Kaija Saariaho - Total Immersion day at The Barbican/Royal Opera House, London, 7 May 2023

In memoriam: Kaija Saariaho, 14 October 1952 - 2 June 2023, RIP

 

A wonderful deep dive into the soundworlds of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, which in the days since these three broadcasts has turned into a career-summing memorial.  After a lifetime investigating the confluence of spectralist music and electronics, Saariaho leaves behind a stunning catalogue of innovative music in lots of different forms.  So here's the three broadcasts of music from the Total Immersion day that took place in London last month, plus a little bonus at the end from an earlier concert in Glasgow.

In the first broadcast, Sakari Oramo conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Du Cristal, Notes On Light, Saarikoski Songs and Circle Map.  Also included here are excerpts from the day's chamber music concert, performed by students of the Guildhall School, with Changing Light, Spins And Spells and Calices zooming in on the engrossing granularity of these smaller-scale works.

Kaija Saariaho's most recent opera Innocence is a multi-lingual narrative tying together a wedding and a school shooting, and this UK premiere took place over in Covent Garden and was tied in with the Total Immersion concert broadcasts.  Lasting nearly two hours, I'm afraid this one is all in one track as I had no recording timings to refer to for even attempting to break it up into sections.  But even without being able to follow the libretto, it's a weighty, moving work that's well worth a listen.

Lastly, we return to The Barbican to hear the BBC Singers perform another UK premiere, the ecological song cycle Reconnaissance (Rusty Mirror Madrigal).  This is paired with two of Saariaho's most famous vocal works, Nuits Adieux and Tag Des Jahrs, and the broadcast is completed with more chamber music.  The bonus I've added on at the end comes from a recent concert in Glasgow that was broadcast around the same time, with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performing Saariaho's Laterna Magica.

Enjoy these recordings of a composer who leaves behind some truly spellbinding music.

Broadcast 1 link

Broadcast 2 link

Broadcast 3 link

pw for all: sgtg

Kaija Saariaho at SGTG:

Du Cristal...À la Fumée, Nymphéa

Lonh, Près, NoaNoa, Six Japanese Gardens

Graal Théâtre, Solar, Lichtbogen

Überzeugung, Nuits Adieux

Vista

London Sinfonietta/Sound Intermedia - Reich/Richter (Royal Festival Hall, London, 6 April 2023)

Concert from earlier in the month, broadcast last week.  The mouthwatering programme is themed around New York composers, or those with connections to the area, its second half given over to 40 minutes of Steve Reich.

First, we get the transformed Insect sounds of Mira Calix's Nunu; the world premiere of Anna Clyne's Fractured Time, and the joyous cacophony of Julia Wolfe's Tell Me Everything, inspired by a tape of Mexican brass music.  Bookending these in the concert's first half are two arrangements of an uncharacteristically brief Julius Eastman piece, Joy Boy from 1974.  Opening the programme in a wind-centred iteration, then leading into the interval in a strings-based version, it's a great pocket-sized example of the subtle constant transformation in Eastman's music.  

Reich/Richter, composed in 2019 and given album release last year, was composed by Steve Reich to accompany an abstract film by Gerhard Richter.  The patterned, textured film was shown to the audience for this performance, but with this obviously unavailable to broadcast listeners the music has to stand by itself.  And it most certainly does, in instantly recognisable Reich form across its four sections, but still managing to sound fresh in this late period of the New York legend's career.

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pw: sgtg

BBC Concert Orchestra - Seeing The Light (recorded 26 Feb 2023)

Recent broadcast of a February concert from London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, themed around 'light'.  Starting off with Philip Glass' piece for the centenary of the Michelson-Morley experiment, the first half is rounded out with Peteris Vasks' Lonely Angel, introducing violinist Mari Samuelsen as the concert's featured soloist.  A great run of pieces after the interval, by Meredi, Guðnadóttir and Pärt further showcase Samuelsen, before the grand finale of Rautavaara's Angel Of Light symphony.  Great programme, brilliantly played.

