Jean Michel Jarre concert review - Oxygene Tour

The concert I wrote about in the previous post was my second Jean Michel Jarre concert experience. The first was in 2008 November, called Oxygene Tour when he played the whole album from its first sounds to its last noises and additionally a few from Oxygene 7-13, and as a bonus, Oxygene 4 again. All of the songs were played on the original analogue instruments. That concert was slightly better than this World Tour - maybe just because that was my first experience or because I'm fond of Oxygene. I remember as the sound was better, though we were standing in front of the stage not too far, in a very good place.

There he played Oxygene 12 and besides Oxygene 2 (of course) it was my favourite period of the concert. In living version it's much better than on the album, and that song got a perfect video-mix playing behind the stage: fastened motions of nature (like flowers blossom and animal corpses get rotten), shots of animals, turbulences... it is wonderful. It totally matches to the music. So when I heard it at World Tour, I was very glad and it became one of my favourite moments of the two hour experience.

The other amazing thing was a speciality which was played only here, in Hungary. As JMJ told us, he was walking in the city and heard a street musician and he invited him to his concert. The result became awesome: an improvisative song by the hang drum and the concert devices. It had a very special atmosphere, watch it below.

Oxygene 12:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xSzn7tpEhg

Jean Michel Jarre and Norbert Pável:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc5ToA4GK0w

Jean Michel Jarre concert review - World Tour

One of the stages of his World Tour was Budapest, so tonight I saw the concert. JMJ said that it had been the first concert since his mother died so he dedicated it to her. It was powerful, really.

Surprisingly he didn't play any song from Téo & Téa or Metamorphoses, the songs concentrated on Equinoxe, Oxygène, and Rendez-vous - which isn't problem at all, I think. We got everything which is connected to his shows: laser harp, theremin, endless number of synthesizers - and a spectacular light show. No, this word is too small. It was shocking. The lights were showering the audience, making unexisting planes and surfaces in the air, in a great rhythym to the music - which, was very "large" sometimes. I dare to say too large, and too vivid, but as my thoughts kept rolling by during the concert, I felt it's right. He's French. Kraftwerk is German. You can see the differences in the way of their playing but it's totally all right. They were my absolute favourites in the secondary school fan-years so the concert was also nostalgic for me. Two hours of sounds, sounds which you hear and think they belong to him. It's fantastic. He created sounds and new atmosphere. I read an article few years ago where he was asked that You are often said to be the father of electronic music, what do you think? And he responded, I must be only the father of my child. But he really made something new.

My fave moments of the concert:

Oxygène 5 turning into an improvisative trance-thing

Oxygène 12 with the fantastic video behind

Equinoxe 4 with the nice original art inspired video

the song, when we could see incredible numbers from the wolrd

Equinoxe 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qop9Ms82FI8

Oxygène 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4HN4Kxju1c

Oxygène 4 + 12 (not Budapest):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWICdlD_85w&feature=related

His official website:
http://www.jeanmicheljarre.com/

Concerts coming

It's only a few days ago when I got to know that Pet Shop Boys and Jean Michel Jarre, two of my old half-nostalgic favourites will come to my country: PSB to BalatonSound in summer, JMJ to Papp László Budapest SportArena, in May. There was no question in my mind about going or not. As you can see it in this blog, I follow PSB's life every now and then, and I was glad to see them on VoltFestival maybe three years ago. Now Yes has come out and there are lots of new concert videos which make me very curious. About Jean Michel Jarre: being a fan of him started in secondary school, such as of Kraftwerk, these two were the coolest music which we could imagine with my best friend with whom I shared a desk in the classroom, and if we even listened to many other music nowadays, it would be a huge effect on us maybe for good. I had the chance to see his concert last year, that was the Oxygene tour, where he played the whole album from its first sound to its last, and songs from Oxygene 7-13 as well - on analogue devices. And now it's the World Tour, with which my old dream will come true.

PSB in your living room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rEVeyDukGE
(visit mypricelessgig.co.uk)

Watch PSB concert videos in older posts:
Did you see me coming?
Yes

About the JMJ World Tour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJLm0jHh4b0

JMJ playing Oxygene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kQEvGmnkCQ

Tilos radio

Let me show you which radio I think the best in my country. It's name is "Tilos", which means "forbidden", an underground little channel which has a rough history. Starting in a state of "almost-dying" and many times "vegetating" but Tilos survived everything and remains a nice piece of underground culture. The music broadcasted varies amongst a wide range of styles: from electronic / drum 'n' bass / hip-hop through experimental psychedelic songs to world / jazz music you can find everything. And it's a miracle of the new century that you can hear it from another country, too by the possibility of web radios.

Listen to it online at http://www.tilos.hu/

Power of three concert review

It seems that nowadays I always get to concerts which may be the last chance for me. Chick Corea will come perhaps a few more times, but McCoy Tyner... I don't think so. Or Kraftwerk... so who knows, in a bad case, this was the last - but my newest unforgettable memory.

