Each year in Falköping — a small town about 200 miles southwest of Stockholm—in late summer, a four-day Christian festival has been held in a giant tent holding upwards of 800 people, a kind of Swedish equivalent of the Southern U.S. camp meetings of old. (This year, 2009, none was held because of the death of the festival director, and next year’s is to move indoors, probably due as much to the vagaries of the weather as anything else. But it will be sad to have no more “tent” meeting with its unique ambience.) As part of the 2008 festival, New Orleans Delight was invited to participate, and along with their guest singer, Marilyn Keller from Portland, Oregon, accepted.
This festival was broadcast on radio and also was filmed, and what we have here is the complete New Orleans Delight concert given at that festival — a little over an hour-and-a-half’s duration, excluding the intermission. Other than the band’s entrance on Just a Little While to Stay Here, which consists of a small parade from the back of the tent down the aisle to the stage, the sound is excellent. The camera work is also of the highest caliber — I suspected five cameras were involved (this was later confirmed), providing a great variety of camera angles, all of which enhance viewer interest with no interruption to the sound when the focus shifts from one camera to another. The lighting is also superb. After seeing this DVD, it will be hard to go back to the single immoveable camera angle of so much on YouTube and even on some “professional” DVD’s that I have seen, not to mention the spotty sound and dim illumination they often exhibit.
Most of the tunes on this disc have appeared on other New Orleans Delight /Keller CD’s, but each rendition is different, and of course there is the added benefit of observing as well as listening to the performance here.As always, Ms. Keller’s “pipes” are in excellent shape, and she exudes joy and warmth and a feeling of gentleness as she delivers each song. She never, as so many lesser singers do, goes over the top, nor does she project a giant ego, as do many others. One senses her control at every stage: the careful use of vibrato, of inflection, of volume. Nothing is forced. Many aspiring (and some more “experienced”) vocalists could learn a lot from her. This being a Christian festival performance, all of the numbers are gospels or spirituals, and most if not all should be quite familiar. (When I Come to the End of My Journey is more often titled He’ll Understand and Say, ‘Well Done!’)
We also get the opportunity to see and hear the band in its usual format, namely the six-piece group, with trombone and clarinet sharing the lead, and there is nothing wrong with that. On most New Orleans Delight CD’s a guest trumpet player is included, but here the only guest is the vocalist. Their playing is, as might now be expected of this band, second to none. One can hope that they might again appear at this festival sometime in the future and be filmed once more.
This DVD will bear repeated viewing and should not just sit on the shelf gathering dust. Ordering information can be obtained by contacting neworle@nsdelight.dk (e-mail) or visiting www.new-orleans-delight.dk (web site).
Bert & Kjeld,
Once again you both have lifted me in praise and I Thank you- most kindly!
Posted by: Marilyn Keller | 30 November 2009 at 11:04 PM