Al Stewart and Dave Nachmanoff in Concert!!
Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 3:24 am
I was very fortunate to have attended a concert last night with these two performers at a local community center with not more than 200 people in attendance. If you've ever seen Al Stewart live you know it was quite a treat.
Al is quite a history buff and his songs are often (usually?) of a historical nature. His on-going banter with the crowd is irreverent and hysterical. Al was a big part of the British folk scene in the 60"s and 70's and has played with all the greats; Renbourne, Jansch, White, Thompson, Denny & Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span to name a few. He claims they threw him out of the folk club when he wrote Year of the Cat and had a huge hit. Apparently any song with a saxaphone can't be a folk song!
But the show-stealer has to be Dave Nachmanoff; a player of very small stature but an incredibly talented guitarist. I told my wife he could make even me look good! Rarely have I seen anyone with the mastery of the fretboard that Dave shows. He left the audience shaking their heads at his virtuosity. Plus, he is the perfect foil for Al's diversions and humor. Al was messing around on his guitar and started picking out Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg. We all laughed and then Dave would play the next part. Eventually, Dave asked Al if he was supposed to incorporate that riff into the next song. Al said of course he was and Dave did it in a very unlikely tune to thundering applause!
They only played a few off of Al's considerable hit library instead focusing on their new album called Uncorked. I listened to it today and I highly recommend it if you want to hear how Al still sounds (fantastic) and to experience "backup" guitar at its absolute best. Really a treat for any acoustic guitarist.
In case you were wondering, Al plays a beautiful Taylor 912 Grand Concert guitar and Dave plays a Martin 000-28EC Eric Clapton Signature. Both sounded fantastic. Overall an amazing concert and if you ever get to hear these two together DON'T MISS IT!! Tickets were $22.50 each! What a steal!
Al is quite a history buff and his songs are often (usually?) of a historical nature. His on-going banter with the crowd is irreverent and hysterical. Al was a big part of the British folk scene in the 60"s and 70's and has played with all the greats; Renbourne, Jansch, White, Thompson, Denny & Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span to name a few. He claims they threw him out of the folk club when he wrote Year of the Cat and had a huge hit. Apparently any song with a saxaphone can't be a folk song!
But the show-stealer has to be Dave Nachmanoff; a player of very small stature but an incredibly talented guitarist. I told my wife he could make even me look good! Rarely have I seen anyone with the mastery of the fretboard that Dave shows. He left the audience shaking their heads at his virtuosity. Plus, he is the perfect foil for Al's diversions and humor. Al was messing around on his guitar and started picking out Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg. We all laughed and then Dave would play the next part. Eventually, Dave asked Al if he was supposed to incorporate that riff into the next song. Al said of course he was and Dave did it in a very unlikely tune to thundering applause!
They only played a few off of Al's considerable hit library instead focusing on their new album called Uncorked. I listened to it today and I highly recommend it if you want to hear how Al still sounds (fantastic) and to experience "backup" guitar at its absolute best. Really a treat for any acoustic guitarist.
In case you were wondering, Al plays a beautiful Taylor 912 Grand Concert guitar and Dave plays a Martin 000-28EC Eric Clapton Signature. Both sounded fantastic. Overall an amazing concert and if you ever get to hear these two together DON'T MISS IT!! Tickets were $22.50 each! What a steal!
