Day 8 has arms to you hold you – as Allison Crowe’s Musical Advent Calendar opens on a favourite song by The Beatles: “Let It Be”. From Allison’s legendary “Tidings” session:
With, both, “Cover Me” and “Coverville”,
a pair of the world’s premiere homes for lovers of
cover songs, sending birthday wishes to Allison
Crowe today, it’s an invitation to explore the
artist’s body of interpretive work. All music can
be found linked via the “ABC List” @
http://www.allisoncrowe.com/ABC.html
A supreme interpreter and arranger of songs -
traditional, Celtic, jazz, Broadway, hymns, carols
and aires – Crowe’s famed for her renewal of
popular songs – including those first penned by
Canadian icons Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, and
Atlantic coast treasures Gary O’Driscoll, Al
Pittman / Ron Hynes, Wince Coles, Harry Hibbs+,
alongside tunes from The Beatles, Pearl Jam, Tori
Amos, Ani DiFranco,Counting Crows, Lovin’ Spoonful,
Phil Ochs, Annie Lennox, Radiohead, Ronnie Shannon,
Patty Griffin, Kris Kristofferson, the Rolling
Stones and more.
In this rich and varied repertoire, each of Crowe’s
singular performances is a favourite.
Having just come off the road with Allison Crowe
and Band – during our travels we learned of Leonard
Cohen’s passing. Tonight, his manager released
these details:
Allison Crowe, together with countless people all
over our world, shares a special bond with the bard
“born with the gift of a golden voice”. This
relationship intertwines with the DNA of Leonard
Cohen songs – among those in her repertoire is his
universal “Hallelujah”. Of this, “Cover
Me” founder and editor Ray Padgett opines:
“Born in British Columbia, Crowe has amassed a
loyal following in Canada and Europe. The
songwriter’s songwriter pure tones sound like a
bell, no show-off acrobatics necessary. The amazing
thing isn’t just that she performs the best version
of Leonard Cohen‘s oft-covered ‘Hallelujah’
(sorry Jeff); the amazing thing is that she does so
using the same solo piano style that everyone else
does. There’s nothing particularly creative about
it; her voice is just that good! So throw all those
other ‘sensitive’ covers. This one’s the keeper.”
The blog 'anacronyms' says:“Crowe's
version is a living thing, a meditation and a
celebration and a benediction."
Thank you, sincerely, L. Cohen. We have the music.
Today - November 16 - marks the birthday of the
great musical artist, Allison Crowe. Celebrated as
an original songwriter and performer in popular
music genres, Allison's song interpretations are
also globally loved. "Cover
Me" tweets in appreciation, reprising this
Spotlight from the blog’s founding editor, Ray
Padgett @
http://www.covermesongs.com/2010/07/in-the-spotlight-allison-crowe.html
“There are some voices that speak (or sing) for
themselves. You know the ones. Voices where it
doesn’t matter what they sing. Voices where it
doesn’t really matter what instruments support
them. Solomon Burke has such a voice. Jeff Buckley
had it. Allison Crowe has it too...”
“The First Noel” - a favourite from the
traditional Christmas canon.
Late one afternoon, Allison Crowe took her place
at the piano and performed the songs of “Tidings”
live-off-the-floor – captured on film in real-time
by director/producer Alex Postowoi and his crew:
camera-persons Karen Duthie, Randy Rotheisler,
editor Shirley Claydon and interviewer Steven
Rosenberg. The audio’s recorded by Larry Anschell
at his Turtle Recording studios in White Rock, BC,
Canada.
Crowe's much-loved
versions of carols alongside tunes from the popular
songbook, by Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, The
Beatles and more, have been viewed and heard by
millions of people around the globe - every sex,
race, religion and creed+ without boundaries or
divisions.
It’s an historic session that nearly didn’t
happen.
On the way from Vancouver to the studio near
the Canada/US border, the large industrial van
carrying the musician, film crew, and the
lighting and camera gear broke down and had to
be abandoned on the median.
Once bodies and equipment had been
transferred into friends’ passenger vehicles,
including a Volvo sedan so weighted down its
undercarriage sparked as it grazed the tarmac,
all arrived at Turtle late in the day for what
had been booked for a morning call.
Engineer Anschell said had it been any
artist other than Allison Crowe he’d have
cancelled the session and looked to reschedule,
as there was not the time available to set-up
and film/record an album of song material.
Knowing Allison, though, “Turtle” let things
proceed – and, between sips of water and tea,
she performed each song in a single, first,
take. The full recording happened in the window
it takes to enjoy these videos.
