The Living Room Concert: Expanded & Remastered Edition

The standard for the living room concert (a tradition that started in folk music circles and has since moved into some of the smaller genres of pop) is that the musician in question performs at the house of a generous fan. Because Anthony Phillips is so stage-shy that he makes Andy Partridge look like Jennifer Lopez, his first live recording was actually made in his own living room as a radio broadcast. The results are low-key and intimate; Phillips' solo performances on guitar and piano with occasional vocals are simple yet assured, and his between-song banter is endearingly awkward. It's unavoidable, however, that Phillips' material -- possibly because he's never wanted to be a live performer -- is simply not particularly suited to the stage. In its original studio version, "Henry: Portraits from Tudor Times" is a marvelous tapestry of interlocking classical guitar filigrees; live, it by necessity sounds a bit weedy and much less harmonically inventive. The two solo piano pieces at the end of the album, "Last Goodbyes" and "Collections," are more melodically interesting and richer sounding. Living Room Concert is clearly for Anthony Phillips fans only, but it's a nice document nonetheless. ~ Stewart Mason