Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Tribute Concert to Paul Simon

Ahead of his jazz festival appearance on the next day a tribute concert was held in honour of Paul Simon.

It seemed like half of Montréal braved the inclement weather to see this free outdoor show. The early evening thundershowers magically ended and the skies cleared just in time. The organizers were so confident of the clear weather that they even took down the tent protecting the sound equipment.

Opened with a poetic tribute to Simon and Garfunkel's first album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. read by Leonard Cohen. An incredible array of talent starting with Colin James, followed by Holly Cole, Bedouin Soundclash, Sam Roberts, Jamie Cullen, Elvis Costello, Allan Toussaint, Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, Kevin Parent, Jeri Brown, Zachary Richard, Michel Rivard, Daniel Lanois, and ending with the JB Pumped Singers of Montreal performing a spine tingling a cappella gospel version of Slip Sliding Away. I never realized how many songs Paul Simon wrote until this concert as they sang two hours of his hits.

They recorded the show for later broadcast so look for it on CBC or Bravo! sometime in the future.

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