Digging 50 years of Beatlemania in North America helps to
unearth a Canadian cultural treasure in Allison Crowe’s
home province on the Atlantic. The Beatles landing at New
York City’s JFK International in February 1964 was
emblematic of the new – the “jet set” – a revolution in air
travel that made it possible for jet planes to cross the
Atlantic in record times. In the era of propeller planes
and the refuelling stop-overs needed to make the trip
between Europe and the USA, the key North American terminal
– GIA - was located in Gander, Newfoundland.
Gander International’s VIP Lounge played host to Albert
Einstein, Marlene Dietrich, Fidel Castro, Frank Sinatra,
Winston Churchill and Jackie O., among countless others,
during those years GIA was popularly known as the
“Crossroads of the World”.
Then a thriving global hub, in 1959 a new terminal opened
and its construction and furniture featured creativity of
leading designers – including chairs by Charles and Ray
Eames -http://eamesoffice.com/charles-and-ray
, “Primasteel” seating by Robin Bush, and a six-foot mural
painted by Kenneth Lochhead -
http://www.kennethlochhead.com
The advent of jet travel, however, soon redirected the flow
of international air travel. With Gander facilities no
longer bustling, it’s uniquely preserved a “time capsule”
quality. Today, GIA is viewed as a marvel by art
historians, architects and design aficionados – ''It's
still one of the most beautiful, most important Modernist
rooms in the country, if not the most important,'' says
Alan C. Elder, Curator, Canadian Crafts and Design, at the
Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau,
Quebec. (Recently renamed, the Canadian Museum of
History is this nation’s most-visited museum).
Gander, and such nearby communities as Lewisporte,
Twillingate and more, earned international renown in 2001
as GIA became haven for dozens of international aircraft
grounded when airspace was shut-down in the wake of the
9/11 NYC attacks. The character of Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians opening their hearts and homes to thousands of
people – flight passengers and crew - during the crisis is
legend -
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/gander.asp#smvFTOCIkq43PMEj.99
“In
My Life” - Allison Crowe performing a “John song” was our first video
commemorating the 50th anniversary of Beatlemania in North America. With
her take on a “Paul song” – here’s Allison now with “Let It Be”, again
captured in real-time by film director Alex Postowoi and crew and audio
engineer Larry “Turtle” Anschell (and in higher fidelity than previously
available online).
The ‘Tidings’ album version of the song - http://music.allisoncrowe.com/track/let-it-be
- was recorded a year or two earlier, as was Allison’s version of “Let
It Be” that’s part of the NYC-produced “It Was 40 Years Ago Today”
tribute album – a compilation also featuring Dee Dee Ramone, Sylvain
Sylvain and other DIY, indie, alternative and punk rock musicians
(released on February 9, 2004).
Beatlemania Hits Fab 50: Allison Crowe Performs "In My Life"
“Beatlemania, as it is called, affects all social classes
and all levels of intelligence,” The New York Times
reported in December 1963.
We’ll hear all manner of takes on similar themes over the
coming month, with this February 7 marking
the 50th anniversary of The
Beatles landing at JFK International (New York City’s
Idlewild airport rechristened on December 24, ’63 in
tribute to the recently assassinated US President). The
group’s appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show –
broadcast over the three succeeding Sundays - electrified a
new continent.
Plenty came before, and
much has happened since, Pan Am Flight 101
delivered the Fab Four aboard a Boeing 707-331,
known as the Clipper “Defiance”, to a world ready
for joy and release.
Celebrating the musical
legacy of John, Paul, George and Ringo – here’s Allison
Crowe performing “In
My Life” – captured in real-time by film director
Alex Postowoi and crew and audio engineer Larry Anschell at
Turtle Recording studios by the sea in White Rock, BC,
Canada.
(This is an higher-fidelity video recording than has been
previously available!)
Here's a tune first delivered to the world by The Beatles and George Martin on the "Rubber Soul" LP. From the timeless songwriting team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it's a "John song". Allison Crowe sailed to sea and performed for Lennon family and friends come together with Scottish villagers and music-lovers from all across Europe, in Durness, Scottish Highlands. The Scotsman newspaper calls Allison a "Canadian angel" and her "In My Life" cover "one of the weekend's most magical moments". Here's a video version -
and a different performance from Allison on her "Tidings" album.
Allison Crowe Brings Tidings 2011 from St. John's to Victoria
It's coming on the season to celebrate with one of the great voices in popular music.
Expect plenty of rocking holiday cheer, laced with overtones of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles and more when Allison Crowe delivers "Tidings". The 2011 edition of Crowe's annual holiday favourite begins in St. John's, NL, the eastern terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway, and wraps in Victoria, BC, the western terminus.