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pw: sgtg

BBC Singers - Concert For International Women's Day 2023 (orig. rec. on 19 Jan, broadcast 8 March)

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Couple of concert broadcasts this week, starting with acapella choral music performed by the BBC Singers and aired to conincide with International Women's Day earlier this month.  The programme highlights seven female contemporary composers from around the world, the vocal texts moving from just onomatopoeic sounds to poetry to liturgical settings.  Everything sounds fantastic in the capable hands of the BBC Singers.  I really hope this isn't the last post of them performing - latest news is that they're due to be axed by the BBC, which would be a great loss.  For now, please enjoy this post of an incredible choral ensemble and the previous posts below.

 

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pw: sgtg

BBC Singers at SGTG:

Boulez, Varèse & Stravinsky

On Christmas Night

Joby Talbot & Joanna Marsh

A Christmas Carol

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Plays Scriabin, Glière & Korsun (at the Lighthouse, Poole, 17th Jan 2023)

Incredible concert recording from January, given a recent broadcast.  Chief conductor Kirill Karabits, as part of a 'Voices From The East' series, put together this programme of Ukrainian and Russian music and started it off with the stunning sonic power of Anna Korsun's Terricone, receiving its world premiere.  Karabits and Korsun, who both have roots in the Donbas region, introduce the work as having its title inspired by large mining heaps there, and it sounds phenomenal - very much appealed to the Xenakis fan in me.

The BSO's artist in residence is featured next, letting the rest of the concert's first half showcase the talent of horn player Felix Klieser (whose adapted-by-necessity technique is quite amazing).  Reinhold Glière's Horn Concerto, composed in 1951 and with strong influence from the Romantic era, contrasts well with the rest of the programme.  As an encore, Klieser offers a Rossini fanfare.  The concert's second half is given over to Alexander Scriabin's 2nd Symphony in all its grandeur and subtlety, with the gorgeous Andante being a highlight for me.  The announcer signing off with a typically bonkers quote from Scriabin is just the cherry on top.

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Scriabin at SGTG: Universe

BBC Singers - A Christmas Carol (Milton Court, London, 14th Dec 2022)

Have a wonderful Christmas weekend, everyone.  Here's a concert recording that gives a fresh setting to a classic seasonal tale that I've been enjoying since its broadcast a week ago.  The BBC Singers first give a spirited half-hour of Christmas arrangements and carols old and new, and are then joined by Mel Giedroyc to narrate the rest of the concert.  It's a musical arrangement of Dickens' A Christmas Carol by composer Benedict Sheehan, weaving well-known carols into Sheehan's own music to set the story in a delightful new context, here receiving its UK premiere. 

Merry Christmas!

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pw: sgtg

BBC Concert Orchestra / Marcin Wasilewski Trio - Tribute To Tomasz Stańko (live at EFG London Jazz Festival, 16th Nov 2022)

As the noted in the radio host's intro, the late, great Tomasz Stańko would've been 80 this year.  An ideal time for a tribute concert, then - and this one definintely delivers the goods, with the trio who worked with him for several years augmented by orchestra and special guests.  Since the Polish trumpeter's death four years ago, we've been left with a truly great catalogue in European jazz, and the impression (I certainly get) that Stańko just kept getting better with age.  His last few years are my favourite to return to over and over, and music from this period forms the core of the setlist, the elegaic melodies enhanced by the BBC Concert Orchestra in ways that serve the material well.

The first half begins with Yankiel's Lid and Street Of Crocodiles from Polin (links to other albums below), spotlighting young saxophonist Emma Rawicz.  To fill the essential trumpet role, we then get Avishai Cohen for the rest of the evening, starting with a beautiful rendition of the Wisława title track.  More guests are introduced by way of a duet interlude - guitarist Rob Luft, a recent addition to the ECM stable, backs singer Alice Zawadzki on a folk song arrangement of hers.  Luft is then the featured player as we return to Stańko's music for Terminal 7, to lead in to the interval - and I've left this 20-minute section of the broadcast intact for a change, as the announcer features clips of an interview with Stańko recorded in 2008.

