05-July-07 Toronto Concert Review

Toronto Sun:
Music legend delivers powerful performance for his legions of fans at the Hummingbird Centre

While he's been known to be erratic at times, the near-capacity crowd at the Hummingbird Centre last night saw the best of Van Morrison.

The singer, who will turn 62 next month, delivered a strong 19-song, 100-minute set that melded country, blues, jazz and a whole lot of soul emanating from his powerful, booming pipes.

Backed by a 10-piece band, who started the show with Train Kept A Rollin', Van Morrison sauntered onstage playing harmonica to Talk Is Cheap. The creepy, Delta blues-inspired tune got things off on the right foot as the crowd immediately got into the tune.

From there, Van Morrison donned a saxophone for the swinging, jazzy All Work And No Play. The musician also showed some of his conducting skills by gently giving cues and directions to his guitarists, drummer and piano player.

"Thank you!" he said prior to the slow, country-oriented Magic Time that came complete with pedal steel accentuating the tune. But while the singer doled out some brief sax solos, it was his timeless voice which all paid a rather handsome price to hear.

With a catalogue that is as rich and varied as his, and given the fact that a Van Morrison set isn't exactly a greatest hits-by-numbers affair, there were certain standouts absent on this night, including Domino, Brown Eyed Girl and Moondance. Yet he was more than able to carry the show on the backs of songs like the warm, island flavored Raincheck and Cleaning Windows, the latter featuring a snippet of Gene Vincent's Be Bop A Lula.

Perhaps one of the odder moments of the evening was a reworked version of Have I Told You Lately that seemed to lean more towards a lounge version than the Celtic-tinged ballad it was originally known for.


Van Morrison made up for this slight shortcoming though with powerful, hair-raising Georgia On My Mind which earned a standing ovation.

Another highlight was Bright Side Of The Road which featured some banjo and fiddle. It was also a good example of how Van Morrison is rather generous with his band. While not going with a setlist and basically calling out songs the way a football quarterback would call out plays, he definitely gives his musicians solos to show their wares.

Known to say very little throughout a show, Van Morrison announced that Blue And Green was from his new compilation The Best Of Van Morrison Volume 3. The tune had him scatting, taking the song down before building it back up and ending on a sax solo which tested his wind. "I didn't know I'd have to do 30 years of pilates for that," he quipped afterwards.

The homestretch featured more material that wouldn't be recognized by casual fans but definitely delivered the goods, including the New Orleans dirge-ish Saint James Infirmary that featured Van Morrison playing sax while one of his band played trumpet.

Other jewels nearing the end of the night included Playhouse, Precious Time and the rowdy Gloria. To a standing ovation, Van Morrison left the same way he came in with harmonica in hand to cap off a great night.

Sun Rating: 4 out of 5
-JASON MACNEIL

Setlist:

Train Kept a Rollin' (Ned)
Talk Is Cheap
All Work and No Play
Magic Time
Enlightenment
Cleaning Windows
Raincheck>River of Time
Stranded
Have I Told You Lately
Georgia
Bright Side of the Road
Blue and Green
Ain't That Lovin' You Baby
St James Infirmary
Playhouse
Precious Time
Help Me
And The Healing Has Begun
Gloria

04-July-07 Ottawa Concert Review

The Ottawa Citizen:
Blues legend lets music do the talking

Van Morrison showed little of his curmudgeonly streak as he breezed through a crowd-pleasing set on opening night of the Ottawa Bluesfest. It was a glorious christening for the spacious new site on the grounds of the Canadian War Museum at LeBreton Flats.

The audience spanned acres, from the hordes of lawnchairs packed tightly together in front of the sound board, all the way back to open grassy patches where hippie moms danced with their children.

Though he said few words to the audience and kept his eyes closed through most of his performance, which are often two signs of a shy performer, Morrison expressed himself through his music, the song selection letting us know he was pleased to be back in the nation's capital after something like 40 years.

His last concert here was a coffeehouse gig at Le Hibou in the 1960s.

But evidently he wasn't thrilled enough to play an encore. The concert ended, like clockwork, at 9 p.m., exactly 90 minutes after it started. There was a brief lull before the hypnotic strains of Morrison's final song, Gloria, were blasted out of our brains by the screaming guitar of Elmer Ferrer's opener, a full-throttle cover of Immigrant Song.

On the Rogers stage across the plaza, the Cuban guitarslinger was set up and ready to go moments after Morrison departed.

The Belfast Cowboy attracted a record crowd, estimated at 35,000, to the festival. On stage with him was a top-notch showband that included a full contingent of backing vocalists, as well as musicians on trumpet, organ, violin, banjo and pedal steel, along with the usual bass, drums and guitar.

While their individual contributions bolstered the songs, their strength as a band contributed a large part to the quality of the concert.

Morrison might have seemed a little one-dimensional if not for the talent and diversity of his band members' playing.

There was a sense of relief to realize that Morrison was aiming to please, musically.

His song selection offered plenty of familiar material to groove along to, and one of his most popular songs, Moondance, made a great icebreaker early in the set.

Not all of it was his, as Morrison also likes to tackle classic material, injecting plenty of blues into Baby Please Don't Go. A vintage vibe permeated last night's performance, which started with a loose, unhurried meander through Talk Is Cheap.


In a grey suit that lent an air of dignity to his pudgy frame, his face was all but hidden under oversize glasses and the brim of a straw fedora.

The soulful brass and earthy organ brightened up All Work No Play, while a summery banjo added colour to Bright Side of the Road.

Morrison also included the lightly funky Cleaning Windows, the heavenly Into The Mystic, and big bold Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile), and his tongue-in-cheek anti-drinking chant, Stop Drinking (it is worth noting Morrison was sipping water on stage).

At one point, as Morrison settled into a shimmering Days Like This, the tightly packed crowd immediately behind the sound tent became restless. It was still early in the concert, and they could hear everything, but couldn't see a thing and couldn't get any closer. To their delight, someone convinced the powers that be to tear down the tent's removeable walls.

Had Morrison happened to glance that far out in the crowd, he would have seen a few hundred more faces beaming at the view that was suddenly revealed to them.
-Lynn Saxberg

Canoe:
Bluesfest kicked off the 14th annual festival of outdoor musical mayhem with Irish soulman Van Morrison last night, and 35,000 fans packed the new LeBreton Flats venue to hear the legend at work.

The last time the Belfast Cowboy was in Ottawa was 1969, when he played Le Hibou in the Market.

Nearly four decades later, little has changed about Morrison. Both he and his amazing repertoire of blue-eyed soul have grown.

Accompanied by a 10-piece band and wearing his elegantly funky straw fedora, the 61-year-old opened his date with destiny with the wry Talk Is Cheap, with Morrison himself blowing harmonica off bouncy Hammond organ.

Not surprisingly, the notoriously private star didn't say a word for the first hour, but kept the show rolling one song after another with All Work, No Play and a Tower of Power version of Moondance with brass horns giving it even more of a Motown feel.

Morrison methodically built a seductive setlist, with a superb flow of songs that had an almost narcotic effect on the fans who were crowded like sardines in front of the huge MBNA stage.

With one of the most incomprehensibly delicious voices in all music -- one that was once described as a tenor saxophone jammed down Morrison's throat -- the seemingly ageless crooner showed why he's been wowing crowds across Canada on his current tour.

