Michael Franks World Tour 2008-Ritz Carlton, Pacific Place, Jakarta

Akhirnya kesampaian lagi satu keinginan yang sudah lama terpendam, Menonton live Michael Franks.
Sejak pertama kali mendengar lagu Michael Franks di paruh 80 an, entah kenapa saya begitu terpesona dengan sosok vocalis yang satu ini. Bernyanyi dengan vocal datar dan rada sengau, Michael Franks begitu memikat saya, sehingga saya tetap memendam keinginan untuk menonton konsernya. Bahkan ketika preferensi saya lagi bergeser ke musik rock/metal, saya tetep setia membeli CD nya.
Dan tahun ini Original Promoter membawa Michael Franks konser di jakarta, Alhamdulillah tanggal 10 Desember 2008 menjadi realisasi dari mimpi panjang itu.

Berbekal selembar tiket paling murah, saya menuju Ritz Carlton, mall pacific place, tempat pertunjukan berlangsung. Sungguh beda dengan suasana konser yang selama ini saya datangi, dimana massa yang datang sudah ketahuan sejak awal, biasanya berkaos hitam, saat ini penonton terasa necis dan wangi layaknya nonton bioskop, berbaur dengan pengunjung mall.
Clingak-clinguk nyari barengan, akhirnya ketemu mas Hendra Kurniawan dan mas surjo, menyusul mas Didiek.

Jam 8 kurang mulai masuk ke venue, setelah dicek body dan distempel tangan, segera mencari duduk di barisan sektor paling belakang.

Tepat pukul 20.20 lampu dipadamkan, dan segera mengalun intro "Long Slow Distance" dari album Blue Pasific.
Yang agak mengherankan Michael Franks tampil diiringi dengan musik tanpa gitar, Diawali hanya keyboards "Charles Blenzig", drum  "Willard Dyson" dan bass betot "Jay Anderson".

Terlihat sudah sepuh, berkemeja putih, bercelana kargo dan berjas warna gelap Michael Franks tampil agak kedodoran vocalnya diawal pertunjukan.
Lagu kedua "Tiger in The Rain" tampil dengan tambahan saxophone, secara keseluruhan rintihan saxophone dan flute David Mann ini yang banyak menambal pertunjukan.
Lagu ketiga "Tell Me All About It" ada vokalis cewek bertampang Al Jarreau (Veronica Nunn) yang mengawal vocal Michael Franks.
Setelah beberapa lagu dan sudah panas, barulah vocal datar Michael Franks mengalir lancar.
Sempat beberapa kali istirahat, dan membiarkan musisi pendukung untuk bermain saat lagu Monsk New Tunes (ambil nafas mungkin mbah Franks, sambil ngunjuk kopi).

Duet vocal yang mantab terjadi saat lagu  When I Give My Love To You yg versi studionya berduet dengan Brenda Russel

Setelah 14 lagu pada pukul 21.40, Michael Franks CS ngacir turun panggung setelah menyelesaikan nomor "B'wana-He No Home", Penonton yang bertepuk panjang akhirnya dapet bonus 2 lagu encore

Satu nomor akustik Mr. Blue Michael Franks hanya tampil diiringi piano, dan sebagai pamungkas begitu terdengar intro flute mengalun, penonton bersorak, apalagi kalo bukan Antonio's Song.

Selama konser sedikit sekali bahasa tubuh Michael Franks muncul, semuanya terasa datar, namun itulah magis dari Michael Franks.

tracklist sepenangkepan telinga:
01 Long Slow Distance
02 Tiger in The Rain
03 Tell Me All About It
04 Don't Be Blue
05 When the Cookie Jar Is Empty
06 The Lady Wants to Know
07 Monkey See-Monkey Do
08 Rainy Night in Tokyo
09 Down in Brazil
10 Sunday Morning Here With You
11 Monk's New Tune
12 When I Give My Love To You
13 Eggplant
14 B'wana-He No Home

encore
15 Mr. Blue
16 Antonio's Song

The Michael Franks Anthology- The Art of Love

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Music
Genre:	Jazz
Artist:	Michael Franks