 

Tomasz Stańko's early association with Krzysztof Komeda, mentioned in the interval, is also reflected in the concert resuming with the Lullabye from Rosemary's Baby, sung by Zawadzki backed by the orchestra. Stańko's own music for film and theatre is also touched on, with A Farewell To Maria and Roberto Zucco - good to hear from a corner of the Stańko ouevre that remains lesser-known (not least because those obscure soundtracks could do with being reissued).  Other than Celine, an arrangement of material from Suspended Night, the rest of the set returns to the Wisława album - Faces, April Story and then a brief rip through Assassins to close a superb concert.  Avishai Cohen sounds fantastic throughout, given the not inconsiderable task of stepping into Stańko's shoes; the Marcin Wasilewski Trio a perfect link to the composer in life (and Wasilewski is always such an incredible pianist), and well-chosen guests and sympathetic arrangements all make this a fitting tribute.  If you love Stańko's music even half as much as I do, don't miss this one.

link

pw: sgtg

Tomasz Stańko at SGTG:
Jazzmessage From Poland
Purple Sun

TWET 

Balladyna
Freelectronic in Montreux
Bluish
Bosonossa And Other Ballads
Matka Joanna 

Suspended Night

Neighbourhood (Manu Katché) 

Wolność W Sierpniu - Freedom In August
Dark Eyes
Wisława
Polin

BBC Concert Orchestra & Guy Barker's New Jazz Orchestra - Celebrating Mingus (30th Sept 2022)

Broadcast of a tribute concert held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London just over a month ago.  Celebrating Mingus, in his centenary year, is achieved by the two orchestras and saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin not in a straightforward programme of Mingus tunes - as was the case with a previous tribute concert posted here - but through Mingus' formative influences, and a grand narrative work in the second half.

The concert does start off with a pair of Mingus classics - Don't Be Afraid, The Clown's Afraid Too and Us Is Two, freshly orchestrated by Guy Barker (as is the whole programme) and providing a punchy, vivacious curtain-raiser.  The tempo then comes down for a lovely Fleurette Africaine, and stays with Ellington for Money Jungle's title track and I Got It Bad.  This section, sketching out Mingus' early influences, next reaches all the way back to Joplin and an orchestration of Jelly Roll Morton's arrangement of Maple Leaf Rag, before returning to Ellington by way of Tizol for a great Caravan.

The single work devised by Barker that takes up the remainder of the concert is titled Mingus 100, and over 70 minutes paints the colourful life of its subject in vivid hues.  Far from being just a run-together medley of Mingus themes (although many classics are present and correct), the beautifully-arranged suite is narrated by Allan Harris, to a text by Rob Ryan.  Harris is a thoroughly engaging guide to the musical events, inhabiting the mercurial character of Mingus in all his joys, sorrows and memorable moments, turning the suite into something approaching a mini-musical biopic.  Just listen to the whole thing and enjoy, it's a wonderful tribute.

link

pw: sgtg

Mingus at SGTG:

East Coasting
Jazz Portraits: Mingus In Wonderland 

Mingus Ah Um & Mingus Dynasty 
Oh Yeah

Tijuana Moods

Mingus Revisited (aka Pre-Bird)
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady  
Mingus Plays Piano  
Let My Children Hear Music

Mingus Moves
Changes One & Two
Cumbia & Jazz Fusion
plus:  

The Quintet: Jazz At Massey Hall
Blue Moods  
Money Jungle  

Mingus (Joni Mitchell album)
BBC Proms Tribute by Metropole Orkest

Philharmonia Orchestra (featuring Víkingur Ólafsson) Plays Mahler, Adams & Clyne (22nd Sept 2022)

Heady stuff from the Philharmonia, as they kick off their new season with a Mahler symphony.  Some lightness first though in a piece composed by London-born, New York based Anna Clyne for the 2013 Proms, twisting and twirling through evocations of masquerade balls gone by for a nicely frothy five minutes.

 

The Philharmonia Orchestra are then joined by pianist Víkingur Ólafsson to play Must The Devil Have All The Tunes?, John Adams' funk-infused piano concerto from 2018.  To sign off before the interval, Ólafsson encores with a gorgeous Rameau piece.  The second half of the concert is then given over to Mahler's hour-plus 5th Symphony in all its sombre-to-life-affirming glory, to complete a slightly odd on paper but very enjoyable programme, brilliantly played.

link

pw: sgtg

John Adams at SGTG:
Shaker Loops (orchestral version)
Shaker Loops (original version) / Light Over Water
Grand Pianola Music 
The Chairman Dances, etc
The Chairman Dances (live 2020)
Road Movies, Hallelujah Junction etc
Harmonium etc (scroll past main post)

Naive And Sentinmental Music (live 2019)

Harmonielehre (live 2022)

John Adams - Harmonielehre (BBC SSO & RSNO, 9th February 2022)

A live concert broadcast from back in February, and a joining of forces to mark the Association of British Concert Orchestras' 2022 conference in Glasgow.  The hundred-plus combined might of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra renders John Adams' mid-80s work in fine detail, but first up is a UK premiere.  Samy Moussa's Elysium is inspired by views of the afterlife in classical Greece, and shimmers into view before building in grandeur.

