Randy Newman tends to travel light when he visits these shores, a solitary performer needing little more than a venue with a decent piano to greet his head full of songs and witty anecdotes. A rare exception was this show, filmed for BBC4 in 2008, which finds him taking to the stage of St Luke’s Church with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Despite having to share the spotlight, Newman still manages to bring the intimacy and warmth of his solo gigs to the affair, self-effacingly prefacing selections from his formidable canon with jokes and revelations as if he were sat on the stool of a neighbourhood bar. The need to play in synch with a large number of musicians occasionally robs him of some of his previous spontaneity, but it’s a small price to pay to hear the likes of Sail Away, Louisiana 1927 or I Miss You with lush orchestral accompaniment.
In addition to welcome stops along the route of his 40-plus-year career, Newman showcases material from his then-new album Harps And Angels, already adding further topical verses to the biting satire of A Few Words In Defence Of Our Country, and eliciting mile-wide grins from his audience during Laugh And Be Happy.