Tahun 2003
Format CD

Track list:
CD#1
01 Eggplant
02 Popsicle Toes
03 The Lady Wants to Know
04 B'wana - He No Home
05 Antonio's Song (The Rainbow)
06 When the Cookie Jar Is Empty
07 Meet Me in the Deerpark
08 Living on the Inside
09 Sanpaku
10 Tiger in the Rain
11 When It's Over
12 On My Way Home to You
13 Inside You
14 Lotus Blossom
15 Don't Be Blue [Live]
16 Monkey See - Monkey Do [Live]

CD#2
01 Tahitian Moon
02 Flirtation
03 When Sly Calls (Don't Touch That Phone)
04 Rainy Night in Tokyo
05 Sunday Morning Here With You
06 Your Secret's Safe With Me
07 When I Give My Love to You
08 Read My Lips
09 Innuendo
10 Leading Me Back to You
11 The Art of Love
12 The Dream [Live]
13 Monk's New Tune
14 Somehow Our Love Survives
15 Mr. Smooth


Album rilisan tahun 2003 ini sepertinya sangat layak sebagai bahan persiapan menyambut konser Michael Franks di Jakarta pada tanggal 10 Desember 2008 dan Surabaya pada tanggal 14 Desember 2008.

Album double disc dengan booklet mewah ini saya beli di Duta Suara Sabang berisikan total 31 lagu yang cukup mewakili karir panjang MF di dunia musik yang dalam catatan saya telah menghasilkan:
17 album studio
1 album Live barengan crossfire
4 album kompilasi termasuk album ini

CD 1 berisikan 16 track, merupakan nomor yang berasal dari masa 1975 s/d 1980. Diawali dengan nomer Eggplant sebuah lagu yang penuh bahasa tersamar yang dipetik dari album rilisan tahun 1975 The art of Tea.
Pada CD ini banyak sekali hits yang sudah pasti sangat akrab dengan penggemar di tanah air seumuran saya, macam "The Lady Wants to Know", "Antonio's Song (The Rainbow)", "Sanpaku", "Meet Me in the Deerpark" dan "Monkey See - Monkey Do" dengan nuansa berbeda yang dipetik dari album Live barengan Crossfire.

CD 2 berisikan 15 track yang berasal dari era setelah tahun 1980 yang dimulai dari album "Object of Desire" s/d "Barefoot on the Beach", dengan hits macam "Tahitian Moon", "Your Secret's Safe With Me", "When I Give My Love to You" (duet barengan Brenda Russel), "The Art of Love". Pada CD 2 ini juga terdapat nomer kolaborasi dengan pianis Joe Sample "Leading Me Back to You" serta nomer Live barengan The Yellowjackets "The Dream"

Sebagai suatu kompilasi, IMHO album ini sangat mewakili perjalanan Michael Franks. Dan ini merupakan album Kompilasi terbaik dibandingkan dengan 3 album Kompilasi Michael Franks lainnya, yaitu:
1998-Indispensable The Best of Michael Franks
1998-The Best of Michael Franks- A Backward Glance
2003-Love Songs

Sayangnya gak satupun nomer dari album "Previously Unavailable" ada di sini. Sehingga kita tidak bisa menikmati beningnya nomer "Little Sparrow" dan "Just Like Key Largo", warna country "Dobro Ladies" dan "Born With the Moon in Virgo"
Meskipun begitu album ini sangatlah Higly Recomended.

MICHAEL FRANKS WORLD TOUR 2008

Start:	Dec 10, '08 7:00p
Location:	The Ritz Carlton- Pacific Place

ORIGINAL PRODUCTION kembali menyelenggarakan pertunjukkan konser dari Penyanyi Jazz Legendaris Dunia "Michael Franks" yang akan menyapa penggemarnya di Jakarta

Platinum = Rp.2.000.000,-*
Gold = Rp 1.000.000,-
Silver = Rp 500.000,-

* Include Cocktail & Seat Number

Promoter ORIGINAL PRODUCTION

Art of Tea

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Music
Genre:	Jazz
Artist:	Michael Franks

Michael Franks adalah seorang musisi dengan vocal yang unik diranah musik pop/jazzy. Suara yg seolah males-malesan ini sangat memikat saya yg lagi jenuh mendengar musik hardrock di tahun 80 an.
Saya sendiri kenal MF dari kaset kompilasi C-90 terbitan Aquarius dan terpikat dengan lagu macam Monkey See Monkey Do, Antonio Song, eggplant dll.
Pengenalan itu berlanjut dengan mencari kaset bajakan di jaman 80 an.

