Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Musical Partnership Helps Revive The Christmas Spirit
Winnipeg Free Press
Musical Partnership Helps Revive The Christmas Spirit
Sun Dec 16 2007
By Gwenda Nemerofsky
It’s hard not to like Steve Bell. The Canadian Christian singer-songwriter is just so genuine and unpretentious; he’d charm the holly off the bush.
A near-capacity crowd gathered on Friday night to listen to his brand of musical storytelling at the WSO’s Annual Holiday Express Pops concert weekend. With a heavy dose of the “aw, shucks” factor, he had the audience eating out of his hand.
Joined by his terrific trio, Gilles Fournier on electric upright bass, Daniel Roy on drums/percussion and Mike Janzen on piano, Bell offered a light mix of traditional Christmas carols, his own compositions and a selection of other faith-based songs.
The evening began with a carol medley arranged by Janzen, called Holiday Overture. Assistant conductor Rei Hotoda led the WSO is this cold-weather confection, bringing to mind snowflakes falling as strains of O Come all Ye Faithful and Once in Royal David’s City rang through the hall.
Concertmaster Gwen Hoebig’s achingly beautiful solo in Ready my Heart matched well with Bell’s gentle voice, the ultimate in easy listening. His trio was so relaxed and expressive, you felt as if you were in their living room.
We had our first taste of youth choir Prairie Voices in Christian recording artist John Michael Talbot’s Magnificat, a touching work incorporating the words of Mary from Luke’s gospel. Full-voiced and well-balanced, they are a pleasure to hear.
Artistic director Kristel L. Peters conducted them in the Nigerian Christmas song Betelehemu, a lively number complete with animal calls and clapping.
Janzen prepared all the arrangements and for the most part, the orchestration was varied and suitable. His Holiday Medley was especially feisty, with principal flute Jan Kocman doing his own version of scat in a jazzy rendition of Sleigh Ride. Let it Snow was about as light-hearted as you’ll ever hear it and the sparsely accompanied I’ll be Home for Christmas treated us to the purity of Bell’s voice.
The funky Christmas Jam was a humorous takeoff on God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. “To save us all from Santa’s power” is just a sampling of the liberty Bell took with the famous lyrics.
To remind us that we were at a WSO concert, Hotoda announced an unprogrammed orchestral work: Farandole by Bizet. This uses the carol March of the Kings from his first suite as its theme. The flute and piccolo solos were crisp and the strings played in terrific unison. The brass joined in for an exciting conclusion.
Bell sang the poetic Every Stone with ample emotion and with Janzen’s rippling keyboards it was a real tearjerker. Bell then sang the touching folk hymn, Even So, with open sincerity.
Steve Bell Seeks, Finds Connection With Fans
Winnipeg Free Press
Steve Bell seeks, finds connection with fans
Sun Nov 19 2006
By Holly Harris
He may have been preaching to the already converted, but local folk musician Steve Bell received a hero’s welcome Friday night as featured artist in the first of Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s two “special concerts.”
The one-night only program scored a major hit with a rarely seen, sold-out audience who thronged to see the golden-tongued Christian singer/songwriter. At times resembling more a rock concert with whoops, cheers, and yes, even deafening applause, the triumphant show marked the guitarist’s inaugural appearance with an orchestra, as well as his 46th birthday.
Bell was joined onstage by bassist Gilles Fournier, pianist Mike Janzen and percussionist Daniel Roy. The WSO’s new assistant conductor, Rei Hotoda, held it all together, during the two set, 13-song program.
The million-dollar question is why this concert took so long to happen. Bell is not exactly a newcomer, having already won two prestigious Juno awards with a long list of other accomplishments to his name. But better late than never, and the musicians and maestra undoubtedly also were enthralled to play to a full-to-the-rafters house.
Even without his poetic songs, Bell would still be enormously entertaining. With the comic timing of a pro, he deftly interweaves serious statements about his own Christian faith with punchy one-liners and a quicksilver wit. Whether singing, playing, or simply speaking his truth, he seeks — and finds — a human connection with his adoring fans and they respond in kind.
But there was music, and Janzen’s imaginative, textural orchestral scores deserve special mention. The Toronto-based musician’s arranging skills showed us more colour, more depth in Bell’s songs that never relied on generic string pads nor gratuitous effects to create fulsome accompaniments.
His own creative spin was particularly seen in Deep Calls to Deep, featuring Fournier’s raspy bass intro that added an exotic, east meets west flavour. A poignant dedication of Burning Ember to “bright light” Rev. Harry Lehotsky, who died last week, created a memorable show opener.
Another treat was a reunion of folk trio Elias, Schritt and Bell, onstage together for the first time in 25 years. Vocalists Tim Elias and John Schritt joined Bell to perform Jenny and The Wellspring.