LIVE REVIEW: LE GUESS WHO? FESTIVAL, DAY 4
NOVEMBER 20, 2016
Patty Waters’ show is the hidden gem of the festival. Her voice has adapted to the art of the possible these days, but her innovative timing, and her wild but on-the-nail phrasing, and the way she squeezes every last drop of feeling out of the words, is unmatched. This is the sort of thing beyond music as we know it. We walk in half way through Strange Fruit, it’s incredible. Waters’s band (with the irreproachable Burton Greene still on piano, Tjitze Vogel on bass and Barry Altschul on drums) are incredible too, setting up the this beautifully gentle, experimental vibe throughout. Some of Burton Greene’s compositions get a run through too, and they purr like an old Mercedes. Just to top things, the band’s incredibly evocative take on Wild is the Wind (with Waters exploring every nuance of the word, ‘wild’), is unbelievable. My head feels like it’s coming off. Dig that old school cool mixed with the autumn leaf beauty of Waters’ voice. Mein Gott.
Why you should know mystical jazz singer Patty Waters, and what she means to Circuit des Yeux's Haley Fohr:
"She is a high flying bird, and the first I ever heard, that could conjure a full spectrum of emotion through voice.
Her ability to remain fragile and open, exploratory, inviting, free, (but not flashy) makes her one of the most accomplished vocalists of our time.
I wish that more people were privy to her talent. I love the record "College Tour", where I feel her spirit floats the most, but recommend "Patty Sings" for those unfamiliar. She invites you in like a full moon on a hot summer's night on side A, then successfully sends you into a mind trip on "Black is the Color". She is truly a one of a kind musician and I just can't wait to see her live."
Patty Waters will give a very rare performance as part of our 10th Anniversary Edition on Sunday, 13 November.
Haley Fohr will perform as Circuit des Yeux on Saturday, 12 November.
"'Patty Waters Sings' is a flaming beacon at the pinnacle of the ESP-Disk' woodpile. On it, Waters manifests the formidable triad of her talents: her melancholy songs (a neglected yet astonishing page in the American songbook); her chilling whispered delivery; the harrowing blast of her full-throated cry (an aspect fully developed in the interstellar spaces of her other ESP LP, 'College Tour'). Her poise and mystery and voice, so well-displayed on these and later recordings, remains undiminished -- and will no doubt rearrange the ears on your head."
Patty Waters will give a very rare performance as part of our 10th Anniversary Edition on Sunday, 13 November.
Tom Carter performs on Thursday, 10 November, as part of the program curated by Wilco.
"...the most potent proof of the festival's ability to surprise comes with Patty Waters performance on Sunday evening. A cult-acclaimed jazz voice who cut two albums for ESP-Disc in the mid-60s; she's backed by a free-minded trio featuring original pianist and fellow ESP-Disker Burton Greene. While her voice is a drier instrument than the harrowed scream that made her 1965 recording of "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair" a triumph of otherworldly purgation, her ability to give familiarities like "Nature Boy", and "Wild is the Wind" readings of tragic elemental power is astonishing."
