Tag Archives: led zeppelin

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Robert Plant Shows the Chateau a Whole Lotta Love (Photo Gallery)

Robert Plant.
DSC04176
Robert Plant.
Robert Plant.
Robert Plant.
Justin Adams of the Sensational Space Shifters.
Robert Plant.
Opener Matt Andersen.
Duck at chateau.
Bruce Hornsby.

(photo by Tony Kay)

That's Rock God with a capital R and a capital G: Robert Plant at the Chateau. (photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

Sensational Space Shifters guitarist Skin Tyson. (photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

Justin Adams of the Sensational Space Shifters. (photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

Matt Andersen, non-lame opener for Robert Plant. (photo by Tony Kay)

Bored with the warm-up band? You can hang out with the Chateau ducks. (photo by Tony Kay)

He seems like a nice guy: Bruce Hornsby at the Chateau. (photo by Tony Kay)

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Robert Plant does not dwell upon the humble plane inhabited by mere mortals. He is, and invariably will always be, a Rock God.

During the fiery days of his youth, Plant and his bandmates in Led Zeppelin strode the earth like mythic creatures, mutating rock and roll into something so epic that arenas were the only temples capable of withstanding the band’s larger-than-life sound. Along the way, Zep’s sonic influence proved to be even more legendary and far-reaching than the stories of their excesses. Robert Plant’s oft-imitated police-siren wail in particular impacted acolytes both ridiculous (every Reagan-era hairspray metal singer) and sublime (Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, guitar gunslinger Jack White).

The marquee value of that voice and legacy effectively sold out Plant’s gig at the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery Saturday night. But it was his graceful and imaginative work with his latest backing band, the Sensational Space Shifters, that made hours of sweltering direct sunlight and some coma-inducing opening acts well worth enduring.

For a guy who’s been derided as a dinosaur by some cynics, Plant’s shown a lot of forward-thinking creativity over the years. Led Zeppelin contrasted their monster riffage with elements of funk, folk, and eastern music, and the singer’s solo work has exhibited that same broad reach in the decades since Zeppelin’s 1980 dissolution. Saturday’s 90-minute show leaned heavily on classic Zep tracks and blues covers, but both singer and band displayed ingenuity that effectively transcended simple laurel-resting.

Plant and the Space Shifters managed to have their cake and eat it too by keeping the instrumental approach on the old warhorses playful and fresh. Gambian musician Juldeh Camara goosed the familiar crunch of “Rock and Roll” with the exotic sawing of a one-string ritti fiddle, and the blues staple “Spoonful” burbled with trippy electronic textures, compliments of Portishead/Massive Attack keyboardist John Baggott.

Skin Tyson and Justin Adams contributed impressive guitar work, while the rhythm section of drummer Dave Smith and bassist Billy Fuller balanced Zeppelin-style jackhammering with galloping world-music percussiveness. The resulting melange shouldn’t have worked, but did, famously. Strong readings of more recent original tunes, meantime, proved to be a major bonus: “Tin Pan Valley” built from the coiled tension of Baggott’s spidery piano line into a wall of guitar snarling, and the lush “Another Tribe” whirled like a psychedelic dervish.

Plant generously allowed each member of the ensemble their moment in the sun, but true to the laws of Rock God physics he couldn’t help but command center stage. Saturday night found him in strong form as he played to the sandy nuance of his voice without trying to replicate the octave-defying shrieks of yore, and prowled the stage with a leonine charisma that never sold his dignity short. All Rock Gods should mature so gracefully.

The sizable, overheated Chateau crowd patiently sat through no less than three opening acts before Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters hit the stage. The first one out of the gate, Canadian blues guitarist/singer Matt Andersen, warmed things up nicely with some solid, greasy axework and an engaging growl of a voice. Bruce Hornsby’s competent diet-Springsteen pop followed, lulling spectators into a narcotic stupor only momentarily broken by the familiar strains of his big 1980s hit, “The Way It Is.” And jam band Railroad Earth’s third-slot set extended the narcosis with well-played but bland tunes that made the Dave Matthews Band sound like Motorhead. Given Plant’s well-regarded ear for innovative sounds and his longtime championing of underground music, the choice of the latter two acts seemed especially head-scratching.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Cheers for Joshua Roman’s TownMusic All-Cello Celebration

Joshua Roman (Photo: Tina Su)

Joshua Roman’s TownMusic series wrapped up Tuesday night at Town Hall, with music entirely for four to eight cellos. Some might think a grouping like this could be boring, but it’s not the first time at Town Hall we’ve had only cellos, and it’s a wonderfully rich, reverberant sound. Roman turns out not only to be a fine emcee as he introduces music or musicians, his choices are eclectic and enlivening, and his programming well arranged.

