanka promotion.

But it is yet to be seen whether they will be able to achieve this goal as WOMAD is known to be a highly expensive musical product for a specific custom tailored clientele.

http://womad.org/

Electrokingdom Big Time remix

Electrokingdom

No doubts about the high potential duo, Electrokingdom represents the perfect “Italian Junction” of ideas and action in dance music. Dario Bacci and Fred Portelli become friends in life and music in 2002… and the big amount of pasta and remixes is the obvious result.

Dario is the man of motion, promoting and giving twist to his musical ideas. Fred is the man of beats, notes, bass, drum, percussion and Acid 4!. The offspring is “seven minutes you need to shake your ass”.

This perfect alchemy of taste and energy comes with the name of Electrokingdom and “World Machine” with Mark King is just the first of many projects and covers, that everyone is going to listen and die for in the next future.

First absolute fans of the project are the well known producers Phunk Investigation, who bring their unique sound with two smashing versions of the song. Subsequently Roger Sanchez and Pete Tong mention these 2 guys in their very well known radio shows… what next?

Well... it took us a little while but something absolutely incredible is going to come out very soon! From the collaboration of Electrokigndom and the great Peter Gabriel a superb rework of his legendary "Big Time" has been produced.

Press release and more info coming soon Listen clips: Main Mix - Club Mix - Dub Mix - Acoustic Mix

Live and Unwrapped, Big Time in Geneva

News from Tina

Hi there!

Many apologies for the delay in updating, but I hope that my excuse will make up for it.

I have had a chance to take a look at the 'Live and Unwrapped' DVD and so I can now reveal some of its mysteries to you. What can I say? Wow! It's fantastic and will most definitely rekindle those special moments of the SGU tour, as well give insight into the hidden world behind it.

It's a set of 2 DVDs; the first 'Live' being the shows themselves (it's great to see San Jacinto - one of my favourites) and the second 'Unwrapped' giving behind-the-scenes footage as well as new interviews in which Peter gives us his thoughts on a variety of topics - music, talent, technology, fame...

Also, Peter and the band confide in us their childhood dreams. Just what did they want to be when they grew up? Answers are as follows: "... an Opera singer, an astronaut, an engine driver, a marine biologist, a kid, in a band, Scottish, Superman, Jimmy Osmond..." Who said what? I leave you to guess.

And, as if this wasn't enough, there are 'Orange' people with banners and interviews with fans. Could it be you? Were you interviewed at one of the venues? Enough! I don't want to spoil it for you. My last words on it will be – you’re in for a real treat!

(Our shop is offering a special pre-order service - the first 500 orders will receive a free Still Growing Up T shirt of your choice. Please visit us on www.womadshop.com for more details.)

Peter in Geneva?

Yes! Peter will be playing at the United Nations 60th anniversary event (to benefit malaria research) which is to be held on 7th and 8th October in Geneva. He will only be performing on the night of the 7th and we do not know which songs as yet. However, Don't Give Up and Biko are possibilities...

Mountain ranges for beds and snow-white pillows?

It could only be 'Big Time'. Look out for a special collaborative remix (Main Extended, Club and Dub) with the talented Electrokingdom (Bacci Bros Records) which is to be released on 12" vinyl only (currently limited edition). Can't wait? Then go straight to this month's competition.

For more information on the Bacci Bros, visit them at http://www.baccibros.com/

Youssou N'Dour & Friends

From Petergeabriel.com :

20-Sep-2005

Youssou N'Dour & Friends

Peter will be playing at the United Nations 60th anniversary event (to benefit malaria research) which is to be held on 7th and 8th October in Geneva. He will only be performing on the night of the 7th and we do not know which songs as yet. However, Don't Give Up and Biko are possibilities...

www.unitedagainstmalaria.org

Tony Levin Band al Teatro Augusteo di Napoli

di Paolo Ansali

Il festival di Afrakà, organizzato da Lino Vairetti e giunto alla sua XI edizione, chiude alla grande con la Tony Levin Band, per il grande bassista è la prima assoluta del tour europeo.

Iniziato con Il concerto di Rachel Z Trio il 4 giugno nel giardino della Fondazione Mondragone di Napoli e Brian Auger, Sud Sound System, Bisca e Rino Zurzolo nella cornice della Villa Comunale di Afragola in Luglio, il festival di Afrakà giunto alla sua XI edizione, chiude alla grande con Tony Levin Band. Con il patrocinio della Regione Campania e del Comune di Napoli, il concerto di Tony Levin, in esclusiva per il Sud Italia e in prima assoluta del suo tour europeo, si terrà al Teatro Augusteo di Napoli martedì 11 ottobre 2005 alle ore 21.00.