After the revival of Return to forever in 2008, their world tour was so succesful and great event for them, they established a trio, at the piano: Chick Corea, at the bass: Stanley Clarke, and at the drums: Lenny White. It's a quite interesting idea, because the trio plays the older jazzrock/fusion songs more softly, but this ability is highly recommended for other songs, for example standards.

The concert was excellent. We could see a real trio. Trio is always an interesting thing and can be fascinating, too, because sometimes they can create everything. Every mood, every sound, every point on the hard-soft line, and none of the trios is the same. They are all different. So Corea, Clarke and White are very accustomed to each other, it was felt very well. They played Rtf songs, Chick Corea songs, and standards as well, so the palette was exciting. I hope that our concert will be soon uploaded to the setlists/photos menu on http://www.ccwtrio.chickcorea.com/ which is the band's website. Here you can find more photos which are very expressive for me and almost talk about the atmosphere of the concerts. The last song is always Spain, one of Corea's most known pieces. There was a part in it when the audience were humming to the melody he played.

Reinventing the trio 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR1VUvDGLZY

Stanley Clarke solo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDzjUQihHGg

Spain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLi9RfhbhrM

Gabor Szabo - Spellbinder

Gabor Szabo (1936 Budapest - 1982 ~), the jazz guitarist comes from Hungary. It's good to feel that his name is as big in jazz as many more American musicians' name.
Now I chose Spellbinder, this attractive album by him for these early-autumn days. Shortly, to sum up this album, I would say: well-known songs translated to a new, light musical language sealed by Szabo's personal style. It seems that he's fond of the Sinatra family and standards, because of the familiar tracklist:

01. Spellbinder
02. Witchcraft
03. It was a very good year
04. Gypsy queen
05. Bang bang (My baby shot me down)
06. Cheetah
07. My foolish heart
08. Yearning
09. Autumn leaves / Speak to me of love

From the original liner notes:
In a conversation concerning this album, Gabor added: "I never intend to sit down and play music that's bad or commercial; but on the other hand, I do not intend to stop playing tunes I like - wherever they come from - just to fit in with whatever is 'avant-garde' and 'in' that moment. These are all songs to which I'm attracted, and so long as the results are aesthetically satisfying to me, I don't care whether some rule maker thinks they're not 'proper' to jazz. After all, music is - or should be - self expression."

His guitar voice is unique and friendly, and compatible with a wide range of moods. I use the word friendly, because there are some kinds of music which you hear and think it's nice, it comes from the heart, and totally honest. You feel it friendly. And, to see the compatibility, just listen to the nice sounds of Witchcraft, and after that, the more serious and deeper It was a very good year. If you listen carefully (for ex. at 1:54), you'll hear cool and technical slides in the guitar melody. Unfortunately it's very short, but also very expressive, with its new rhythm by Chico Hamilton's drums and Ron Carter's bass. I also recommend to you Frank Sinatra's version of it, where you can hear the effective lyrics, and strings which almost cry. Later, in Bang bang there's an additive acoustic guitar solo in the melody. They emphasized the "bang-bang" part with the cool rhythm and volume differences, which made an attractive result. Here, we hear Szabo singing, too. His singing voice is clear and simple, perfectly matching to the melody, and there's a little accent in it, or something else, which makes it unique. We can also hear his easy-flowing vocals in that kind later song, Yearning. And in the end, he plays Autumn leaves and Speak to me of love together, as he used to do. This version of Autumn leaves is a good example about how to express something only with one instrument.

It was a very good year:

In memoriam Cseh Tamás

It's nearly a week ago that Cseh Tamás, the Hungarian composer, guitarist and singer died. A big loss in the Hungarian music and especially for the age of my parents.

He was special. Lyrics was very important in his music - fiction, and I think often real stories - he usually mixed the speaking (that kind of story-teller speaking) with the singing and the result was quite unique. His singing voice was also interesting and this, paired with beautiful melodies and more that twenty albums and many film themes made him a real character.

The next lyrics is a part of the Hatvanas évek (The sixties), and I translate it for you, to understand, but I do it against the grain.

A hatvanas években nyár felé tetőzött az ifjúsági probléma.

Emlékszem nap mint nap hajóval átmentünk Almádiból Siófokra.

Ó a régi, ó a Balaton, régi nyarakon, bár nem volt vitorláshajónk.

Ó a régi, ó a teraszon, ültünk nyarakon, úgy néztünk végig a tavon.

In the sixties around summer the problem of youth culminated.

I remember we traveled to Siófok from Almádi all of the days.

O that old, o the Balaton, in old summers, although we hadn't any sailboat.

O that old, o on the terrace, we sat in old summers, we glanced over the lake.

The comments of these videos are all about the sadness of Cseh Tamás's passing.