The solo spotlight for the programme falls on 19-year old Spanish violinist María Dueñas, who lives up to her "rising superstar" billing in a great rendering of Shostakovich's 1st Violin Concerto.  After the interval, the double-orchestra gives its full energy to John Adams' wondrous Harmoniehlehre.  Taking fresh inspiration from imagery in his dreams, Romantic music and harmonic exploration, Adam's three-section work from 1985 barrels along in unforgettable style.

link

pw: sgtg

 

Samy Moussa at SGTG:

A Globe Itself Infolding 

 

Dmitri Shostakovich at SGTG:

Symphony No. 15 (live 2017, scroll past main post)

Symphony No. 15 (live 2022) 

John Adams at SGTG:
Shaker Loops (orchestral version)
Shaker Loops (original version) / Light Over Water
Grand Pianola Music 
The Chairman Dances, etc
The Chairman Dances (live 2020)
Road Movies, Hallelujah Junction etc
Harmonium etc (scroll past main post)

Naive And Sentinmental Music (live 2019)

Frank Zappa (BBC Symphony Orchestra / uBu Ensemble) - Total Immersion at The Barbican, London (19th March 2022)

With the Proms posts over, here's a 'Total Immersion Day' broadcast from earlier in the year.  Taking a fresh look at the Zappa music of the London Symphony Orchestra, Perfect Stranger and Yellow Shark eras, and more besides, the day's events also threaded in Zappa's formative influences as a composer.  This gives us a great take on Varèse's Intégrals as well as some lesser-known Stravinsky, in his late work written in memoriam of Aldous Huxley and the miniature song-cycle Pribaoutki from 1914.

For Zappa's music, the 'Total Immersion' concerts were divided between the full force of the BBC Symphony Orchestra to play the LSO-era works, and the contemporary ensemble uBu for the rest.  From the former, we get the lushly-orchestrated version of Pedro's Dowry, the complementary ballet pieces Bob In Dacron and Sad Jane, and the full-length Mo 'N Herb's Vacation.  The ensemble play The Perfect Stranger, Outrage At Valdez, Dog/Meat and Be-Bop Tango, giving full vivid life to Zappa's musical colourings.  Taken together, this broadcast is a great presentation of unique music, made even more informative by a couple of chats with Negative Dialectics Of Poodle Play author Ben Watson.

link

pw: sgtg

Frank Zappa at SGTG:

Lumpy Gravy

Waka/Jawaka

The Grand Wazoo

Wazoo (Live 1972) 

Road Tapes Venue #2 (Live 1973)

Roxy & Elsewhere

One Size Fits All

Orchestral Favourites

Sleep Dirt

Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar

Boulez Conducts Zappa - The Perfect Stranger  

Jazz From Hell

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2: The Helsinki Concert

The Perfect Stranger (live 2018)

BBC Proms 2022: Marius Neset / London Sinfonietta - Geyser (3 Sept 2022)

The last post from this year's Proms is another world premiere, in this work composed by Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset.  Playing with the London Sinfonietta, Neset took his geologically-inspired suite from its calm beginnings to frenetic interlocking patterns with great solos and on to much more besides.  Don't take the track splits I've added in as necessarily accurate - this was mostly guesswork as only the first couple of sections are applauded, all the rest segues, and I had nothing else to refer to.  But do enjoy all the twists and turns of this incredible work, with Neset's core quintet blending wonderfully with the ensemble.

link

pw: sgtg

BBC Proms 2022: Public Service Broadcasting - This New Noise (with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, 30 Aug 2022)

A special commission to mark the centenary of the BBC, This New Noise was composed by "retro-futurist" band Public Service Broadcasting.  Since 2009, they've been creating historical narrative albums like this, and have given a Proms performance before - after which they were approached as the ideal artists to create something for the upcoming 100th anniversary of the BBC in 2022.