Saat pendulum selera bermusik saya saat ini kembali ke musik rock, Michael Franks dan Chick Corea merupakan 2 artis yang masih saya koleksi CD nya.

CD Michael Franks Art of Tea merupakan album tahun 1976 yang saya dapat ditahun 1995 di Blok M. Meskipun CD ini miskin info di sleevenya, namun isi CD ini benar-benar sensual dan membuai, paduan vocal unik Franks dikombinasi sentuhan Keyboards Joe Sample, gitar ngerock Larry Carlton. Terdiri dari 9 track dengan art cover hitam putih karya Ed Thrasher, bergambar MF sedang bersila
Album ini diperkuat musisi: drummer John Guerin,bassist Wilton Felder, Keyboards Joe Sample, seksi tiup oleh Michael Brecker dan David Sanborn. Gitar diisi oleh Larry Carlton dan Michael Franks sendiri

Track di album ini
01 Nightmoves
02 Eggplant
03 Monkey See-Monkey Do
04 St. Elmo's Fire
05 I Don't Know Why I'm So Happy I'm Sad
06 Jive
07 Popsicle Toes
08 Sometimes I'm just Forget to Smile
09 Mr. Blue

track terfavorit saya di album ini Eggplant

CD Michael Franks

CD Michael Franks masih bolong di album:
- 1987-Camera Never Lies (tega bener temen gue minjem gak dibalikin, semoga loe baca postingan ini)
- 2003-Watching the Snow

Michael Franks

Meskipun preferensi mendengar musik saya saat ini lebih banyak di musik rock, namun saya masih  terus pingin ngikutin kiprah penyanyi vocal jazzy Michael Franks.

Lewat suatu kaset kompilasi Jazz Vocal tahun 80 an, saya mengenal penyanyi dengan suara unik ini.

Pertama kali beli kasetnya adalah rilisan Aquarius dengan titel The Very Best of Michael Franks yang berisikan lagu semacam:

• The Lady Wants to Know
• Antonio Song
• Monkey See Monkey Do
• dll

Pas jaman CD, mulailah mengumpulkan CD nya satu persatu sejak jaman harga CD Rp. 25.000.
Lama gak ngikutin kiprahnya, pas browsing nemu adanya album baru Rendezvous in Rio, langsung nyari ke Musik +, Duta Suara & Aquarius dengan hasil nihil. Juga ada album Watchin The Snow yg juga lom punya.
Berkat kebaikan Bli Rikon, akhirnya CD Rendezvous in Rio bisa masuk dalam daftar koleksi Michael Franks saya, sementara untuk Watchin The Snow masuk dalam wishlist.



Inilah diskografi Michael Franks:
1973-Michael Franks
1975-Art of Tea
1977-Sleeping Gypsy
1978-Burchfield Nines
1979-Tiger in the Rain
1980-One Bad Habit
1982-Objects of Desire
1983-Passionfruit
1985-Skin Dive
1987-Camera Never Lies
1990-Blue Pacific
1993-Dragonfly Summer
1995-Abandoned Garden
1998-The Best of Michael Franks: A Backward Glance
1999-Barefoot on the Beach
2003-The Michael Franks Anthology:The Art Of Love
2003-Watching the Snow
2004-Love Songs
2006-Rendezvous in Rio


http://www.michaelfranks.com/bio.html

Michael Franks - Rendezvous in Rio

Over the languorous course of 33 years and 16 albums, Michael Franks has mesmerized an international legion of fans with his one-of-a-kind artistry. Seamlessly weaving lyrics of stunning sensuality, wit, reflection and literary eloquence over music that tastefully utilizes top shelf shadings of jazz, soul, pop, chamber and music from around the globe, Michael Franks the songwriter has set a bar in the music world that places him as nothing less than a statesman of song craft. His best known works include “Popsicle Toes,” “Monkey See-Monkey Do,” “The Lady Wants To Know,” “When the Cookie Jar is Empty,” “Tiger in the Rain,” “Rainy Night in Tokyo” and “Tell Me All About It” (covered by artists ranging from Diana Krall and Natalie Cole to Manhattan Transfer and the Carpenters). As if that weren't enough, Michael Franks the singer is gifted with a gentle, deliciously expressive voice - identifiable from note one.

