I live under a rock and have no idea what Ed Sheeran sounds like. I read the article about Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots owner, saying that Sheeran’s tour could not play at Gillette Stadium if it continued with Macklemore, a rapper who proclaimed “Free Palestine.” That announcement was followed by the withdrawal of Sheeran’s other support acts and the Irish folk band that backed him up on his two-hour-plus performances.
Everyone has to decide for themselves whether or not they want to ignore injustice, but I was impressed that Sheeran went on to play solo at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The article said he used an array of guitar pedals to loop and layer short snippets of sound to create a live, repeating backing track.
Jake Wark’s tenor saxophone is hiding behind his laptop in my photo. He works in much the same manner, sampling and mixing while improvising on his sax. He sampled some crazy stuff and made it work in loops, weaving layers of electronica with melodic lines.
Pianist Michael McNeill was the perfect partner, such a quick improviser. The duo never let things get out of hand. Their performance stayed musical throughout, and it was quite impressive to watch them land the plane as they pulled out of the soundscapes they had created.
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