17 December 2010, Singapore – 56 year old legendary English singer-song writer Elvis Costello will perform at the Marina Bay Sands Grand Theater on 7 March 2011. Brought in by BASE Entertainment, Costello will gratify audiences from around the world in the 2,155 seat entertainment venue, bringing rock, jazz and country to Singapore for one night.
Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello’s lyrics is broader than that of most popular songs. His music has drawn on many diverse genres switching effortlessly from jazz to classical, country to punk. The young American critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine describes him as a “pop encyclopedia,” able to “reinvent the past in his own image” and Rolling Stones magazine calls him a “quintessential critics” favourite.
Costello whose real name is Declan Patrick McManus, first came to fame as an early participant in London’s pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the Punk/New Wave genre after releasing his debut album, My Aim is True in 1977.
In Jan 2011, Costello will be releasing Pomp & Pout, The Universal Years, the first ever collection of Costello’s material from the years of 1998-2008, and provides a sonic bookend to the successful compilation The Best Of Elvis Costello. Pomp & Pout was compiled by Costello and features b-sides, rarities and work from soundtracks alongside other album highlights. In October this year he also released a new album called National Ransom, recorded in a total of eleven days at Sound Emporium, Nashville and Village Recorders, Los Angeles.
Costello has worked with big names such as Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Lucinda Williams, Lee Konitz, Brian Eno, and Rubén Blades and many others. Costello is also a music fan, and often champions the works of others in print. He has written several pieces for the magazine Vanity Fair, including the summary of what a perfect weekend of music would be. His collaboration with Bacharach honoured Bacharach’s place in pop music history. Costello also appeared in documentaries about singers Dusty Springfield, Brian Wilson, Wanda Jackson, and Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records. He has also interviewed one of his own influences, Joni Mitchell. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #80 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Costello has released over 30 studio albums on his own and with the Attractions, the Imposters, or others. He is married to Grammy-winning Canadian jazz songbird Diana Krall with whom he has twin sons.
Tickets go on sale today.
Credit: Wikipedia for information about Elvis Costello.
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