297 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
297 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
culture
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music
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live-music-reviews
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8494963
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# Hugh Laurie and his fake American accent
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## Actor was impressively at ease on piano and guitar but his one-dimensional
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voice lets him down. Rating * * *
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![Hugh Laurie performs at London's Union Chapel][1]
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Hugh Laurie performs at London's Union Chapel Photo: PA
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[![Neil McCormick][2]][3]
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By [Neil McCormick][4], Music Critic 12:52PM BST 05 May 2011
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[Comments][5]
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**Hugh Laurie (Union Chapel, London) **
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Down on the muddy delta of the Thames , they call him Blind Lemon Wooster, a
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familiar figure in old Oxford town, just a po' boy picking out the blues
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beneath the dreaming spires. "Woke up this morning and thought I was the
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highest paid actor in TV…."
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Ok, it didn't really happen like that.** [Hugh Laurie][6]** is the latest
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actor to parlay screen stardom into a musical career. Professing a lifelong
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love of early blues, he appeared on stage at London's Union Chapel ahead of
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the launch of his debut album, _Let Them Talk_, next week. While his band of
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superb American session musicians opened with a lateral, cerebrally stilted
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jazz man's stroll through a Thelonious Monk instrumental, Laurie made a
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comedian's entrance, strolling down the central aisle of the beautiful
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Islington chapel before pulling a ludicrous Bruce Forsyth pose and joining the
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band on piano.
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Of course, we already know Laurie's stand up skills, and he proved a genial
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and highly amusing host, his between song patter keeping an already
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enthusiastic audience tittering with delight. And there was never much doubt
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about Laurie's professional musical skills, for that matter.
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## Related Articles
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* [Hugh Laurie on his love of the blues][7]
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04 May 2011
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* [Hugh Laurie: Let Them Talk, CD review][8]
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05 May 2011
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* [Hugh Laurie: musical profile][9]
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23 Mar 2011
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* [Laurie gets in first with the mockery][10]
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23 Mar 2011
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* [Singing film stars: are these the five worst?][11]
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09 Mar 2011
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Accompanying himself performing comedic songs was a key element of his
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routines with Stephen Fry, and he has even incorporated his multi-instrumental
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skills into his starring role in hit US show House MD, with the morose doctor
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frequently unleashing himself on guitar and piano. Where many singing actors
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just install themselves in front of bands of professionals and let them do all
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the real work,** **Laurie was impressively at ease integrating his often
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florid, classically titled piano playing and more basic guitar fretwork into
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rich and fluid arrangements of New Orleans flavoured gospel, blues and
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country. Indeed, he was clearly utterly transported by the experience, his
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expressive face contorting itself in expressions of rapture.
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Laurie's knowledge of and indeed reverence for the music is apparent, and is
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perhaps what sets this apart from most thespian musical ventures. Each song
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was introduced with reference to its historical genealogy, the origins and
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arrangements dutifully ascribed to Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Hughie
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Ledbetter and Leroy Carr.
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His admiration for his band was equally clear. "I feel like I have a rich
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uncle who's gone away for the week and left me the keys to his Ferrari," he
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twinkled, always quick to draw attention to outstanding and surprising solo
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work from guitarist Kevin Breight and horn player Vincent Henry. The only
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serious question might be what Laurie himself brings to the party.
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The band's take on the standard _St James Infirmary _features florid and
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technically impressive piano playing with an almost Gothic tilt, but he sings
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this most dark and brooding of songs in a fake American accent, without
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emotional nuance. To be fair, he is good at the American accent, as he has
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proven in House. And he can sing, in the sense of putting all the right notes
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together, in the right order. But his voice, the focus of the evening, is one-
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dimensional, and he rarely takes flight with the same confidence he expresses
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at the keyboard.
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Only on a stripped back _Careless Love_ (a version he credited to Champion
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Jack Dupree, and which I suspect he has been playing for a very long time) did
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he seem to let loose and bring some tone and heart to the performance,
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something more than just the kind of respectful imitation you might expect to
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hear from any decent covers band.
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The key to the entertainment on offer here was the way Laurie switched from
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his very English, self-deprecating, funny and apologetic persona to
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respectful, American inflected devotee of the blues. So maybe the notion of
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Blind Lemon Wooster isn't so far from the mark. With such a great band of
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players to flesh his fantasies out, it all added up to a hugely enjoyable
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performance. But there must be bluesmen all over America wondering what the
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fuss is about.
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**[Follow Telegraph music on twitter][12]**
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[**![][13] **][14]**Buy [Hugh Laurie Tickets][15] from [Telegraph Tickets][14]
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[![][16]][15]**
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[X][17] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][18]
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* Share: [Share][17] [ ][19] [ ][20]
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[Tweet][21]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/live-music-reviews/8494963/Hugh-
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Laurie-and-his-fake-American-accent.html
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Telegraph
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## [Live music reviews][22]
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* ### [Culture »][23]
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* ### [Neil McCormick »][24]
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* ### [Culture News »][25]
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* ### [Music »][26]
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* ### [Music news »][27]
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[![Buy Take That tickets][28]][29]
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### [Buy Take That Tickets][29]
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In culture
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[![][30] ][31]
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### [Lady Gaga in Carlisle][31]
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[![Elle Mcpherson and Kate Moss][32] ][33]
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### [Celebrity sightings][33]
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[![Aretha Franklin's Ain't No Way (1968) is an understated classic][34] ][35]
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### [50 greatest hits that never were][35]
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[![][36] ][37]
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### [The Beatles: My fantasy album][37]
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[![Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark][38] ][39]
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### [The life of Spider-Man][39]
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[X][17] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][18]
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Share:
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* [ ][17]
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* [ ][19]
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* [ ][20]
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* [Tweet][21]
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* Advertisement
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![][40]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][41] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][42]
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[![Buy music and comedy tickets at Telegraph Tickets][43]][44]
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sponsored features
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