"Night Manoevres By The Small Orchestra" - Steve Hackett's
new live album reviewed by Alan Hewitt.
An acoustic live album by Steve Hackett - another surprise by the guitar maestro.
Most if not allof the Hackett fans I have spoken to have expressed the desire
for a larger slice of the acoustic cake and I think that with this album that
hunger for acoustic delight will be well and truly satisfied! The album captures
one night of Steve's recent Italian Tour with Julian Colbeck and as such it
is a delightful snapshot of that tour as wellas capturing for posterity Steve's
acoustic brilliance.
The album opens with what to me at least is the best performance of Horizons
that I have EVER heard; lyrical and exquisite beyond belief. This is in turn
followed by Black Light and Steve's own rendition of the haunting Skye Boat
Song which has fast become oe of my personal favourites from Steve's repertoire.
Time-Lapse At Milton Keynes follows and is just as beautiful live as it was
on the single and just as poignant because I was one of the "Wet Brigade"
who were at the reunion concert in 1982 which the piece was written to commemmorate.
A new piece: Beja Flor follows inspiredby the Brazilian hummingbird and just
like its subject; the piece is an irridescent beauty. Several favourites from
Steves' repertoire follow in the form of Kimand Second Chance both of which
just get better and better. The amalgam of sound between Julian and Steve is
breathtaking and I for one hope they can continue this fruitful partnership
for along while to come.
A surprise inclussion was the instrumental version of Oh How I Love You from
the as yet unreleased Feedback album, another deightful perfornance. This was
in turn followed by The Journey another firm favourite from Bay Of Kings. Yet
another new piece follows in the form of Bacchus a riotous mix of keyboards
and guitar, quite evocative of the rather high spirited God from which thepiece
takes its name.
The real heart of the album for me follows in the three pieces: Walking Away
From Rainbows, Cavalcanti and Andante In C by Giuliani all of which were superbly
played. The former was a hightlight of the Guitar Noir tour in 1993 and has
improved immensely since then if that is possible. Andante In C most people
(in the UK at least) will remember as the theme to the children's TV programme
Tales Of The Riverbank and it is a delightful version.
For me, the only weak track is Steve's rendition of Concerto In D by Vivaldi
and that maybe comes from my being more used to hearing Steve Howe's version
in concert. Not to take anything away from Mr Hackett's performance which was
excellent, just a little too slow for my taste - sorry Steve! Another surprise
arose with the inclusion of the instrumentalversionof A Blue Part of Town from
Blues With A Feeling with some great harmonica playing by Steve.
Ace Of Wands gave Julian another chance to show of this keyboard virtuosity
and round off the show proper in classic style. The encores were further examplesof
Steve's rapport with an audience;good natured bantering preceding the customary
acoustic ramble through some of Genesis' s history before launching into the
exquisite Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone which fully enabled both musicians
to complement each other with faultless playing of a beautiful piece of music.
The final track is another new composition: End Of Day which rounds off the
album in suitably classic style. Over all,the album is an excellent attempt
to keep the live atmosphere so often lacking from so-called "Live"
albums. Both the audience and the musicians obviously enjoyed each other's performance
and as a statement of what Steve Hackett is capable of when performing acoustically,
this one is hard to beat but you didn't really expect me to say otherwise, did
you?