At times, you could hear his singing penetrate inside the Canadian War Museum. His voice is an instrument that seems only to have improved and mellowed with 40 years of use.

Happily, he stayed in a funkadelic soulful groove with an irresistibly bouncy boogie-woogie playing of Cleaning Windows Bopping before Days Like This, with the legend himself on sax and backup singers reminding him there would be days like this, a snappy version of Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, Brown Eyed Girl and an inspired and raunchy version of Gloria.

If crowds this large keep filing in, this year's edition of Bluesfest could be on track to annihilate past attendance records.

Which will be wonderful on paper, but not so wonderful if you're one of hundreds of fans stuck in a sea of thousands.
-DENIS ARMSTRONG


I thought it was awful:

Nothing in my little realm has led to so many heated disagreements this week as that blasted Van Morrison concert at Bluesfest on Wednesday.

I thought it was awful. Several others I spoke to, including a couple with solid musical grounding, thought it was wonderful.

It seems so often true of a musical performance that one person hears black, another white. How can this be?

It may actually be true that no two people attend exactly the same concert, just as no two people are identically affected by the same book.

We were given a pair of free tickets (face value $100) at the last minute and, after some frenzied packing and a little furious pedalling, arrived at
the rear gate at the stroke of 7:30 p.m.

We were sitting in the last quarter of the crowd, estimated at 35,000. The sound was muddy, to the point that it sounded like Morrison was talking the
lyrics, not singing them. A view of the large screens was blocked by those who chose to stand. When I caught the odd glimpse, the sound wasn't in sync with the picture.

The atmosphere in our petit coin was that of a family picnic. There was a young couple ahead of us with an infant. They were comfortably seated on
folding chairs. On occasion, she breastfed the little human.

There was this constant criss-crossing of human traffic. Everybody seemed to be going somewhere. There was much yakking, nothing approaching dancing.

When rock beauties like Domino and Brown-Eyed Girl are met with folded arms, something is out of whack. The real Van Morrison, meanwhile, was
somewhere way, way over there. Guy in the hat, they tell me.

It had rained that day, so the crowd was fully MEC-ed out. A family ahead of us had a large, roll-up camping mattress, upon which a couple of
kids lolled about. There was a lady in a wheelchair behind us. Many people had rain gear at the ready.

And grandma and grandpa were there. No, not mine. Everybody else's. My God, it's the same, timeless music. How did all you people get so old?

The location for Bluesfest is actually terrific, but not without shortcomings. For one thing, the site is too flat. A natural bowl shape would be a great improvement. However, access by transit, on foot, or on a bike path is ideal.

I had wanted a glass of amber refreshment, but took one look at the lineups and gave up. Me and the young lad settled on ice tea, raspberry-flavoured.
Maybe that was the problem. Perhaps a 61-year-old rocker, a testy one at that, is best digested in a state other than stone-cold sobriety.

What is it about Ottawa and the provision of food and drink to large crowds? We need help.

How, after months and months of preparation, do they run out of food at Lansdowne Park during a double-header soccer game, a marathon stretch
during which 25,000 fans were not granted in-out privileges?

It put me in mind of the time, at Lynx Stadium, that they ran out of hotdogs. It was the second inning.

So, the next night, for Bob Dylan, imagine how much wiser I am.

Cycled over again, but this time just stood on the south-side sidewalk with a clean view of a large screen. There were hundreds of people out there,
enjoying the show for nothing.

People were walking dogs, or strolling, or Rollerblading. The urban parade came and went.

The quality of the sound, if anything, was better than the night before. As for a little taste of something, well, forgive me Father, let's just say
I carried provisions on my person.

Met up with a couple of my regular rounders after the concert. The one lad, a keyboard player of minor reputation, absolutely gushed about the Van
Morrison performance. Band was wonderful, Van was in fine voice, a momentous musical occasion, yada nauseam.

It may simply be a matter that musical intimacy, with a crowd of 35,000 in the open air, is nigh impossible.

More likely, it is two other factors: location and expectation. If you love the Van already, arrived ripe with anticipation, found a good spot near the
front and had all the drink you desired, then it was probably a magical 90 minutes.

If you arrived late with but a moment's buildup, and were stuck at the back then you experienced a different concert altogether -- first you barely
heard the blues, then you sang them all the way home.
-Kelly Egan

Setlist:
Talk is Cheap
All Work and no Play
Moondance
Enlightenment
Cleaning Windows
Days Like This
Stop Drinking
Bright Side of the Road
Playhouse
Into the Mystic
Domino
Here Comes the Night
Jackie Wilson Said
Baby, Please Don’t Go
Real Real Gone
Wonderful Remark
Wild Night
Precious Time
Don’t Start Crying Now
Have I Told You Lately
Brown-Eyed Girl
Gloria

03-July-07 Montreal Concert Review

The Gazette (Montreal): Van Morrison improves with age

Sam Cooke and Ray Charles covers among best received

During a dreamy version of Stranded during Van Morrison's sold-out show at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts last night, steel guitar player Sarah Jory playfully quoted the 1959 hit Sleepwalk by Santo and Johnny.

It was a perfect moment of musical irony, because the mercurial Morrison refuses to sleepwalk his way through a safe set of hits, as so many of his contemporaries do.

When he last played here in 1986, some screamed betrayal when they got only Moondance from the Van 101 catalogue.

Last night, he exhumed Moondance again, but garage-band masterwork Gloria was the only other number in the 18-song set that would be known to the fairweather follower - unless you count what fans jokingly refer to as the Vegas version of Have I Told You Lately.

This time, however, it was delight - not disappointment - from a crowd that seemed completely on board with a set that was heavy on recent material and classic blues covers. In fact, Precious Time, a bouncy Sam Cooke-influenced song from the 1999 album Back On Top, was among the best received - as were superb covers of Georgia On My Mind and I Can't Stop Loving You.

If you're going to take on Ray Charles, you'd better know what you're doing - and Morrison, a truly great singer who seems to improve with age, clearly does. The man thought to be a curmudgeon even seemed to be having fun with his 10-member band, directing the soloists with a pointed finger, a meaningful glance or a fist on the downswing.

When the Belfast Cowboy began to wind things down with the Celtic-flavoured beauty, And the Healing Has Begun, he could have been referring to the audience love he missed out on last time: when the clock stopped ticking, it seems we got 15 minutes more than the 90 he's reportedly been sticking to in other cities.
-BERNARD PERUSSE

National Post:
At the midpoint of the festival, jazz fatigue can start to set in. Mindful of this, organizers legislated a day of relative rest on Tuesday, and the rest of the fest is lighter on heavy-hitting jazz cats but heavier on what should be impressive outdoor shows featuring acts from around the world.

Before venturing into the fresh air, there’s time for one hotly-tipped indoor event: a concert at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier by Van Morrison.

It’s been 21 years since the Belfast Cowboy’s last appearance at the festival, where he was apparently subject to audience hostility for playing an obscurity-laden set. This time out, he and his 10-piece band offer up some old chestnuts, although a number of them aren’t his. “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Georgia on My Mind” and Sam Cooke’s “Precious Time” are wheeled out in agreeable but drowsy versions; by the time he sings his own oft-covered “Have I Told You Lately,” Morrison might as well be a karaoke version of himself, playing someone’s wedding for an astronomical fee.

