Now based in France, singer/songwriter, MYLES SANKO, who originally hails from Accra in Ghana and debuted in 2014 with an LP called ‘Forever Dreaming’, has steadily built himself a reputation as a solid, real soul performer. He has a quartet of fine albums under his belt (all worth checking out, by the way) and now like most serious artists he’s released a live album. I guess it’s a kind of a rite of passage and some turn out more successful than others.
This new live Sanko set, imaginatively titled, ‘Live At Philharmonie, Luxembourg’, was, as is obvious, recorded in Luxembourg with that tiny country’s famed, 70 piece Philharmonie Orchestra led by Grammy Award winning conductor Gast Waltzing, though to keep the sound “rooted” Myles has his usual trusted soul/jazz sextet (pianist Tom O’Grady, bassist Jon Mapp, drummer Rick Hudson, guitarist Phil Stevenson, saxophonist/flutist Gareth Lumbers, trumpeter Sam Ewens) on hand too. We don’t have details of the date and actual place of the concert/recording.
The album is a ten tracker and with modern technology the sound quality is excellent. The repertoire includes plenty of Sanko favourites like ‘Come On Home’, ‘Just Being Me’, ‘Forever Dreaming’ and ‘High On You’ which is the set’s rousing closer.
Singer, his band and the orchestra are in total sync – a synchronicity that’s there with the audience too (listen up to that connection on the 12 minute version of ‘Forever Dreaming’).It also helps that Myles has a superb voice that can offer both warm conviction and controlled energy as required. He says: “To be able to release my first live album of such magnitude is a dream come true. Capturing what I do live has always been a goal of mine for some time now and I am over the moon that it has finally come to life. To do it this way exceeds my imagination and I am truly honoured to have created this with all these exceptional musicians”
Myles Sanko’s ‘Live at Philharmonie Luxembourg’ is out now via Legere Recordings… oh, and you can file it under “success”! (see above!)
