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| Collaborations between rock or pop performers and symphony orchestras usually yield little more than bombast and redundancy, but Ben Folds' Live in Perth is a delightful exception. Recorded in 2005 in an outdoor venue (described by Folds as "a luminous green petri dish") in that Australian city, the 80-minute concert finds the singer-songwriter-pianist in the company of conductor Simon Kenway and the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra--not the world's finest classical ensemble, perhaps, but one that's perfectly matched to his quirky, affecting style. Favoring material from his Rockin' the Suburbs and Whatever and Ever Amen CDs, Folds used local musicians for most of the arrangements, with the result that the orchestra enhances the songs rather than merely augmenting them. Most of all, of course, it's the songs themselves that carry the day. There's a hint of Stephen Foster's parlor ballads in Folds' approach, especially the several songs that are in waltz time; there's also an undeniable poignancy to character-driven tunes like "Fred Jones Part 2," "Steven's Last Night in Town," "Boxing" (about sportscaster Howard Cosell, a curious choice of subjects if ever there was one!), and "Not the Same" that's vividly brought to life by WASO's string and percussion sections in particular. By the time you get to "Narcolepsy," the twelfth of the 14 songs performed here and one that features a co-vocal by operatic tenor Stuart Haycock, you can't help but be won over by this thoroughly charming show. --Sam Graham |
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