English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello returns in Montreux for the 9th time in 2010. He will perform songs from Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, his latest album, a country-rock project.
It's impossible to consider The River in Reverse without taking the devastation Hurricane Katrina wreaked upon New Orleans into account. Indeed, it's quite likely that this collaboration between Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint would not even have occurred if it weren't for that cataclysmic event. They've collaborated before – Toussaint wrote horn charts for Costello's 1989 album Spike – but neither had plans to work together until they appeared together at several benefit concerts for the victims of Katrina in September of 2005.
One of the most celebrated singer/songwriters of her generation, Lucinda Williams was also a fiercely independent artist who had to fight for the creative freedom that allowed her to do her best work. The daughter of a well-respected poet, Williams brought a literacy and sense of detail to her work that was unpretentious but powerfully evocative and emotional, which led to a number of major artists covering her tunes while she was still establishing herself as a performer. As a vocalist, Williams used the rough edges of her instrument to her advantage, allowing the grit of her voice to heighten the authenticity of her performance.
TOM WAITS - UNDER THE COVERS (THE SONGS HE DIDN T WRITE) While Tom Waits has been responsible for some of the finest compositions of the past 40 years, his regular interpretations - particularly when performing live - of songs written by others often remain as enticing and delightful as his delivery of his self-penned numbers. This splendid collection includes 24 such renditions, recorded live in concert for FM broadcast at various points in his career thus far. Including songs originally, or most famously, performed by artists and groups as eclectic and diverse as The Doors, James Brown, Peggy Lee, Ewan MacColl, Elvis Presley and many others, this CD will delight Tom Waits enormous fan base as it catalogues the very best of this skilled translator s readings of many great compositions.