Contacts:
Email:
info@tarahall.com
Office:
+61 3 9850 1855
Fax:
+61 3 9850 1978
Mobile:
+61 4 1834 6807
Correspondence:
Tara Hall Productions
P.O. Box 2074
Lower Templestowe
VIC. 3107
Australia
Bookings:
Tel:
(03) 9751 0152
Mob:
0404 296 084
|
(FRANK DAVIDSON -
Relix Magazine, New York.
December - January 2002.
)
On a cold, wet and wintry Friday night in a small pub halfway between
Melbourne and Sydney,
Australian Blues pianist Andy Cowan,
gave the small and enthusiastic crowd more than adequate justification for braving the elements. Backed
by his trusty Yamaha keyboard and his well-worn
Blundstone boots acting as a percussion accompaniment,
Cowan galvanized the crowd.
His piano style shows influences from Leon Russell to
Dr. John to both the Fats: Domino
and Waller. He also draws forth sounds one wouldn't
expect from an electric piano. Categories aside, Andy Cowan is as comfortable
with a blues-drenched standard like "Losin' Hand" as he is with his
rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing", both of which were on the
setlist this evening.
Cowan opened with "Finger Talking" from his critically acclaimed first CD,
"Train I'm On". As one might expect the energy of the song and his
distinctive vocal styling made after-dinner conversation a thing of the
past. A major strength for Andy Cowan is his compositional skills and the
next few songs taken from his latest CD, "10:30 Thursdays", "Higher Love"
and "Never Look Back" showed the maturity of the performer. Andy mentioned
prior to the show that a recent break-up gave him plenty of material for
this release, and judging by the emotion he showed during the original
compostition, "Trouble", the torch still burns brightly for his former
partner. Other bright moments included a rollicking Fats Domino standard,
"Rain is Falling", his interpretation of Tom Wait's "Jersey Girl" and
Bob Dylan's "Well Well Well".
Following three encores, Cowan left the stage as an early morning start
for the next gig in Sydney beckoned, but this crowd was well-catered for
with this evening from this passionate performer.
(FRANK DAVIDSON -
Relix Magazine, New York.
,
December - January 2002.
)
|