Thankfully, he is in great voice, singing with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of soul, treating us to some scat singing which makes liberal use of the syllable “blub,” and inexplicably — but amusingly — ‘baaaa’-ing like a sheep. Morrison occasionally draws out some ballsier songs, although these also tend to be covers (the blues standard “St. James Infirmary,” Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Help Me”).

We do get an encore rendition of the famous rocker “Gloria,” but delivered at a measured pace. Onstage, the man with a reputation for being a cantankerous curmudgeon seems content, even consenting to thank the crowd after many numbers, and — gasp! — playing past the 90 minutes he regularly stipulates in his contracts. It’s a shame, then, that he doesn’t delve farther into his extensive back catalogue, and that the most recent of his own songs that he pulls out, “Playhouse,” is a bog-standard countrified blues number. At 61, Morrison isn’t yet ready for his senior citizens’ card, but artistically, it sounds as though he’s put himself out to the pasture he used to evoke on ambitious albums such as Astral Weeks and Veedon Fleece. Still, the vast majority of the crowd is smiling, and if they feel they’ve spent their $150 wisely, why complain?

Just outside the theatre, a free concert is about to begin, and Seun Kuti, leading his late father Fela’s afrobeat band Egypt 80, is determined to keep all 100,000 people who’ve gathered on the Rue St. Catherine grooving. It may not be a wonderful night for a moondance, but the rain is holding off. All the better because the festival, known for its outdoor “Grand Spectacles,” has outdone itself here: Kuti’s large and unstoppably funky band is accompanied by dancers on side stages, huge projections of animated images on buildings, and fireworks at the finale which surround the by now heaving throng.

Very few artists have managed to marry political consciousness and celebration like the Kuti clan, and with Egypt 80, the interlocking grooves and the wildly energetic dancing aren’t so much a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down as they are an inseparable part of the message. So just as Kuti sings his and his father’s songs about poverty and corruption, he’s not hectoring us or pleading, but positing a better, more communal approach to life that is echoed by the response of the huge crowd of varying ages, races, and — presumably — economic backgrounds outside.

Kuti isn’t just offering us a vision of a better life; he’s giving us one, if only for a couple of hours.

-Mike Doherty


La page à Maple Pat:
(Translated via Le Google)

It is done. I can say that I saw Van Morrison in spectacle at least once in my life and what a time! My ticket was expensive to me, but I do not regret it. In spite of about sixty, Van Morrison always sings with his trippes. Some say it cold with the public, but Van forever carried to open with the public, to fill it of merit etc, but I call not that of the coldness. If it were cold, it would not be delivered with as much energy in its songs, because it does not only make be satisfied to sing. It emanates from this man one will have quasi mystical. Van the man is like a demigod. Stubborn person, it always was it. Also reserved, but speak me about a singer as Van who does not balance us bullshit like: “You' Re the greatest crowd in the world” (say in front of all public world by certain singers). No escapades of Diva in lack of attention which requires full Perrier water the cabin or a toilet out of gold. Van delivers the goods with quasi a perfection, known as: Thank you Montreal” and then from goes away. Thank you very much good evening. No the tears as Marie-Chantal Toupin who Braille with each time it sings with the regattas of Valleyfield (but it is a woman and the women are more sensitive hahaha). At once left scene, it turns over to its life intimates and will pass in the newspapers of the following day for the quality of its service and not for stories of excess and abuse all kinds. Van Morrison is a singer who does not have anything any more to prove. It is liked or it is not liked. This type always knew well to be surrounded musicians of quality. A good chemistry, an always perfect play. In more the sound was very good. Small Difficulty: On the majority of the songs sung by Van, I knew only 7 of them… Before qualifying me false fan, let explain you to me. Van Morrison endisqué about thirty discs and writes at least a hundred songs. That does not make a long time that I discovered this singer and I was only interested that in his touts beginnings. That however did not prevent me from discovering beautiful songs. Therefore, I had a superb evening and when I listen to Van Morrison on my radio, I can finally say that I saw this man for truth!

And here's Rory's Review:

The Montreal audience was very appreciative and showed Van the love throughout the show and I think Van was feeling it. Several times in the show he was laughing and playing with the songs a bit. Bouncing on his toes during All Work And No Play, really pounding out the "no peace" during Georgia, spraying out saliva during St. James Infirmary (sounds gross, but he was into the moment.) He still has conflicts with the rhythm section and he is giving them constant feedback - they simply don't do a good job reading him.

John Allair earned his "Showboat" moniker tonight. He had the greatest number of solos and took full advantage of it giving us several one handed, up off the seat demonstrations, even giving us the Rock-n-Roll Finger during Talk Is Cheap. Sarah Jory was a treat. John Platania got plenty of play, but I think he needs to spend more time with the band in order to make a significant contribution. Tony Fitzbiggons picked at his violin for a solo during Help Me - entertaining for sure.

For performances, the highlights for me were Georgia ("No PEACE!!"), Blue & Green (was this the first time played live?), and And The Healing Has Begun (lots of backstreet jelly rolls). We got a full 102 minutes from Van tonight, even getting a second encore with Gloria. The entire crowd on its feet, singing right along with Van.

Overall rating - 7. A good, satisfied 7. Worth the trip for sure.

I shot two video clips - Blue And Green as well as And The Healing Has Begun. I'll try to get them up shortly, of course with the usual disclaimers on quality. :-)

The pre-show meetup was top notch and I finally met the Bells of Tennessee, Mary and Don (or is that Don and Mary?). Mike and his wife Judy from Maryland, Phil from Virginia, Tony from Ottawa, Bill from New Jersey, Bob's friend Ray, Bob's son Benjamin (and Benjamin's friend - sorry that is one name that escapes me at the moment), Dan, Shannon, and our host Bob.
Sorry if I forgot anyone or got a name incorrect. I need to take notes like I do at the show itself!

Best,
Rory

Le Setlist:
Train Kept A Rollin' [Ned Edwards]
All Saints Day
All Work And No Play
Magic Time
Raincheck
Back On Top
Stranded
Have I Told You Lately
Talk Is Cheap
Georgia
Playhouse
I Can't Stop Loving You
Moondance
Blue And Green
St. James Infirmary
Precious Time
And The Healing Has Begun
Help Me
Gloria

29-June-07 Crathes Concert

Setlist:
Wonderful Remark
Enlightenment
Stranded
Cleaning Windows
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately [Las Vegas version]
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Playhouse
Bright Side Of The Road
The Beauty Of The Days Gone By
Real Real Gone >You Send Me
Moondance
Talk Is Cheap
All Work And No Play
Days Like This
Help Me
Did Ye Get Healed?
Precious Time
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Montreal Gets Ready For Van

The Gazette: Van is not always a slave to fan faves, as his last PdA show proved:

Van Morrison last played the Montreal International Jazz Festival on July 5, 1986 - 13 years after his previous appearance at Plateau Hall in Lafontaine Park.

For some, the show at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts did not go down well. After an opening set by Mose Allison, Morrison virtually
ignored his hits from the '60s and '70s, preferring to stick to the kind of leisurely, pastoral meditations that dominated his just-released No
Guru, No Method, No Teacher. The audience disappointment was palpable and Morrison reacted in kind.

