Baby Dee and Doug Tielli
No matryoshka’s
Although American harpist, pianist and composer Baby Dee has recorded several albums under her own name, a wider audience may know her mainly as a part-time member of Antony and the Johnsons and Current 93. On September 16 she played her own repertoire in the KC BELGIUM, with Doug Tielli as supporting act.
The Canadian Doug Tielli is the kind of musician who on occassion of your everyday rock rally will most likely be confronted with jury reports that contain bromides like "certainly has potential, but the songs are not yet finalized" or "aren’t you overdoing it?". In the case of this Toronto-based singer-songwriter such reservations would really rather speak of the limitations of the reviewers than of the musician in question. Tielli’s songs are in fact little gems, each with tiny missing parts: sudden stops, small ditties which disturb the normal sequence, sparse vocals, unusual twists and - on stage - the modest but striking arrangements in which his songs are performed.
While multi-instrumentalist Tielli has basically recorded his album "Swan Sky Sea Squirrel' alone, during the first part of his set he was accompanied on stage by Ryan Driver, who switched from piano to synthesizer to flute. Tielli started on a Mexican 12-string baritone guitar, switched to electronic guitar later, after which he played the trombone.
Doug Tielli and Ryan Driver © kunstencentrum BELGI, Kris Wuytens
With his warm, smooth baritone voice, that can go up to about falsetto height, he touched sensitive grounds. Echoes of roots rock, Johnny Cash and even ‘hotel background music’ floated through the songs, bringing them to the psychedelic edge, thanks to the varied instrumental accompaniment.
Especially the duets with Driver were of an estranging beauty. Everything seemed to work. In ‘Yes I Am Lonely’ Driver’s sparse piano enhanced the intimate nature of the song, but the NASA-like electronics and even the flute-guitar combination in ‘Deer’ (free from any hint of Thijs Van Leer or Berdien Stenberg) held their ground.
For the second part of the act, the arrival of bassist Joe Carvell and drummer Alex Neilson turned the duo into a quartet. The songs were of a slightly more conventional sound, but continued to lead a life of their own. Special touches like the stops in ‘RIVERSEA’ and the gentle and humble performance by Carvell and certainly Neilson ensured that the estranging lightness of the first part was preserved.
With Doug Tielli in quartet formation the wait was merely for the appearance of Baby Dee. as the foursome was not only the band of Tielli, but also formed the ‘Baby Dee Orchestra’. Thus, no more than a short break was needed before the second part of the evening could begin.
The setting for Baby Dee's show was special: the entire room, including the side and the back of the stage, was hung with canvases by artist Christina de Vos, who designed the cover of Dee's latest album ‘Regifted Light’. The combination of work by De Vos with the music of Baby Dee created an extraordinary atmosphere in an environment in which everything fell into place. Musically as well, as became clear from the first notes of the performance.
Fully in style with Baby Dee’s theatrical music, her attendance was announced and accompanied by her band, that finished the overture right at the minute the leading lady sat down at the piano and took matters into her own hands.
Despite this beautiful intro - it remained to be seen how the ‘Regifted Light’ songs would hold up without the typical contribution of cello, horn, bassoon or tuba. But Doug Tielli’s performance already indicated that her accompanying artists had all the instrumental skills needed to provide the music with the appropriate colors. Tielli and Driver kept switching instruments while they were accompanying Baby Dee, enhancing the vaudeville pop: melodic, catchy and often touching. This culminated in great versions of catchy songs like ‘On the Day I Died’ and ‘Regifted Light’, as well as the hilarious ‘Pie Song’, which was extended with a sympathetic vocal a cappella section, involving the entire band.
Baby Dee later began to browse through the repertoire of her previous album ‘Safe Inside the Day’. Songs like ‘Fresh Out of Candles' and ‘The Early King’ were given different arrangements than the songs from ‘Regifted Light’: the coloring was reduced in favor of a sturdier sound, which shed a different light on Dee's repertoire.
Towards the end of the set she returned to the last album, switching from piano to harp. Together with Joe Carvell on bass and Tielli on musical saw she signed for a smashing version of the instrumental ‘Deep Peaceful’. The first part of ‘Brother Slug and Sister Snail' didn’t work quite so well. The percussive use of the harp didn’t uplift the the melodic qualities of the composition as well. With the use of the fairground waltz everything fell into place again, so that Baby Dee could say goodbye in style: greeting and leaving the stage, while her musicians finished the last song.
For the encores Baby Dee returned to the repertory of ‘Safe Inside the Day’: first ‘The Dance of Diminishing Possibilities’ with her band, and - after an applause that lasted for several minutes - ‘Compass of the Light’ in a solo version.
For those who still doubted it: Antony Hegarty, Baby Dee and Doug Tielli are not matryoshka's, who diminish at every branch. Just like the American is more than ‘the harpist of...’, the Canadian can not be reduced to ‘the guitarist of...’. Baby Dee and Doug Tielli left little doubt of that in Hasselt.
Koen van Meel, September 17, Kwadratuur.be
Baby Dee and Doug Tielli
No matryoshka’s
Translation of Koen van Meel's review of the Hasselt concert,
September 16, 2011
original review in Dutch at Kwadratuur.be:
Baby Dee, Doug Tielli
Geen matroesjka's