Montreal International Jazz Festival | A missed appointment for Orville Beck

Read “A Cowboy Like No Other”.

What we loved about him, however, was a swagger on stage. An outdoor festival is not the best setting for his usually sophisticated songs. Perhaps that’s the fault of Friday’s surprisingly unrefined sound system. Perhaps our expectations were too high… but his concert was not the grand musical moment we had hoped for.

Orville Beck doesn’t let himself down, delivering a performance with panache at times. He bit hard Cowboys often secretly like each other, an ironic piece about love between cowboys. He was impressed Come on baby, cry, a particularly dramatic song, her singing must maintain its elegance in the highest notes. He was touching inside Hexi HillsThere he talks about an episode of depression.

However, he is unable to create an atmosphere that comes close to the exotic universe of his records. In less good moments, his voice was too imprecise and worse when his backing singer got involved. Too bad, for an artist noted precisely for his vocal qualities. This was particularly disappointing Dead of NightNevertheless, it is one of his most powerful songs. It was played very sloppy by his team.

You have to give Orville Beck one thing: the difficulty of his songs exceeds that of the average pop, country or rock singer. The fact is, on Friday, he often sounded like a singer with a tired voice, pushed to get the necessary chest. Or like a singer who can’t make himself heard… His ensemble, surprisingly unmotivated, didn’t help him much throughout this concert, which was often fantastic.

By the end of the course he was cured Daytona sandEnergetic and reasonable, and above all leave me Drowning. This is the only part where we hear Orville Beck with all the panache he’s capable of. It’s too late, as it’s unfortunately the finale of a very disappointing concert…