Insomniacs who listen to the wonderful weekly Virtual Jukebox feature on Dotun Adebayo’s BBC 5 Live night watchman show will know the name of a frequent collaborator and chum of the great broadcaster, David Bowie’s former publicist, Jonathan Wingate.
Wingate has executive produced an upcoming Lateralize Bowie themed album, The Seat with the Clearest View.
It’s sung rather beautifully by West End show singer and actor Oliver Darley accompanied by pianist Chad Lelong who shares an album lead co-credit very tastefully at its core.
It’s not at all a “god awful small affair.”
Sordid details following: Some tracks are streaming already so you can hear what I’m on about.
Full personnel on The Seat With The Clearest View in addition finds these musicians also on the album: Jamie McCredie on guitar known for his work with Jo Harrop plus cellist Julia Graham, violinists Debs White and Charis Jensen, violist Rachel Robson and double bassist Jihad Darwish, a superb player I have heard a few times live in places like the Green Note with Marcus Bonfanti and Vortex. Darwish – whose style resembles Gary Crosby’s a bit – was also with Moses Boyd on pride of the Isle of Wight nu jazz maven Greg Foat’s excellent Opening Time last year.
“Although numerous artists have interpreted David’s songs over the years,” says Wingate, “only a handful have ever truly left their own indelible stamp on them. Oliver Darley and Chad Lelong have somehow managed to cover completely uncharted musical terrain with these songs, so they’re reassuringly familiar and yet utterly unlike anything fans would ever expect.”
Darley, who has a strong tenor – he’s the keeper of an extremely expressive voice – has Bowie form already.
The Woman in White actor released Simply Bowie on a label called Amber and Blue in 2016. But that album isn’t available right now.
He debuted much further back in 2002 with an album issued by major label owned East West called Introducing that had the great Memphis singer William “Private Number” Bell guesting on ‘Eloise (Hang On In There)’ a Bell/Booker T. Jones number that fans will know from the 1960s and was later covered by Paul Young on the ‘Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)’ man’s 2016 album, Good Thing. Chad Lelong was on Introducing too, on a stirring version of Ewan MacColl’s ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.’
Look below at this video of Darley with another keyboardist that goes back to I think 2017 singing ‘Ashes to Ashes.’
The Seat With The Clearest View is out in May heralded by a show up close and personal at Soho’s Crazy Coqs a stone’s throw from Eros, that enduring symbol of love found at the beating heart of London.
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