John Griffin reviewed the show for the Gazette. Acknowledging Morrison's artistic need to get past the early hits, he described some of the tension in the room. "(Morrison) played only Moondance from his early days, and that early on in the show, prompting one in the crowd to shout later, 'How
dare you keep us in suspense?' " Griffin wrote. "That fan had missed the point, but Morrison's meandering set and overt hostility - his first
encore was a caustic reading of Sondheim's Send in the Clowns - did nothing to sooth crushed expectations."

Jazz festival artistic director Andre Menard, who was also at the show, said he remembered no sense of disappointment. "It was fantastic. Some people felt let down by the fact that he did not do many hits, but great artists like him could always play new stuff and I really don't mind," Menard said.

"I think these questions have been resolved by Bob Dylan over the years," he said. "Artists of their stature don't have to play their hits in identical versions as if they were a jukebox."

Menard said the jazz festival organizers tried to bring the mercurial Morrison back year after year. "We talked to his agent in November (last year) and put in an offer," Menard said. "They said, 'No. It won't be happening.' They called back in March and said, 'He might do it. Can you make the money a bit better?' We offered the money quoted and then they
said, 'No. It's not happening.' " The deal came out of left field after the indoor concerts were announced and the pamphlet printed up. "They said
'It's OK, the offer that you made. Van played New Orleans and he feels like he has to play jazz festivals. He wants to play Montreal,' " Menard said.

Luckily, July 3 was one of the three free Big Event nights, featuring Seun Kuti, which left most indoor venues unused. Morrison was booked, once again, into Salle Wilfrid Pelletier. "It was a bit laborious, but I don't mind. He's here," Menard said.

But even if Morrison hadn't been available that night, Menard said he would have found a way to fit him in somewhere. "I would have booked him on
Monday morning if I had to," he said, laughing. "We really wanted him."

Menard offered no speculation on what kind of show Morrison would do this time around. "Coming to the jazz festival, he might feel like he has to do the jazzier stuff," he said. "We really don't know what he's going to do. I would not predict anything on Van Morrison's choices."

Those who don't mind taking the risk of spoiling their surprise & would like to see a few recent set lists can go to http://vanmorrisonnews.blogspot.com
-BERNARD PERUSSE

The Best Of Van Morrison Vol. 3

Includes The New Van Morrison/Tom Jones Duet, Cry For Home:

Listen Here
(This version of a song first heard on 1983’s ‘Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart’, was cut in 1997 but has remained unheard until now.)

The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3 is a comprehensive collection of Van’s later material (1993 - 2005) and includes two previously unreleased tracks and duets with Tom Jones, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King and Ray Charles among others. It is a must for fans old and new.


You can hear some of the tracks on Van's MySpace page.

EMI Catalogue Marketing are honoured to release The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3 on 11th June 2007, preceded by a new single on 4th June.

A 2 CD collection featuring 31 tracks, The Best of Van Morrison is a comprehensive collection of Van’s later material and includes two previously unreleased tracks and duets with Tom Jones, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King and Ray Charles among others. It is a must for fans old and new.

CD1
1. Cry For Home with Tom Jones (previously unreleased)
2. Too Long In Exile
3. Gloria with John Lee Hooker
4. Help Me with Junior Wells (live)
5. Lonely Avenue / 4 O’ Clock In The Morning with Jimmy Witherspoon (live)
6. Days Like This
7. Ancient Highway
8. Raincheck
9. Moondance
10. Centerpiece with Georgie Fame & Annie Ross
11. That's Life (live)
12. Benediction (re-mix) with Georgie Fame & Ben Sidran
13. The Healing Game (re-mix)
14. I Don't Want To Go On Without You with Jim Hunter


CD2
1. Shenandoah with The Chieftains
2. Precious Time
3. Back On Top (re-mix)
4. When The Leaves Come Falling Down
5. Lost John with Lonnie Donegan (live)
6. Tupelo Honey with Bobby Bland (previously unreleased)
7. Meet Me In The Indian Summer (Orchestral version) (re-mix)
8. Georgia On My Mind
9. Hey Mr. DJ
10. Steal My Heart Away
11. Crazy Love with Ray Charles
12. Once In A Blue Moon
13. Little Village
14. Blue And Green
15. Sitting On Top Of The World with Carl Perkins
16. Early In The Morning with B.B. King
17. Stranded

Van Morrison has never been a man to rest on his considerable laurels, Live shows have always incorporated healthy amounts of new music, and the public has responded by buying tickets and albums in ever-increasing numbers. So this third volume of highlights from his four-decade-plus career, expansive though it may be, is already a piece of history. But the rich cast of supporting characters it features, including many of Van’s earliest influences, will give fans who came to his work more recently (and helped the first ‘Best Of ‘ make the UK Top 5) a rare insight into Morrison’s richly complex musical make-up.


What constitutes The Best Of Van Morrison will always be a subjective choice: the man himself ran through several listings and running orders before pronouncing himself satisfied. The sources of the key tracks from the last 15 years range from 1993’s Number 4 album ‘Too Long In Exile’ to 2005’s ‘Magic Time’, while a selection of choice cuts from hard-to-find releases will delight aficionados. It’s impossible to define Morrison with reference to any one recording, but the sheer diversity of the material here, encompassing live tracks, studio takes and remixes, sets a standard others will be hard-pressed to equal.



Over three decades ago, Van Morrison was quoted as saying: ‘The only thing that matters is whether you’ve got it or not. The only thing that counts is if you’re still around. And I’m still around.’ That still holds true today – listen and learn.

Reviews:

Popmatters.com:
As the story goes, Van Morrison wanted nothing to do with his first greatest hits collection, The Best of Van Morrison, Vol. 1. He probably warmed up
to the idea, though, after the sales figures started pouring in—year after year after year. He personally selected the songs that went into the second volume, and does so again on his newest collection, Volume 3.

In Morrison’s typically iconoclastic fashion, though, Volume 3 is a curious collection. Spanning his 1993-2005 output, it covers a stretch of Morrison’s career marked by more than a few so-so albums. To his credit, he recognizes the best
tracks—songs like “Too Long in Exile”, “Days Like This”, “Ancient Highway”, and “Precious Time”—from those years. He also delves deep into his history of collaborations and live performances. So the listener is presented with the opportunity to evaluate Morrison as a total performer.

It’s a canny move—perhaps one necessitated by the overall quality of his recent studio output, but probably not. No one forced Van Morrison to make Volume 3 a two-disc, 31-song affair, so he obviously takes this new retrospective as an opportunity to frame the last decade-and-a half on his terms.

The live tracks remind us of what we’ve always known about Morrison—that he’s got soul and charisma to spare. The tracks here don’t find him coasting, and as usual, he’s backed by crack musicians. An uptempo version of “Help Me”, featuring Junior Wells, simmers with a warm “Green Onions” vibe. Morrison’s leisurely medley of
“Lonely Avenue” and “4 O’Clock in the Morning” features a weary, groanin’ late-night vocal courtesy of blues great Jimmy Witherspoon.

