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Review
by Heikki Suosalo in Soul Express
LATIMORE
It speaks volumes
for a sheer talent, when an artist with only his voice
and either Grand Piano, or Yamaha Motif can captivate
you for three quarters of an hour. That’s exactly
what Latimore does on Live in Vienna (LatStone Records,
LTS 1003-2; www.henrystonemusic.com), his first-ever live
recording. The concert took place at the Porgy and Bess
club last December.
His renditions of the familiar songs (Take Me to the Mountain
Top, Something ‘Bout ‘Cha, Keep the Home Wires
Burnin’, Dig a Little Deeper, Stormy Monday &
Everyday I Have the Blues and I Get Lifted) are nothing
like the recorded cuts of those tunes. He improvises constantly,
bursts repeatedly into wails, builds the song in a new
and exciting way and finds new angles to approach it;
in some cases in a very jazzy way. Those of us, who have
seen him on stage or at least watched his YouTube clips,
have, of course, an idea of his prowess, but still you
can’t help but admire it again and again.
The rest 25 minutes consists first of his recent hits
(City Life, My Give Damn Gave Out and Around the World),
and here he uses also backing tracks and a guitarist.
The grand finale is naturally an 8 ½-minute version
of Let’s Straighten It Out. If you’re a Latimore
fan and know his records by heart, this gem of a CD sounds
all the more compelling.
See
it here ... |
