Elvis Costello & The Imposters
About
Elvis Costello has followed his musical curiosity in a career spanning more than 35 years. He is perhaps best known for his performances with The Attractions, The Imposters and for concert appearances with pianist Steve Nieve. However, he has also entered into acclaimed collaborations with Burt Bacharach, The Brodsky Quartet, Paul McCartney, Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, guitarist Bill Frisell, composer Roy Nathanson, The Charles Mingus Orchestra, record producer and songwriter T Bone Burnett, Allen Toussaint and the Roots.
Costello’s songs have been recorded by a great number of artists. The list of performers reflects his interest in a wide range of musical styles: George Jones, Chet Baker, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Dusty Springfield, Robert Wyatt, Charles Brown, No Doubt, Solomon Burke, June Tabor, Howard Tate, the gospel vocal group The Fairfield Four and the viol consort Fretwork with the countertenor Michael Chance. In 2003, he began a songwriting partnership with his wife, the jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall, resulting in six songs included in her highly successful album ‘The Girl In The Other Room’.
During his career Costello has received several prestigious honors, including two Ivor Novello Awards for songwriting, a Dutch Edison Award with The Brodsky Quartet for ‘The Juliet Letters’, the Nordoff-Robbins Silver Clef Award, a BAFTA for the music written with Richard Harvey for Alan Bleasdale’s television drama series ‘G.B.H.’ and a Grammy for “I Still Have That Other Girl” from his 1998 collaboration with Burt Bacharach, ‘Painted From Memory’.
Elvis Costello and The Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. During the same year he was awarded ASCAP’s prestigious Founder’s Award. There have also been a number of Grammy nominations for his recent albums ‘When I Was Cruel’ and ‘The Delivery Man’.
The late-2003 Deutsche Grammophon release ‘North’ – an album of piano ballads composed, orchestrated and conducted by Costello – retained the number one position on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Chart for five weeks.
In 2004 Costello was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song – “The Scarlet Tide,” sung by Alison Krauss in the motion picture “Cold Mountain.” The song was co-written with T Bone Burnett.