Collaborations and duets like that may be Volume 3‘s biggest revelation; pictures of Morrison with his partners even dominate the album cover. Morrison possesses an exhaustive knowledge of vintage R&B and jazz, and seems to jump at the chance to record with the greats. John Lee Hooker sits in for a run-through of “Gloria”, while
Georgie Fame joins in on “Moondance”, “Centerpiece”, and “Benediction”. Lonnie Donegan (a skiffle-flavored “Lost John"), the Chieftains, Ray Charles (a gently swaying “Crazy Love") , Carl Perkins (a rockabilly-driven “Sitting on Top of the
World"), Bobby Bland, BB King, and others also make appearances. Almost without fail, these meetings are high-quality stuff.

If you’re skeptical of Van Morrison’s recent output, Volume 3 wins you over. The studio tracks exhibit the smoothness that Morrison’s always possessed, while the live tracks show his talent for going with a song’s flow. On the duets, Morrison’s clearly comfortable with artists who are either his heroes or his equals. True, it hides the fact that the last decade or so hasn’t been Morrison’s best—or maybe it forces you to reevaluate that notion. Maybe his original material wasn’t the right place to look, as he sounds like he’s having a blast on the live cuts on the duets. Morrison’s career still cries out for a comprehensive, career-spanning treatment, but
Volume 3 succeeds in its goal of shining a new light on his recent work.
-Andrew Gilstrap

Monstersandcritics.com:
Navigating Van Morrison's extensive catalog since 1993 is a formidable task even diehard fans might not want to attempt. The Irish icon has flirted with blues, jazz, country, pop, Celtic, and his own style of indescribable into-the-mystic spiritually-oriented poetic folk on his numerous releases, making for quite a thorny culling assignment. So the EMI brass were probably ecstatic when the singer took the job himself. He weeds through a dozen or so albums released since Volume 2's mile-marker, and adds a clutch of previously unavailable mixes, rarities, and live tracks. The result: a nearly two-and-a-half-hour, 31-track double-disc set as sprawling, eclectic, and tenacious as Morrison's vision and discography. From occasionally rambling but spirited duets with veterans Bobby "Blue" Bland, Junior Wells, Georgie Fame, Lonnie Donegan, B.B. King, the Chieftains, Ray Charles, and even Tom Jones to concert versions of hits such as "Moondance" and an impressive take on Sinatra’s classic "That's Life," along with hidden gems like "Steal My Heart Away," this is a beautifully assembled and sequenced collection. It presents most of this multitalented auteur's facets and softens his often crusty exterior by showing his appreciation for the journeymen that helped develop the trail that Morrison then blazed in his own distinctive style.
-Hal Horowitz

15-June-07 Hampton Court Concert Review

Setlist:
Wonderful Remark
Enlightenment
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately [Las Vegas version]
Real Real Gone >You Send Me
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Moondance
Saint James Infirmary
Bright Side Of The Road [Satchmo ending]
Playhouse
Cleaning Windows >Boppin’ The Blues >Be Bop A Lula
One Irish Rover
I’m Not Feeling It Anymore
Georgia On My Mind
Jackie Wilson Said
The Beauty Of The Days Gone By
Help Me >Shake Your Money Maker [*, Singers only]
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

14-June-07 Hampton Court

I thought Thursday's Hampton Court concert was a wonderful. Van was in great voice - much more range and clarity than in some recent concerts. As usual there was no chat, or humour, and it was over far too soon, but a masterful delivery by the Master! 'That's Life' was a real treat

-Hilary








Setlist:
Wonderful Remark
Enlightenment
Stranded
Have I Told You Lately [Las Vegas version]
There Stands The Glass
Back On Top
Playhouse
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Moondance
Saint James Infirmary
That’s Life
Stop Drinking
Bright Side Of The Road
Cleaning Windows >Boppin’ The Blues >Be Bop A Lula
The Beauty Of The Days Gone By
Precious Time [scat ending]
Goin’ Down Geneva >Brand New Cadillac
Help Me
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

09-June-07 Thetford Forest Concert Review

A lovely sunny day at Thetford Forest...no rain here!

A really good concert, plenty of different songs, Van did This Love Of Mine and a good version of Domino..first time I have heard this at a concert, That's Life a powerful version...no Custard Pie tonight, but we were giving
Magic Time and Real Real Gone.

Van did not speak to the audience...not one word..not even thank-you, instead he just went into one song after another, working the band really hard....plenty of hand signals flying around.


Van played great sax tonight a nice mellow and gorgeous intro of Help Me, I now prefer this to the Harmonica intro.

Before long I was hearing the words "Big hand for the band" and the concert was all but over, Van came back on stage and did Brown Eyed Girl, how many times can you sing this! Wonder if Van gets fed-up with it.

Van was in fine voice as always, a good performance from the band.

Regards Dail




EDP24 Review:
You always know what you are going to get with a Van Morrison concert - not much chat but back-to-back songs from the performer's colossal repertoire.

And thus it was at Thetford Forest on Saturday evening, an evening where the audience was able to enjoy the show in fine, clear weather as the sun went down, as opposed to concert-goers on previous nights who had endured damp, miserable showers.

Appearing on stage in a white panama hat, Van Morrison said hello to the audience and little else for the evening in a show which opened with A Wonderful Remark.


With Van featuring on saxophone for several pieces, there was a particularly laid-back jazzy feel to the songs in this set, with several presented in differing styles to the album tracks the audience had come to love. Have I Told You Lately, for example, was an up-tempo, upbeat version which didn't really work that well and the same for Bright Side of the Road.

It was a night for listening to music in a relaxed setting, and there were some sumptuous picnics around as songs such as Domino, Moondance, When I'm Cleaning Windows and Days Like This followed on.

Also included were Jackie Wilson Said and Brown-Eyed Girl in a set that lasted about 90 minutes.

Yes, the performance was good, not great, but perhaps I am getting a little weary of the stage-style of Van Morrison and it's time for something more in a live show from the maestro.
-MARK NICHOLLS


Setlist:
Wonderful Remark
Playhouse
Stranded
Have I Told You Lately [Las Vegas version]
Days Like This
Jackie Wilson Said
Magic Time
Stop Drinking
Bright Side Of The Road
This Love Of Mine
Domino
Moondance
Who Can I Turn To?
Real Real Gone
That’s Life
Cleaning Windows >Boppin’ The Blues >Be Bop A Lula
Only A Dream
Precious Time
Help Me
Brown Eyed Girl

08-June-07 Nijmegen Concert Review

Van and the whole band was completely soaking wet. The steel guitar was filled with water and further playing was simply impossible and dangerous as well.
Ned was wet up up till his bones and thunderstorm during the whole show. The complete audience were hiding for shelter.

A very very weird show it was.
-Bert

Setlist:
Baby Please Don't Go
All Work And No Play
Foggy Mountain Top
Playhouse (Stopped)

and .... that's it!

Shana Morrison Interview

Salem News

Shana Morrison, rock daughter, plays Salem tomorrow night.

SALEM - Shana Morrison knows who she is; she declares it on her latest album, "That's Who I Am," a selection of original folk and rock tunes with an R&B touch.

She also knows that she is rock royalty. Her father is Van Morrision, and growing up around him and his fellow musicians is what got her behind a microphone. She's now an established artist herself and promoting "That's Who I Am," her and her band Caledonia's third CD.

