home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- VIEW POINTS, Page 63MUSICThe Sounds of Simon
-
-
- By Guy Garcia
-
-
- "Ten thousand people, maybe more," goes the line in The
- Sounds of Silence. Make that many, many more. An estimated
- 750,000, in fact, equivalent to the entire population of
- Baltimore, all crammed into a single patch of New York City's
- Central Park. PAUL SIMON was back, a decade after his first free
- concert there, but this time things were different. Unlike in
- 1981, he didn't invite his erstwhile partner Art Garfunkel to
- join him. Simon, now the Midas of polycultural pop, seemed
- determined to banish the ghost of the folk-rock sound that made
- him famous. Backed by a 17-piece band, he kicked off the show
- (broadcast live on HBO) with the rousing samba tattoo of The
- Obvious Child, from his album The Rhythm of the Saints, and kept
- up the momentum with 2 1/2 hours of undulating, Afro-Caribbean-
- flavored music. The older songs that were included were
- transformed, including a reggae-tinged Bridge over Troubled Water
- and a percolating version of Cecilia that bore only a glancing
- resemblance to the original. Overall: no Art, but plenty of
- artistry.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-