31/01/2012

James On Letterman

James was the musical guest on "The Late Show With David Letterman" on CBS,yesterday,where he performed a fantastic version of his song "Angel" from the "Complete Collection" CD,he was really well received by the audiance,having watched him in previous stage appearences he seemed more relaxed and confident,still a bit shy but definitly happier.Good for him.
Earlier James arrived to the Ed Sulivan Theater,smiling and waiving to waiting fans,he looked great in a grey suit and a white shirt,and he happily signed autographs.
Here are a few photos and a video of the performance,Enjoy!

29/01/2012

New Poll:What Is You Favorite Song By James McCartney?

It has been a while since I did a poll,in this blog,so I'm starting a new one about James' music.You have 10 days to vote,starting ...now!
So what do you think?

28/01/2012

James At The Viper Room

James performed yesterday at the Viper Room ,in LA yesterday ,with a star studed audiance,as Ringo,Barbara and Joe Walsh were in attendance,
James looked handsome and classy,in a black suit and tie,and fans waiting for him to arrive were shocked to see him emerging from the same car with Ringo and Barbara.
According to several reports the venue was packed.,
You can read a full report here

Here is the setlist:
1. New York Times

2. I Only Want to be Alone

3. My Friend

4. The Sound of My Voice

5. Fallen Angel

6. Spirit Guides

7. Wings of a Lighest Weight

8. Moonstar

9. Old Man

10. Angel

For those of you who didn't make it out to the show,James and Band will perfom on David Letterman on Monday, January 30.

27/01/2012

Paul McCartney, Kisses on the Bottom, CD review

Paul McCartney abandons the guitar and pays homage to the music of his youth.

John Lennon famously disdained Paul McCartney’s music hall tendencies as “nice little folk songs for the grannies to dig”. But the Beatles’ appeal owed as much to solid roots in Tin Pan Alley tunemanship as rock bite and experimentalism, lessons in classic song structure embedded in them from their parent’s generation.

For his 35th post-Beatles album (counting Wings, classical, soundtrack and electronic works), McCartney pays homage to songs he first heard his father play on the family piano. The mood is of warm and cosy nostalgia, laced with the qualities of magic and emotion familiar from McCartney’s own works of whimsy. He loves this material, and it shows.

The apparently risqué title is cheekily lifted from the opening track, the Fats Waller classic I’m Going To Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter, rolled out as a loose, light jazz flight with a rippling piano solo from Diana Krall. Surrounding himself with a band of stellar jazz players, for the first time in his career the multi-instrumentalist opts only for the role of vocalist.

We rarely think of McCartney as a singer, because he is obviously so much more. The focus on interpretation exposes the ageing in his voice as it thins out in his high register but he performs with delicacy and nuance: understated, acoustic-flavoured arrangements allow him the space to sing with soft precision. The lower register of Irving Berlin’s Always suits him, and he delivers this dedication to a long-awaited love with the smoky conviction of a besotted and bedazzled old roué. When he sighs “my heart is forever yearning,” on Home (When Shadows Fall) it is impossible not to believe him.

For all the playfulness of songs like the gently swinging Its Only A Paper Moon, McCartney never tips over towards archness or pastiche.

The greatest compliment you can pay McCartney’s two originals is that it is impossible to pick them out as contemporary songs amongst the standards.

Only Our Hearts may be unremarkable but for a trademark Stevie Wonder harmonica solo but My Valentine has the ring of a classic, with a gorgeous descending cadence and perfectly pitched romantic sentiment, gilded with a light fingered acoustic solo from Eric Clapton.

Unlike Rod Stewart and other ageing pop idols who have refashioned themselves as retro-crooners, McCartney has no imperative to build a new career covering old songs and the album is all the better for it. It sounds like a romantic gift to his new wife and a sentimental salute to his own childhood – a minor gem from a major talent. I suspect grannies won’t be alone in cherishing it.

From The Daily Telegraph

26/01/2012

James McCartney Performs on Good Day LA

James McCartney Performs on GDLA: MyFoxLA.com

Natural Beauty

A Beautiful Person

The Newly Weds

With A Fan

Taking A Walk

Having Fun In The Park

Sun Burn

Dinner

Yeah Linda

Fixing A Hole Where The Rain Came In

Umbrella

25/01/2012

Nancy Shevell resigns from MTA Board

From The Wall Street Journal

MTA Board Loses Its Star Power

Nancy Shevell — or Lady McCartney, as one colleague called her — announced her resignation during Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.

Colleagues praised Shevell’s 11 years of service on the board. An executive with her family’s trucking firm, she was appointed in 2001 by then-Gov. George Pataki. Her term officially ended in 2010, but she remained on the board as a holdover.

Shevell’s public profile rose dramatically when she married Paul McCartney last year.

In the media reports about their relationship, the former Beatle was “accurately described as the greatest living performer in the world,” board member Mark D. Lebow noted during the meeting. Shevell, he said, was listed simply as “an MTA board member.”

As her profile grew, Lebow said that ”a little bit of your stardust sort of fell off on us.”

“I am so very emotional and sad right now,” Shevell said. She offered praise for MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota, who headed his first meeting of the board Tuesday, and encouragement to her colleagues for the “massive challenges ahead of you.”

Lhota also announced the departure of Pat Foye, who resigned his seat on the board after his appointment to lead the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

MTA,

NYNews,

Transit