This weekend, the singer/songwriter is coming to the North Shore for her first performance in the area. Before her show, she called in from the West Coast to chat about her sound, her first time performing, and who inspires her musically (it's not just her father).

Where do you live?

San Francisco.

Did you grow up there?

I've lived here most my life, but I was born in upstate New York.

How long have you been performing professionally?

Since 1994. I started my own band (Shana Morrison and Caledonia) in '96,
but before that, I played with other bands.

What kind of music do you perform?

I sing a lot of different styles. In my live performances, I can range from
folk and country to rock and blues to R & B.

Were you always musical?

I've always been in choirs and choruses and musicals. I was always into singing.

How did you get into singing?

When I graduated from college, my dad was touring and it was a three-hour show and there were a bunch of guest artists. (Irish singer) Brian Kennedy was there and he asked me to sing a couple songs with him. I got the performance bug from that. It kind of got me really excited about it. That was my first year out of college. I've always been writing (music), and I started singing with different bands in the San Francisco area. I sang as much as I could to get a lot of practice and then put together a band of my own.

How do you chose the music for your albums?

I always perform songs before I record them. We'll play a lot of songs and let the audience decide which ones they like and those are the ones we end up recording.

Are you touring right now?

It's not a real tour. Last summer, we did some big tours. This summer I'm taking it easy, just doing a couple weeks here and there.

Do you still perform with your dad?

Yeah, whenever our paths cross, if I'm in England or Ireland (Van Morrison lives in Belfast), I get to sit in and sing duets with him. I actually just sang with him last month in Boston at The Opera House.


What artists do you listen to?
I like the Decemberists right now. They've got that Irish-y folk-y sound. I listen to a lot of female Irish music. That style is one that I love. I (also) love Solomon Burke. I like Erykah Badu. Shelby Lynne, Joss Stone.

What do you want people to know before you come to Salem?

I'm just supporting the new CD. I'll be playing new and old music. I've never played in Salem, so everything will be new.

-Rebecca Schoonmaker

If you go:

* What: Shana Morrison and Caledonia in concert
* When: Tomorrow at 9:45 p.m.
* Where: Bay Bridge Restaurant and Night Club, 29 Bridge St., Salem
* How: Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Call 978-745-8881.

06-June-07 Werchter Concert Review

DE MORGEN: "MUMBLING ON ROUTINE"

Werchter : precisly 24 years after Van Morrison was the headliner,
the living legend was back on the Werchter grounds. This time he had
to warm up 30,000 people for the Rolling Stones.

It's no secret : Van Morrison (61) is one of the most grumpy people
in pop music, if he's not having his day - and that happens more
often than one would think- he doesn't mind shouting at the band
members "en plein public". Also all the most recent albums of the
Irish soul man have become very changeable; while during a concert
the clock on the side of stage tells him how much longer he has to
perform to fulfill his contract. All this didn't happen in Werchter,
but nonetheless Van the Man made a uninterested impression.
Even although he played the hits - Real real gone, Moondance, wild
night, Brown Eyed Girl and even Bright side of the road - the songs
were more mumbled than sung and you would need a translator to
understand the words. . Van Morrison as usual in suit, and to please
to photographers, face hidden behind glasses and shades , bungled
through the set and was seldom or never the performer he is at his
best. The group he had with him, played blues skiffle and jazz but
never came into fine form. Only the violin player tried with a few
interventions to blow new life in songs like Days Like This and Back
On Top, but the set itself lapped on flatly towards the end. VM
himself blew every now and than on his harp or sax, looked through
his papers (setlists), but made no effort at all to communicate with
the audience. That audience therefore clapped politely and counted
down the minutes till theStones would come on.
-Bart Steenhout


Setlist:
Talk is cheap
Stop drinkin'
Days Like This
Back On Top
Real Real Gone/you send me
I can't stop loving you
Don't start crying now/Custard Pie
Moondance
wild night
Bright side of the Road
Precious Time
Playhouse
Help me
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

02-June-07 Oslo Concert Review

Dagsavisen: Van–Music Man

Here is the English translation.

Oslo Konserthus

Dette skal ifølge rockens vitenskapsmenn ha vært hans 33. konsert her i landet, men det er slutt på de gode tidene da Van Morrison var en fast gjest på de lokale rockeklubbene. Etter å ha fartet rundt på Konserthuset, Rockefeller, Spektrum og John Dee (!) som en nesten hverdagslig gjest er det nå sju år siden forrige besøk, på Norwegian Wood-festivalen i 2000, og en opptreden med Linda Gail Lewis like etterpå. Ikke alt er som før, men det gjorde godt å se ham igjen.

Vi venter oss ikke lenger de store sensasjonene fra Van Morrison. Han har funnet seg behagelig til rette i sin lovprisning av amerikansk musikk, blues, soul, country og rock 'n' roll. Han begynner med «Let The Whining Boy Moan», som til tross for den klagende tonen setter standarden for en kveld som først og fremst preges av sofistikert, selvtilfreds underholdningsmusikk. Selv en versjon av «St. James Infirmary Blues» blir mer pen enn lidende.

20 sanger får han plass til på en kveld som denne. Svært få av dem hører til blant dem som er alminnelig kjent som hans største hits, og det er vel heller ikke noe stort poeng for et publikum som må oppfordres til å bli med på notene på «Brown Eyed Girl» mot slutten av konserten. «Moondance» blir rotet bort til å presentere hans ni personer store orkester. Høydepunktet blir i stedet «Magic Time», et av kveldens eneste besøk i den gamle irske mystikken, der Van Morrison kan synge «andtheroadtheroadtheroadtheroad that never ends» på sin karakteristiske måte, og få tiden til å stå helt stille – igjen.

Humøret er upåklagelig til Van The Man å være, han sier ikke stort, men prøver heller ikke å late som han mistrives, slik vi av og til har fått mistanke om før. Bandet spiller lavt og forsiktig. De store utblåsningene glimrer med sitt fravær, han gjør ingen forsøk på å gjøre dette til en vill natt med gjengen.

Van Morrison er kort og godt ikke The Rolling Stones, som han merkelig nok skal være oppvarmingsartist for senere i sommer. Da kan det vel være nødvendig å skru opp både lyd og tempo et par hakk. Van Morrison er uansett best i sin helt egne verden.

Setlist:
Whinin' Boy Moan
Stranded
Big Blue Diamonds
Foggy Mountain Top
Magic Time
Moondance
Who Can I Turn To?
Bright Side Of The Road
There Stands The Glass
Back On Top
Saint James Infirmary
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
I Can't Stop Loving You
Playhouse
Stop Drinking
One Irish Rover
Precious Time
Brown Eyed Girl
Help Me>Shake Your Money Maker

We Are Thinking Of You, Mick!

All Your Friends Are Thinking About You And Are With You!!!!!