Tony Levin, famoso musicista e componente dei King Crimson, oltre che della band di Peter Gabriel dal suo esordio ad oggi, e’ uno dei piu’ grandi bassisti e virtuosi dello “stick”. Le sue collaborazioni discografiche sono innumerevoli; Tony ha infatti suonato con tutti i piu’ grandi musicisti della scena internazionale come John Lennon a Laurie Anderson, Burt Bacharach, David Bowie, Chris Botti, Bill Bruford, Al Di Meola, Robert Fripp, Lou Reed, Ringo Starr, Pink Floyd, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Ravi Shankar, California Guitar Trio Rachel Z e molti altri. Ha collaborato anche con musicisti italiani, quali Ivano Fossati, Fiorella Mannoia, Claudio Baglioni, Susanna Parigi, Vasco Rossi.

Oltre la sua intensa attivita’ musicale, Tony coltiva da molto tempo la passione per la fotografia e la grafica pubblicando 2 libri fotografici e realizzato diversi lavori di artwork per le copertine di dischi propri e dei King Crimson. Ha al suo attivo 4 albums da solista l’ultimo dei quali sarà eseguito nei concerti del suo tour europeo 2005 con la sua nuova band formata da cinque musicisti che tra gli appassionati sono definiti "leggende viventi", per il loro contributo musicale profuso da trent’anni a questa parte. Averli tutti insieme in una unica occasione, fa di questa loro venuta in Europa, un evento eccezionale. La formazione della Band:
Tony Levin (basso), Larry Fast (keyboards), Jerry Marotta (Batteria), Jesse Gress (chitarra) e Pete Levin (piano)

La Band:
Larry Fast, vecchio amico e collaboratore di Robert Moog, e’ stato uno dei pionieri della musica elettronica a livello popolare. Gia’ tecnico del suono e membro effettivo della Peter Gabriel Band fin dai suoi esordi, ha al suo attivo una intensa attivita’ solista sotto il nome di Synergy. Il suo talento ai sintetizzatori e’ affiancato all’attivita’ di produttore per innumerevoli artisti con cui ha collaborato anche in studio di registrazione, Barbra Streisand, Randy Newman, Joan Armatrading, Walter Carlos (storico compositore delle colonne sonore dei film di Stanley Kubrick), tra gli altri.

Jerry Marotta,
dopo una lunghissima permanenza nel gruppo di Peter Gabriel, ha inciso e intrapreso tours con Paul Mc Cartney, Joan Armatrading, Hall & Oates , Sean Lennon, Susanne Vega, Ani Di Franco, per citarne alcuni. Oltre a collaborare con innumerevoli artisti, Marotta e’ anche un ricercatissimo produttore oltre che proprietario di uno studio di registrazione nei pressi di New York.

Jesse Gress:
suona stabilmente nella Tony Levin Band e nel gruppo di Todd Rundgren. La sua attivita’ si svolge prevalentemente negli Stati Uniti dove e’ molto conosciuto nell’ambiente anche come eccellente trascrittore di spartiti per chitarra diretti a professionisti e semplici appassionati. Tiene workshops e scrive manuali didattici per chitarristi non professionisti.

Pete Levin:
fratello di Tony, poliedrico e stimatissimo pianista negli ambienti jazz e rock, ha al suo attivo una vasta produzione discografica solista e una lunghissima lista di collaborazioni con altri artisti, quali il Brubeck Brothers Quartet, Gil Evans, Waine Shorter, Artie Traum, Michael Petrucciani, David Sanborn, Robbie Robertson, Carly Simon, Annie Lennox.


TONY LEVIN BAND in Concerto
Martedì 11 ottobre 2005 – ore 21.00
Napoli - Teatro Augusteo – piazzetta Duca D’Aosta
Costo biglietti:
Platea €. 18,00 + 2 di prevendita
Galleria €. 14,00 + 1 di prev.
Prevendita Teatro Augusteo e abituali
Info: 081.414243 – 081.405660

Rachel Z at Nighttown in Cleveland

Streaming music : http://www.kataweb.it/community/live/rachel_z/

Contributed by Ronaldo Oregano

After two world tours as the featured pianist and keyboard player in Peter Gabriel's group, Rachel Z has a solo career that is rapidly on the rise. On Saturday, September 24th Ms. Z brings her trio to Nighttown in Cleveland.

