Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Live at Le Guess Who?

New Age & Folk Jazz pioneer Beverly Glenn-Copeland gave a rare performance on the closing day of Le Guess Who? 2018 together with five-piece ensemble Indigo Rising. The performance was curated by both Devendra Banhart and Moor Mother.

Now, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Transgressive Records have officially released the full recording of the glorious performance. The live album is out digitally today and will be released as LP on 27 November 2020. Stream below and watch our videos for 'Deep River', 'Evernew' and 'Sunset Village'.

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After a twenty-year absence, Beverly Glenn-Copeland returned to the stage in 2018 with the rich path of his life in hindsight. His self-titled album from 1970 (reissued in 2017) is a lush folk-jazz album in the vein of peers such as Tim Buckley and Joni Mitchell. In 1986, he wrote and self-released the synth masterpiece Keyboard Fantasies, featuring seven tracks with a curious blend of folk, electronica and new age: a sound realized far before its time.

Three decades on, a reissue of 'Keyboard Fantasies' and subsequent plays by Four Tet, Caribou and more, the music finally found its audience, gaining global recognition two generations down the line. At Le Guess Who? 2018, Glenn-Copeland performed with five-piece ensemble Indigo Rising, breathing new life into his past works.

Read our interview with Beverly Glenn-Copeland about his incredible life story, 'Keyboard Fantasies', and his work for CBC’s children’s show Mr. Dressup: "I was making music for a generation that had yet to be born."

"What better way to round off the festival weekend than a seated set with musical visionary, Beverly Glenn-Copeland? His is a career that is multi-layered, spanning Sesame Street to New Age synth masterpiece Keyboard Fantasies and beyond. Joined tonight by his “musical teammates,” five-piece ensemble Indigo Rising, Glenn-Copeland proves that while he may have grown in years—he’s still rocking at age 74—that vibrato is still as solid as ever.

Many have compared his jazz-infused folk to Joni Mitchell and Tim Buckley on a good day, but it’s his onstage ease that makes him such a lovable character: “I talk a lot, and that takes up a lot of time in the set. We only play six songs, but I play my mouth for half an hour!” he jokes. But it’s not all charming little asides. Glenn-Copeland tells heartfelt stories of his ancestors that resonate. "Deep River" is tells the story of West African slaves who weren’t allowed to drum, or even gather together except on Sundays. Glenn-Copeland adds, with a cheeky grin, that he’s putting the drum back to beat out a mean conga." - BUST

Recorded on Sunday, 11 November, at TivoliVredenburg's Hertz. Listen + watch more Le Guess Who? recordings via our archive.

Video produced by Nick Helderman.
Audio recorded by Philip ten Brink.
Audio mix by Marc Broer.
Video edit by Gerrit Jan van Putten.
Camera operators: Wim Adam, Milan van Dril, Roy Jamhouri, Tim van Voort.
Photography by Tim van Veen.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Live at Le Guess Who?

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