The internationally-acclaimed musician, born on Vancouver Island, and home in Newfoundland for years now, stirs together traditional Christmas carols and holiday favourites with an organic blend of rock, jazz, folk, gospel and soul. "Be prepared to be amazed," chimes ChristmasReviews.com Longtime NPR broadcaster Ross Hocker calls Allison Crowe's show, "The most honest, heartfelt, and directly intimate concert in my entire life."
Italian radio calls Allison Crowe "Una voce incredibile per una forza della natura."
As a performing artist, Crowe is akin, in ways, to the late, great, Swedish power-house soprano, Birgit Nilsson, about whom it's said "No record or CD could quite prepare a listener for the real thing, live in the opera house".
Tidings is Allison Crowe's melding of the sacred and secular in "songs of the season" and spirit. Some of the music is familiar repertoire, delivered in singular style. Some is not like anything customarily heard in a holiday-time concert.
Tidings viscerally surveys a musical terrain of carols - It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, In the Bleak Midwinter, What Child Is This, First Noel, Silent Night, O Holy Night - performed with rare artistry and passion, and emotive arrangements, alongside the modern canon of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Lennon/McCartney+, and Allison Crowe's original songs, (including the just-composed "Arthur", and the epic "Disease"), that draw on themes of faith, hope, sorrow, joy, redemption, transcendence and more from life's well.
First staged in 2003, Tidings is an exciting experience shared by music-lovers around the world. This holiday season, Allison Crowe, with some very special musical guests, brings Tidings to:
St. John's, NL - D.F. Cook Recital Hall - November 25
Corner Brook, NL - First United Church - December 2
Nanaimo, BC - St. Andrew's United Church - December 10 - Featuring: Christopher Wood; Raymond Salgado; Kiana Smith; Kaleigh Hargrove; Taylor Manns; Emily Blake & Guests to aid The Mind's Eye + Woodlands SS Band and Basketball programs
Vancouver, BC - St. Jame's Hall - December 11 - Featuring guest artist: Juniper Watters
Campbell River, BC - St. Peter's Anglican Church - Dec. 15 - Featuring: The Campbell River Childrens Choir with Director Barbara Prowse to aid Campbell River Hospice Society & CR Food Bank
Victoria, BC - Fairfield United Church - Dec. 17 (NB a shift from original date of Dec. 9) - Featuring guest artists: Haley Walker; & Billie Woods to aid Artemis Place, (girls' educational and life-skills), and HepCBC
On Thursday, December 22, you can join Allison Crowe in her birth-place of Nanaimo, B.C. for the "Light Up a Life" Sing-along - part of the campaign for Haven Society organized by the Old City Quarter Merchants.
Full details of the "Tidings" concerts and sing-along will be posted @ allisoncrowe.com
"The sounds fumbling from 'Surfacing' played out as soundtrack to a large chunk of my teenage-hood," Allison Crowe tells UK music writer Stephen Thomas ('We Write Lists' blog). Naturally, then, Allison chose a song from that Sarah McLachlan album to close her "Tidings" collection. Here it is, "Angel", ethereal and real.
Mick Jagger was still looking for some tea and sympathy, & long before Keith Richards was a tropical pirate, "The Glimmer Twins" and co. in The Rolling Stones were in the south of France, recording an epic song collection, "Exile on Main Street". Here's Allison Crowe and her live-off-the-floor take on one of those tunes, "Shine a Light" (accompanied by Dave Baird, bass, and Kevin Clevette, drums).
We've heard a "Paul song" from "Tidings", here, now, is a "John song". Allison Crowe performs "In My Life". On the stage of the Village Hall, Durness, Scottish Highlands, Allison played this Beatles' favourite for John Lennon's sister, Julia, and other relatives, local villagers and musicians and music-lovers from across Europe come together to celebrate the "John Lennon Northern Lights Festival." We all shine on...
"Let It Be" is our next "Tidings" song - captured live-off-the-floor at Turtle studios in White Rock, Canada. There's another "Let It Be" performance, recorded in the same studio, and on YouTube. The Beatles songbook is rich for interpreters and this gospel-inflected tune by John Lennon and Paul McCartney is one which Allison Crowe loves to perform and have people sing along.
Next album to enjoy is "Tidings". To spur Spring, with the robins and the crocuses, we'll save "seasonal" songs for when we want the snow... And, so, we begin with "Hallelujah" - Allison Crowe's much-loved version of what's become Leonard Cohen's most-covered song. Allison's single/first-take performance is recorded live-off-the-floor at Larry Anschell's Turtle Recording studios, White Rock, British Columbia, Canada
Tidings Time for One of Today's Greats: Musician Allison Crowe
Allison Crowe’s recent concert tour of continental Europe again reveals her as one of the great popular musicians of the modern era. Playing for audiences in Germany, Holland, France, Austria and Italy, Crowe, possibly the world’s most independent recording artist, shares a joy of music and a personality that is wild as the wind.
