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Live (on disc) from Abbey Road
November 13, 2008

Airing on the Sundance Channel in the U.S., Live from Abbey Road is, well, just that: a collection of live musical performances recorded at the famed London studios, the very same facility that has hosted such musical greats as the London Symphony Orchestra, Pink Floyd, U2 and, of course, The Beatles.

Produced by Michael Gleason, the show was issued on DVD or Blu-ray this week—or, rather, highlights from the show as there certainly were a lot to choose from. Included in this Best of Season 1 collection (on the BCI/Navarre label) are performances by such varied artists as Dr. John, David Gilmour, Natasha Beddingfield, Dave Matthews, Primal Scream, The Goo-Goo Dolls, LeAnn Rimes, Norah Jones and Josh Groban.

Gleason is based in London and our attempts to arrange a phone interview were foiled by various bad electronic connections and poor timing. So I settled for an exchange of questions and answers via email, which gets some basic info across even if it doesn’t allow for much in the way of flow and consistence. Regardless, I was happiest with the questions regarding upcoming installments of the show and what artists Gleason would be most interested in letting loose on the Abbey Road stage.

“There are so many—personally I’d like to have Steely Dan, Al Green and Willie Nelson,” Gleason told me in a recent interview. “And Joni Mitchell. In future seasons we’ll also try to have more of the up and comings acts.”

“In future seasons we’d like to try to focus on music we haven’t  heard much before on our show,” he added. “We really would love to have Kanye or Jay Z.”

Posted by Laurence Lerman on November 13, 2008 | Comments (0)