Review: James Grant & the Hallelujah Strings
All played their part to astutely pitched perfection, not least the droll Grant. Composer Craig Armstrong’s arrangement of Nature Boy and his own My Thrawn Glory demonstrated his talents as a torch singer, while the tasty arrangement of Piglet featured tremulous strings bouncing off Grant’s meaty lead guitar.
MUSIC
James Grant & the Hallelujah Strings 4stars
City Halls, Glasgow
Token positive song This Could Be The Day was mooted by Grant as a possible Commonwealth Games theme, but there was something in that wry jest. The power of suggestion was also strong when Dusty Springfield was namedropped as the inspiration for a lush arrangement of I Can’t Stop Bleeding.
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Hide AdFor a self-styled purveyor of “grim tales”, Grant presided over a celebratory home run, revisiting the 80s pop funk of Jocelyn Square, now enhanced with disco strings, powered up a newer Love & Money song, The Devil’s Debt, and, with the crowd on their feet, pulled off a swaggering Starman.