Backed by just a guitarist and a keyboardist, with occasional synth percussion, the concert was wise in featuring Artie's clear, sweet tenor. Admittedly, at 75 years of age, there's more breathiness on the higher notes, and he either has to use his falsetto more often than I remember, or the jump to it is more noticeable in the more-intimate theater setting than the arena I heard him and Paul Simon in a few years ago (during their "Old Friends" tour). I found myself wondering "How in the world is he going to be able to sing "Bridge Over Troubled Water"?
Scattered throughout the evening were surprise, and surprisingly moving, readings from a book being released in September...a compilation of things Mr. G. calls prose poems...short pieces he has written throughout his career, with humor and poignancy. I look forward to reading the book.
As expected, most of the songs were from the Simon & Garfunkel era, but he also included a greatly edited version of his Adult Contemporary semi-hit "All I Know", "Bright Eyes" (from the movie, "Watership Down"), his own composition "Perfect Moment", and "Emotional Girl" by Randy Newman, who Garfunkel lists as one of the 5 best American songwriters (along with Stephen Sondheim, Paul Simon, Jimmy Webb, and James Taylor).
And what about "Bridge..."? A slightly altered arrangement made allowances for his more-limited range, including completely dropping the third verse and its throat-splitting finale. 'Twas much more subdued, but somehow, more believable. Gone was the strident, youthful, "I will ease your mind!"...replaced by a more-solemn, wiser-because-of-the-years submissive "I will lay me down."
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