Talent today can matter more than it has for decades and few, if any, performers in rock or pop music demonstrate that reality more abundantly than does the singer-songwriter whose Canadian home stretches from Nanaimo, British Columbia to Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada.
Along with releasing seven albums/CDs containing original song-writing of a singular range and quality, this century Allison Crowe has earned a reputation for her gorgeous voice, and unique ability to viscerally communicate emotion without sentimentality.
Crowe’s honest approach serves well, too, in making her, not only an uniquely exciting songwriter and live performer, combining voice, piano and guitar, but, at the same time, a peerless interpreter of a most varied songbook.
In the accompanying article, "Allison Crowe Shows Us What 'Sweet Dreams' Are Made Of…", writer Eric Garneau says of Crowe's bare take on the song: "She delivers a reading on this '80s mainstay at once beautifully melodious and ferociously in-your-face."
Allison Crowe being a rock musician - well, what was called rock in the '60s - she really enjoys, but doesn't replicate, the sounds of the original's pop sensibility. She strips things to their emotional core.
"Allison, whose covers include not only outstanding versions of Joni Mitchell’s 'River' and 'A Case of You,' Leonard Cohen’s 'Hallelujah,' 'The Beatles’ 'In My Life' and 'Let It Be,' Lennon’s 'Imagine,' and Cyndi Lauper’s 'Time After Time,' but also the most provocative and seductive (forgive me, Aretha) take I’ve heard on Ronnie Shannon’s 'I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You).' And, I stand by my conviction that Allison Crowe is the best thing to happen to 'Me And Bobby McGee' since Janis Joplin changed Kristofferson’s lyrics."
It’s been only a few months since “Cover Me” first shared its discovery of Allison Crowe’s interpretations, including her version of “Hallelujah”. In the years since Crowe recorded the song for her “Tidings” CD, it’s been covered by more than 200 acts – from cult-type faves in various genres, such as Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, and folkie Kathryn Williams, to mainstream crooners kd lang, Susan Boyle, Justin Timberlake w. Matt Morris, and more. It’s been adopted by Simon Cowell and the Idol/X Factor/Got Talent et al franchises.
The remarkable harvest of “Hallelujah” recordings, and the Olympian marketing exercises that attend some releases of the song, add to the stature of Crowe’s single/first take interpretation. Says music journalist Padgett: “The songwriter’s pure tones sound like a bell, no show-off acrobatics necessary. The amazing thing isn’t just that she performs the best version of Leonard Cohen’s oft-covered ‘Hallelujah’ (sorry Jeff); the amazing thing is that she does so using the same solo piano style that everyone else does. There’s nothing particularly creative about it; her voice is just that good! So throw all those other ‘sensitive’ covers. This one’s the keeper.”
It’s coming on Christmas, and for Allison Crowe, this means a “Tidings” concert tour. It’s time to stir together traditional Christmas carols and holiday favourites with an organic blend of rock, jazz, folk, gospel and soul. "Be prepared to be amazed," chimes ChristmasReviews.com "Music for the season and all time."
Allison Crowe’s Canadian Tidings Concert 2010 Tour dates:
Nov. 25 - Campbell River, BC: St. Peter’s Anglican Church – w. the Campbell River Children’s Choir – to aid CR Food Bank & the Hospice Society Nov. 27 – Gibsons, BC: Heritage Playhouse Theatre – w. Ellisa Hartman Dec. 3 – Ladysmith, BC: Ladysmith First United Church – w. Lena Birtwistle Dec. 4 – Victoria, BC: Fairfield United Church – w. Bob Benvenuti – to aid Artemis Place & HepCBC Dec. 10 - Gabriola Island, BC: The Haven Dec. 11 – Nanaimo, BC: St. Andrew’s United Church – w. Hayley Read, Kiana Smith, Mathew Walker, Taylor Manns, Brynn Newman, Chelsea Peckett, Emily Blake, Kevin Patton & “Maestro” Rick Becker – to aid The Mind’s Eye & Woodlands SS Band & Basketball programs Dec. 17 – Corner Brook, NL: Corner Brook First United Church
Cover Me, the covers blog penned New York-based music writer, Ray Padgett, (SPIN, Consequence of Sound, Mashable and others) features In the Spotlight: Allison Crowe
"There are some voices that speak (or sing) for themselves. You know the ones. Voices where it doesn’t matter what they sing. Voices where it doesn’t really matter what instruments support them. Solomon Burke has such a voice. Jeff Buckley had it. Allison Crowe has it too."
