the incredible paul bradley at arnos vale…

Moira+I went along to a concert at the elegant Anglican Chapel at the wonderful Arnos Vale cemetery last night. Yes, this might sound a little bizarre, but it really is an excellent concert venue (Ruth+I went to a Daisy Chapman concert there a couple of years ago)!

I’ve previously posted a couple of times (here and here) about Paul Bradley (he’s also a member of my one of my favourite “bands” Three Cane Whale) and last night marked the official launch of his “Banish Cherish” CD – which I’ve possessed since the end of last year (and which continues to be my current favourite album!).
Last night was the first time I’d actually seen him perform in a solo capacity. I just KNEW it was going to be a wonderful experience and so it proved. Yes, he’s a highly-gifted guitarist (he also plays perhaps another dozen instruments!), but he’s also an astonishing vocalist - who truly uses his voice as another instrument. Oh, and he’s also a composer of music! He’s an artist in the true sense of the word. At one stage last night, he played what was effectively an improvised piece, with loop technology, on his own for perhaps 35 minutes, non-stop (literally)… it was completely mesmerising. Utterly captivating.
He’s an amazing, unique musician. A genius.
I recently tried to describe his music to a friend… and blurted out something along the lines of “well, I think he’s incomparable… perhaps John Martyn might come closest to a comparison with a bit of Mark Hollis or Frank Zappa thrown in, sometimes maybe, or even Tom Waite on occasions… actually, his voice also seems to go from maybe choral through to folk, jazz and blues… oh, and he whistles beautifully too”. Needless to say, my friend ended up none the wiser (and I realised I hadn’t come even close to describing him)!
Believe me, if you get a chance to see this man perform live, grab it!
But, in the meantime, just buy his CD for £7.99… you will NOT be disappointed!
Photo: a somewhat blurred image from last night’s concert.
PS: “advance sale” tickets for the concert were just £5 each(!) – how RIDICULOUSLY cheap for what proved to be a brilliant evening.
PPS: he’s also a bloomin’ nice bloke!
PPPS: sorry that the album purchase link is via Amazon!