Steven Nason, fresh out of the Royal College of Music joined Costello's backing band The Attractions in 1977, gaining a new identity after uncertainty as to the nature of a previously unknown (to him anyway) called a groupie. Ian Dury allegedly did that.
There is, however, nothing naïve about the mad scientist keyboard work he has contributed to Elvis Costello records and concerts since This Year’s Model. To be fair, there have been times when Elvis has dispensed with his services (he discarded The Attractions between Blood & Chocolate and Brutal Youth) and when that has happened Steve has managed a number of other collaborations, playing gigs and composer credits, including film soundtracks and an opera (Welcome to the Voice).
The actual Lazy Point of the title is a headland in The Hamptons, a group of villages and hamlets along the South Fork of Long Island, New York that are popular seaside resorts in summer and boast some of the most expensive residential property in the U.S.A.
A glance at the track titles (Kathy's Verandah, Ferry to Shelter Island, Amy's Adirondack In Sagaponack for example) should be enough to indicate the languid summer holiday vibe here and the visiting the seaside village, friends and acquaintance comes through when you see titles like Alison for Michael At the Music Store and Shipbuilding for T On Treasure Island.
Yes, that’s be Mr Costello’s Alison and Shipbuilding reworked, not quite in the manner of the keyboard extemporisations on the Costello & Nieve box set, but not a million miles away either.
Mileages may vary if you’re a classical piano fan, but for this long term admirer of Steve Nieve’s playing this fills a significant niche in the music library, and will be getting plenty of action when the right environment rolls around.
The Supervisor was quite taken by it as well.
The Valparaiso Men’s Chorus The Straits of St. Claude (3.5* if you don’t like sea shanties, but I’m close to giving it 5)
Alerted to the existence of this bunch of alcohol-fuelled degenerates (the centre of their social universe is apparently Saturn Bar on New Orleans St. Claude Avenue, hence the Straits of St. Claude) while trying to dig up some hard information about leader Alex McMurray, the concept of a bunch of New Orleans musos playing the likes of Bound for South Australia piqued my curiosity, and this collection of fifteen sea shanties is rapidly working its way up the play count on Hughesy’s iTunes.
Now, you might look at this and give the whole concept a quick Why bother? but there’s a simple answer to that question.
There have been any number of variations on the get a bunch of inebriates to roar into singalong mode with lyrics that’ll attract an Explicit tag in the iTunes Store, but there aren’t too many that have an instrumental backing that’s straight out of the New Orleans second line. Alex McMurray’s Tin Men provide the nucleus of the backing, with washboard. sousaphone, penny whistle and accordion prominent, along with the mandatory trombone in the instrumentation and close to twenty voices in the chorus.
X-rated sea shanties meets a New Orleans marching band. What’s not to like about that?