Anderson brings world of music to Erie

By ROBERT LEBZELTER

Special Sections Editor

bobleb@starbeacon.com

Star Beacon HEAT entertainment section, Nov. 5, 2004

Ian Anderson has played between bombs going off, literally.

The front man for Jethro Tull since 1968 has performed in many of the world’s hot spots.

As an ambassador for music, he knows firsthand how the world has changed since the days of Sept. 11, 2001.

Sunday night, Anderson will bring his band to the Erie Civic Center (Warner Theater) for an eclectic evening of acoustic, followed by more traditional, rock music.

Monday morning, while sitting in a Des Moines, Iowa, hotel, waiting for the first leg of that concert series to start, Anderson was eager to talk about music, the world situation and how they come together.

“I take great delight in playing for Muslims one day, Jews another, then one day Christians. We bring something people can enjoy,” he said.

But it isn’t without risk. One day after a concert in Israel, there was a bomb blast near where they were performing.

“There’s a level of risk we are willing to take to be troubadours for music,” Anderson said.

“We’ve been there literally between the bombs. Of course I’m nervous. Of course, I’m growing eyes in the back of my head. But we are bringing people together, disarming them with music. I wish more American bands would go out and play those areas. Only Jethro Tull and a few others do.”

Anderson says of the new American tour: “There will be a few songs that will be strange to a number of the audience. A few we have never played live. We try to do a little where we go back and drag some gems out of the closet and see how audiences react.”

The plan to start with an acoustic set comes from Anderson’s solo tours.

“The other guys in Jethro Tull don’t usually play a consecutive acoustic set. I’m interested in seeing how they react tonight (Monday) in Des Moines.”

After the simple acoustic set, the road crew has a chance to set up for the more traditional second half of the event.

The sets also will include “tried and tested” regulars, like “Aqualung,” “Thick as a Brick,” “Locomotive Breath” and “Bungle in the Jungle.”

It’s not too early for a few tracks from last year’s “Jethro Tull Christmas Album,” which Anderson admits drawing from, even during summer.

Besides the tour, Tull fans have more to look forward to. Anderson says “The Isle of Wight” DVD video will be released this month, chronicling that 1970 concert. It is complete with Anderson commentary.

Released a few weeks ago was the landmark “Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus” DVD, which features a very early performance by Jethro Tull, with Anderson the only remaining original member. He does a commentary on this DVD, as well. The band performed “A Song for Jeffrey.”

“It was an odd proposition,” Anderson recalls of the December 1968 project, which originally was supposed to be a TV special. It includes Tull, The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithful, John Lennon, Eric Clapton and, of course, the Rolling Stones.

“It was the brainchild of Mick Jagger; that’s for sure. The Rolling Stones had enjoyed a lengthy sabbatical of rock and roll excess,” Anderson said, noting “Brian Jones was worse for the wear.”

It was Jones’ last appearance with the band he founded. He left the Stones in June 1969 and died under mysterious circumstances in his swimming pool the following month.

“Mick Jagger was the prime mover. He wanted to get together a peer group like John Lennon, Eric Clapton into a vaudevillian-like event. It was a little strange, but it didn’t feel contrived. I think the rest of the Stones were a bit embarrassed. It felt a bit raggy.”

From there, Tull struck out on a tour, and that brought them their first taste of fame.

Anderson said he believes it was then-Stones bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, whom he calls the friendly members of the band, who recommended Tull to play the circus.

As for looking back on “The Isle of Wight,” Anderson said: “It was just before ‘Aqualung.’ It was quite good fun. The tempo was a little too fast; playing was a little quick like we were possessed. But we were possessed by good spirits.”

Unlike fellow “Circus” performer Faithful, Anderson doesn’t lament the passage of time. Faithful, apparently upset over recent record sales, says she soon may retire. Anderson calls her a “simple soul” who is not a “powerful singer.”

He said he hopes to continue until deterred by age. After that, he says he won’t retire.

“I will be looking for another job: writing prose, visual prose — take up painting.”

Anderson says many of England’s great musicians, be they Lennon and McCartney or Clapton, started in art school.

“My guess is there are a lot of musicians born every day who grow up to step out of art classes to pick up a guitar.”

Of course, the guitar isn’t what Anderson is best known for.

“I picked up the flute because there was fair assurance Eric Clapton or John Lennon could not play flute,” he said. “I was a third-rate guitar player who wanted to find an instrument where I could be a big fish in a small pond.”

Now, 36 years later, his band is far from “Living in the Past.”

• WHO: Jethro Tull

• WHEN: Tranahan Theater, Toledo, 8 p.m. today and Erie Civic Center (Warner Theater), 811 State St., downtown Erie, Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

• TICKET PRICES: $37.50 to $43.50

• Go to ticketmaster.com

Between Sinatra and the Stones

Here is my interview with Michael Davis, trombonist for the Rolling Stones, promoting his visit to Cleveland. It ran Dec. 3, 1999.

