Brighton Festival: Contemporary Music
Jeff Hemmings explores this year’s outstanding Brighton Festival contemporary music programme.
Where once upon a time Brighton Festival was primarily concerned with classical music, now it’s just as much to do with contemporary music, in all its guises, and from around the globe… and this year, the music programme looks like the best yet.
Live soundtracking film has become an integral part of the festival in recent years, and this year there’s an intriguing live score of Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy film by Cat’s Eyes, a UK premiere (Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Fri 22 May). This bold homage to 1970s erotica will be soundtracked by a lush, dreamlike soundscape, put together by The Horrors’s frontman Faris Badwan, and Italian-Canadian soprano singer and composer Rachel Zeffira.
Former Brighton resident and BIMM tutor Carleen Anderson (Theatre Royal Brighton, Sat 22 May) comes from a family highly steeped in soul and funk; her mother is soul singer Vicky Anderson, her step-father is Bobby Byrd, and James Brown was her godfather. She even toured the world with Brown’s All Stars band in the 80s, concurrently enjoying hits with jazz-funk-soul legends the Young Disciples, and then the Brand New Heavies. For this one-off performance, Carleen pays tribute to the ‘Divine One’, Sarah Vaughan, accompanied by pianist and bandleader Julian Joseph, and special guests.
Also with a voice to die for, new-kid-on-the-block Benjamin Clementine (Theatre Royal Brighton, Thu 21 May) is an extraordinary talent, coming to prominence with a startling performance on Later… with Jools Holland in 2013. A former busker, Clementine’s onstage charisma, voice and piano balladry has drawn comparisons with the likes of Nina Simone and Anthony Hegarty. His debut album has only just come out, and this will be a rare opportunity to see this future star accompanied by an extended line-up.
An early collaborator with fellow Bristolians Massive Attack, Tricky (Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, Sat 23 May) aka Adrian Thaws, is one of music’s most maverick characters. Made with his then girlfriend Martina Topley-Bird, 1993’s Maxinquaye was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, an album that was voted Album of the Year by NME. Noted for his dark and richly layered sound, and a whispering ‘sprechgesang’ lyrical style, Tricky has over the years fused rock, reggae, house and hip hop in creating a highly distinct soundscape.
A fixture of New York’s performance scene for more than 30 years, Joey Arias (Theatre Royal Brighton, Wed 20 May) scandalous wit, and extraordinary voice is evocative of Billie Holiday. For this Brighton Festival premiere, Arias traverses jazz, pop, rock and experimental music in taking you on a journey that spans his career including from his time as lead singer with Strange Party, an influence on Talking Heads. Here, he will be accompanied by piano virtuoso Charly Zastrau.
Already with two Mercury Music Prize nominations under her belt, indie-siren Anna Calvi’s (Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Sat 9 May) romantic approach to songwriting, compelling live performances and excellent guitar playing has seen her win the admiration of the likes of Nick Cave and Brian Eno (a former Guest Director of Brighton Festival), who was instrumental in helping kickstart her career, and who sang backing vocals on her self-titled debut album. Citing diverse influences that range from Hendrix to Bowie, and from Maria Callas to Ravel, Calvi’s’ songs are both dramatic and atmospheric.
Since his early sonic experiments of the 90s, producer, sound artist and composer Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher (Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Fri 8 May) has literally been exploring the boundaries of music, drawing on influences from the worlds of drum and bass, house, jazz and electroacoustic music. Last year, he collaborated with a team of Japanese robotocists for an EP performed entirely by robots! For the festival, he’ll be bringing his new live show; expect a loud volume, experimental music, and eye-catching visuals.
There will also be an opportunity to see the fantastic groove-laden instrumental jazzers GoGo Penguin (Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, Fri 8 May); the contemporary roots and rhythms of Ukrainian ‘ethnic chaos’ band DakhaBrakha (Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, 10 May); an outstanding evening of spoken word and music from Kate Tempest, George the Poet and Hollie McNish (Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, Thu 14 May); jazz fusionists Dominic J Marshall Trio (Brighton Dome Studio Theatre, Tue 19 May); Gaelic folk singer Julie Fowlis (Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, Thu 21 May); a Brighton Festival exclusive performance by Laurie Anderson (Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Sun24 May), performing a specially curated show called All The Animals, made in response to this year’s Festival themes; and Pete Wiggs and Saint Etienne (Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Thu 21 May) performing a live soundtrack to the elegant documentary of London life called How We Used To Live.
