Installment 6
| Venue: | Montreux Jazz, Villa Adriana, Corsica Jazz Festival | | Situation: | Elvis Costello Tour | | Comment: | The Travels of Mr. Jerry |
July 13 Montreux Jazz Festival I have really been looking forward to this one. Those I know who possess any semblance of a Jazz background recognize this to be the European Granddaddy of Jazz festivals, where participation can add weight to one's musical credentials. Tonight is another of our double bills with Diana Krall and I will have a chance to play a portion of her set. A surprise was the arrival before the show of Quincy Jones, who came to me and said, "we filmed a TV show in the Ryman didn't we?” In my groveling fog, I had forgotten, but he was right. Before the first official show of the newly renovated Ryman Auditorium, I was part of a High Five Productions TV program which was, as I remember, an installment of the show "The Road", and Quincy was one of the producers. Just goes to show what a class act he is and one of the reasons why. The Montreux Jazz Festival has not been a strictly Jazz festival for many years, but recruits acts on an integrity based system. We are definitely NOT jazz but Elvis has played here seven times. I have always wanted to play here, so was delighted after the show when asked back next year with my own band! We will see about that later. Diana played first, feeling she was much the quieter act. That is true, but I wondered how the audience would react to our Mod-Billy type of music after seeing a traditional Jazz act. I played on two songs with Diana's band. One was a Buddy Miller tune she says she cannot get out of her head called "Wide River to Cross", and the other a Dylan cover of "A Simple Twist of Fate". My wondering about how Elvis would be received was relieved after the first song. The audience went nuts, transformed from a reserved crowd to a rock and roll mob. We did three encores and pulled out the Stones' "Happy" for the ending stinger. My new favorite band, Mumford and Sons, came to see us tonight. I met them at Telluride Bluegrass Festival this year and fully believe they have something special. They come from all over England and have a unique approach as the lead singer and guitar player, Marcus Mumford, also plays kick drum, giving their music a great dynamic range by using it at the appropriate times. Their boundless energy will just wear a crowd completely out! By the time I had labored through the Sugarcanes' show, knowing I had a long travel day ahead of me, I begged off going out with the Mumford lads that night. To be 25 again! July 14 Travel to Italy I went to bed this night wondering if I would be going to Italy for a couple days completely off, or flying back to Belgium for a show at a festival outside Brussells that included Jeff Beck. Torn because I really need some proper downtime, but remembering his show at the last "Crossroads" being the greatest show I've ever witnessed live, I decided there was no downside to either. In the end, logistics won out, so off to Tivoli, Italy we go. So long Jeff Beck, hello Italy. The journey took us through the mountains in a tour bus that stretches the limits of any road in Europe, and after an 8-hour drive we arrived in the spa/resort town of Tivoli Terme. Known for its thermal healing waters we all settled in for three days off. July 15-17 Italy is a beautiful country as we saw traveling through Umbria and the rolling hills lined with tall cedars and farmland fertile after thousands of years of abuse and reclamation and conquerors of all kinds. However, they could use another round of trash pickup educating. I know they have a high unemployment figure and I think I know what they could do to get some folks back to work. Some mowing equipment and some large stakes with nails on the ends could do a lot in the way of beautification. Maybe stop dropping their garbage in the streets and dispose of their used plastic, mainly water bottles and a few million cigarette butts would help. Give a hoot, don't pollute! I know this sounds trite, but I can remember when we went through the same campaign in our country. It works! OK, I am not here to go off on a negative rant so back to relaxing. It did give me pause though to think of what a better place this could be if the residents just cared a bit more. After taking a day to just settle in and get culture shock and laundry out of the way, I took the opportunity to go into Rome for a day and be a proper tourist. Taking a bus into the city, I got on the subway and went straight to the Coliseum. Lions: 4/Christians: 0. I'm sorry couldn't resist - again. What you actually see there is a remnant of what was once a marble covered Super Bowl. Large holes in the rock walls represent the brass spikes that held the marble and other ornaments in place. Over the last few hundred years, the Coliseum has been vandalized and deteriorated from pollution to the point that it is barely a skeleton of it's former self. Still, worth seeing as a major representative of an empire much like the one we live in now. Makes you wonder what will be left someday of our own even though we do not build with the same materials. This is a lesson to those who want to rule the world, even for a moment. All around the Coliseum are ruins of the Senate and all the buildings that Rome ruled from in a relatively small space. Hunger struck and we found a nice restaurant out off the beaten path. The food in Italy is amazing! I never had a bad meal, and I was hearing that as well from some of the crew that has been here many times. Pastas are so fresh and all the spices, subtle as they are were very pleasant. Back on the Underground to Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica. Whoa! Sometimes I wish I didn't have a camera, because I end up so many times looking through it at things I should be experiencing directly. Nevertheless, I shot away anyway and now I will just have to try to put myself back in that huge room of statues, paintings, and Popes in repose. Excessively much to fathom in one day. The hotel in which we are ensconced is a product of better times here. When the thermals were attracting the affluent into the suburbs I imagine this was a playground, but now, although it is not in disrepair, I can conjure up thoughts of how the now vacant cabana in the back might have been packed with touristes. The pool however is glorious - especially in this sunny 40 degree Centegrade weather. July 18 Concert Villa Adriana Tonight we will perform in the ruins of one of the Caesar Adriana's Summer Palaces. Pretty nice digs in its day I am sure. Reflecting pools the size of Olympic pools surrounded by sculptures of folks I can only imagine as important mythological figures or maybe favorite musicians of the court. There is probably a new one Dennis or Mike there now. I think Elvis's hat may look out of place there. July19 Fly from Rome via Marseilles to Bastia, Corsica We look like a traveling circus by now. Most of us adorned with some type of hat. Elvis's favorite is a sort of dark Elmer Fudd cocked up and to the left. I usually have my straw slightly stingy brim turned up, Mike in a straw Southern short brim, stage manager Milo in a brown beaver Stetson fedora, Dennis sticking with his baseball cap, and Jeff Taylor in what I have heard older gents call a go-to- hell hat. Stubob remains hatless. We arrive at our hotel just in time for dinner. I am more tired than hungry. So after a coffee and some conversation about Napoleon's birth here in Corsica and his imagined thirst for more land because of his diminutive nature, and being surrounded on all sides by water in his formative years. Such stimulating talk sends me to my bed. I dreamt that night of the time I was playing Radio City Music Hall on the bill with Paul Simon and on the way to the stage, Guthrie Trapp, DJ McLachlan, and I were passengers in an elevator full of at least ten (little people). I later found out they were coming from rehearsal for the Rockettes Christmas Show where they played Santa's elves. They did enjoy seeing my strange guitar. Their little fingerprints are on there to this day. July 20 Corsica Jazz Festival This island is beautiful and reminds me a little of the Marin County, California. Not in vibe, but topographically. The festival is on the opposite side of the island, so our trek to sound check and back to the hotel is a very scenic one of switchbacks and beautiful vistas, or what in Denmark were called oberbipps; this is one of my favorite words on this trip! These folks prefer their concerts much later since the normal evening meal is usually served around 9pm. So Diana Krall plays at 9:30pm and we at 11:30. We played in front of the ruins of the Theatre De Verdure. Tonight Diana comes out and plays a couple songs with us. Her voice is very quiet, like someone else I know, and demands a dynamic drop that tempers our set of fiery anthems nicely. Now on to Spain and the last leg of this unforgettable tour.
|
