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on video in 2012. Although singer Roger Hodgson has been quoted as saying that no recorded version of“ Give a Little Bit” was up to band standards for inclusion on Paris, it’ s included here. Multi-instrumentalist John Helliwell cuts loose on saxophone during the bluesy“ Ain’ t Nobody But Me,” trading space with Rick Davies’ pleading vocal from the piano. After the audience is welcomed in their native tongue, Hodgson leads the band through a soon-to-be classic.“ I’ ll tell you, something about Paris makes me feel very … logical,” says Helliwell before Hodgson begins a caffeinated version of the then-new single“ The Logical Song.” Hodgson hits the song’ s stratospheric high notes accompanied by harmony and instrumental counterpoint from Davies.“ From Now On” climaxes as Davies and Hodgson trade lines with Helliwell’ s saxophone. It’ s interesting to return to a time when a string of songs from Breakfast in America would be the unfamiliar singles performed at the beginning of a Supertramp set. Helliwell addresses the audience in his best French, describing his breakfast of a mushroom and cheese omelet. He switches to English for the punchline, saying that his petit dejeuner was“ very, very good indeed, but not as good as breakfast in America.” The band then launches into the new album’ s title track punctuated by Helliwell’ s clarinet. Paris andLive in Paris’ 79 were recorded during the same run of shows. Paris itself drew largely from the initial show on November 29, while Live in Paris’ 79 presents the full show from the third show on December 1. The new release ostensibly omits the overdubbing that sweetened Paris and carried it to # 8 on the Billboard charts. As such, Live in Paris’ 79 may be the purer representation of the band in its concert heyday. As expected of a band that performed more than 100 shows on the tour at the time, the band is dialed in, and the rhythm section of drummer Bob Siebenberg and bassist Dougie Thomson are tightly locked. Breakfast in America was the world’ s biggest-selling album in 1979 and a 10-month tour that year reflected that success. In addition to introducing five songs from Breakfast in America to the Parisian audience, the album includes all but one song from the 1974 breakthrough album Crime of the Century. Standout album cuts include“ Bloody Well Right.” The crowd has some trouble clapping with the uptempo electric piano pulse of melodic pop charmer“ Dreamer,” but they make up for it in enthusiasm.
The full-concert listening experience is a treat for dedicated Supertramp fans, but casual listeners may grow restless by the time the band is plowing through“ Asylum.” The non-diehards will revive when hearing“ Take the Long Way Home” when it appears late in the two-hour setlist. The song was the band’ s current
radio single in late 1979. Here, it precedes closing tracks“ Another Man’ s Woman” and the warmly received 10-minute highlight from Even in the Quietest Moments“ Fool’ s Overture.” The very British setcloser begins with a resolute wartime quotation from Winston Churchill and the tolling of Big Ben. After the encore winds through“ Two of Us” from Crisis? What Crisis? and a dramatic instrumental workout during the title track to Crime of the Century; the concert ends with the same ghostly wail of harmonica that began the evening two hours earlier.
– Jeff Elbel
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RIC HORDINSKI Flesh & Ghost
( Ether)
Ric Hordinski is deservedly regarded as an essential figure in the rich musical environment around Cincinnati, Ohio. Those from drearier, faraway lands who know the guitarist probably encountered him as the inventive young player in the original formation of Over the Rhine, or perhaps from his collection of albums under the Monk banner, or work alongside David Wilcox or six-string maestro Phil Keaggy. Hordinski has nurtured his musical estate steadily without releasing a solo album since 2013’ s Arthur’ s Garden. Flesh & Ghost picks up the thread with a crafty collection of heady folk-pop-rock with a spiritual seeker’ s mindset, placing intimate instrumentals like the drifting Eno-esque ambiance of“ Eat Your Monsters” alongside the jagged Taoism of“ A Weapon is an Unhappy Tool”( with Elsa Kennedy’ s biting vocal).“ How Much is Enough” smuggles another beneficent truth about simplicity within a stirring blues-rock tango. Hordinski sings the
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14 illinoisentertainer. com april 2025