Good afternoon Matt Bianco aficionados,
a tired but happy Dirk here, just back from a lightening trip to Switzerland to see the Marks with the lads (and Hazel) live at the Lugano Jazz Festival. This gig was in the centre of Mendrisio, a small town around the corner from Lugano. A beautiful summer evening (that started with the threat of thunderstorms), the plaza was filled to the hilt with friendly, peaceful punters having a lovely time. Opening was Stanley Jordan who did some amazing things with his guitar, and around 22:00 MB came on. Still jetlagged from their flight from Tokyo, they nevertheless were in good form, radiating good vibes.
I have seen MB now 7 times, and I have to say that this was my favourite gig ever: the new material worked well, the vocal harmonies were spot on, the set list was nice and varied (albums featured: ‘Hifi Bossanova’, ‘Matt Bianco’,'Indigo’, ‘Gran Via’, ‘Whose side are you on’ and ‘World go round’) and the vibe emanating from the stage was excellent. This band (with the usual suspects including M+M, Hazel, Weston, Nick, Alex, Sinon, Andy and Tony) is now really in sync with each other and they really should be able to conquer the world.
Lovely evening, also thanks to Adam from the MB mailing list who kept me company during the James Taylor Quartet gig.
Oh, and the dancing brass section is a revelation.
D
Hello from Switzerland.
While trying desperately to avoid the likely rain, I will be twittering from my crummy reserve mobile and keep you informed how the gig is going.
Tune your twitters to Tortellinipanda and I’ll do my best to keep you informed.
Dirk
The following shows are now confirmed: -
07.06.09 Amsterdam iJazz Festival See the festival website here
20.06.09 Billboard - Osaka, Japan Osaka Billboard website
22.06.09 Billboard - Fukuoka, Japan Fukuoka Billboard website
23, 24 & 25.06.09 Billboard - Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Billboard website
27.06.09 Lugano Jazz Festival - Lugano, Switzerland Lugano Jazz Festival
28.06.09 Simmerdeis Festival - Drachten, The Netherlands Simmerdeis Festival
Simon reminds us that the Japanese HMV site now has extracts of the new album. Enjoy:
http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/product/detail/3563129
The new album by Mark and Mark is now available for preorder as an Import from Amazon.com
in the U.S. and ( a little bit later) in a U.K. version from Asda and Amazon.co.uk
Jazzuality has a great collection of pictures and sound bites from Mark and Mark’s press conference at JJF 2009.
Dirk
‘Hifi Bossanova’ will be released on May 20 in Japan, followed by a release in Europe.
Hi,
there are already some pictures and videos from Matt Bianco’s gig at the Java Jazz Festival on Flickr and Youtube.
Check out Alfonso Tambunan’s excellent photostream from the concert here. Talented guy.
Here is a reasonable quality audience video shot during ‘Half a minute’. Hazel in good form!
Keep them coming!
Dirk
