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The creative British talent Elvis Costello is going to put on his first concert in Taiwan. Costello’s emotional interpretation of the French chanson ‘She’ became the theme song for the Julia Robert-Hugh Grant film collaboration ‘Notting Hill’. Now this musician who combines the energy of rock, punk and country will bring a guitar and a piano to sing the sounds of our times.
New Era director Niu Xiaohua says that in the music market of the future, the musician-songwriter will become particularly important, giving deeper emotional expression to music. It’s hoped that this year’s invitation to Costello to perform in Taiwan will not only let music fans get to know this legendary figure, but will also give Costello an opportunity to comprehend the impact his music has had worldwide.
Grammy winner, Hall of Famer
Costello is famed as an ‘encyclopedia of popular music’, is a Grammy winner and has twice been nominated as best male singer in the Brit Awards. In 2003 as ‘’Elvis Costello and the Attractions’’ he became a member of the Rock Hall of Fame and in 2016 was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, confirming his contributions to both singing and songwriting creativity.
Elvis Costello was born in England in 1954. His father, Mark McManus, was bandleader with Joe Loss’s jazz orchestra. Costello liked to play music from a young age. At one point he worked for Arden cosmetics as a typist, as a computer operator at a bank, and wrote songs on the side. In 1977 he brought out his debut album ‘’My Aim is True’’ followed the next year by his second, ‘’This Year’s Model’’. Both albums are on ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine’s list of of 500 classic albums.
Universal Records director of classical and jazz (Fu Qingliang) says Costello experiments with different musical styles, from punk rock in his early days using an unpopular style to express a view of society, but with hits like ‘’Crazy’’, ‘’Alison’’ and so on, using country music style ‘’with simple instrumentation and the most honest sound, to touch people’s hearts in an unaffected way.’
Direct and without Affectation
In 2004 the Italian (Aide) modern dance company invited Costello to create his first piece of symphonic ballet music, ‘’Il Sogno’’, which was performed in New York by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson-Thomas. The composition, taking inspiration from impressionism and jazz, expressed delicate and profound emotions, showing the depth of Costello’s classical music qualities.
In 2003 Costello announced his engagement and subsequent marriage to Canadian jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall. Although it was his third marriage, they remain deeply attached to each other to this day and have two children.
Elvis Costello will perform for the first time in Taiwan on 14 September, at Taipei’s National Concert Hall.
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