Orlando Seale and the Swell - Scala

Orlando Seale

Orlando Seale and the Swell
Orlando Seale - guitar, vocal
Andrew Gallop - drums
Becky Hopkin - viola
Patricia Ramirez - viola
Micky Turkington - bass

Date - 21st April 2016
Venue - Scala, London

Upcoming dates
4th June 2016 - How The Light Get In, Hay On Wye, UK
22nd - 24th July 2016 - Curious Arts Festival, Lymington, UK
28th July - Mandrea Music Festival, Trento, Italy
28th July - Madrea Festival, Arco, Italy

Orlando was living and working as an actor in LA when his girlfriend at the time lent him Elliot Smith’s old guitar. Then she left him. He made his way home to London and was struck by the rapidly changing city, its caffeinated highs and ‘Gin Street’ lows. Thanks to a special collaboration with the Southbank Sinfonia, Orlando met viola players Becky Hopkin and Patricia Ramirez. Along with bassist Micky Turkington they created the Swell, an attempt to capture the epic sweep of the unreal city.

Then the sky fell down.
Life lurched left and steadily became more like wrestling than dancing.

So armed with new drummer Andrew Gallop the band holed up in a condemned rehearsal space behind Denmark Street and began to carve out a harsher, less lyrical sound that reflected the turbulent times. In December 2015 they released their latest single ‘Wrestling’.

Micky Turkington

The queue snaked around Scala and deep into the backstreets of Kings Cross. Once inside, the amphitheatre was crammed full of the living while the waking spectre of Orlando Seale performed a kind of open heart surgery upon himself. Spittle stretched and a dark sickly residue spread beneath us, sticking our feet to the floor.

It was the most magnificent of sacrifices, Seale was the bait for our eyes, he is the death and the resurrection, the naked, pegged out before us. The strings of his songs pull his limbs, and as we draw closer we cut our feet on thorny lyrics and the sharps lines from the violas.

We can never quite reach into Orlando Seale, he is the curiosity window, the shop that none of us enter. The lights are never on inside, our imaginations are the illuminations yet we need the darkness to make both mind and panes reflect.

London Caesars Dr Fizzy, Mrs Fizzy and The Baldock looked on as we in the pit writhed to the rhythm of the swell.

AL.

Lisa O'Neill - Stronger than before

Lisa O'Neill

Sandwiched between Maria Byrne and The Lost Brothers we tasted the most satisfying filling of Lisa O'Neill at St Pancras Old Church in London last week (12/11/2014). It was a treat of zesty proportions and although it was a brief 40 minutes, there was plenty to get our teeth stuck into to.

Mossy Nolan -Guitar/bouzouki

The scale of St Pancras Old Church fitted the dimensions of this diminutive Irish singer but it's whitewashed walls barely contained the energy of her words. She commanded the space as she took the stage alone. She caught our attention, standing away from the microphone but attacking it when need be or leaning toward it as though sniffing a rose over a neighbours fence.

'England has my man' gave us plenty of Lisa O'Neill's meat and gristle to chew on. The toughest corners of her narrative were a pleasure to find rolling around our mouths and minds long after she had moved to pastures new. 'Nellie's Song' spoke of adventures across the USA, and I was lucky enough to be sitting with London's busiest gigsters, the legendary Dr and Mrs Fizzy. They had last heard O'Neill in Boston, so its seems America still calls.

Mossy Nolan joined O'Neill throughout, and played the straight and still man alongside his leader's springloaded jack-in-the-box. Many of the night's tunes come from Lisa O'Neill's second album Same Cloth Or Not (Song Seeds Records) which is anchored by Nolan's talents, from guitar to bouzouki. Trying to contain O'Neill on paper is like trying to capture the elemental, she is a force, a mysterious one that touches the cornerstone of our being.



Lisa O'Neill

You do not float on cloudy skies upon hearing her voice, even while listening to the penultimate tune 'Dreaming'. There is a Piafesque frisson as though the voice has been fragmented, it has been broken apart and been put back together even stronger.

