Examiner, October 6, 2014

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Examiner

US online publications

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'Steve Nieve Plays Elvis Costello' at City Winery


Jim Bessman

Steve Nieve
Rating: 5 star reviews5 star reviews5 star reviews5 star reviews5 star reviews

The genius of Elvis Costello has always extended to his backing musicians, none more so than with Steve Nieve, easily among the most significant keyboardists in rock history.

At City Winery Friday night Nieve showed off his own brilliance within the maestro’s context in a mostly solo acoustic piano show, Steve Nieve Plays Elvis Costello, after beginning, as he always does, with “Muriel On the Beach,” from his 2011 CD Lazy Point and inspired by his longtime partner Muriel Téodori.

He then took an impressionistic take on “Shipbuilding,” Costello’s beautiful antiwar ballad that was a hit in England for Robert Wyatt. “Accidents Will Happen” led into one of many stories about his tenure with Costello, which began, he related, when he was an 18-year-old student at the Royal College of Music, who soon gave in to his admitted “obsession to be in a rock band” after answering an ad in Melody Maker and auditioning for one Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus (“looking back, I’m pretty sure I played ‘Less Than Zero’ and ‘Watching the Detectives’”), sabotaging those next in line, and leaving his parents in tears when Costello chose him and he quit school.

At City Winery, Nieve gave new dimension to Costello classics like “Veronica,” which took on a Gershwin-like sheen before seguing into a sparing “Alison.”

“Elvis is known for his words, but he writes some of the most brilliant melodies I’ve ever heard,” France-based Nieve said, by way of introducing “Country Darkness,” for which he brought out Tall Ullys, lead signer of Paris alternative band Tall Ulysse. A funny story about Costello spotting ABBA in the front row at a concert early in his career, then quickly handing out acoustic guitars and coaching the band in playing the “Swedish folk song" "Knowing Me, Knowing You,” was a fitting intro to Costello’s “Oliver’s Army,” which owed to ABBA in keyboard arrangement.

Nieve had other guests. Leslie Mendelson, whom he met at a songwriters retreat hosted by Squeeze’s Chris Difford, played acoustic guitar and sang lead on “Every Day I Write the Book,” with Nieve gently joining on chorus. Elysian Fields’ Jennifer Charles and Oren Bloedow came out for “Chemistry Class” and “New Amsterdam,” the latter with the bit from The Beatles’ “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” that Costello inserts in live performances.

The superlative show closed with all participating in “the traditional ending” of “(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding.” It’s tempting to say that the only thing missing was Costello, except that he was musically there the whole time, and maybe Nieve’s parents, who would certainly have joined him on stage at the wine table in the corner, where he paused to sample a bottle of City Winery’s special Steve Nieve signature wine.

They would have sipped it proudly.


Tags: Steve NieveLazy PointMuriel TéodoriShipbuildingRobert WyattAccidents Will HappenMelody MakerLess Than ZeroWatching The DetectivesVeronicaAlisonCountry DarknessTall UlysseABBAKnowing Me, Knowing YouOliver's ArmySqueezeChris DiffordEveryday I Write The BookChemistry ClassNew AmsterdamThe BeatlesYou've Got To Hide Your Love Away(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?

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Examiner.com, October 6, 2014


Jim Bessman reviews Steve Nieve and AJUQ on Friday, October 3, 2014 at City Winery, New York, NY.

Images

2014-10-06 Examiner photo 01.jpg
"Steve Nieve Plays Elvis Costello".


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