portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Sunday, May 31, 2020

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED . . . . . . . . *

Nice work this last couple of days from Voodoo Wagon from one of the gang! Hinterwald to be more accurate! it occurred to me checking out this tribute to the production skills of Hal Wilner that 'Night Music' might well have been the inspiration for Jools Holland's shows from style on The Tube up to the most recent 'Later . . .'  series. 

Here David Sandborn (again who didn't really travel well over here and we didn't know - well I didn't - who he was or is) acts mostly as maitre d' and occasional with guest presenters including Jools doing his schtick from his Brit TV appearances but these are truly extraordinary programmes and the basic premise of getting people to play with the hosts and alongside unexpected side men or collaborators it made for fascinating bedfellows (John Cale Lou Reed and Harry Connick Jnr? John Hiatt and Robert Cray awww its futile check it out) 

Check it out here . . . . . . and part II further down . . . . . . .Hinterwald has made them video access and downloadable via Voodoo Wagon. Extraordinary and I have never see these as we didn't get it over here on this side of the pond . . . . we got Jools! Not that this is a bad thing but it is truly fascinating see the lineups.(see below)

Night Music - A Box of Hal Wilner - Voodoo Wagon

Sonny Rollins sitting in with Leonard Cohen and Was (Not Was) doing "Who By Fire"
- Nick Cave, Charlie Haden, and Toots Thielemans getting together to play "Hey Joe."
- John Cale, Richard Thompson and Shawn Colvin trading verses on Cale's dolorous version of "Heartbreak Hotel" with BJ Cole on pedal steel and Sanborn on sax
- Todd Rundgren, Ellen Foley and Taj Mahal performing a scene from 'HMS Pinafore,' with Sanborn, Pat Metheny, Christian Marclay and the Night Music band all dressed as sailors behind them.
- Conway Twitty singing "It's Only Make Believe" with The Residents dancing behind him in eyeballs.


Night Music - A Box of Hal Wilner - Voodoo Wagon Vol II


Squeeze, Lou Reed and John Cale with Harry Connick Jnr, Lyle Lovett and Fontella Bass, you get it by now . . . . .visit and check it out



seriously  . . . . . . . 

Hal Wilner
Here's the whole deal in one place on vid . . . . . 


Brooklyn Vegan - 32 videos of Night Music





* Robert Frost 
Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.

No comments: