Apr 30 2009
Multiple concerts - same artist
The next few days are going to be very exciting. Bill Frisell appears live in Australia - I’ll be seeing him four times in five days.
Tomorrow (Friday) morning, I’m flying from Sydney to Melbourne to see Bill twice at the Melbourne Jazz Festival, then back on Sunday to see him twice in Sydney. I’m excited because I’ve been wanting to see him perform ever since I first heard his music about ten years ago.
I love getting into a headspace like this - two years ago I saw Steely Dan three times in six days - because these artists come to Australia so rarely, I feel I’ve got to make the most of it. If I lived in Europe, America or Japan I’d have much more scope for seeing my favourite artists. As it is, we do get a fairly impressive roster coming through, but some I feel I’ll never see unless I sell a kidney for a trip to the northern hemisphere. I had a grand plan a couple of years ago to travel to Europe during that July and follow the Keith Jarrett Trio around, I think it would’ve been seven gigs in three weeks in five countries - three weeks simultaneously saturating my ears with great music, saturating my eyes with beautiful scenery and saturating my tastebuds with tasty food!
That remains, for now, a dream, and I’m hungry with anticipation for the days ahead. Bill Frisell plays the first gig with Charlie Haden on bass (another I never thought I’d see) and Ethan Iverson on piano. The next three gigs are Bill’s trio with Tony Scherr playing the bass and Kenny Wollesen playing the drums.
What bliss…. I’ll report on the concerts next week.
Nick
