28 | September 11, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News
The critical list: more hot tickets Round-up
Music
ɀ THIS weekend it’s Open Cambridge time. “A weekend of history, heritage and culture”, it’s running from Friday to Sunday at various colleges and university buildings. There will be talks, scenic walks around centres you’re not normally allowed into, and culminates with the News backed 5-mile charity Bridge the Gap walk on Sunday for Arthur Rank Hospice and Press Relief. For full details visit opencambridge.cam.ac.uk. ɀ IN the run up to Oxjam Cambridge Takeover in October, this Saturday talented under 18s will be competing for a place on the main festival’s line-up. Dubbed Teenjam, head to Cambridge Junction for 6pm (music starts at 7pm) to see local acts Tommy Froggat, Soham De, Grape Marmalade (excellent name that), and many more perform. Entry is £5 – call (01223) 511511 to book – with all proceeds going to Oxfam. ɀ NATURE writer Helen McDonald will be talking about her new book, H is for Hawk, at Ely Literary Festival on Thursday, September 18. Inspired by her love for falconry as a child and T. H. White’s classic book The Goshawk, after the death of her father McDonald found herself writing a novel that interwove her grief and her love of winged beasts. The talk takes place at St Peter’s Church, Ely at 7.30pm. Tickets are £7 on the day, or £6 in advance from (01353) 645005. ɀ CJ Mahony & Georgie Grace’s The Hand That Takes is, we’re told: “An immersive promenade performance using live voice, recorded sound and darkness to set the stage for a journey into loss, financial abstractions, and the mysteries of the market.” Sounds intriguing, no? Get involved at Cambridge Junction on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at various times. Tickets are £5 from (01223) 511511. Let us know what you discover…
Martha Reeves: “My life is on stage, my life is show business” ᔡ Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Cambridge Corn Exchange, Wednesday, September 17 at 7.30pm. Tickets £24.50£28.50 from (01223) 357851 / cornex.co.uk.
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HEN we speak, ultimate diva Martha Reeves has done her morning vocalisation and her bible studies, so she’s ready to talk. And she loves to talk. The 73-year-old soul singer whose voice – treacly but booming – is behind hits like Dancing in the Street and Jimmy Mack, recently opened for Secret Garden Party headliners Fat Freddy’s Drop with her band and backing singers The Vandellas. Stepping out on stage, shimmering in head-to-toe sequins, she proceeded to chat her way through the entire set and then refused, cackling, to leave the stage on time (“You know we had a good time!”). Here’s hoping she’ll be in as good a mood when she comes to Cambridge Corn Exchange, because the woman is the stuff of Motown legend. Born in Alabama and raised in Detroit, where she served on the council between 2007 and 2009, she started singing “in my grandfather’s church at the age of 3. Pianos and organs and guitars and bass have always been what inspired me and given me tones and kept me in tune, and taught me how to feel about true music.” Singing jazz and blues in nightclubs to make ends meet, she met Motown Records’ A&R director Mickey Stevenson, turned up two days early for an audition and ended up taking charge of his office before snagging a record deal herself. Then things really kicked off, leaving with her an extensive back catalogue of anecdotes she’s more than happy to reel off.
Motown legend Martha Reeves has had an extraordinary career, and, she tells ELLA WALKER, she has no plans to slow down yet
“Oh there are so many I don’t know where to start,” she replies merrily, if formulaically, when asked to pick a career highlight. “What about being in the studio when Marvin Gaye was recording Dancing in the Street and looked over to [producers] Ivy Hunter and William Stevenson and said ‘Hey man, let’s try this song on Martha,’ and gave it to me? “I don’t know if it could be when we did our 25th anniversary and saw Michael Jackson do the moonwalk for the first time; I don’t know if it was when I saw Stevie Wonder in his audition and he could play every instrument in the studio at the age of 8.” “I mean what?!” she guffaws happily. “There’s so many things! It’s a great life and there’s a lot of things that I can say. I have lots of joy from my career, lots of joy.” Despite the extensive roll call of history making moments, Reeves is pretty magnanimous about all of her shows. She’s smooth too when it comes to media speak, telling me again just how much she enjoyed Secret Garden Party: “Every performance has its own joy and its own spark of light, that’s what makes it enjoyable, that’s what makes it something I love doing.” So, there are absolutely no plans to retire? “Oh no, and I wonder why people ask me that. Music lasts forever. If you find me somewhere without a mic in my hand, that’s when I’ll retire: lying with my eyes wide open and a song on my lips.” Of course, she does take the occasional day off, but she’s very clear: “My life is on stage, my life is show business.”
That doesn’t mean she has much interest in current music though: “a lot of the soul and the feelings have gone out of it, the compassion is missing,” nor in the diva’s she opened the gates for. The likes of Beyoncé and Rihanna hold little interest for her she admits: “I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t had a large experience with a lot of music today. I mostly listen to gospel and the music we’ve made over the years, not just my music alone, but all the Motown acts. We were discovered as a family.” At this she tumbles into another seemingly pre-rehearsed story about working with The Funk Brothers as a teenager, and the talents of the Motown signees: “I think it’s all come to fruition, it’s all happening to be something I cherish, something I live for.” However practised her anecdotes though (and fair enough, she gets asked about her famous hey days constantly), she is utterly sincere and gruffly confident. “I’m still doing it. I’m writing and recording, I’ve authored a book, I’ve written a couple of plays that I hope I can have performed, I received my doctorate in humanities and my masters in religious studies,” Reeves buzzes when asked if there’s anything left she wants to achieve. “Everything that I want to do, I have the freedom to do it.” How many people are able to say that, and mean it? “All right darling,” she adds just before ringing off. “I love your voice. Do you sing? You sound like you could sing a beautiful song, and thank you for calling me.” See, told you she was smooth.