For his 17th album, Rendezvous in Rio (his first for Koch Records - in stores June 27), Michael Franks sways to a very familiar South American beat. The CD marks a 180-degree shift in scenario and temperature zone from his previous project, the holiday/winter CD Watching the Snow. On Rendezvous, Michael collaborates with old friends/producers Jeff Lorber, Jimmy Haslip (of the fusion band Yellowjackets) and guitarist Chuck Loeb, as well as newer partners engineer/bassist Scott Petito and his touring Musical Director and keyboardist Charles Blenzig. Blenzig proved literally 'instrumental' in the creation of the funky, melodic bossa that became the title track, "Rendezvous in Rio." "That song was originally an instrumental with a different title from a record that Charles recorded," Michael shares. "It was more Latin than Brazilian, but that was the first music I sat down and wrote to for this album in September of 2005."

Brazilian music, culture and vibe have haunted Michael's work from early on. The country's renowned composer Antonio Carlos Jobim has been such a significant influence on his writing that Michael has dedicated three songs to him over the years: "Antonio's Song (The Rainbow)," "Like Water, Like Wind" and "Abandoned Garden." And for his third album, Sleeping Gypsy (1977), Michael flew down to Rio to record two now-classic compositions: "Down in Brazil" and "B'Wana-He No Home." Listening to his catalog as well as new songs like "Under the Sun," one might assume that Michael has journeyed often to the land of the cafe' au lait cariocas...but he's only been once.

The first song Michael recorded for Rendezvous in Rio, which set the tone for the CD, represents a rarity for Michael - a cover. Though he has written lyrics for previously composed songs before, the songwriter isn't one to do straight renditions of other people's material. The fortunate exception here is a charming piece by Paolo Jobim and Ronaldo Bastos titled "Samba do Soho" that features lovely exchanges between the guitar and flute 'trading 8s.' "I admire this piece very much," Michael states. "There's just something so enduringly happy about it. My friends Astrud Gilberto and Paolo gave me a demo cassette of the song years ago. She'd recorded it on an album with the James Last Orchestra and Paolo had sung it on his father’s (Antonio Carlos Jobim’s) album, Passarim." Dueting with Michael on the chorus in Portugese is singer Pamela Driggs (wife of guitarist Romero Lubambo who plays on the title track).

Another gem of the album is "The Chemistry of Love", an evocative meditation on organic oneness between a man and a woman. It's a composition of Michael's that was first recorded as the title track of an album by Japanese Flugelhorn player, Toku. For his own version, Michael called upon keyboardist Jeff Lorber at the start of this project and, as always, received simpatico results. "I gave Lorber 'Chemistry' and we talked about possible players. Jeff jumped on the song right away and e-mailed me an arrangement a few days later that was great."

Receiving that track from Lorber so quickly got Michael's creative juices flowing for the tasks ahead of laying out the rest of the album, the most important aspect of which - beyond composing - is casting the proper musicians for each song as he goes...something for which he has become an undisputed master. From Gary Meek's laidback solo and sectional sax work that colors the clever wordplay of "Scatsville" (dig Michael's recurring scat line here) to Eric Marienthal's tangier tenor on the more robust ‘unrequited love’ song "The Question is Why," every player is hand-picked with the finesse of first class interior design.

Moving into the meat of Rendezvous in Rio, we find four exceptionally introspective pieces that provide a peak into Michael's past and the fabric of his artistic self.