Rachel Z has just released her seventh solo recording "Grace," which features several original compositions and is the first CD where she sings. This CD is a combination of originals and unique interpretations of modern pop writers like John Lennon, Kate Bush, and Kurt Cobain. Her previous CD "Everlasting" presented instrumental jazz versions of pop songs by artists ranging from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to Seal, Sade, Steely Dan, and Kurt Cobain. Prior to that Rachel Z recorded a tribute to Joni Mitchell. Rachel Z is among the vanguard of musicians who are finding the jazz in modern pop music, and realizing its lasting value.

Rachel recorded and toured with saxophonist Wayne Shorter extensively in the late 90's and collaborated with him on the Grammy-winning CD "High Life."

Rachel Z has also played a prominent role in several major groups including those of Al DiMeola, Steps Ahead, Wayne Shorter, Vertu with Lenny White and Stanley Clarke, and most recently as a featured artist with Peter Gabriel's band. Rachel Z is clearly among the elite group of jazz musicians working today. This Summer and Fall, Rachel will be touring again in Europe and North America. For her appearance at Night Town, Rachel will be supported by her current New York trio consisting of drummer Bobby Rae and bassist Chris Luard.

Manhattan-born and raised Rachel Nicolazzo (aka Rachel Z) had music practically ingrained in her genetic code. Groomed to follow in her mother's operatic footsteps, she began voice lessons at two, started classical piano lessons at seven and attended the opera by age nine. "My first dollhouse was a Metropolitan Opera House complete with the stage and dolls which were the performers," she recalls. "Then I heard Miles Smiles when I was 15, started rebelling against the classical by improvising, and played with a band that covered Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan songs."

Listening to Herbie Hancock's harmonies over Wayne Shorter's compositions helped her bridge the gap from her classical training to jazz."The way my jazz chops developed was twofold. I developed acoustic straight ahead and electronic fusion playing equally over time," she says. After launching a quintet called Nardis, she studied with Joanne Brackeen and Richie Beirach.

Don't miss the dynamic sounds of pianist Rachel Z and her Trio live at Nighttown on Saturday September 24th at 9 PM. Nighttown is located at 12387 Cedar Road in Cleveland Heights. For reservations call (216) 795-0550 or fax: (216) 795-0531.

"Rachel Z is a consistently adventurous player. Rachel occasionally reveals traces of influence from McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock, but more often she is her own player, voicing her harmonies with a dark, intimate quality." -Don Heckman, The Los Angeles Times

Big Room console for sale

Real World (Peter Gabriel) Solid State Logic console for sale

SSL 4080G G Series Console fitted with 72 mono channels - Total Recall – G Plus computer – additional features - Real World Send Matrix providing four extra sends per channel & Motionworker Synchronizer. The console is in first class technical condition and can be viewed in operation. £85,000 plus VAT if applicable.

Please visit the Peter Gabriel web site http://realworldstudios.com/ the particular console for sale is the one referred to as the 'The Big Room'

Some of the biggest artists in the world have passed through the doors of Real World studios, see below list of just some of the previous clients who have used the 4080G in the Big Room.

Peter Gabriel
New Order
Dandy Warhols
Hope of the States
The Bad Plus
Gomez
Travis
Stina Nordensam
Ed Harcourt
Bonnie Rait
Ocean Colour Scene
Zucchero
Muse
Afro Celt Sound System
Loreena McKennit
Cast
Stereophonics
Beautiful South
Kylie Minogue
Super Furry Animals
Electronic
James
Placebo
Black Grape
Wet Wet Wet
The Guitar Trio
David Sylvian
Therapy?
King Crimson
Nusrat Ali Fateh Khan
Van Morrison
The Levellers
Squeeze
Seal

Some of the producers who have worked in the Big Room

Tchad Blake
Torre Johannssen
John Leckie
Ken Thomas
John Kelly
Guy Chambers
Al Stone
Bird and Bush
Stephen Hague
Vic Coppersmith
John Cale
Owen Morris
Steve Osborne
Brian Eno

Womadshop : Still Growing Up - Live and Unwrapped

Still Growing Up - Live and Unwrapped-Peter Gabriel

£14.99 including postage and packing to France

Available for pre-order, released on: Mon 31 Oct 2005

Order 'Still Growing Up - Live and Unwrapped' today and be one of the first 500 to receive a free Still Growing Up Tour T shirt of your choice.

