tragedy
09/04/2007
Jeffrey Carter Albrecht, Edie Brickell and New Bohemians keyboardist, killed at 34
If you're like me, you may well not have given Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians much thought lately. After all, their biggest single was "What I Am," off 1998's Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars. They had a few other modest hits, but after Ghost of a Dog in 1990, Brickell married Paul Simon, and New Bohemians pretty much dropped off the radar.
But that's been changing, with a live album in 2000 and a new album, Stranger Things, last year. Other than Brickell's return, the biggest change in the lineup has been the addition of talented Dallas musician Jeffrey Carter Albrecht as keyboardist, completing the transformation of the New Bohemians, who started life as a three-person ska band back in the day, into a fully modern rock band. Tragically, Albrecht was killed this weekend by his girlfriend's neighbor, who shot him through the front door after mistaking him for a burglar.
Albrecht, who also played with Dallas band Sorta as well as his own group Sparrows, did not seem to be one to hog the spotlight. Even when stepping out from behind the keyboard to play guitar, he didn't actually step out from behind the keyboard. But as his musicianship in this live New Bohemians performance of "No Dinero" shows, he made his mark onstage not by being seen, but by being heard.
Albrecht was 34 years old.
07/02/2007
Elton John, "Your Song" at the Concert for Diana
Sunday's giant Concert for Diana wasn't so much star-studded as it was star-glutted -- everybody from Duran Duran to Kanye West was there to pay tribute to the late Princess of Wales on what would have been her 46th birthday. But it was Sir Elton John who set the tone. Here, he opens the show, not with his trademark theatrics or the heart-tugging "Candle in the Wind," but with a simple, uplifting performance of "Your Song."
Sir Elton is in fine voice here, but what's even greater is the way he connects with the audience, glancing at crowd and camera as if they are old friends gathered round the piano with him. It's the opposite of mugging -- a peformance that is genuine and personal and absolutely note-perfect for the evening.
That earring, on the other hand, might be a bit much for the occasion. But hey, Elton can pull it off.
