IAN ANDERSON PLAYS THE ORCHESTRAL JETHRO TULL

Ian Anderson Plays The Orchestral Jethro Tull with the Neue Philharmonic Frankfurt conducted by John O' Hara is real treat if you are a fan of classical music meets rock and of Jethro Tull and Anderson's solo work. For me it all applies, I look at experiences like this as something new and different to enjoy. It is nothing new obviously; it's just a real turn of the tables watching Ian on stage with a full orchestra doing all the familiar JT tracks with an entirely different twist.

I saw Jethro Tull a few years ago play with an orchestra live and it was a disappointment; however, I enjoyed this much more. I think the orchestra was much better and Ian outside the realm of familiarity (with band members) was like a bird taking flight, taking old standards and breathing the air of new life into them by venturing down unknown paths.

Ian is the first to admit he cannot sing and his voice has not weathered all that well, even so, the presentation he makes is still excellent, and he remains one of the premiere flute players in the world.

He interestingly enough starts off the concert with a rousing version of "Eurology" from his solo album Rupi's Dance (2003), even though the title indicates that its Jethro Tull music. As it turns out, it was a great way to start the proceedings. I loved the song live and cannot seem to get it out of my head when I hear it. "Aqualung" was the most enjoyable track by far though. Anderson mentions before the song starts, without announcing the title, that many folks do not recognize the song until its well into the first few minutes, I caught on about 30 seconds into it, what can I say? I am total JT freak. It is a marvelous interpretation of the song and five times better than the one I saw live, once again due to the adventurous reorganization of the composition and the top notch orchestra complementing Ian's flute became a key factor in making this version such a great success. "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day" and "Locomotive Breath" were highlights from my viewpoint as well. Florian Opahle is not Martin Barre but the youngster does an exceptional job on both acoustic and electric guitar. The DVD tracks are sequenced in the same order as the double CD with the exception of some interviews with Ian that are very revealing and interesting, and the in between song conversations are cut out of the CD version.

In the end when I was through watching and listening, I felt that I could not have enjoyed the entire show more. I wish that I could have been there to see it myself, although good DVDs do give you one of the best seats in the house. I swore after the first experience that it would be the last; this restored my faith and reopened my mind to the possibilities of exploring a live event like this again if it ever comes to town, on that rare evening in the middle of the summer.

© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck-http://www.muzikreviews.com

December 28, 2005