Attila the Stockbroker
THE SHADOW OF BELGIAN CHANSONNIER Jacques Brel looms long in some unexpected
corners of Britain, and though on the face of it there seems little to
connect the stroppy Belgian chansonnier with the spirit of punk, you'd be
surprised. Our two guest musical artists tonight seamlessly take on board
influences from both.
ATTILA THE STOCKBROKER was one of the pioneering 'ranting' performance poets
that gave the literary scene a shot in the arm in the early 1980s and was at
the forefront of incorporating music into his work. Since then he's
established himself as a modern sharp-tongued social surrealist troubadour,
released 13 albums and toured across the world. His musical
interests run from Clash-era punk to early music, with a passion for Brel
discovered while squatting in Brussels. He
contributed to the 1998 Brel tribute compilation Ne me quitte pas
(Irregular) and has since appeared in live shows inspired by that project.
Back at the Vortex for the second time, he'll be joined by pianist ROBINA
BLANN to perform a wide range of material from his long career, a mixture of
words and music with poetry, storytelling, Brel and folk.
The truly uncategorisable ALAN CLAYSON, another contributor to the Brel
album project, also returns to the PJ stage tonight. As leader of Clayson
and the Argonauts in 1977 he was labelled a denizen of rock's lunatic
fringe, and since then he's kept up a career as both a performer,
collaborating with such acts as The Pretty Things, Dave Berry, Jim McCarty
of the Yardbirds, Wreckless Eric, Twinkle and the late David Sutch, and as a
writer/journalist, author of the only biography of Brel in English. His 1998
album Soirée (Havic) saw him on clear cabaret/chanson territory, and he
contributed to the 2002 compilation of English chanson, 9x2 (Irregular).
As the Independent once commented of a Clayson show, 'it is difficult to
explain to the unitiated what to expect'.
With Des de Moor away performing his Darkness and Disgrace show (see
above), Pirate Jenny has a guest MC tonight: leading performance poet STEVE
TASANE, who will also be performing some of his own work. A stalker of
stages from Glastonbury to the ICA and now host of London's regular Pure
Poetry club night, Steve has published three books of verse (Bleeding
Heart (Gecko) was launched at Pirate Jenny's) but it's in performance that
his wordsmithing, which laces political anger with acid humour and displays
an invention sprung from a deep love of language and a musical sensibility,
jumps off the page and into the audience's faces. Steve co-founded
semi-legendary and now defunct poetry pop group Atomic Lip and has pioneered
performance prose, taking an entire novel, Sic, on tour.
www.attilathestockbroker.com
Back to the Pirate Jenny's page
Alan Clayson
with special guest MC
Steve Tasane
www.alanclayson.com
Back to Des de Moor's home page
London N16
Reservations
+44 (0)20 7254 6516
Times 20:00-23:15 hrs
Admission UKP6.00/5.00 (EUR10.00/8.50)
Hot food, licensed bar
Rail Stoke Newington (WAGN Liverpool Street)
Underground Manor House 2km
Bus 73 past the door (Victoria, Oxford Circus, Euston, Islington); 67, 76, 106, 149, 243 to Stoke Newington High Street
www.palay.ndirect.co.uk/
vortex.jazz
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