Trombonist Michael Davis gets satisfaction from solo CD

By ROBERT LEBZELTER
Special Sections Editor
You can't say Michael Davis doesn't have a diverse musical life.
A few years ago he was playing with the late, great Frank Sinatra.
Then in 1994 he hooked up with none other than the Rolling Stones for the first of three tours with Mick and the boys.
Don't forget gigs with the likes of Paul Simon, Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Harry Connick Jr., Liza Minelli, Frank Sinatra Jr., Sheryl Crow, Sting, Sarah Vaughan, Aerosmith, Buddy Rich and, well, you get the idea.
With the Stones touring ending this past summer, Davis has his own band, his own CD, Bonetown, his own tour. It stops tonight at 10 at the Cleveland Bop Shop at 1216 W. 6th St. There will be two shows, with tickets at $8. And his CD is available at larger stores or through Cdnow.
He's also hosting a workshop at the Cleveland Institute of Music for aspiring high school and college trombonists this afternoon.
"We will be covering basic brass fundamentals, jazz, things like that," he said during a recent phone interview while on the road.
"I'll talk about being a professional musician and how to get started, play a few pieces, go in any directions the kids want to talk," he said.
Davis started playing on the piano, then drums, base and tuba before finding his niche with the trombone.
Indeed, Davis didn't wake up one day playing for the likes of the Stones and Sinatra. He was a bando in high school, performing at halftime attractions for his now defunct Santa Clara, Calif., alma mater.
Stones drummer Charlie Watts says "it is essential to have Michael Davis around."
Watts himself has a jazz band he plays with when the Stones are on break. Davis says his music is a bit different than Watts'.
"Music I write relates to people like Pat Metheny and the Yellow Jackets. We do some swing stuff. It's not exactly stuff like Charlie Watts, although I like what Charlie does."
While not the Stones, Davis says his band is worth seeing.
"We have a terrific band, with Bill Reichenbach of New York and a rhythm section that kicks butt," Davis said with pride.
The latest tour started Nov. 12 in Chicago and ends Jan. 30 in Vancouver. Not exactly the two-year stints he had with the Stones.
These days he's playing small joints. Not the same as his most recent Cleveland visit, April 1 at the Gund with the Stones.
If Davis looks like he has fun on stage with the Stones, it's because he does. "It's been fantastic," he says of life with the Stones. "They are the greatest guys to work for. They treat you like a million bucks."
When the Stones recorded their "Voodoo Lounge" CD in 1994 and decided to tour, they needed a trombonist for their horn section. Davis was playing with Paul Simon when a friend told him about auditions with the Stones.
"I did a couple of auditions and got the gig. I really didn't know the Stones work that well. I knew their really big hits, of course. I had to do some quick homework. I had a couple of Stones-intensive days," Davis said in preparation.
When "Voodoo Lounge" was over, he was called again two years later for "Bridges to Babylon" and continued with the band's "No Security" tour.
And yes, Davis finds the Stones a dream job.
"We rehearse a lot before a leg of a tour, like North America. Maybe a week or two weeks. That's pretty much it," he said.
The Stones have a hug catalog of material and know it all, Davis said. And on the road, the band assures sound checks and other necessities are kept mercifully short. "They save their energy for the show," he said.
"They are really great at mixing up their shows. Always changing. They really have freshness in the way they play, the way it comes out. They never get tired."
He's heard the jokes about guitarist Keith Richards, a former drug addict, whose life can be read on his face. But he says, "Keith is as strong as they come. He has a good constitution. I wouldn't want to tangle with him."
He also gives similar kudos to the other Stones, including Mick Jagger's lean physique for a man in his 50s and Ronnie Wood's talent on various instruments, as well as his painting.
And while there's differences between playing with Sinatra and the Stones, there are similarities as well.
"These are guys at the highest level of their craft, it's just a different kind of music, a different personal style from two different generations."
Rubbing elbows with the rich and famous have their funny sides too. He and other members of the backup band, plus Stones accountants and other crew members, often reserve time on local golf courses while on tour. The Stones themselves don't golf.
The result is lots of people showing up to get a glimpse of Jagger and company on the links.
"They'd ask if Mick is coming later," Davis said.
Perhaps the most famous of the Stones' backup crew is saxophonist Bobby Keyes. "He is hysterical, a great guy, very lovable. He has a million really funny Texas sayings, "Davis said. 
There's a big difference jetting all over the world with the Stones and having his own band. 
"It's as different as different can be. Being on one's own playing your own music can be wonderfully satisfying. It's really the essence of being a musician. But it's much, much more work. I have to deal with clubs, schools, rental cars, hotels. Working with the Rolling Stones is a primo organization. All your needs are handled, private planes and all."
Each musician and band he's worked with is different. "Nothing is as long lasting and intimate as the Stones. They are very interesting and most of the time, a lot of fun."
Which brings up the question, will the Stones, who started back in 1963, tour in the new millennium?
Davis has heard the rumors the band may be out in force again in 2001. In fact, Thursday night while in Toronto, he was supposed to hook up with Stones promoter Michael Cohl and hoped to hear more about a tour then.
Would he drop everything for the opportunity to play "Brown Sugar" and "Jumpin Jack Flash" again?
"I would welcome any opportunity to play with those guys," he said.