Hatvanas évek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG6INjVFWdM

Budapest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dukoAaxVHUA

Few days at the weekend house... Just a song before I go

Weekend house. I think for all of those who spent their summers in a weekend house, it became a new expression, an other world, where the time isn't like in the city. For me, that house up on the hill above the lake-side city, Balatonalmádi is a real treasure and quite a big part of my brain, where my memories settle. It's a feeling which contains many little things: asking my father answerable and non-answerable questions about the sky, gardening with my grandfather, taking a trip to the mountain, sitting on the terrace as the night fall down, watching the summer night sky and the stars, the long, rainy days with the noise of the water pouring down from the eaves just next to my room outside, the childish fears caused by strange noises from the garden - most of these remained -, the camp fire and frying bacon, and the "Sounds of the night" which was a personal show created by me and my cousin, performed it to our parents but mostly for ourselves... just to pick the most important memories.



Few years ago, when none of our casette-players worked yet at home, we brought our casettes down to the weekend-house, where we can listen to it. One of these casettes is a Crosby, Stills & Nash compilation, made by my father many years ago. I hadn't known about this band before, but two years ago, when I first listened to it, it became one of my favourite casettes, and on every holiday it's a "must-hear" casette there.

Crosby, Stills & Nash (often called shortly as CSN) and later, when Neil Young joined the group, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) was a rock/folk band, making most of their well-known songs in 1969 and the seventies. Their best albums are Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969), Déjà vu (1970), and CSN (1977).

Just a song before I go is a track from the album CSN, a short, slower song with a little melancholy. Written by Graham Nash, just in 15 minutes en route to an airport. It's my favourite, that mentioned casette starts with it. I remember listening to it in my room, lying on my bed, as the afternoon sunlight break its way into my room through the shades - "I had to be alone".

The original version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRP6GR35bQE
A live version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Ji8HzTQl4

Album version:

George Benson concert review

This concert was held in the Budapest SportArena at the 22th of July, and was a part of "The European Tour". Mr. Benson and his band did a great job, a two hours long show, introducing us to the world of smooth jazz. I'm not really interested in this genre, but I liked the concert very much, it matched with my actual mood. There were some expectances by me, for example the song "The ghetto", "Breezin'", or "Summertime/Take five" which are two classic song and I saw it on youtube, in his earlier performance. Unfortunately he didn't played them, but amongst the tracklist there was for example the well-known song "On Broadway", "Give me the night", and a very interesting version of the old jazz standard, "Nature boy" (you can hear it on the album: In flight).

So Mr. Benson - with his thin moustache, with his fascinating singing voice and with his almost singing guitar - proved that he's not only a great musician, but an effective performer, too. He also told us that he spent a lot of money and saw a lot of beautiful girls in Hungary.

A part of this concert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMwBPAF7i-8

Kraftwerk concert review

I had the honour to visit Balaton Sound festival (which is an electronic music festival at the coast of the lake, in Hungary), for one day, especially to hear and see the performance of one of my favourite groups and the group which has taken the biggest influence on me in music, I think. It's Kraftwerk, the well-known german electronic band, which is usually named as the "pioneer of electronic music". Yes, it isn't just an exaggeration, because any time they released a new album (after a long, long waiting time), they produced something which is brand new and we couldn't hear before. The clean, minimalist arrangement are the basis in their songs - and the word "perfection" is always connected with them in my mind.



This word is suitable for describing the concert, too. The songs were very similar to the songs of the concert 05 05 24 which was also held in Hungary (and that was my first Kraftwerk concert), but there were little changes, just a little, to improve the quality. I think only the biggest fans could realize it. For the first time I saw the performance of Showroom dummies, an extremely cool remix version of the original album song, and the Computer love, which was also new for me. Unfortunately they didn't play the song Airwaves which I saw on youtube, from another concert, and it's very good. But it's hard to write more about the concert, because the audio-visual effects only works when you're there. See the links below.

I suppose they won't come again here, because of the rare concerts and their age, but the hope dies last...

Visit their minimalist website: http://www.kraftwerk.com/

Some concert videos:
Radio activity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zymSXKoME60
Showroom dummies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB1DDvU8Y0E
Autobahn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWcuP4PaKtY&feature=related

George Benson concert in Budapest

While I was taking a ride by my new bicycle with my friend yesterday, we decided to see George Benson: on the concert which is going to be held in the Budapest SportArena, on the 22th of July. It will be a great night.

Some of his live performances:

- Breezin':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QjTK0pL1go

- On Broadway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voNjeUUcdSo

- Affirmation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKXXzJhhlhQ

- This masquerade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iHu8TvCV5I&feature=related

- Lately:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIUcrpgXATw&feature=related

- Give me the night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wear0apWHOI&feature=related

Hope he'll also play well-known songs besides his famous hits, for example Summertime (also mentioned in the "Summertime" post): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCaPno7QChY

or Take five: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn27IcAapPI

His official website: http://www.georgebenson.com/