Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Friday 13th March 2015
Adelaide born bassist, Yanni Burton, who now lives in New York, is in town for the Fringe. This time, though, he is not here to play the bass, but to sing the songs from his debut EP CD,
Same Old Love, released in April 2014. The songs were written at various times during a relationship that ended, and the final one is for a new relationship that has begun.
This sold out performance was upstairs at La Boheme, but the final performance on Saturday will be at The Promethean. He and his band will then tour the eastern states performing at four other venues before returning to America.
His group was an interesting mix of a string quartet, including violin, Sarah Koenig-Plonskier, 'cello, Peter Pearson, and a quartet consisting of keyboards, Matthew Sheens, electric and double bass, Alana Dawes, guitar, Andrew Orkin, and drums, Kenneth Salters, plus a marvellous backing singer, Tiger Darrow.
Dawes is another Adelaide musician now working in New York, but she returns here every June to perform with some of the big name artists in the Cabaret Festival, so we have not lost her completely.
This combination permitted a great set of possibilities, which Burton utilised to excellent effect in his arrangements. Rhythmically, too, there was plenty of variation, going beyond the basic 3/4 and 4/4 to include one number with a Bossa Nova beat, and another with a Tango beat. Adding to that the meaningful lyrics, this performance easily held the attention, particularly as he posses a fine, and expressive singing voice, even adding his own bass playing as he sang, on a couple of numbers.
His
Same Old Love EP, which was available for sale after the performance, contains half a dozen songs:
I Miss You,
I Never Knew,
Beautiful,
Awake,
Lies of Love, and
Love Me., all of which were sung in this wonderful concert. Yanni Burton appears to have a whole new career ahead of him as a songwriter and singer which, if he continues on that path, might upset a good many people for whom he been playing bass. Watch for him to return to Adelaide and, if you are in New York, seek him out.
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