| 10/06/2006 |
| Jethro Tull flutist will grace Kirby stage |
BY ALEXANDER CHOMAN
SPECIAL TO THE CITIZENS' VOICE
|
Regional rock enthusiasts will be in for a very special treat on Wednesday night as Scotsman Ian Anderson brings the music of his band Jethro Tull to the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in a concert beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Titled "An Evening of Orchestral Jethro Tull," the performance will feature Anderson and 20 specially auditioned musicians from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Mass.
"Only one of them is male, imagine that, me on the road with all of these young, talented women," Anderson told The Citizens' Voice recently in an interview from his rehearsals in the United Kingdom.
"Many of our fans over the years have been the guys so it's kind of unusual having all of these women wanting to play the music of Jethro Tull," Anderson related. "But they're very talented and the performances should really be special."
Jethro Tull's vast catalog of music has been both critically acclaimed and sold consistently well worldwide since the band was formed in 1965 with his friends Clive Bunker, Mick Abrahms and Glenn Cornick. At various times in the Jethro Tull lineup it has also included Barriemore Barlow, John Evan and Jeffrey Hammond. But one thing has always remained the same – Ian Anderson is Jethro Tull.
As the band's chief composer and leader, Anderson has led the band through a variety of stages throughout its career and along the way he has tried a variety of different projects and musical landscapes.
"I suppose that's why our audience is so broad," Anderson said. "We've done albums like 'A Passion Play' and 'Thick As A Brick' more thematic in nature but we've also rocked out a bit over the years with 'Stand Up,' 'Benefit" and 'War Child,' he stated.
When asked about the origin of the band's most celebrated album cover "Aqualung," Anderson was quick to dispel the tales as nothing more than "local folklore" that had spread through many of towns where the band had performed.
Anderson learned the same folklore spin existed in Wilkes-Barre as well. There are many who believe the idea for the "Aqualung" cover originated and was taken here. The local Wilkes-Barre lore surmises the cover idea developed when Jethro Tull was in Wilkes-Barre at the former Comerford Theater on Public Square. Anderson said that's just not true tale.
"Actually, the cover of the 'Aqualung' album is from a photograph taken by my first wife somewhere in the south of England. I thought it was a great photo and fit what we were doing on that album at the time," Anderson said.
So much for Public Square and local folklore.
Anderson said he's very much excited about this orchestral project and fans can expect to hear a wide variety of Jethro Tull material.
"I don't actually find today's audiences that much different than the first time we played here at the Newport Jazz Festival. Our music is an eclectic sampling of so many different kinds of sounds. We seem to draw audiences that like a particular part of our career or have been with us during the entire time we've recorded. A Jethro Tull audience is not typical of any one audience that only likes a certain sound," Anderson said.
"We have adapted many of the songs from key points in the Jethro Tull library that our audience will expect us to play. Fans can expect to hear their favorites because there are some songs that must be included in a Jethro Tull concert – project or not."
Anderson offered songs like "Life's A Long Song" and "Thick As A Brick" as definitely being on the playlist.
Many fans have felt Jethro Tull has been overlooked by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for induction, but Anderson's reaction was, like all of his answers, very analytical and precise.
"Well, to begin with I don't actually see Jethro Tull as fitting that mold anyway of just being a Rock 'n' Roll band," Anderson said. "Jethro Tull is about so many other different forms of music that I must tell you, it's not really something I thought might happen or anticipate, so I don't really think about it."
Ian Anderson is one of rock music's most gifted writers and musicians.
He is self-taught on the flute and has made many experimental adaptations which have caught the attention of musicians around the world.
"I've experimented with many different styles and textures on my solo recordings that might not fill the Tull mode," Anderson explained.