Willard Grant Conspiracy Pilgrim Orchestra
The Willard Grant Conspiracy Pilgrim Orchestra play an exclusive show at The Bloomsbury Theatre on Sunday 18th May with very special solo guest Howe Gelb. The Pilgrim Orchestra is an extraordinary collaboration between Willard Grant Conspiracy's guiding force Robert Fisher and a select group of North American and Scottish musicians including composer Malcolm Lindsay (Exodus/Young Adam), Chris Eckman and Jackie Leven.
The Pilgrim Orchestra project came about after a chance meeting between Robert Fisher and Malcolm Lindsay backstage at a Willard Grant Conspiracy gig in Glasgow in 2003. After a particularly fraught WGC show, Robert and Malcolm vowed to embark on a collaboration between The Willard Grant Conspiracy and local Scottish musicians. The result of such a fortuitous liaison is the astonishing "Pilgrim Road" record which will be released by Loose Music on May 5th 2008 and the "Willard Grant Conspiracy Pilgrim Orchestra" tour.
The record and this tour will tick all the right boxes for the devoted and will hopefully draw in the uninitiated as Lindsay's evocative arrangements bring a subtle yet dramatic maturity to the party while the band's soul searching 4am vibe recalls Tom Waits at his Asylum-era best. This transatlantic meeting of minds between Fisher and Lindsay may well result in Pilgrim Road being hailed as a west-coast classic, albeit one that derives from the western coasts of two very different countries.
The Willard Grant Conspiracy Pilgrim Orchestra features the following musicians:
Robert Fisher vocals, acoustic guitars
Malcolm Lindsay acoustic piano, acoustic guitar, vocals
Chris Eckman guitars (acoustic and electric), vocals
Josh Hillman viola/violin
Pete Harvey cello
Dennis Cronin trumpet, accordion, vocals
Tom King percussion (drum kit)
Erik Van Loo bass (double bass and electric)
John Songdahl Trombone, keyboards, vocals
Yuko Murata Keyboard, Mellodica
Iona Mac Donald vocals
Jackie Leven vocals
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Howe Gelb
Howe Gelb is a multi instrumental songwriter/musician/producer genius from Tucson, Arizona who initially came to prominence with his band Giant Sand. He will open the Bloomsbury show playing with many of the musicians who make up The Willard Grant Conspiracy Pilgrim Orchestra and may well sit in with certain songs from the main performance too.
www.howegelb.com
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This is a Not The Same Old Blues Crap production
Tickets: £17.50 (£20 on the door)