Thus the first half of the program had to do with spiritual life and death, beginning and ending with arrangements by Roman of Radiohead’s “Street Spirit” and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” In between came Piazzolla’s La Muerte del Angel and his La Resurrección del Angel, either side of Richard Strauss’ “Beim Schlafengen (Going to Sleep)” from Four Last Songs, and followed by La deploration (lament, sorrow) sur la mort de Johannes Ockeghem by Josquin, and Arvo Pärt’s Fratres.

They made for a consistently engaging group of works, with successful arrangements of the Strauss by Walter Gray and the Josquin by Charles Jacot. Four cellists performed most of this: Roman, Julie Albers from Atlanta, Richard Belcher from New York, and Efe Baltacigil, just ending his first year as principal cello of the Seattle Symphony.

“Street Spirit” translated well into a restful and relaxed introduction to this concert theme, while the unmistakable Argentinian idiom of Piazzolla flavored his two works. A canon and a romantically soulful melody imbued the first, and a declamatory role followed a hypnotic start in the second, with a more agitated vigor toward the end. In both of these Baltacigil took the lead, while Belcher and Albers had the melody in the Strauss.

Roman chose throughout most of the concert to anchor the lowest accompanying musical line, handing the limelight to his talented colleagues, each of whom played with expressive warmth and an easy technique which seemed to release the sound rather than pull it out of the instrument.

The reduction of vibrato in the lower voices gave a pure sound to the Josquin polyphony, where Belcher’s tone floated lightly above, much of this very soft and fading out at the end.

For the Pärt, the four cellists were joined by four more, Jacot, Gray, Roberta Hansen Downey, and Meeka Quan DiLorenzo (the last three Seattle Symphony cellists and Jacot a member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet orchestra and frequent Symphony sub), plus a drummer in a minor role, Antonio DiLorenzo.

Fratres, a gorgeous, moving work with two soft continuing drones at the side (Roman and Jacot), alternated a slow melody like a peaceful hymn tune often using harmonics with plucks, taps, and bounced bows in brief.

All of these works were so varied in approach, though never very loud, that they consistently held the attention. Not so “Stairway to Heaven,” which in comparison sounded dull, repetitive, and unimaginative.

A commissioned world premiere by Mason Bates for solo cello followed intermission. Bates, who writes successfully for large orchestra incorporating electronics into his music, commented on the challenge of writing for one acoustic instrument, saying that he had eventually realized that there is a wide range of musical variety in the tone of that one instrument.

However, his realization did not really come to fruition in his Town Hall Analog. His 15-minute work largely comprised arpeggios from bottom to top of the instrument, sometimes plucked, sometimes with a harmonic and a longer note with more character at the top. The whole was quite spare. There was little by way of phrasing, development, or an arched shape to the piece, and Bates failed to take any advantage of the depth and sonorities of the cello, making it feel more an intellectual exercise. Roman performed this without a score, giving it a well-considered performance.

Totally different and much more appealing was Anne Wilson’s moving Lament (in Memory of Matthew Shepard), for solo cello with cello quartet. Here the solo was taken by Albers. It’s programmatic, but not overtly so, finely harmonized and with all the emotional content lacking in Bates’ piece.

Lastly, the eight cellos played the first of Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras, the composer’s take on Bach, Brazilian-style. The cellos mostly played in pairs, their synchronicity extraordinary and the whole highly satisfying. Ensemble work was excellent, throughout the concert, matched not only in being together but with matched tone in each piece, and all of them first-class musicians. It was particularly good to hear Baltacigil in a prominent role.

This was a long concert, more than two and a half hours, but the jam-packed Town Hall audience would likely have been happy to stay for more.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Joshua Roman’s All-Star Cello Extravaganza Rolls Into Town Hall

Joshua Roman and an all-cello ensemble perform music by Mason Bates, Richard Strauss, Astor Piazzolla, Hector Villa-Lobos, Arvo Pärt, and Led Zeppelin at Town Hall Seattle on Tuesday, June 19, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.