So here it is, premiered live with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jules Buckley.  The 50-minute suite of eight pieces traces the first decade and a half of BBC radio, with spoken word narratives representing those who brought it into existence.  I'm assuming most of these were recreated by voice actors, as the recordings seldom sound 90-100 years old, but the voices mesh well with the orchestra and core trio of the band.  Musically, I'm hearing surface similarities to Max Richter, maybe A Winged Victory For The Sullen, but with more rhythmic drive than either: PSB's motorik-krautrock influences frequently come to the fore.  Folk singer-songwriter Seth Lakeman provides the only sung vocal in a lovely brief cameo.

The visual elements of this performance were also key to the narrative really hitting the mark historically and emotionally - you can hear the radio announcer mention them at the beginning and end of the broadcast.  This made me track down the BBC4 TV broadcast to watch it all, and as this really did add another dimension to a great concert, I've included it (in what I believe is an SGTG first!) as an additional download option.

 

radio broadcast link

TV broadcast link (mp4, 2.3GB)

pw for both: sgtg

BBC Proms 2022: Amjad Ali Khan (21 August 2022)

Sunday morning ragas in the Albert Hall, courtesy of sarod master Amjad Ali Khan, his sons Amaan and Ayaan, and two percussionists.  Amaan and Ayaan perform the opening raga before introducing their father to play (and also briefly sing) a solo spotlight, before all five musicians close the concert together.  The mostly uninteruppted drone, even under spoken annoucements and moments of retuning, gives the full programme a wonderful immersive flow, so download and enjoy an hour and a half of sublime meditation.

link

pw: sgtg

BBC Proms 2022 - NYOGB plays Elfman, Gershwin & Ravel (6 Aug 2022)

A stunning Proms concert full of colour, texture, rhythm and everything else from Britain's premier teenage ensemble, the National Youth Orchestra Of Great Britain.  First up was a new work written specially for them by film & TV heavyweight Danny Elfman.  The 23 minutes of Wunderkammer are by turns boisterous and fun, then eerie and dramatic, picking up the pace again to finish off the piece in dramatic style.

After some stage re-arranging (over 100 players in that opening), the programme stays in the US but winds back a century.  Well, not quite a century, as this is Ferde Grofé's orchestration from the 40s, but any kind of Rhapsody In Blue is good with me, and this one has Simone Dinnerstein as guest pianist.  The first half closes with a little bit more Gershwin, an arrangement of My Man's Gone Now, then the second half is given over to Ravel's complete ballet Daphnis & Chloé.  All of it sounds magnificent, beautifully rendered by the hugely talented young players.

link

pw: sgtg

BBC Proms 2022: BBC Philharmonic plays Aho, Saariaho & Shostakovich (4 Aug 2022)

Another Proms highlight, this time pairing a couple of Finnish composers with Shostakovich's final symphony.  For the opening work, the BBC Philharmonic were joined on theremin by Carolina Eyck, for whom the theremin concerto Eight Seasons was originally written.  Kalevi Aho (b. 1949 in Forssa) was inspired by some of the shamanistic aspects of Sami culture, tying this in to the 'conjuring music from thin air' aspect of the theremin.  The instrument blends in beautifully with the orchestra, making full use of its dynamic and tonal range; as an 'encore' of sorts, Eyck gives the audience a demonstration of the theremin's capabilities.

Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952, Helsinki) has featured on SGTG a few times before (see below), so I always love hearing more from her.  The two-part Vista was inspired by a drive along the Californian coast, and saw Saariaho consciously varying her usual techniques with great sweeping atmospherics in the first section and driving energy in the second.  To close the programme, the orchestra give a cracking rendition of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15, its sombre melancholy balanced by frequent flashes of wit.

link

pw: sgtg

Kalevi Aho at SGTG:

Solo XV

Kaija Saariaho at SGTG:

Du Cristal...À la Fumée, Nymphéa

Lonh, Près, NoaNoa, Six Japanese Gardens

Graal Théâtre, Solar, Lichtbogen

Überzeugung, Nuits Adieux

BBC Proms 2022: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - From 8-Bit To Infinity (31 July 2022)

The first of its kind for the BBC Proms - a concert given over to video game music, from the 80s (the opening piece) to the present day.  The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra brought this music off the monitor screen and on to the stage in fine style, in a roughly chronological journey showing the maturation of gaming soundtracks through the 90s to the early 21st century.  Having not really been a gamer since the early 90s, pretty much all of this music was new to me, and really brought home the wide scope and ingenuity of these (mostly Japanese) composers.  

