( sorry if this is a double post-- I tried to post it earlier, and THINK it failed)
Just found out that Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull is doing a solo tour of the US in the fall. I’ve seen several Tull references here, so folks may be interested. Check out: http://www.j-tull.com/index.html
and navigate to tour schedules.
Anderson is a fascinating guy, and great songwriter/singer/flute player. BTW-- before the flute, he played whistle.
This is an acoustic tour, and sounds really interesting.
Not to mention he’s responsible for the great song “The Whistler” (and recorded a video for it with lots of closeups of his whistle playing).
For ease of browsing:
http://www.jethrotull.com/tourdates/index.html
AUGUST
13 Highland Park Chicago, IL Ravinia Pavilion
15 Kettering, OH Fraze Pavilion, Linoln Park
16 South Bend, IN Morris Perf. Arts Centre
17 Sheboygan, WI Sheboygan Lakefest-Main Stage
18 Rochester Hill, MI Meadow brook Music Festival
20 Providence, RI Providence Perf. Arts Centre
21 Montreal, Canada Place Des Arts
22 Toronto, Canada Molson Amphitheatre
23 Chautauqua, NY Chautauqua Inst. Amphitheatre
24 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach Music Theatre
25 Boston, MA Fleet Boston Pavilion
27 Verona, NY Turning Stone Casino
28 Trenton, NJ Patriots War Memorial Theatre
29 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Centre
30 Atlantic City, NJ Trump Taj Mahal
31 Mashantucket, CT Foxwoods Resort and Casino
SEPTEMBER
1 Gilford, NH Meadowbrook Farm
Additionally in October:
Jethro Tull’s flautist and singer presents an intimate evening of acoustic songs, music and bawdy tales. The on-air personalities will be seated on the stage next to the band and work with Ian to introduce songs, anecdotes, and local guests. There will be two local guests - one a musical performer - and members of the audience will be invited to put their own questions to Ian and maybe even have the opportunity to come up on to the stage.
OCTOBER
- 8 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
- 10 Kalamazoo, MI - Kalamazoo State Theater
- 11 Toledo, OH - Peristyle Theater
- 12 Cincinnati, OH - Music Hall (Grand Ballroom)
- 13 Easton, PA - State Theater
- 15 Troy, NY - Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
- 16 Wilmington, DE - Grand Opera House
- 17 Tarrytown, NY - Tarrytown Music Hall
- 18 Kenne, NH - Colonial Theater
- 19 Ridgefield, CT - Ridgefield Playhouse
- 20 Poughkeepsie, NY - Bardavon Theater
Saw Ian with Tull last spring for
the first time. Everything I expected
and more. He’s an incredible talent
and if you have a chance go see one
of the shows.
Kelhorn Mike
And if you want to buy his flute go to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=901375754&rd=1 in the NEXT 11 HOURS!
On 2002-08-28 08:10, colomon wrote:
Not to mention he’s responsible for the great song “The Whistler” (and recorded a video for it with lots of closeups of his whistle playing).
I am a MAJOR Ian Anderson/Tull fan. Have been since I first saw them (Jethro Tull) in 1973, and have seen them live virtually every year (or 2 years, depending on the tour schedules) ever since. I met Anderson in 1996, backstage in Manchester.
BUT…the whistler is not a great song, in my view. There are far more complex, intricate and musically better tunes and songs in the Tull songbooks. Alright, it’s about whistles! But it’s really average compared to say, ‘wondering Aloud’, ‘My God’, ‘Life’s a Long Song’, ‘Skating Away on the thin Ice of a new Day’, or ‘One White Duck’, etc, etc.
Steve 
edited for typos
[ This Message was edited by: StevePower on 2002-08-28 15:19 ]
Ack, no west coast dates at all.
Oh well, Lunasa will be here tomorrow evening, and I’ll be right there. 
I’ll agree with Skating Away being one of the great songs of all time- those lyrics are sooooo wonderful,and deep, but then the lyrics of Tull tunes are always great. I also love Heavy Horses- I painted that once and it is my favorite painting.
First saw Jethro Tull in '75.