Cellist Joshua Roman has been making waves in Seattle since 2006, when he was named principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony. After a two-year tenure with the Symphony, Roman left to pursue a solo career, but has remained a strong force in the local classical music scene. As artistic director of Town Hall’s popular TownMusic concert series, he’s brought innovative classical music programming to Seattle audiences, with a special focus on new music and emerging artists.

The 2011-12 TownMusic season concludes this Tuesday with an all-star cello concert featuring Roman and seven prominent local cellists. The diverse program spans centuries and genres, including Strauss art songs, Piazzolla tangos, and a Led Zeppelin cover arranged by Roman himself. Performances feature a variety of cello ensembles, ranging from solo cellist to cello octet.

Joshua Roman (Photo: Tina Su)

The highlight of the evening will be the world premiere of a work for solo cello by composer Mason Bates, continuing the TownMusic tradition of premiering a commissioned work at the final concert of each season. An acclaimed performer, composer, and DJ, Bates is taking the classical music world by storm with his unique blend of orchestral and electronic sounds.

Roman plans to carry TownMusic’s winning blend of ambitious programming, exciting new works, and emerging talent into the upcoming 2012-13 season. “Next season will retain the diversity of style and era that has been showcased in previous seasons, but with a few twists,” he said, writing from Nova Scotia, where he recently completed a two-week residence at the Scotia Festival of Music. “There will be familiar faces as well as some new ones that we’re excited to introduce to Seattle.”

Although next season’s lineup won’t be revealed until Tuesday’s concert, Roman hinted at the surprises in store. “We’re adding the element of humor. It’s something which we can all relate to, and is often overlooked during our pursuit of the ‘seriousness’ in music.”

TownMusic’s owes much of its success to Roman’s fresh perspective on classical music. To him, it’s a continually evolving art form that honors the past while adapting to the current cultural climate. “If you really look at the history of classical music over the last few centuries, rather than just the last 50-60 years, you see that one of its biggest strengths has been the ability to adapt to cultural changes and needs. Sometimes ahead of the curve, and sometimes with a bit of a lag, but always changing.”

This viewpoint has inspired him in the choices he’s made with TownMusic. The series offers something for everyone, from world-class performances of chamber music favorites to genre-blending new works inspired by rock, pop, electronica, and jazz. Often, music representing these two extremes appears in the same concert program.

Roman emphasizes the importance of experimentation in his role as TownMusic artistic director. “There is a way of thinking that is ‘this is how it’s been done, and so it should always be done this way’, but I think that is an unproductive mode to be in. These days, as orchestras are trying new things every season, its easy to see the need for flexibility as a presenter.”

The concept of flexibility extends to Roman’s view of himself as a performer. “I think we need to be adapting more as musicians. The era of recording changed the game and brought new levels of technical proficiency and competition to all corners of the music world, but in the pursuit of ‘perfection’ some important musical elements can become undervalued. Great musicians of the past wrote, played, and presented music, even if they were better at one than the others.”

Roman stresses the importance of these skills to today’s classical musicians. “In my own experience, writing music has helped me understand more of how a composer might think, and therefore enhanced my interpretations and ability to focus on the ‘what’ and ‘how’ in music, not just try to hit each note perfectly.”

Tuesday’s concert perfectly embodies Roman’s philosophy of musical flexibility, incorporating his talents as a performer, arranger, and concert presenter. Though he will be performing as a soloist, Roman is also enthusiastic about his role as a collaborative musician. “I’ve chosen some points during the concert to highlight the other cellists in the core quartet, so I’ll get to play ‘second fiddle’ on several of the pieces, something I’m really looking forward to.”

The concert isn’t just an opportunity to grow musically. For Roman, it’s a labor of love. “(It’s) something I have wanted to put on at Town Hall Seattle for a few years now,” he said. The concert pays tribute to the cello, showcasing what Roman describes as “its inherent range of expressivity, color, and sexiness”. “The cello is not only a unique voice, but a versatile one, so the repertoire was chosen to reflect this ability to be vocal, to be rhythmic, to be ethereal, and to rock out.”

Roman relishes this opportunity to collaborate with others who share his passion for the cello. Among the cellists joining him on stage are several Seattle Symphony members, including current principal cellist Efe Baltacigil. It’ll be a veritable Seattle cello family reunion. “It is a great joy to work with colleagues you haven’t seen in awhile. Cellists tend to be a cool bunch of musicians to hang with!”