That is how we felt after Lisa O'Neill had finished, we were stronger than before.

AL.

Maz O'Connnor at Twickfolk

Maz O'Connor with guitar

As you may know I spent a glorious 6 months as artist-in-residence at Twickfolk to help celebrate 30 years of live music at this popular venue. This was my first time back (25/05/2014), under the recommendation of  reliable talent spotter, Mike Watts, or Dr Fizzy as he is more popularly known. The talent in question was Maz O'Connor, a petite singer with both compositional and vocal skills that have been celebrated recently with a nomination for the Horizon Award in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2013.

Twickfolk is run by enthusiasts and volunteers so the welcome is always genuine and heartfelt upon arrival. I felt even more at home with the news that Sue Graves would be providing the support. An all too short brace of tunes gave us first Amos Lee's "Sweet Pea" and then 'A May carol'. She is both a real asset to Twickfolk and the folk scene itself with the clarity of her unfaltering voice.

Sue Graves

Whether it was the build up or exterior factors at play but the otherwise competent Maz O'Connor tripped over words frequently during introductions and in-between tunes. Strangely she felt exposed on stage and this was exaggerated in the dead silence of a folk club. The audience though didn't let her flounder. Of course music is their most common bond but such diverse subjects as Greek mythology and the Suffragettes movement were not beyond their oeuvre.

Maz O'Connor's most successful tune of the evening was "Greenwood side" that painted a rich picture in its combination of narrative and music. Based upon a heady mix of Pre-Raphaelites imagery and the subject matter of Lizzie Siddal, the song churned dark and rich like the Hogsmill River that runs just a few miles away. It was here that John Everett Millais painted his iconic version of Ophelia which now hangs in the Tate Gallery and remains one of our nation's favourite paintings. I hope this tune will find a place close to our hearts too.

Maz O'Connor - Shruti Box

O'Connor didn't dominate her appearance at Twickfolk but to her credit her demeanour was one of approachability over star quality. Her voice had a light purity that skated over the ice rather than cut into it with an ear-catching pirouette. Her song-writing by contrast had a strength which lasted throughout. The two songs that cut the deepest were "The Mississippi Woman" and "My Persephone", the latter had stretch and ambition that gave us a full view of our headliner's talents.

AL.

Leyla McCalla & Rhiannon Giddens - Chocolate Bonbons

Leyla McCalla - Cello

Two of Carolina's sweetest chocolate drops started their tour of the UK and France at Cecil Sharp House last Wednesday (03/10/2013). An array of prone musical instruments lay basking in the light of Leyla McCalla and Rhiannon Giddens as they took to the stage. By the end of the performance we too bathed in their talent, beauty and charm, it is the kind that washes over you, letting the spirit soar for those brief hours of listening.

It was my first visit to Cecil Sharp House since my tenure as Twickfolk's artist-in-residence earlier this year. Every week I was welcomed into the bosom of Twickenham's folk scene and got to know many of the regulars there. Due to their loyalty and dedication the faces rarely changed, so foolishly I thought I would recognise a few on this night. Not only was every face in the warm wood-panelled hall a new one but no singular demographic materialised with which to pigeon-hole them with my artistic eye.



Neil Coffey - Fan

Luckily there was a couple of faces that I recognised, a gig wouldn't be worth going to unless the legendary Dr and Mrs Fizzy were in attendance. Mike Watts was fizzing with his camera, taking pictures (only for the first 3 songs) for the EFDSS or English folk dance and song society. I was lucky enough to sketch the whole way through, but it wasn't an easy brief. No sooner had Leyla McCalla picked up her cello than she had replaced it with banjo. Rhiannon Giddens was equally culpable, swapping violin for banjo, then triangle, and as if to tease us she blew her Kazoo at one point.

It was a whirl of lyrical songs and beautiful craftsmanship, carefully carved from their own traditions and with a sweep of their musical chisels in our direction too. The two major pillars of the evening that held the impressive Cecil Sharp ceiling so high were Giddens' US Civil War inspirations and McCalla's tasty Haitian brews.

