Michael Chapman
Album: Live At Rockpalast
Label: Repertoire
Tracks: 16+9
Website: http://www.michaelchapman.co.uk

The renowned acoustic guitar virtuoso and songwriter is still gigging in his 70s, and we're constantly being reminded of the enduring nature of his work through his perennial reinvention of key repertoire in his latter-day gigs, where songs and instrumental pieces from as far back as the 60s are found to be as relevant today as they were when first outed. Here, the Repertoire label presents a case for Michael's music of the 1970s, in the form of a CD and DVD of his April 1975 solo performance on Germany's Rockpalast live-TV showcase.

Songs performed on this occasion include In The Valley and Among The Trees (highlights of his earlier Window album), Deal Gone Down (the title track of his then-recently-released album), the eternal live classic Sea Of Wine, the fun instrumental Wellington The Skellington and the ruminative Firewater Dreams. Another archetypal Chapman set, then, and no complaints. OK, the recording quality isn't quite as good as might be expected perhaps, a touch tinny, but will suffice.

Also on the CD we find the seven pieces Michael performed at the Rockpalast Rocknacht (March 1978) in a massive hall as warmup act for three bands! These include the epic improvisation on A Scholarly Man, a fine take on Dylan's Ballad In Plain D and a completely different take on the aforementioned Sea Of Wine.

Now for the interesting bit - the accompanying DVD duplicates the CD's contents as far as the 1975 gig's concerned, but there's only two songs from the 1978 gig (I'm Sober Now and Sea Of Wine), since no footage exists of the remainder of the show. So I guess we must be thankful for what we do have here, and it's another desirable addition to the Chapman catalogue - if (inevitably) maybe for the hardcore Chapman fans rather than the newcomer to his music.

David Kidman