Music PREVIEWS
FOLK ROCK SHARON VAN ETTEN Oran Mor, Glasgow, Thu 12 Jul
When we tell you Sharon Van Etten’s had it tough, we don’t just mean a bit of writer’s block or bad press. The Brooklyn- based singer-songwriter fled an abusive relationship and endured two years of homelessness while making her third album, Tramp. It’s a relief then to find her ‘having a blast’ on tour with ‘friends that keep challenging and encouraging my form’. ‘It’s like summer camp’, she says. ‘Spirits are high . . . and re-realising this album in a straight-up band format has been a learning experience for me.’ Van Etten’s poetic folk rock confessionals are an intense
and beautifully disarming listen, but it’s not all Conor Oberst and Leonard Cohen on her playlists. Julie Andrews features prominently, along with Throwing Muses, Iggy Pop, The Kinks and The Carpenters. It was TV On The Radio’s Kyp Malone who eventually encouraged her into music-making, though, word of her talent quickly spreading, with The Antlers, Beirut, The National and Bon Iver all clamouring to work with her. Things have clearly turned a corner for the singer who is currently on the creative form of her career and buoyed by ecstatic responses to her latest offering. ‘It is a progression from where I came from,’ she explains, ‘but I don’t think it’s out of the blue. I have been developing a lot over the years and I think this is my strongest record yet.’ She agrees that the hardships of making Tramp brought better material out of her: ‘I think that ultimately helped it be a more immediate album.’ The writing process as catharsis clearly applies here. ‘I only write from personal experience. I only choose to share it when I think I have ideas that are universal I hope people can relate to.’ And her ultimate aim? ‘To help the listener not to feel so alone.’ (Camilla Pia)
JAZZ PHARAOH SANDERS Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Wed 27 Jun, part of Glasgow Jazz Festival MINIMAL DISCO NITE JEWEL The Captain’s, Glasgow, Fri 13 Jul
‘The creator has a masterplan, peace and harmony for everyone,’ sings a beatific Leon Thomas over light-dappled piano and rolling bass. As the piece reaches an ecstatic pitch, Thomas’s vocals explode into fervent ululations amidst a tumult of free-blowing and shimmering African percussion. This is Pharaoh Sanders’ 1969 album Karma, a masterpiece of spiritual free jazz which became a US radio hit and stands as one of the most accessible and beautiful transmissions from the avant-garde.
Mentored by Sun Ra and John Coltrane, Sanders took the gutsy tenor sax tone he developed in R&B bands into wild new directions. Yet he is also a deeply soulful player, with a harmonic approach inspired by African and Indian music.
Sanders joined Coltrane’s band in 1965, playing on some of the great man’s most radical albums, including the epochal big-band freak-out Ascension. After ‘Trane’s tragic passing in 1967, Sanders worked with his widow Alice on her gorgeous early albums, while pursuing his own mystical, Afrocentric direction on classic Impulse! Records’ sides like Deaf Dumb Blind, Thembi and Black Unity.
Following this intense period, Sanders settled into a mellower groove. His current band work within a more mainstream post-bop framework, but Sanders continues to push at the edges, his horn still a conduit for passionate rasps and squeals, even on the most melodic of numbers. Pharaoh lives! (Stewart Smith)
From the heart of LA’s underground scene comes the minimalist disco and neon-lit stylings of Nite Jewel, the project of Ramona Gonzalez – as evocative as it is rug cutting. Formally a live trio, Nite Jewel has evolved into a far more funk- leaning creature on her second record One Second of Love, a minor departure from her lo-fi bedroom vibes on the critically applauded Good Evening debut back in 2008 – with its tighter production and snappier percussion. This 80s funk leaning was also explored on her collaboration with Dam Funk on their ‘Am I Gonna Make It’ track in 2009, so this natural progression towards more soulful territory has been a few years in the making. Cuts from her ‘Am I Real’ EP wouldn’t be far removed from the likes of a Lisa Lisa and The Cult Jam album, with its emotive synths and slapping bass, trademarked with Ramona’s meandering and effortless vocals. You may also recognise Ramona from her cameo in Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg and her countless viral music videos online.
With Grimes and Lana Del Rey making big splashes in the States and abroad, Nite Jewel fits comfortably in the same bracket – but with a measured, more mystical approach to her songwriting. With her recent single ‘One Second of Love’ tiptoeing between a pounding minimal rhythm and a haunting chorus, it strikes that perfect pop counterbalance found in peers Ariel Pink or Canadian suavester The Weeknd. Her UK dates are a rare chance to catch her newest material in the flesh, and on the strength of her last tour a few years back, it’ll be worth the wait. (Nick Herd)