„History and myth are also two forms of context Morrison is determined to combine in his music. His sets in 1973 juxtaposed original material from throughout his career with established soul and blues songs by Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, Willie Dixon and Sonny Boy Williamson. His own songs are composites themselves: blues, jazz, folk, and rock forms all appear in his music, sometimes at once, collapsing into a slipstream of associations. This feeling of endlessness, of the language of a genre losing its shape and blending with others, gives even his straightest R&B numbers the shape of a whirlpool.“
(Brad Nelson, pitchfork)
Last night I read a a passage in my show from Barbara Ehrenreich’s book „Dancing In The Streets – The History of Collective Joy“. The new edition of unreleased concerts of Van Morrison with his Caledonia Soul Orchestra surprises me in many ways. Listening to these performances of exuberant elan vital and joie de vivre, I’M THERE! And sitting on my petrol green sofa, slightly deprived of sleep, with a glass of red wine, I’m joining the crowd of another era – pure joy floating through my body – I would call it „solitary, collective joy“!