Jon Anderson will perform Roundabout onstage with Yes at their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April
(via Prog Magazine)
Jon Anderson will take to the stage and perform with Yes at their induction ceremony into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next month.
He’ll be honoured along with Steve Howe, Alan White, Rick Wakeman, Trevor Rabin, Tony Kaye and Bill Bruford on April 7 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in New York.
Billboard report that they’ll play Roundabout and are also contemplating I’ve Seen All Good People and Owner Of A Lonely Heart.
Tom Lehrer, the wickedly smart (multiple math degrees from Harvard, teaching gigs at his alma mater as well as MIT and others) shows that his musical and lyrical talents are equally keen in this satirical ditty.
Considering his musical career was a secondary avocation, his abilities are astounding. He could devastatingly satirize with a lyric, and his command of key modulation was astonishing. Both traits are on display in “We Will All Go Together When We Go”.
If you think Weird Al is good, Lehrer will blow your mind.
Recalling my first introduction to British band The Babys across four decades is still vivid. Driving home late at night in a 1965 Ford Fairlane with an AM-only radio, a song came on that opened with a melancholy naked piano melody. Then a lush orchestra joined in as a male voice with just a hint of an English accent sang,”Falling in love was the last thing I had on my mind…”. Then a solo trumpet repeated the melody the singer had just sung, but mariachi-like. Then these female backup singers come in prominently on the bridge to this huge hooky chorus. But wait: the lead singer switched places with the girl singers, who then take over belting out the chorus. What??!
Ex-Walkmen singer-songwriter Walter Martin has an easy, whimsical, tongue-in-cheek way with a song that calls to mind people like Jens Lekman and even Paul Simon.
Arts & Leisure is a travelogue of sorts. With wry specificity Martin takes the listener on a tour of places he’s seen, jobs he’s had and people he’s been, with a love of art at the forefront of much of the album.
I don’t know what’s more of a kick here, the lyrics or the playful, kooky arrangements. Percussion like the sound of coconuts takes you “Down by the Singing Sea”, and “Amsterdam” throws bass harmonica and various whistlie and tinklie things into a rollicking mix that may bring Jacques Brell to mind. Fun!
His solo debut, 2014’s We’re All Young Together was a children’s album for adults–something like They Might Be Giants might offer. But on Arts & Leisure, Martin’s childlike playful high-spiritedness is still intact as he explores a wider world. Truly this is an artist with a refreshingly unique world view.
Listen to: “Down by the Singing Sea”
Listen to: “Jobs I Had Before I Got Rich and Famous”
Every Moment Has A Song 