Todo: Carnegie Presents, David Byrne
Well, the idea for tonight’s program was a no-brainer. This group of international musicians and their friends has been mixing it up with a lot of irony-free recordings and performances for a number of years now, so it seemed time to bring as many of the gang together on one stage as was feasible. And where else would it sound a good as in Mr. Carnegie’s Hall? These musicians have in common a sense of loose experimentation and playful sincerity. They also have collaborated with one another over the years, joined each other in concert and on record, so my hope is that the evening will reflect this contemporary openness and fluidity. There’s a give and take here, a risk taking that is surprisingly rare in popular music. And there are roots too: Vashti Bunyan is one of the historical GodMommas for some of these musicians, and her presence gives some sort of historical continuity to the evening—besides which, I’ve seen her perform live, and her songs are little gems.
—David Byrne
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