 

A couple of composers featured here were familiar to me: soundscaper CHAINES has been previously featured on SGTG, and here pays tribute to Pokémon, Ecco The Dolphin, and Secret Of Mana in a premiere setting.  Hildur Guðnadóttir I also knew from her Chernobyl soundtrack, and her Battlefield 2042 music is one of the definite highlights of this thoroughly engrossing programme.

 

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pw:sgtg

BBC Proms 2022 - Hebrides Ensemble Play Xenakis, Messiaen & Ravel (Proms in Belfast, 18 July 2022)

This year's first post from the Proms actually comes from the Waterfront Hall Studio in Belfast, and is an hour-long chamber concert marking Iannis Xenakis' centenary.  To offer up something special for the occasion, the programme starts with an unpublished early piece by Xenakis: a piano fragment from 1949.  Lasting under a minute, it's nice to hear something so rare by Xenakis.  Straight afterwards, the Hebrides Ensemble dive in to the composer's late period with Akea (1986) for piano and string quartet, with the dramatic sonorities making his signature unmistakeble.  Ittidra, one of Xenakis' final works from a decade later, features ghostly, queasy strings, and the Ravel homage À R. (1987) for piano highlights his formative influences, as do the Ravel and Messiaen pieces that fill out a well-chosen programme.

link

pw: sgtg

BBC Singers: Joby Talbot & Joanna Marsh (2022)

Two 21st century choral works made up this programme from Milton Court Concert Hall, London on 20th May.  The BBC Singers were first enhanced by the live electronic manipulations of Glen Scott, who was the original collaborator with the composer Joanna Marsh.  British-born Marsh (1970-) composed SEEN for the BBC Singers, and this is the work's world premiere with Glen Scott performing the extensive electronic tweaks on stage with them.  After the interval is Path Of Miracles, composed in 2005 by another British composer, Joby Talbot (1971-).  In four parts, marking the main posts on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail, the hour-long work takes texts from several languages and across history to craft an engaging epic immersion in vocal sound.

link

pw: sgtg

programme with libretto

Frank Zappa - Orchestral Favourites (1979)

First LP dedicated to Zappa's orchestral music, taken from concerts held at UCLA's Royce Hall in September 1975.  An early attempt was made at pitching an album from the concerts to Columbia Masterworks in 1976, but when this fell through the music was lost in the shuffle of Zappa's contractual woes and finally emerged as one of the "ugly covers" trio (I mean, I like the cover of Sleep Dirt, but definitely not this one) in 1979.

Orchestral Favorites combines then-new material with reworkings of previous pieces, and starts with the melodic grandeur of Strictly Genteel, which in its original form closed the 200 Motels film.  Some tricksier music is next in Pedro's Dowry, one of Zappa's typically lurid seduction stories, and the brief Naval Aviation In Art? (which would later be re-done under Boulez on The Perfect Stranger) closes out the LP's first side.  Rather than being arrangements solely for classical orchestra, the Royce Hall recordings combined orchestral players with Zappa band regulars, and the Duke Of Prunes revival here is the most 'rocked-up orchestra'-style piece, complete with a later overdubbed guitar solo.  The rest of the album is then given over to Bogus Pomp, a suite of reworked themes from 200 Motels and even farther back.

link

pw: sgtg

Frank Zappa at SGTG:

Lumpy Gravy

Waka/Jawaka

The Grand Wazoo

Roxy & Elsewhere

One Size Fits All

Sleep Dirt

Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar

Boulez Conducts Zappa - The Perfect Stranger  

Jazz From Hell

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2: The Helsinki Concert

The Perfect Stranger (live 2018)

 

Bonus post: Macca at Glasto

Got hold of Paul McCartney's Glastonbury set from a week ago (the radio broadcast), primarily just for myself after reading reviews.  Then thought I may as well share it here for anyone who wants to pick it up.  I mean, the guy's just turned 80, and zips through almost three hours of a headline festival show drawing on one of the most legendary back catalogues around.  Blasts out Helter Skelter, turns in a gorgeous Blackbird, takes the audience through a living history lesson that spans six decades, is reasonably judicious with the most recent material, and brings out Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen as guests.  Lovely stuff.

link

pw: sgtg