This offer applies to Still Growing Up Tour T shirts only - Please make your choice from the shop and email your details(colour and size)to merch@womadshop.com Don't forget to include your name and order reference number.

Still Growing Up- Live and Unwrapped

November 2003 saw the release of Peter Gabriel’s ‘Growing Up Live’ DVD, chronicling his World Tour, which was celebrated for its spectacular theatrics. ‘Still Growing Up Live and Unwrapped’ brings Peter Gabriel together again with the award winning director, Hamish Hamilton, capturing

his performances in all sorts of smaller and more intimate venues around Europe for the Live film. It was an opportunity to perform songs which were not part of the original Growing Up Tour White Ashes, San Jacinto, Games Without Frontiers, Tower, Come Talk To Me, Burn You Up, Biko.

The Unwrapped film explores the world behind the songs, with Anna Gabriel taking the Director’s chair with the collaboration of Hamish Hamilton.

> DISC ONE - STILL GROWING UP LIVE
> 1. The Feeling Begins (from Passion)
> 2. Red Rain
> 3. Secret World
> 4. White Ashes
> 5. Games Without Frontiers
> 6. Burn You Up
> 7. The Tower That Ate People
> 8. San Jacinto
> 9. Digging In The Dirt
> 10. Solsbury Hill
> 11. Sledge Hammer
> 12. Come Talk To Me
> 13. Biko
>
> EXTRAS
> Bonus track from Still Growing Up Tour ‘In Your Eyes’
> ‘No Self Control’ from 'P.O.V.'
>
> DISC TWO – STILL GROWING UP UNWRAPPED
> 1. The Feeling Begins (from Passion)
> 2. Red Rain
> 3. Secret World
> 4. White Ashes
> 5. Burn You Up
> 6. San Jacinto
> 7. Digging In The Dirt
> 8. Solsbury Hill
> 9. Sledge Hammer
> 10. The Tower That Ate People
> 11. Come Talk To Me
> 12. Biko
>
> EXTRAS
> Exclusive early studio footage of Peter and the band performing
> ‘Darkness’, ' No Way Out’ and ‘Growing Up’
> Peter Gabriel performing ‘Downside Up’ and ‘Father, Son’ on the BBC
> show 'Later…with Jools Holland'

In the absence of a space elevator

17-Sep-2005

In the absence of a space elevator, we offer a tower to the moon.

Septembers lunar height is upon us and to mark it's arrival we have pulled another demo from Peter's studio archive.

Having spent most of the month working on the new DVD "Still growing Up: Peter Gabriel Live and Unwrapped" - some versions of which are now available for pre-order in WOMADShop with a free tour T-shirt thrown in - it's been amazing to see how this 1998 demo of The Tower evolved through OVO and The Millennium Dome show into the version performed on the recent tour; and now DVD, so powerful 'That Ate People' should rightly be appended to it's name.

The Tower - In The Full Moon Club Downloads section

The new DVD in WOMADshop

Africa Calling - DVD available for pre-order

The new DVD of the Live 8 featuring a host of African musicians, hosted by Peter Gabriel and WOMAD at The Eden Project in Cornwall, is now available for pre-order at WOMADShop.

Africa Calling - Live 8 DVD in WOMADShop

designer of the Peter Gabriel video "Big Time."

Re-creating the 'Buzz'

David Daniels revisits his groundbreaking '80s clay-animation video at the annual short-film festival

By Chris Garcia, american-statesman film writer
Friday, September 16, 2005

David Daniels lives in the cold, scratchy nether-zone of a grand and awful irony, and it troubles him to no end. This is how he sees it: As a young man, he was an artist whose first major work, the clay-animation video "Buzz Box," put him on the fast track to stardom in the mid-1980s. The 15-minute video — a throbbing, dazzling miasma of imagistic excess — was hailed as a savage, funny and groundbreaking blast at modern media run amok.

Daniels went on to animate four seasons of "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" and design the Peter Gabriel video "Big Time." But he decided to forfeit the sacrifice, the shmoozing and the struggle of the artist's myth for a traditional path, that of husband, father and creator of talking M&Ms.

Daniels indeed created the "M&Ms Guys," that famous pair of humanoid candy drops who wear sneakers and gloves and pitch their namesake edibles in animated M&Ms ads. He and his Portland, Ore.-based production company Bent Image Lab have also produced memorable commercials for Kellogg's, NBC, Nabisco, Pepsi and H-P...