Get well, soon!
-Van Fans

19-May-07 Santiago, Spain

Reviews from the Spanish papers were pretty thin on the actual concert itself (see below). Most focus seem to be on Van's pre-show "requests":

The artist has requested for him and his equipment a suite of hotel and 30 rooms. For its stay, the “lion of Belfast” asked for water, drunk low in calories and natural juices of orange, to the time that needs that “it does not want anything with alcohol”. Also it requested much English tea, fresh fruit and the bread and the paste it must be in wheat germ.
In addition, the Irish artist, who left the tobacco does little months, does not tolerate that those that are to his around smoke, reason why demanded to be in spaces smoke books. Thus, in Multipurpose the Fontes do Sar is prohibited to smoke. Also, of express desire of the singer, in the dressing room he will be in favor fisioterapeuta to its complete disposition. (Translated via Google)

El Correo Gallego Review
Van Morrison saldó, y con creces, su deuda con Santiago. Cuatro años después de tener que cancelarse su concierto previsto en julio de 2003 debido a la lluvia, ayer no defraudó y abarrotó el Multiusos del Sar. Miles de fieles al rugido del León de Belfast vibraron durante todo el concierto, en el que no faltaron fans que vinieron a Santiago, ex profeso, desde toda España, principalmente desde Baleares, Cataluña y Madrid.

Como gran estrella que es, Morrison vio, llegó y venció, y nunca mejor dicho. Y es que el mítico artista irlandés aterrizó en el aeropuerto de Lavacolla en su jet privado a las dos y diez de la tarde de ayer. Tras descansar un rato en el hotel, se dirigió con su séquito al Multiusos del Sar, actuó y, tras terminar el concierto, aún con los aplausos encendidos de sus fans pisándole los talones se marchó de las tierras gallegas, eso sí, dejando ganas de más.


Para mayor gozo de sus fieles, Van Morrison no sólo hizo un recorrido por su amplia trayectoria musical, sino que deleitó a los más de cinco mil espectadores que abarrotaron el Multiusos con temas inéditos que no se oirán en ninguna emisora y no se podrán comprar en ninguna tienda de discos hasta el próximo mes de junio, en que salga publicado su nuevo trabajo, donde no faltan duetos con otros grandes de la música como Ray Charles, John Lee Hoocker o Tom Jones, de los que el León de Belfast es un gran admirador.
Aunque el Multiusos de Sar tiene capacidad para siete mil espectadores sentados, el gerente del recinto y promotor del concierto, Santi Cuadrado, aseguró ayer a este periódico que "la organización decidió elevar las tribunas C y D algo más de treinta centímetros para dar una mayor visibilidad a los miles de fans de Morrison.
Dos horas antes del concierto prácticamente las entradas estaban agotadas, a pesar de que los precios oscilaron entre los 23 y los 38 euros, un dinero que muchos fans no dudaron en gastar.

Y es que el León de Belfast gustó. Santiago se convirtió ayer en el centro de peregrinación de muchos fieles, aunque no precisamente al Santo Patrón, en plenas fiestas de la ciudad, sino al León de Belfast, que continúa teniendo un gran tirón.
Ahora toca esperar a una nueva cita del artista con sus fieles de la ciudad del Apóstol.

11-May-07 London Concert Review

TimesOnline: Roundhouse, London Review

As he reaches pensionable age, it might be too late to expect Van Morrison to start displaying tangible signs of happiness. At his peak though, Belfast’s questing blues emissary has been peerless when it came to playing out his internal conflicts on a stage, repeating phrases until they turned into redemptive mini-mantras; using a harmonica to pull away from the rhythm of his band, then suddenly locking back into a groove you thought had come
apart.

At this Roundhouse show just a couple of those moments would have probably been enough to appease the diehards. Instead, Morrison played the parodically grumpy old man with a volley of songs about tabloid intrusion ( Talk is Cheap) and the solitude of fame ( Back on Top). Wearing his customary hat and shades, he seemed uninterested
and uncommunicative. In the case of these songs and selections from Pay the Devil, his recent country album, it was tempting to blame the choice of material.

That was something you couldn’t very well do in the case of Moondance. Across the decades Morrison has reinvented the song countless times, but this version – in which his three backing vocalists handled the entirety of the second verse – was tantamount to a decommissioning.

Finding new ways into old material is a problem for many a venerable singer. Recent shows by another great white 1960s blues singer, Terry Reid, demonstrated how vital a younger group can be when helping an artist to rediscover himself. If we presume that Van Morrison assembled his own band, what did this gang of middle-aged session musicians, going about their business with deferential precision, say about him? That old age has made him value virtuosity over spirit?

You could drop the needle on an album by Them – the R&B urchins fronted by Morrison in the early 1960s – and remember how the opposite used to be true. When he played two songs from that era – Baby Please Don’t Go and Gloria – you might have expected the touchpaper of memory to spark just in time to rescue them from the hotel-lobby R&B arrangements of their current incarnations. But no.

Amid all this listless professionalism, only Brown-Eyed Girl lifted the torpor. That was less to do with the singer and more to do with the “sha-na-nas” of an audience that had paid for the chance to sing them.
-Pete Paphides

Setlist:
The Train Kept A-Rollin’ [*, NE]
Talk Is Cheap
Back On Top
Cleaning Windows > Boppin’The Blues > Be Bop A Lula
Days Like This
Stop Drinking
Moondance
Don’t Worry About A Thing
There Stands The Glass
Playhouse
My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
Don’t Start Crying Now > Custard Pie
Real Real Gone > You Send Me
Bright Side Of The Road
Baby Please Don’t Go
Precious Time [scat ending]
All Work And No Play
Jackie Wilson Said
Wild Night
Domino
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

07-May-07 Ronnie Scott Awards In London

Van Wins International Male Singer
Some of the biggest names on the jazz scene have been honoured at the inaugural Ronnie Scott Awards.

The international male singer award went to Van Morrison, while the female prize was given to Jane Monheit.


Ronnie Scott's is not the cutting-edge jazz club it used to be



In the arts, awards have the same dubious appeal as star ratings: everyone pretends to despise them while privately acknowledging their irresistibility. And while the Ronnie Scott's Jazz Awards, whose first winners were announced in London this week, should be welcomed as evidence of an interest in promoting an idiom engaged in a perennial struggle for existence in the world of show business, the choice of winners will have many fans clutching their heads in despair.


Reading through the list, there can be only one response: it's like John Coltrane never happened. According to the awards, Van Morrison and Jane Monheit are the world's greatest jazz singers, Scott Hamilton is the world's greatest saxophonist, the Yellowjackets are the world's greatest small group and Kyle Eastwood, son of Clint, is the world's greatest bassist. Oh, and Jeff Beck, once of the Yardbirds, is the blues artist of the year. To be blunt, this is a list that could have been compiled by the booker for a mainstream TV show rather than by someone concerned with the continuing evolution of an artform defined for almost a century by its lust for growth and change.

When new owners took over Ronnie Scott's Club last year, the music policy became noticeably more conservative. Fair enough. In order attract a large enough audience to sustain an establishment in Soho, with rents in central London the way they are, no doubt compromises have to be made and non-specialist listeners must not be actively repelled. So the Scott Club, where Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman once held forth, will never again be at the music's cutting edge. But if the place is to be more than just a stage for smoothly marketed revivals of past glories, it needs to acknowledge some of the many currents that are carrying jazz into a fascinating future. The awards would have been a good place to start.
-Richard Williams


The week according to Piers Morgan
Monday, May 7 To the inaugural Jazz Awards at the beautifully restored Ronnie Scott’s tonight.

Just 200 of us watched stunning solo performances from artists such as Van Morrison, Jamie Cullum, Jeff Beck, Mica Paris and Courtney Pine.


