Duke Special Goes For Imagery

Duke Special will be performing a very special concert of songs based on the photographs of Stieglitz, Steichen & Strand, which he first performed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in March.

Taking place at the Belfast Waterfront Studio, next month, (31st October), the music is the result of a year living with the images, reading about the photographers, their subjects, their equipment and the times in which they lived and worked.

Duke said: "After performing at a small festival in New York in March 2010, I was asked by Jeanette O'Keefe and Ashley Williams from the Metropolitan Museum to visit the Met the following day.

"They wanted me to consider a collaboration with the photographic department, in particular concerning an upcoming exhibition of the work of Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen and Paul Strand," he said.

His co-writers on this project were Boo Hewerdine (formerly of The Bible, and often as a collaborator with Eddi Reader as well as a solo artist in his own right), Pádraig Ó Tuama, a Corkman in Belfast, who has been writing and performing poetry most of his adult life, and past collaborator Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy.

The performance of the songs at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, in front of projections of the photos and accompanied by a string quartet, was a resounding success and Duke has been eager to be able to reprise the show in different locations, so he is thrilled to be able to perform it again this autumn, not only in Belfast but also in Dublin at the Sugar Club on November 16th and at a later date in London.

Meanwhile, Duke will be going into the studio shortly to record the songs with the RTE Concert Orchestra, which will be available on CD and to download from October 31st (and the CD will be available for sale at the shows).

(BMcC/GK)