The first is yet another selection from his musical Noa Noa that explores the life of the painter Gauguin. Since 1990, selections from this musical have appeared on Michael's albums Blue Pacific ("Vincent's Ear," "On the Inside" and "Woman in the Waves") and Abandoned Garden ("Without Your Love" and "In the Yellow House"). For this CD, we are treated to "The Critics Are Never Kind," a musical conversation between the painters Gauguin, Van Gogh and Degas. In a more traditional type of 'casting,' Michael asked his friend Robbie Dupree (of 1980's "Steal Away" fame) to voice Gauguin and singer Larry Hoppen (of Orleans) to be Degas while he took the role of Van Gogh himself. The joy and pain of uncompromised artistry is explored in both the lyric and the music of this song. It opens as a moody urban blues as the gentlemen turn the tables to skewer the critics. Later, a brightening bridge cascades into the chorus as the men sing together of the satisfaction derived from "what it's like to get high on sweet inspiration."

Noa Noa was briefly work-shopped off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in 1995, but its 28 songs have yet to be given a proper showcase. Michael hopes to remedy this by recording a cast album, then taking a cast on the road to perform it like summer stock. Stay tuned for further developments.

Personal and musical revelations abound in a pair of the album's jazziest numbers, "The Cool School" and "Hearing 'Take Five'" - the origins of which stretch back to a fateful day in Michael's early `60s teen years growing up in the San Diego area. "I never studied music formally," he reflects. "Blues and folk were really popular then and I was just starting to play guitar. My parents' taste leaned toward vocalists of the day like June Christy and Peggy Lee. But I remember going to a friend's house one weekend where his father played me some of his new records. He took me into the living room where they had this audiophile Hi-Fi - very minimalist with tubes and stuff. The one my parents had was a console that looked like it could double as a liquor cabinet, so I was really impressed! Anyway, he played me Mose Allison's "Your Mind is On Vacation" (from I Don't Worry About A Thing - 1962 - Atlantic) and Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" (from Time Out - 1959 - Columbia). When I heard those two songs, I felt like the blinders had been taken off - like I'd had some kind of musical cataract surgery to discover that there was so much more music out there to hear. It was a turning point."

Michael brilliantly uses that turning point to reminisce on an era when musical giants roamed the earth. On "The Cool School," a jazz waltz with a smoky Wes Montgomery feel in the lead guitar played by Chuck Loeb, Michael muses, "Am I dinosaur, yeah you bet / I grew up listening to Mose and Chet / Let others fume and fuss / Belabor the obvious / Me, I'm a child of the cool school." Then on "Hearing 'Take Five'" - a masterful 5/4 musing produced by bassist Jimmy Haslip, arranged by pianist Roger Burn and featuring the first drum solo ever on a Michael Franks album (courtesy of the volcanic Vinnie Colaiuta) - our hero sings, "For once pure genius also was fame / And once I heard it I was never the same / Paul Desmond, Gene and Joe and Dave / Brought my Philco alive / Playing 'Take Five.'"

Thoughts on the bittersweet tinge of time's passing bring Michael's latest masterpiece to a heartwarming close with "Songbirds," offering hypnotic reflections on the passing of singular singers and artists. Thoughts such as this grow more profound each time we read or hear about another great musician making their transition from the planet. Michael dedicates "Songbirds" to singer/writer Randy VanWarmer (who sang stellar background vocals on Michael's Quiet Storm classic "Tahitian Moon" from Objects of Desire) and drummer/songwriter John Guerin (who played on Michael's salad days albums The Art of Tea and Sleeping Gypsy, co-writing "Don't Be Blue"). The men passed away within four days of each other in January of 2004. Michael eloquently eulogizes within the song, "When I consider your absence / Then my smile erases / Sure, the Creator creates / But rarely He replaces..."

"The thing that gets me when we lose someone within that stratum of people," Michael reflects, "especially when it comes to the elders of the jazz community - there's no one to fill their shoes. It's like the end of an era."

As long as Michael Franks continues to put pen to paper, lending life and voice to song, and creating poetically inspired albums such as Rendezvous in Rio, the tradition of true artistry will gracefully endure...like branches braving the night breeze in Brazilian banana trees.

A. Scott Galloway

(Spring 2006)