Lock up your vegetables!

Measuring up... Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Wallace & Gromit are back - this time battling an evil rabbit beast terrorising their garden. Creator Nick Park tells Stuart Jeffries how Hollywood's millions have helped - and hindered

Friday September 16, 2005
The Guardian

There are no such things as marrows in the United States. Americans call them something else. This may seem an insignificant matter to you, but it became very vexing indeed to Nick Park when he was working on his new Wallace & Gromit film with Hollywood money. "You see, in the film, Gromit is growing his own prize marrow for a giant vegetable competition at Lady Toddington's manor house," says Park...

...1986 The company creates a groundbreaking pop video for Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. Park contributes the dancing chicken sequence...

"Here Comes The Flood" Pregnant Songs for BushWorld

Posted by anonyMoses on September 14, 2005 12:22 AM

Exposure Robert Fripp Music from E.G. RecordsRelease date: 31 August, 1990

Katrina, as a storm, has passed. Ophelia sits spinning off my coast. Ophelia drowned, right?

Again, Peter Gabriel's, "Here Comes the Flood" floods my mind. A pregnant song. A prescient song. A song that has warned those with ears to hear about the dire results of a ludibund and flippant attitude toward our effect on the natural world, and its harsh rebuke.

I'm too old to rehash an examination of the lyrics of a song that has been around since the 70s, and which has already been analysed quite enough thank you, which I guess either shows the innocuous ineffectiveness of such an activity, or else that the examiners are perhaps a little farther behind the scenes than they might have wished upon themselves, in more ego-laden moments of their evanescent lives.

Mister Gabriel must have been shaking his head even longer than his monkey (or was that shock? But of course!) as he watches the essobees fasten the hoodwinks ever snugly. More ugly still the nightmares unfurling.

More pregnant and prescient still is Robert Fripp's version of the song, with Gabriel on piano and voice, while Robert Frippertronicizes the sonic atmospheres enveloping it. Fripp wisely includes the words of the Gurdjieff scholar/student and mystic, JG Bennett, who talks about the coming floods in great world cities, due to what is euphomistically called "climate change".

Manu Katché au naturel

À la recherche de ses premières amours

Paris, le 13/09/2005

Musicien de jazz avant d'être batteur de rock, Manu Katché a participé à plus de 200 albums, de Francis Cabrel à Sting, en passant par Kassav, Dire Straits. Avec Neighbourhood, il retourne à sa carrière personnelle, fort d'une popularité nouvelle acquise en tant que membre du jury de l'émission hebdomadaire Nouvelle star, diffusée par une chaîne de télévision française.

C'est l'un des batteurs les plus sollicités de la planète. Son répertoire téléphonique serait un trésor pour n'importe quel mordu de musique et de chanson tombant dessus par hasard. Aujourd'hui, Manu Katché arrête ses collaborations tous azimuts. Une mise en parenthèse pour renouer avec le plaisir d'écrire et de jouer du jazz, la première musique à l'avoir fait craquer. Entouré de musiciens de haute volée (Jan Garbarek, saxophone ; Tomasz Stanko, trompette ; Marcin Wasilewski, piano ; Slawomir Kurkiewicz, contrebasse), il sort un album 100% siglé jazz, Neighbourhood.

RFI Musique : Ce disque est-il la confirmation de l'adage qui veut que l'on n'échappe jamais à ses premières amours ?

Manu Katché : On n'échappe jamais à ses origines, surtout. Quand on choisit d'être batteur, donc défini par une omniprésence rythmique, pour faire ses classes, je ne vois pas quel cursus on peut avoir à part commencer par le jazz, évoluer vers la soul music, continuer par le funk et arriver au rock. Même si je joue avec plein de gens qui ne sont pas de formation jazz, ils y passent forcément à un moment donné. J'ai l'impression que dans une expérience de vie musicale, le jazz est vraiment un passage obligé.

Votre premier contact avec lui ?

