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FAIRPORT CONVENTION & MATTHEWS SOUTHERN COMFORT:
'LIVE IN MAIDSTONE' (DVD)
VOICEPRINT: VPDVD 105
RELEASE DATE: MONDAY 14th JANUARY 2008
By 1970, Fairport Convention had been together as a band for some three years. During this period, they had recorded and released five studio albums, one of them, Liege and Leif, being hailed as a genre-defining work.
At the time of the filming of this performance, the band had just recorded their most recent album, Full House, with personnel featuring founder members Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, alongside Dave Pegg, Dave Swarbrick and drummer Dave Mattacks. This line-up was – and still is – considered one of the key Fairport Convention groupings, although the band only managed one studio and (released much later) one live album. Apart from the footage contained on this DVD, the Full House configuration was unfortunately never filmed commercially until reuinions at the band’s regular Cropredy Festival, years later.
This DVD, directed by renowned British auteur Tony Palmer (All My Loving, All You Need Is Love), captures the band at the Maidstone Fiesta during the summer of 1970, as they run through their set of the time. This included various jigs and reels, and the songs Sir Patrick Spens and Now Be Thankful. The latter, incidentally, although originally recorded for the Full House long player, was even released at the time as a single.
The film also features two songs from Matthews Southern Comfort, led by former Fairport vocalist Iain Matthews. As well as having the Fairport connection, Matthews Southern Comfort would also go on to have a massive, chart-topping hit single with their cover of the Joni Mitchell opus, Woodstock, later in 1970.
The film has only recently been rediscovered, and the restoration overseen by Tony Palmer. Also featured is exclusive bonus footage of an interview filmed in spring 2007 with director Tony Palmer, where he explains how he first met Fairport Convention, and his thoughts on the band and the film, over thirty-five years later.
For more information on this excellent DVD release, please contact Alan Robinson or Lesley Shone at Indiscreet PR on on 07813 290 474 or via this site for further details.
MICKEY HART & ZAKIR HUSSAIN: 'GLOBAL DRUM PROJECT'
EVANGELINE RECORDS: GEL 2115
RELEASE DATE: MONDAY 14th JANUARY 2008
Over three decades as the innovative percussion engine of the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart's ear for global sounds brought numerous unpredictable guests to the Dead's stage performances.
Hart's 1991 release Planet Drum was the natural outgrowth of this adventure, showcasing his gift as a supreme catalyst in convening the world's finest percussion talent for a dazzling collaboration - including Indian tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, who is an international phenomenon in his own right. Zakir began his career as a child prodigy has gone on to win many awards, founded his own record label Moment! Records, and starred in two documentaries, 2003’s "The Speaking Hand: Zakir Hussain and the Art of the Indian Drum" and 1998’s "Zakir and His Friends". Planet Drum was recorded in Hart's Sonoma County home and studio, with the Dead's legendary crew turning virtually every room in the house into a work zone for each musician. The album won the first-ever Grammy® for Best World Music Album, spent an unprecedented 26 weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart, and sells as a perennial favourite to this day.
Fifteen years have passed, and the friendship and musical partnership of Hart and Hussain, which began in the early 70s with their world fusion experiment Diga Rhythm Band, has continued to flourish. Their 2006 Planet Drum reunion tour was immensely well-received and germinated the idea to revisit "Planet Drum"
Hence this fresh collaboration of tranced-out grooves, elegant electronic programming and hypnotic tuned percussion that is the Global Drum Project. Masterfully produced by Hart and Hussain, the Global Drum Project once again enlists the great partnership of Sikuru Adepoju (Nigerian talking drum) and Giovanni Hidalgo (congas), as well as Taufiq Qureshi (brother to Zakir Hussain) on percussion & vocals, Niladari Kumar on sitar, Dilshad Khan on sarangi, and sampled vocals by the late, great Olatunji. Global Drum Project will be in stores on Monday, January 14th 2008, and is released on the Evangeline Records label.
Mickey Hart is available for interview with regard to this release.
For more information, please contact Alan and Lesley at Indiscreet PR on
07813 290 474 or via this site for further details.
BARBARA DICKSON: 'TIME & TIDE'
CHARIOT MUSIC: CTVPCD001
RELEASE DATE: MONDAY 21st JANUARY 2008
A new album by Barbara Dickson is always an event; over the course of a forty-year career in music, she has carved herself an awesome reputation as one of the finest vocalists and performers that the UK has ever produced.
Her new album, Time & Tide sees her revisit her musical roots, with a mixture of old and new songs, in her own words “a conscious effort to bridge the past, present and future.” So, there are songs that draw on her Scottish Folk roots, such as Dream Angus and Lady Franklin’s Lament, alongside the Charlie Dore opus, Disremember Me, the Goffin / King composition Goin’ Back (as recorded by The Byrds And Dusty Springfield, of course), and her own, haunting Palm Sunday.
The album is Barbara’s second album of true collaboration with producer / arranger Troy Donockley. Donockley takes true care over the arrangements, framing carefully her matchless voice amongst a contrasting selection of musical backdrops.
The opening track, Lowlands of Holland, harks back to Barbara’s earliest days in Dunfermline Folk clubs in the late 60s, but Donockley adds contemporary production flourishes, subtly casting the song into the here and now whilst retaining the traditional feel of the lyric. Equally, Donockley and Dickson conspire to refresh Goin’ Back with a lightly psychedelic frosting that is a real delight, with Dickson gently teasing out the wide-eyed optimism of the lyric. Closing the album is a soulful reading of the Charlie Chaplin standard, Smile.
2008 begins in a flurry of activity for the richly-talented Barbara Dickson; as well as the new album, she is undertaking a lengthy UK tour in February, and resumes the tour in April.
For more details, please check out her website, the address of which is below. Barbara Dickson is available for interview in support of the album and tour.
For more information, please contact Alan and Lesley at Indiscreet PR on
07813 290 474 or via this site for further details.