So begins a posting which well showcases a cross-section of Allison's cover work - Rolling Stones, Cyndi Lauper, Pearl Jam, The Beatles and, says Padgett, "the best version of Leonard Cohen’s oft-covered 'Hallelujah' ".
Check out Cover Me for this Allison installment, and, for lots more on the art and fun of interpretation.
It may not have the same cultural resonance, certainly, it's not as tuneful, as the recent release of The Beatles remastered, still, I took a few moments to fondly reminisce when a friend mentioned yesterday that Semion Mogilevich was in the news.
Prior to my return to music, I'd been an investigator and white collar crime-buster. My final expose was a billion-dollar stock scam, YBM Magnex, with shares listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and an operational base in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
I recounted this case, and Mogilevich's key role, in a post on the earlier blog of mine - Born Every Minute.
(When making the shift from forensic investigation into music management, in '98/'99, at first I wondered, what good would I find my specialized background - understanding criminals and sociopaths in suits - when nagivating today's record industry? It didn't take too long to discover the answer to that...)
The ever resourceful YouTube hosts a BBC Panorama documentary on "The Billion Dollar Don". (You can even see myself in Episode 3 - having a really bad hair day.)
The latest chapter in this story is all over the web - this CNN item hitting most of the key notes:
FBI: Mobster 'more powerful than a John Gotti'
CNN Story Highlights
•Semion Mogilevich accused of taking U.S., Canadian investors for $150 million
•FBI believes he moved on to manipulating international energy markets
•FBI: Mogilevich's business degree, large influence on nations make him dangerous
•Alleged Russian mobster known for his ruthlessness, power, business acumen
From Jeanne Meserve CNN October 22, 2009
NEWTOWN, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Semion Mogilevich may be the most powerful man you've never heard of.
The FBI says Mogilevich, a Russian mobster, has been involved in arms trafficking, prostitution, extortion and murder for hire.
"He has access to so much, including funding, including other criminal organizations, that he can, with a telephone call and order, affect the global economy," said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Peter Kowenhoven.
Mogilevich's alleged brutality, financial savvy and international influence have earned him a slot on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, though he has lived and operated from Moscow, Russia, for years. Watch CNN report on Mogilevich »
"He's a big man. He's a very powerful man," FBI Special Agent Mike Dixon said. "I think more powerful than a John Gotti would be, because he has the ability to influence nations. Gotti never reached that stature."
He is accused of swindling Canadian and U.S. investors out of $150 million in a complex international financial scheme. It centered on a firm called YBM, which purportedly made magnets at a factory in Hungary.
Authorities say the scheme involved preparing bogus financial books and records, lying to Securities and Exchange Commission officials, offering bribes to accountants and inflating stock values of YBM, which was headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
But there was one thing missing.
"There were no magnets," Dixon said.
It was all a sham, investigators say.
"In essence, what his companies were doing was moving money through bank accounts in Budapest and countries throughout the world and reporting these to the investment community as purchases of raw materials and sales of magnets," Dixon said.
And because the company was publicly traded, anyone owning the stock would have made a lot of money.
"And of course Mogilevich controlled large, large blocks of stock from the outset, and he made a substantial amount of money in this process," Dixon said.
Investors lost millions into the pockets of Mogilevich and his associates. He and his associates were indicted in 2003 on 45 counts of racketeering, securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.
Russian authorities arrested him last year on tax fraud charges, but because the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, he remained beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. He is now free on bail.
The FBI believes Mogilevich moved on after YBM and began manipulating international energy markets, giving him a large influence on other nations.
Dixon noted that Mogilevich had control or influence over companies involved in natural gas disputes between Russia and Ukraine.
Authorities say Mogilevich, who has an economics degree from Ukraine, is known for his ruthless nature but also for his business acumen, which led to his nickname "the Brainy Don."
"He has a very sophisticated, well-educated, loyal group of associates that he works with," Dixon said. "He hires top-notch consultants, attorneys, risk management firms to assist him and protect him in his criminal ventures."
Louise Shelley, an organized crime expert from George Mason University, says Mogilevich is a new kind of criminal.
"The major criminal organizations in Russia have not only tapped into people with economics degrees," Shelley said. "They've tapped into people with PHDs in finance and statistics who assist them."
The FBI hopes Mogilevich will eventually travel to a country that has an extradition treaty with the U.S.
But, in case he doesn't, his wanted poster will be distributed all over Russia.
