Ace among the playing pack (From Dorset Echo)

Ace among the playing pack

1:50pm Friday 24th October 2008 in

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RESPECT is a commodity that tends to be in short supply where the music business is concerned.

The spotlight can be a harsh and unforgiving medium, and today’s star all too often ends up as tomorrow’s cannon fodder, 48th on the bill on a comeback tour of godforsaken northern variety crypts.

Some artistes, however, rise above all of this. There are those whose talent is so acute that they exist on an exalted plain, unbuffeted by the turbulent vagaries of changing tastes and trends… musicians who other musicians turn to when they need someone they can rely upon to deliver the goods time and again.

Paul Carrack (Bournemouth Pavilion, Saturday, 7.30pm, £24.50, tickets from 0844 576 3000) is an illustrative case in point. Few people remember Ace, the band Paul first came to prominence with, but they sure as Shinola remember Ace’s hit single How Long, thanks in no small measure to Paul’s soulful, expressive vocal.

All over the world, top-class musicians quietly took note and filed Paul’s name away for future reference. As a consequence, the intervening years have seen him being called upon to supply his inimitable vocals and keyboard skills to a dizzying number of recordings by artistes of the calibre of Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Roxy Music, Squeeze and Mike & The Mechanics.

Paul’s current tour is in support of his new album, I Know That Name, and its concurrent single, I Don’t Want To Hear Any More, which features Don Henley and Timothy B Schmidt of The Eagles. Find him and learn more at www.carrack-uk.com Also touring at present with a new album in tow is the truly legendary Richie Havens (Cheese & Grain, Frome, Sunday, £17.50/£20 at the door, tickets from 01373 455420), the man who galvanised the 1969 Woodstock Festival with a hypnotic reading of his signature composition Freedom, and a man who has been pursuing the message of universal brotherhood ever since.

The great man cropped up recently in a heart-warming cameo in Todd Haynes’ film I’m Not There, and his new album Nobody Left To Crown finds his passion and humanity undimmed.

Get the whole story at www.richiehavens.com On Wednesday, there’s another coup in a recent spate for Bridport as the Electric Palace plays host to the first night of the Beyond Breaking Glass tour by Hazel O’Connor with Cormac De Barra (Electric Palace, Bridport, Wednesday, 7.30pm, £12, tickets from 01308 428354).

This theatre-style autobiographical show was described as ‘the highlight of the Edinburgh Festival’ by The Scotsman – that’s the newspaper, incidentally, not me, although as a Scotsman of sorts I would also like to add my recommendation to a show that celebrates the indomitability of the human spirit.

When the film Breaking Glass became one of the biggest successes of 1980, Hazel’s brief tenure as a global star of screen and stage left her unimpressed with the machinations of the industry, and caused her to retreat into a quieter lifestyle which nevertheless paid rich dividends in an artistic sense. It’s a pleasure to have her visiting us.

Finally, Wednesday evening also sees the arrival in the county of Etran Finatawa (Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, Wednesday, 7.30pm, £12 advance/£14 at the door, tickets from 01297 442138), a band formed from two different tribes from the desert fringes of Niger.

Their combination of desert blues and traditional Wodaabe chants has proved potent enough to secure them a nomination in the best newcomer category in last year’s BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards. Marine Theatre manager Steph Dormmett says: “The band isn’t only about the music, which is spellbinding and hypnotic, but it’s also about the way they bring their songs alive through dance, chants, hand clapping and the traditional dress of the area.”

Interested parties should note that Etran Finatawa are hosting a drumming workshop on Wednesday at 2pm as well as the evening performance proper at 7.30pm.

Oh, and post-finally, it has just been brought to my attention that music-loving publican and all-round good egg Pete Smith is all set to open his long-awaited new venture, No 6, in King Street in Weymouth. This handsome building, which used to play host to the British Legion Club, will have the champagne broken across its bows in fine style by The Lo Numbers (No 6, Weymouth, Sunday, 3pm). Chris and myself send our best wishes to all.