Pete Molinari (vocals, acoustic guitar, mouth organ)
I hope I have this artist’s name correct. I missed the first song because I lingered too long, drinking the excellent wine at the Press Reception. I entered to find a lone figure on stage, singing love songs in a high, haunting voice, accompanying himself with a gentle guitar sound and a rather Dylanesque mouth organ on some of the songs. The support act is a difficult role to fulfil, as most of the audience are just waiting for the real action to begin. This musician entertained us as well as he could with what I assume were his own songs, one about ‘Helene’; another stating ‘farewell to you my love’. The singing and playing were competent and pleasant to listen to, but the lyrics were somewhat clunky, with some hackneyed phrases. I guess this performer will develop further, with more experience.
Ann Alex
Are you kidding mate? Develope further? I don't know which show you were at but Pete Molinari as support act to that main act was wrongly billed.
ReplyDeletePerhaps do some more research and don't show your ingnorance.
Love songs usually are about a Girls name or saying farewell to someone. Not think that?
Also its always so lame when a write of any level can only mention a name from Popular Culture and liken them to it. Sounds like very lazy Journalism to me...to say the least.
Guess you don't know that Bob Dylans first 5 Albums sounds exactly like Woody Guthrie "Blowing his Harp and playing his Guitar" so he would have been "Guthriesque" but then I guess you haven't heard of him.
This piece sounds like a sixth form Student has written it but perhaps this writer will develope with more experience...
To Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments about my review. You obviously feel very strongly about this matter so I'm very surprised to receive your reply some 7 months after the review was posted. I wish that you had given your name. No, I wasn’t kidding as we take reviews very seriously at Bebop Spoken Here. We do this unpaid work because of an interest and love of music, mainly jazz.
I cannot really say anything much in reply to your complaints as it’s all so long ago, and there’s been so much blog activity since then. I can’t remember how the gig was billed in the Sage brochure. However, you may like to know that I’m an older woman who is well versed in folk music of all kinds, so of course I've heard of Woody Guthrie. I love good songwriting, for example the folk songs of the late Cyril Tawney, or current writers such as Pete Morton. Then there are the songs of the Great American Songbook from composers such as Cole Porter. Porter wrote about many facets of love, with great subtlety and wit, dealing with far more aspects of love than girls’ names and partings.
Ann Alexander (Full name).
PS: I’m quite flattered at being taken for a sixth former – thank you.