Rhiannon Giddens - violin

Both the stars of Rhiannon Giddens and Leyla McCalla's are in the ascendancy but it was the later that shone particularly bright. Her most recent release 'Vari-Colored Songs'  has received some Very-Favorable reviews already. Her performance on 'Rose-Marie' was a standout and the flavour of her Haitian songs created extra layers to an evening that was already eclectic. As if to exaggerated the flight of McCalla's words on 'Meci Bon Dieu' the flock of tattooed birds seemed to spring from her slender frame into the excited hall. She often created the thermals for Giddens to soar too with her own voice of purity and clarity.

As always I roped in the nearest expert to hide my woeful knowledge and met a charming fan in the form of Neil Coffey. His favourite of the night was Rhiannon Giddens' 'Cuckoo' song and there was an appreciation of the change in material and pace from their work in the foursome Carolina Chocolate Drops. Neil even admitted that he saw them twice during a recent visit to the Cambridge Folk Festival. Its easy to see why, with such depth and pure musical talent you would have to have a second nibble on these chocolate bonbons.

Tour dates still to come include -
9th October - The Greystones, Sheffield
10th October - The Met, Bury
11th October - The Atkinson, Southport
12th October - Oran Mor, Glasgow
and then onto France.

AL.

Melissa James - Gallery in a Gig

Melissa James

Life imitating art or vice versa, you take your pick. Either way this was an offer I couldn't refuse.
If you find yourself in an Art Gallery that served wine, surrounded by beautiful pictures of birds, musical script and amongst friends you're virtually guaranteed a good time. Add the potent ingredient of Melissa James and it could almost be a fool proof hit.

Ross Lorraine - Keys

We all have a self destruct button though. Last Thursday (24/07/2013) I was the guest of gig addicts Dr and Mrs Fizzy alongside their classy chaperone Sarah Hadland. Despite everything panning out perfectly in the sweet evening air of Bethnal Green that said button was pressed. Wine went flying, glass after glass hitting the Café floor but everything calmed with Melissa James' opening gambit. Aptly titled 'Don't You Keep Yourself Down' (Free download Here) it stopped our reckless behaviour and reduced the imbibing rate just in time.



Giorgos Paphitis - guitar

Supporting the charity Small Steps Project this was the first in a series of gigs in Galleries across London. A tour that suits two of my strongest passions but what impressed me most of was the lightness of sound and sentiment from Melissa James herself. It would be easily to overcook the theme particularly in this café environment too. Like her songs James has a beautiful lingering sound that lives with you well after the event itself. Connoisseur Dr Fizzy explained to me that James is his bedtime choice...' a voice that lifts me into the arms of Orpheus'.

Rowland Sutherland - Flute

Melissa James was joined on the warm lit stage of the Café Gallery by Giorgos Paphitis (Guitar), Ross Lorraine (Keys) and Rowland Sutherland (Flute). It was particularly the entry of the latter for 'Precious Time' that lifted our eyes to the skylight above. We saw the birds hanging high in London's hazy blue and we escaped the capital's clayed feet. Not for long! Enticing us back into her embrace we submersed ourselves in 'Old Mother London' once again. A haunting song, co-written with Tom Robinson, we hope they will perform it together for their final Gig in a Gallery event at The Queen of Hoxton on the 30th October 2013.

Kaz Simmons

London spilled in around us on this eve and our support singer, Kaz Simmons, danced barefoot with her too. Inspired by the radio station London 94.9, she treated us to the wonderful self penned 'For the Love of the Big L' and if by magic a siren from the Old Ford Road elbowed itself into the venue and joined in the celebration.  Adding a little Brazilian spice to the evening Simmons said her farewells with 'Teco-Teco' and we stopped ourselves from dancing amongst the cafe's tables with difficulty. There was a huge sigh of relief from the waitress though, not because of the sheer embarrassment of mine and Dr Fizzy's imminent gyrating but because she didn't want to mop up another bottle of wine from the floor.


Check out Melissa James' GIG IN A GALLERY tour here and her beautiful flowing songs at her website -
www.melissa-james.com

AL.