Ben Sidran: Dylan Different (Nardis)

 |   |  <1 min read

Ben Sidran: All I Really Want To Do
Ben Sidran: Dylan Different (Nardis)

There’s no shortage of Dylan tribute albums but this is certainly different: pianist-singer Sidran takes his lowkey, jazzy speak-sing style to Dylan songs in the company of a small band and guests (among them Georgie Fame).

It doesn’t always work: he strips the menace and meaning out of Everything is Broken, Highway 61 Revisited and Ballad of Thin Man, but on Rainy Day Woman (“everybody must get stoned”) and Maggie’s Farm there’s slinky quality which works.

Knocking on Heaven’s Door has a strange, sad nightclub quality in Jorge Drexler’s slightly quivering and high vocals, Sidran brings a sharp funk to Subterranean Homesick Blues, and All I Really Want to Do is like a Beat poem.

Not the best Dylan tribute among so many, but one to hear.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Jazz at Elsewhere articles index

David Friesen Trio: Another Time Another Place (Rattle)

David Friesen Trio: Another Time Another Place (Rattle)

The release of this album recorded live in Auckland in late 2015 could not be more timely because American bassist Friesen is about to tour again (dates below) with guitarist Dixon Nacey and... > Read more

Neil Cowley Trio: Touch and Flee (Naim/Southbound)

Neil Cowley Trio: Touch and Flee (Naim/Southbound)

Among the many reasons to pay attention to, and respect, British pianist Cowley is this: a few years back for a tribute record to the Beatles' "White Album" he did a version of . . . .... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

STALINGRAD, a documentary series by S. DENHARDT, C. DEICK and J. MULLNER (DV1/Southbound DVD)

STALINGRAD, a documentary series by S. DENHARDT, C. DEICK and J. MULLNER (DV1/Southbound DVD)

In the tragically vast annals of war, the battle for Stalingrad stands out for the horrendous loss of life, the stubborness and arrogance of Adolf Hitler, the horrors that the German 6th Army... > Read more

OLIVER JAMES INTERVIEWED (2004): If You're Happy and You Know It . . .

OLIVER JAMES INTERVIEWED (2004): If You're Happy and You Know It . . .

Five floors up in a swanky Auckland hotel room someone else is paying for, Oliver James should be happy enough, but he's concerned. He is grappling with the issue of happiness. Or more specifically... > Read more