mercredi 17 septembre 2008

KEZIAH JONES + Mina Agossi & Ji-Mob @ "Le pont des artistes " France Inter Sept 17th


The Interviews

"Le Pont des Artistes " on France Inter.
2 hour long radio show featuring : Keziah Jones - Mina Agossi - Ji-Mob
Needless to say that we came only to see Keziah Jones ( it's my 5th show for this artist this month ) but it's always interesting to discover other artists .

Check the other Keziah jones reviews ( and videos ) here :
http://rockerparis.blogspot.com/2008/09/keziah-jones-metro
-auber-paris-sept-6th.html
http://rockerparis.blogspot.com/2008/09/keziah-jones-beaubourg-center-paris.html
http://rockerparis.blogspot.com/2008/09/keziah-jones-metro-montparnasse.html
http://rockerparis.blogspot.com/2008/09/keziah-jones-rene-miller-metro.html

Keziah started by playing " nigerian wood" then he was interviewed, then we had Mina Agossi who's a Jazz female singer. Her band consist of just a double bass and a drummer , she's doing the rest on vocals and she's quite impressive.
There are interviews between each number.
Last artist to come onstage was Ji-Mob ( a french soul/jazz/electro band ) with as a leader a flute player . The female black singer's georgous ( see picture ).

So, one song ( or two ) followed by a interview and so on for the next two hours .
Each band playing after one another. See full setlist below.


Mina Agossi did a fantastic version of Hendrix ' "third stone from the sun". Remember she has to do all the melodies with her voice Stunning !
Keziah ended the show with several songs but
1st ) he didn't play all the songs w
hat were planned on the setlist and his set was plagued by technicals problems
2nd ) he cut short a couple of songs .

Anyway good show even if there were too much talking between songs ( technicians had to set everything back for each band ).
Nice to see Keziah Jones in such good conditions .
This is the same studio as for the Black session.
Nice to discover 2 artists Mina Agossi ( She's playing the New Morning in october ) & Ji-Mob .


Mina Agossi ( left ) Ji-Mob ( right )

setlists
"le pont des artistes" link :
http://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/em/pontdesartistes/
The podcast will be available after the broadcast ( on saturday ) for a week.

Keziah Jones video here :


contact :
irockinparis@yahoo.fr

mardi 16 septembre 2008

James Hunter @ " L' album de la semaine " Canal+ Paris Sept 16th 2008

Back to La plaine St Denis just outside Paris this week to see James Hunter performing for Canal+ tv show " L' album de la semaine" in front of 120 people.
I've been listening to his songs on his Myspace page ( link below , scroll down the page ) and i really like what he's doing .
I 'm quite excited to see him live , seeing a band on stage is always the ultimate test.
Some are failing ( like The Virgins ) and many others are successfull.
He has 5 musicians with him on organ , double bass , drums and two saxophones ( one tenor & one baritone ).
James is singing and playing the guitar .
His songs are different from one to another, some songs sound like 60's northen soul, others are more Jazz : à la Georgie fame and others are a bit Ska but there's always a common point : Quality.
Hard to believe he's an english whitey when you listen to the music , the chap could (should ? ) be black with his soulfull voice . Oh my god Garnett Mimms is still alive !!!
His music is totally american and the way that bloke speaks between songs is totally english so the mix of both is quite funny to hear
And he has a sens of humour.
Very good gig indeed.
It is so nice to hear something different than the usual 3 chords Rock' n Roll .

This the setlist : he re-did "Carina" ( after "Believe me Baby" ) and played an extra song " No smoke without fire " . So 10 songs for tonight.

Don't miss him He's playing Paris' Jazz Club the New Morning on October 17th

Sorry no pictures or video for this one ( it's verboten ).

Richard Wright ( Pink Floyd )dead at 65 from cancer

SEPT 16TH : BREAKING NEWS AND VERY SAD NEWS :

IT IS WITH GREAT SADNESS THAT WE BRING YOU THE NEWS THAT

RICHARD WRIGHT


KEYBOARD PLAYER FROM PINK FLOYD DIED A FEW HOURS AGO IN LONDON.
HE WAS 65

Our deepest condolences to his family and friends


Richard rehearsing with the Floyd for Live 8 in London , the day before the show.
July 1st 2005


Reformed PINK FLOYD with Richard @ Live 8
July 2nd 2005

Richard with David Gilmour @ Olympia in Paris
March 16th 2006

A big thank you to Patrice Guino for digging up in his archives so quickly and so early in the morning. i know he's very sad he's a big Pink Floyd fan and he met Richard a few times.

MERCURY REV Black Session " C'est Lenoir " Paris Sept 15th 2008



MERCURY REV a playing a late night promotional radio show for France Inter.
It's a Black session : live gig in front of 250 people in a studio which looks live a small movie theatre with very confortable seats.
We arrived just in time at the radio( 10 pm ) but we missed a couple of minutes from the first song.
They are here to promote their, soon to be released ( sept 30th ), new album "Snow flake midnight " .
This show is broadcasted live for an hour so we have a little surprise for you here.
The music is a bit like Janes Addiction meets Pink Floyd .
Some songs are really psyche and others are really heavy.
I don't know if i'm getting old but it's quite loud .
No breaks between songs as they're playing them one after another . So if you are not familiar with them it's as if they were playing one song for 75 min.

The singer is leaving his lyrics to the max and is sometimes funny to watch with his leg in the air ( a bit like that chap from Jethro tull )he also has some funny grins on his face .
Nice show but you really have to be into it to fully appreciate .
We were lucky to get 3 songs after the broadcast was over ( 11 pm ).[ not on the setlist ]
Those 3 songs are : ( from http://defgav.com/rev/)
Tonight it shows
Tides of the moon
Senses on fire


They will be back in Paris on NOV 25th @ the Elysée Montmartre.


Handwritten setlist ( left ) & mixing desk setlist ( right )

Here is a live video of MERCURY REV performing "tides of the moon" not broadcasted on the Black session:



The Virgins @ " L' Album de la semaine " Canal+ Paris sept 15th 2008


setlist
Promotional gig for french TV show "l 'album de la semaine " Canal+.
The Virgins are promoting their new cd ( released in June )with this gig in front of 120 people in live conditions.
They're from NYC and are an indie band playing a mix of New wave /r'n'b/soul ( that's what they say on their myspace page )
I saw them already a couple of years ago at the Olympia theatre in Paris for a private concert organised by designer Agnes B ( Patti Smith , Sonic Youth , Placebo and others were playing that night ).
The show was OK, nothing special , just another band ...
But they should pay more attention to the way they look , they're really dressed like shit with dodgy t-shirts, sneakers and torn up jeans .
Sorry no pictures or videos for this one ( verbotten )
They just play for 40 min , no encore ; good point so we rush to MERCURY REV which are playing at the other side of Paris for a Black session on "C'est Lenoir".