Most had played to huge audiences before, but playing to a tiny crowd of their peers was very different.

As Jeff Beck admitted to me, "That was the most nervous I’ve ever been."

When one astonishing young pianist played out of his skin to rapturous applause, I leant down, tapped Jamie Cullum on the shoulder (quite a reach, because he’s about 5ft 2in) and said, "No pressure there, then."

He looked at me with genuine wide-eyed apprehension, "No s***, mate… Christ!"

At 2am, they all clambered up together and jammed for an hour. It was one of the great musical experiences of my life.

Van Joins Rolling Stones European Tour

Van Morrison To Open For The Rolling Stones

Van Morrison has been announced as the opener for The Rolling Stones on two of their upcoming European dates.

The veteran rocker (that’s Van Morrison) will support The Rolling Stones on June 5th at Werchter Park, Belgium and June 8th at Goffret Park, Holland.

The dates will not be the first time Van Morrison has opened for the band. He played two North American dates with the band last year.

The Rolling Stones dates featuring Van Morrison:

Werchter Park, Belgium – June 5
Goffret Park, Holland - 8

30-April-07 Boston Concert Review

For fans, Van Morrison's magic is worth the wait
(Boston Globe)

No one in the sold-out Opera House Monday night seemed to expect a greatest-hits show from Van Morrison. There were no boors howling for "Gloria" or "Brown Eyed Girl" from the cheap seats at every quiet moment, behavior that regularly annoys at shows by Morrison contemporaries like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Good thing, because he didn't play them. And the rapturous reception of his typically diverse set list seemed to buoy Morrison to the point where he showered a little of the old magic
on us. Article Tools

Hard-faced and sleepy-lidded behind his glasses, wearing a suit and fedora, Morrison looks more like late-period Robert Mitchum now than the dreamy
Belfast Cowboy of 1967. His show is a sort of country/R&B supper club revue, in which he sings and plays guitar, sax, and harmonica in front of a
polished 10-piece band that includes steel guitar, fiddle, and organ. They're fine, but the magic is all in Morrison's unique, growly voice.

Things began at 7:30 sharp with a dreary middle-of-the-road intro from the band alone. They didn't really pick up until the sixth number of the
set, a chipper "Magic Time," on which Morrison and the band seemed to finally feel each other.

Audience favorite "Cleaning Windows" found a little of the old Zen, and "Back on Top" gave fans lines to cheer. There were versions of "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" and "I Can't Stop Loving
You," plus a Sonny Boy Williamson blues and a duet with his daughter, singer-songwriter Shana Morrison. Her proud dad's voice overshadows her
less-distinctive instrument, though how could it not?

Morrison's best singing may have been on the boozy weeper "There Stands the Glass," a Webb Pierce hit he covered on his 2006 country album, "Pay the
Devil." He seemed to notice that the audience responded, and drew out the "it's my . . ." tagline for a long moment, complete with a drum roll before
finishing: ". . . first one today!"

"Moondance" may be mandatory, but Morrison sang less on it than any number all night, preferring to play sax. His two swaying backup singers took the
entire "I want to make love to you tonight" verse. Not awful, but not exactly transcendent either.

The show ended just after 9 with "And the Healing Has Begun." Morrison played guitar on this song, but he also sang with the rolling and tumbling
semi-improvised phrases that are his version of speaking in tongues, when the music is "ringing in your soul, and the heart, and the soul, and the
swing, and the healing has begun. . ."

That was what we all came for.
-Joel Brown

Van's short shrift

May 6, 2007

Joel Brown was generous in his review of Van Morrison ("For fans, Van Morrison's magic is worth the wait," Living/Arts, May 2 ). If only Morrison was a bit more generous in the length of his concert. He wasn't onstage for the first two numbers and was off and on the stage for the final song. I figure he was singing for maybe one hour and 15 minutes, not what I expect for a pricey night out. Brown may have called the crowd "rapturous," but I saw some jaws drop when the lights went up.
Article Tools

I did get a laugh after reading the review, because on the same page was a nice juxtaposition in the Names column. Morrison was seen eating dinner after the concert with a couple of friends for two hours . If only he could have managed to spend a couple of hours earlier with a full house of his fans. Hope you were full, Van. I left with an empty stomach.

-THOMAS FENNELL Medfield

Despite obscure tunes, it’s a marvelous night for Van fans
(Boston Herald)

None of Van Morrison’s peers have his autonomy.
From Bob Dylan and Paul Simon to James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett, fans have come to expect hits when they shell out $50-plus for an icon’s show
(Lord save us from the resulting riot if Buffett were to skip “Fins,” “Volcano” or “Margaritaville”). The performers may callously rearrange fan favorites, as Dylan often does, but they all deliver them.
But Morrison didn’t need to pad his set with greatest hits to satiate a sold-out Opera House on Monday. And he boldly flaunted that fact with a
show full of obscure tunes.


The night started anemically with a Van-less band running through “Train Kept A-Rollin.’ ” Any wedding reception would have been thrilled, but for those waiting for The Man, it was anticlimactic, not to mention a poor cover choice as hometown boys Aerosmith do it far better. The disappointment continued with the appearance of Van’s daughter
Shana Morrison to sing a version of her dad’s “Naked in the Jungle” fit for cake cutting and toast making. When Morrison finally showed up, the crowd greeted him with an instant standing ovation.
Morrison’s transformation to tasteful blues-jazzman has long been complete. His uniform remains a fedora, tinted glasses and sophisticated
suit - and he didn’t look back for this show. As he ran through album cut after album cut from his post-’70s catalog, including “Talk Is Cheap,”
“Magic Time” and “Have I Told You Lately,” he sounded more like idol Mose Allison than the man who recorded 1974’s “It’s Too Late to Stop Now,”
maybe the best live album since James Brown’s “Live at the Apollo.”
Morrison played to his strengths and his pre-rock tastes. While he was vocally buttoned-down - the lion’s roars were few and far between -
Morrison’s instrumental talents now almost match his vocal and compositional skills. All night long he blew tasteful sax and harp solos and even added one of the set’s best guitar solos to “The Healing Game.”
What was missing from the show were his biggest radio staples. Only “Moondance,” which fit perfectly, came from the storied first eight albums
that make up his classic 1968-1974 period.
But Van’s devotees didn’t seem to care. Lesser hits “Cleaning Windows” and “Bright Side of the Road” and cult number “Foreign Window” got ovations
usually reserved for warhorses such as “Gloria” and “Domino.”
But such is Morrison’s appeal. He does what he wants, how he wants, and you like it.

-Jed Gottlieb

After his show at the Opera House,Van Morrison huddled for two hours at Henrietta's Table with pal Peter Wolf and Phoenix Media exec David Bieber.

Setlist:

Train Kept a Rollin' (Ned Opener)
Naked in the Jungle - Shana with band
Talk is Cheap
Stranded
HITYL
Magic Time
Don't Worry About A Thing
Bright Side of the Road
Foreign Window
Cleaning Windows
There Stands the Glass
Playhouse
Back on Top
Sometimes We Cry - with Shana
Moondance
I Can't Stop Loving You
Precious Time
Help Me
And The Healing Has Begun
(Thanks Shannon)