Duke Special : A Book, The Stage & Silver Screen
Multifaceted artist Duke Special returns at the end of February with a brand new project: A Book, The Stage & The Silver Screen, a triple CD set, which will also be released as single CD’s.
The Stage is a reference to the album Mother Courage and Her Children, the Duke Special written music from a new production of Bertolt Brecht’s classic anti-war play, which ran in the National Theatre in London in the latter part of 2009. The production was directed by Deborah Warner and starred Fiona Shaw in the lead role of Mother Courage. It was Shaw who brought Duke Special on board the project, having first heard the Duke in 2007, performing at ‘The Oscar Wildes’, an annual Irish film awards held in Los Angeles.
The stage spectacle is based around the music and performances of Duke Special and his band, who are an integral part of the entire play. The show was seen by over 100,000 people and garnered an overwhelming collection of positive reviews, many of which singled out Duke Special and the music as a highlight of the production. This album features twelve songs from the stage production.
A Book refers to Huckleberry Finn, a five track mini album which is the first ever recording of an unfinished musical written by Kurt Weill based on the Mark Twain classic. Weill died in 1950 before he and lyricist Maxwell Anderson were able to complete the play. The recordings come with a firm seal of approval from the Kurt Weill Foundation, who listened to the finished songs and wrote to Duke Special saying that they were delighted with the songs and that his interpretations retained the spirit of Weill.
The Silver Screen refers to the album The Silent World of Hector Mann, based on The Book of Illusions by contemporary American author Paul Auster. The album was recorded in Chicago by Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, The Stooges) and features songs performed by Duke Special and written by many artists including Duke Special, Neil Hannon, Ed Harcourt, Thomas Truax and Paul Wilkinson.
The Duke first encountered the actor Hector Mann in Auster’s The Book of Illusions and was intrigued by the fact that he had only ever made twelve obscure silent movies. Deciding to base his new music project on Mann’s movie appearances, the Duke sent a copy of The Book of Illusions and one film title to a number of artist friends, asking each to write a song based on their given film title in a pre rock ‘n’ roll style.
The results are featured on The Silent World of Hector Mann. When completed, Duke sent the recordings to Auster himself and received the reply: “He (Auster) enjoyed it immensely and was particularly thrilled by Mr. Nobody, Jockey Club, and Tango Tangle. He gives his blessing wholeheartedly to you and the project.”
Duke Special self releases this collection, having raised capital through a unique fan funding model called Pledge Music (www.pledgemusic.com), whereby artists offer all sorts of one off experiences and interesting materials and fans pledge varying amounts of money for these, enabling independent artists to raise capital without having to rely on traditional methods such as record company advances.
One of the key offerings on Duke Special’s Pledge Music page is three intimate concerts, one each in Dublin, Belfast and London, where Duke Special will perform one off, intimate and exclusive Pledge Music shows celebrating the release of The Stage, A Book & The Silver Screen. The performances will be in three parts, representing each of the albums and the Duke will be accompanied by Dublin pianist Cian Boylan and the Matador Ben Castle. Tickets for each show are only available at www.pledgemusic.com and the venues and dates are: Friday February 19, Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin; Saturday February 20, May Street Church, Belfast; Thursday February 25 Hoxton Hall, London.
THE STAGE, A BOOK & THE SILVER SCREEN
Releasing Friday February 26th, 2010, as a 3CD box set and separate CDsMother Courage and Her Children
Album of the music written and performed by Duke Special for the new production of the Bertolt Brecht classic play, translated by Tony Kushner and staged at the National Theatre in London over two months in 2009 and starring Fiona Shaw. Huckleberry Finn An unfinished musical by Kurt Weill based on the Mark Twain classic
The Silent World of Hector Mann An album based on Paul Auster’s classic ‘The Book of Illusions’ featuring songs written by Duke Special, Neil Hannon, Ed Harcourt and many more…PLUS EXCLUSIVE DUKE SPECIAL PLEDGE MUSIC GIG AT
SMOCK ALLEY THEATRE, DUBLIN ON FRIDAY FEBRUARY 19
Links:
www.dukespecial.com
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