There are artists we associate with particular moments in personal history. Like ducks, we imprint on the songs that filled the airways and iPods of the era in which we come of age. Which is why, for many of us, Al Stewart holds a special place in our heart, and in our record collection.
Discovering Al Stewart’s (@alstewartinfo) body of work apart from the platinum-selling album, Year of the Cat (1976) requires diligence: Stewart has produced no less than sixteen studio and three live albums. These days Stewart often tours with guitarist/songwriter Dave Nachmanoff, and the latter opened the show at the Boulton Center on Friday, November 8th. This was our first visit to the Boulton Center, and we were highly impressed with this intimate venue which provides a perfect line of sight from every seat.
Stewart’s opening act (and accompanist), Dave Nachmanoff (@davenach), has a Django-influenced style that has made him a fairly regular Stewart duet partner going back to 2006. An amazingly nimble guitarist, Nachmanoff is himself a force to be reckoned with, holder of a Ph.D. in philosophy from UC Davis which could explain a song title like “Descartes in Amsterdam.” Two highlights of Nachmanoff’s performance were “Conservation Law: Love Keeps Going On” (subscribe to his listserv and download the song for free) and a very listenable fingerpicked “All Too Human.
When Stewart emerged to join Nachmanoff, the crowd went wild. With the first verse of “Flying Sorcery,” it was clear that Stewart sounds remarkably the same as ever – his nasal British delivery is as familiar as an old friend.
As this performance showed, Stewart’s songwriting skill is similarly undiminished. In “Lord Grenville,” he sings “Our time is just a point along a line/that runs forever with no end.” It is a song whose chords are similar to David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” (which Stewart sang a bit of, to humorous effect). Just as oddly, both recordings featured Tim Renwick on guitar.
Many years have passed since Year of the Cat, yet Stewart still possesses a boyish quality and toothy grin. We were particularly taken with his stripped-down rendition of “Time Passages” which carried as much longing as the much more orchestrated original.
“Gina in the King’s Road” is a confessional of sorts that features a once-hyperventilating narrator who later passes the object of his obsession and doesn’t even stop to talk. Perhaps because, a verse suggests, “Everyone went out with her, everyone knew why/No one ever stayed around, no one ever tried.”
The medieval-themed “Merlin’s Time” provided a premonition of which song would come next with the lines “Oh who would walk the stoney roads/of Merlin’s time/And keep the watch along the borderline . . .” It was a signal for Nachmanoff’s guitar to truly came alive for the pair’s inspired rendition of “On the Border,” one of the most lethal arrows in Stewart’s quiver.
Stewart is a gifted songwriter who crafts a rare allegorical lyric not often found in pop music today. When he writes in remembrance of a historical event, such as his reference to Ernst Roehm in “Last Day of 1934,” it is to make other observations – sometimes personal, sometimes social. Historical events serve as lenses in which to glimpse some other, usually understated, insight. Such was the case when Stewart performed his Presidents series: “Warren Harding,” “Like William McKinley” and “A Child’s View of the Eisenhower Years.” Stewart skims just enough historical fact to suit his larger purpose. Pausing after “Eisenhower,” he got “a little theological,” musing that his – as he put it – “insouciant” expression “Soviet Heaven” was actually something of an oxymoron.
Stewart demonstrated a bit of his own guitar chops with a dramatic sequence that began the up-tempo audience favorite “Night Train to Munich.” The evening was made complete with “Broadway Hotel” (“Love was a smile away/ just a defile away”) and a tremolo-filled, audience-pleasing rendition of the iconic “Year of the Cat.”
Stewart has lost none of his talent or wit. He regaled the audience with interesting stories between songs, all delivered with a wry, self-deprecating manner and utterly charming accent. Dave Nachmanoff was a perfect foil – bubbling with energy and enthusiasm, jumping up and down when the audience cheered after a solo.
It was a memorable night at the Boulton Center, where hopefully, Al Stewart will return again in the future. For upcoming events at the Boulton Center, visit www.boultonceter.org.
Note: This review was jointly written with my partner in music and life, Mark Underwood (@darkviolin).
Photos courtesy of Joni Blenn.
