Watch Bill Murray Cover Van Morrison During First Official Concert Performance
Bill Murray is the latest movie star to make the leap into a music career — and he's doing it in quintessentially Bill Murray style, with a predominantly classical record that includes a few contemporary cover choices such as Van Morrison's "When Will I Ever Learn to Live In God?"
That Morrison composition was part of the setlist during Murray's official complete concert debut at the Dresden Music Festival in Germany on June 4, and was among the moments captured on the fan-shot footage embedded below. As reported by Consequence of Sound, Murray — who appeared with an ensemble that included cellist Jan Vogler, violinist Mira Wang, and pianist Vanessa Perez — threw roses to the audience after wrapping his performance.
The Dresden show is just an early chapter in what's shaping up to be a very musical year for Murray. In April, he announced the impending release of New Worlds, an album that blends cover songs (including Gershwin and Stephen Foster numbers) with literary readings set to classical arrangements. Developed in collaboration with Vogler, the set — due via Decca Gold this fall — is the reflection of a serious and fairly ambitious effort to reflect American history and identity through music.
Putting the music at "the collision of America and Europe," Murray told the New York Times that the record emphasizes the commonality of the human experience. "We are from four different continents," he pointed out. "And when the continents come together, the music moves right across the peninsulas from one to the other. It’s just a short journey from one continent to the other."
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