À l'époque où je fréquentais le Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris, je suivais une formation en percussion classique, mais parallèlement je commençais la batterie et à toucher un petit peu au be-bop. Je n'excellais pas, loin de là. Musicalement, j'ai toujours été attiré par les solistes. J'écoutais Parker, Coltrane, Miles, Monk. Ils m'ont "choqué", dans le bon sens. Je trouvais cela génial. Mon beau-père écoutait pas mal de jazz. Avant que je commence à en jouer, c'est un peu lui qui m'a donné l'envie, par les disques qu'il écoutait quand j'étais môme. Je ne suis pas un grand technicien de jazz mais en tout cas j'ai une approche de coeur énorme et, structurellement, je suis plus proche d'un musicien de jazz que d'un musicien de rock.

Dans quel sens ?

Je suis quelqu'un de très instinctif, qui joue beaucoup en écoutant les autres. Le rock, c'est écrit, assez précis dans les structures. Dès l'instant où il y a un refrain et un couplet, on ne peut pas modifier grand chose. Ce qui a fait ma caractéristique quand je suis arrivé dans ce milieu-là, via Peter Gabriel, en 1986, c'est que j'ai vraiment changé les données d'un batteur de rock. J'ai commencé à utiliser des toms, des cymbales Splash. En fait, j'ai plutôt une approche de la musique rock comme un musicien de jazz - je ne dirais pas "batteur de jazz", car je ne me considère pas comme tel, je suis trop respectueux des batteurs de jazz pour ça. Donc, oui, le jazz, ce sont mes premières amours et, pour moi, c'est une musique dans laquelle les solistes peuvent s'exprimer pleinement.

Pourtant, quand on écoute Neighbourhood, on n'a pas immédiatement l'impression d'écouter l'album d'un batteur. Vous y restez assez en retrait. Je prendrai cette remarque comme un compliment. Cela me rappelle une très belle phrase de Steve Gadd, à qui on demandait au cours d'une interview après un enregistrement avec Paul Simon, quel était l'album sur lequel il avait préféré jouer. Il avait répondu : "Justement, celui-ci, car c'est celui où on m'entend le moins."

Effectivement, un batteur, ça peut être vite envahissant, car la batterie est un instrument qui a tendance à être très démonstratif dans son volume sonore. J'aime favoriser la mélodie des harmonies, néanmoins, dans Neighbourhood, il y a une vraie tension rythmique en dessous, même si elle est jouée avec des nuances. Ce n'est pas quelque chose de complètement free, ouvert et "atempo" de A à Z. Je ne suis pas a priori un batteur démonstratif et, a fortiori en écrivant un album pour moi, je n'avais pas envie tout à coup de le devenir. Comme d'ailleurs pour celui que j'avais fait en 1991 (It's About Time, ndr), qui était un album chanté, dans lequel j'avais voulu volontairement appuyer sur les mélodies, les textes et les arrangements plutôt que de faire une démonstration de batterie. La démonstration peut avoir sa raison d'être dès l'instant où l'on est sur scène, parce que là on a une interactivité directe avec le public, et puis il y a un plaisir du moment.

Vous avez de fait une approche très mélodique de la batterie.

Mon premier instrument était le piano (commencé à l'âge de sept ans, ndr), donc j'ai une vraie sensibilité mélodique, de climats, d'ambiances. Je considère la batterie plus souvent comme un instrument mélodique que rythmique. Si l'on écoute tous les disques sur lesquels j'ai joué - pas loin de 300 je crois -, on va rarement pouvoir repérer un truc particulier que j'aurais fait à la batterie. Ce n'est pas ma carte de visite, j'ai plutôt tendance à construire quelque chose de sous-tendu par rapport à une rythmique, à une mélodie, qui fait que tout à coup ça crée quelque chose d'original.

Manu Katché Neighbourhood (ECM/Universal) 2005

Concerts : le 4 octobre à Paris à La Cigale : avec Jan Garbarek, Tomasz Stanko, Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz.

En tournée avec Franck Avitabile (piano), Alex Tassel (trompette), Gildas Boclé (contrebasse).

Manu Katché "Neighbourhood"

Manu Katché chez ECM. On le connaissait déjà en sideman (chez Jan Garbarek par exemple, avec qui il enregistre depuis l'album "I took up the runes" en 1990), mais en leader, voilà qui a de quoi surprendre. Surtout que ces derniers temps, Manu, qu'on a vu derrière les fûts chez Peter Gabriel, Sting ou Stephan Eicher et même sur la bande originale d'"Un indien dans la ville" (dans trio qui comportait aussi Geoffrey Oryema et Tonton David), s'est fait connaître comme juré dans l'émission de télévision "A la recherche de la nouvelle star"....

Jean-Marc Grosdemouge, M-la-Musique