Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Martha and Adrian
That is, Martha Wainwright and Adrian Belew covering Bowie's Heroes. Who better than Adrian to perfectly cop that sustainy Robert Fripp sound? And he's not even playing a Les Paul!
Adrian has played guitar for David Bowie, and in what must be among the greatest compliments to a guitar players skills had a gig with Frank Zappa, followed by a long-standing (I assume continuing until now) seat in King Crimson - the only (non-bass) guitar player to have played with Fripp on a continuing basis.
Martha has an impressive musical lineage. Brother Rufus Wainwright and she were raised by mom Kate McGarrigle and her sister Anna McGarrigle. Dad is Loudon Wainwright III.
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Martha doesn't do so much for me -- just not my taste, but Adrian is The Man. I had the enormous pleasure of doing a show with him once, in a small club, back when I was a soundman/stage manager. What an absolutely unstuckup person, and a joy to watch. Nobody else looks like he's having as much fun on stage as Adrian. And of course, the guitar playing is outstanding -- he's never failed to amaze me in the several other times I've seen him live.
ReplyDeleteI Like Martha, As a singer she has a lot of tricks up her sleeve, and as a songwriter, well BMFA is a deadly song.
ReplyDeleteThe vocal harmonies sound kind of unrehearsed in this video, but the novelty of the two of them together sold me. You're right about Adrian, I've seen him perform in a lot of contexts (solo, w/Zappa, w/KC, w/Projekt Two (as a drummer!) He's one of my favorite performers.