DVD: Barbara Thompson’s Paraphernalia Live ’05

Description

In 2005, realising that time was running out for Barbara, Jon decided to film one of the Never Say Goodbye tour gigs, opting for the Theaterhaus in Stuttgart, spiritual home of the UJ&RE. Mike Dibb, who had filmed the 1979 Jazz, Rock and Marriage documentary, was co-opted to help with the planning and logistics for Para Live ’05 as well as being lead cameraman. Since he was also about to start making a BBC documentary about Barbara’s on going battle with her Parkinson’s condition (called ‘Playing Against Time’), the footage of the concert would prove invaluable. Jon was determined to use this opportunity to build on his previous experience with the 1995 Colosseum Lives DVD and get into digital video editing properly. Jon: “I consider this Paraphernalia video to be an important part of our legacy – there’s something really special about everyone’s contribution.” However, like the guys in Colosseum after the famous 1971 live recording, none of the band felt sure that they had given of their best in the first half of the concert and Barbara had been quite upset in the interval. This was partly due to the fact that, four days before, Jon had been informed that they wouldn’t be able to get into the venue until late in the afternoon, which meant that they would have very limited time to carry out their complicated sound and light check. With so much to do, in so little time, they just about managed to finish and get offstage as the audience came in. In the half hour or so remaining, Barbara had little chance to relax and then, with minutes to go, ‘Mr. Parkinson’ arrived and delivered a massive ‘down’ – right before show time! It seems that her natural apprehension induced by the occasion interacted with her medication and for the first few numbers she was left feeling quite ‘powerless’. Jon: “Incredibly, none of this is at all apparent in the finished video – indeed, situations like this probably just heighten everyone’s senses, giving their performance that extra edge. I remember thinking at the time, ‘not to worry – I’ve been here before – it’s just history repeating itself!’”

FEATURING

Barbara Thompson
soprano, alto, tenor saxes & recorder

Jon Hiseman
Pearl drums and Paiste cymbals

Peter Lemer
keyboards

Billy Thompson
violin

Dave Ball
bass guitar

The ‘studio brass’ on tracks 4 & 6:

trumpets
Derek Watkins, Simon Gardner, Paul Spong, Stuart Brooks
trombones
Mark Nightingale, Gordon Campbell, Andy Wood
saxes
Rob Buckland, Andy Scott

The Temple Music Crew

live & recorded sound Miles Ashton
monitor mixing Barbel Kuhn
tour manager Gert Lange

All titles composed by Barbara Thompson & published by Temple Music
except (2.) Benny Golson – Time Step Music
(9.) Barbara Thompson/Peter Lemer/Jon Hiseman – Temple Music

All rights reserved
Temple Music 2011
www.temple-music.com