[ This Message was edited by: cowtime on 2002-08-28 22:41 ]
Ian, you’re shunning the South!!!
I’ve seen J.T. several times over the years, and LOVE them ~ BTW, Life’s A Long Song is ever the best… But I am really loving The Secret Language of Birds CD!
Mary
The interesting thing about Skating Away, is that when they perfomed it on their live concert album, they traded instruments.
What I would like to know, is where Ian Anderson got his guitar. It is the prettiest sounding guitar I think I’ve ever heard. He is so noted for his flute playing, but he also played guitar all over the place.
I also have a slight suspicion that if you grew up listening to Jethro Tull, then you also listened to Yes, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Gentle Giant (maybe?), and other bands that your friends never heard of. Just a guess, though.
JP
Coming soon! Absolutely nowhere near me! Accck the story of my life.
I’m a Tull/Anderson fan. I loved the album “Songs from the Wood” and his latest “The Secret Language of Birds”.
Dang…I wanna go too.
On 2002-08-28 15:16, StevePower wrote:
BUT…the whistler is not a great song, in my view. There are far more complex, intricate and musically better tunes and songs in the Tull songbooks. Alright, it’s about whistles! But it’s really average compared to say, ‘wondering Aloud’, ‘My God’, ‘Life’s a Long Song’, ‘Skating Away on the thin Ice of a new Day’, or ‘One White Duck’, etc, etc.
Actually, “The Whistler” is more musically complex than any of the songs you name except maybe “My God” – it has plenty of key changes and tempo/meter shifts. They’re easy to miss because they are built into the regular fabric of the song.
Even stripped of the fun whistle solo, the tune is strong enough to survive and prosper as an instrumental (see the 25 years box set, for instance) – it’s both driving, catchy, and with the whistle solos, joyful. The words may not be deep, but they are appropriately folky and fun.
I will call the combination great without hesitation.
Count me in as a Tull fan! I loved “Secret Language of Birds”.
I hope you don’t think that “The Whistler” has an actual whistle playing the whistle solo. It’s really a keyboard instrument. My 2 cents. JP
Ian Anderson’s signed flute, on E-Bay sold for $3,650. I understand that there were actually 3 flutes available, for the top 3 bidders. So, the charity he donated them to did well it seems. 8 hours before the end, I was highest bidder at $2,500. But, I then went to bed (GMT didn’t allow me to stay up for the final bids) and presimably got well overtaken. 
Yes, I am a ‘Yes’ and ELP fan too. (Question in thread).
Steve
Well, considering it’s about 20 minutes away, I think I’ll be attending the Winmington, DE show!
-joe
Funny that this topic should come up, as at our session on Tuesday night there was a guy - who was definitely well inebriated (sp?) - who had no real appreciation for Irish Trad. He kept passing sarcastic and insuting comments which we and the rest of the patrons ignored for the most part.
Eventually he shouted ‘do you know any Tull’? I played the first part of ‘Living in the Past’ on my Low D, which was the last thing he expected…It got a good laugh and he was fairly quiet after that.
Long Live Tull
Hi,
I’ve also been a big fan for some time. There are some great acoustic numbers including Skating Away, Life’s a Long Song, One Brown Mouse, Acres Wild. For those whoi want to hear some of they classy folk-rock, check out the Heavy Horses, Songs from the Wood and Broadsword albums.
The whistle solo on The Whistler IS two Generation D’s overdubbed and not synthesised. And there are a few more recent numbers with whistle on.
Someone asked about Ian’s acoustic guitars - although he used to always play Martin Nylon Strung instruments, he now has guitars made by Manson; I’ll try to fish out a link. The Mansons are two brothers - one specialises in acoustic and the other electric (who makes Martin Barre’s guitars).
Hope this helps!
Cheers
Barry
Just bought tix for the Troy NY Oct 15 show. The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall is one of the very finest acoustic halls in the WORLD, so this oughta be something really special. Well worth traveling a bit, although the Tuesday night date may make that tough. If by chance anyone else plans to be at that show, please e-mail me. Maybe we could meet, play a couple of tunes beforehand, have a pint, etc.