Van Morrison

Love Supreme Jazz Festival, Glynde Place, Glynde, Sunday, July 5

BELFAST-BORN shipyard worker’s son Van Morrison grew up listening to the likes of Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Muddy Waters and Leadbelly.

But on his latest album, Duets: Reworking The Catalogue he has elected to work with both singers who have influenced him and those who found inspiration from his music.

The album also sees him dip deep into his own back catalogue, recreating lesser-known classics from almost 50 years of music, including Born To Sing from his 2012 No Plan B album, The Streets Of Arklow form 1974’s Veedon Fleece, Fire In The Belly from 1997’s The Healing Game and Some Peace Of Mind from 1991’s The Healing Game.

“The idea was that no one else is working the catalogue,” he says. “You have publishers, but it is lip service really, it is not like the old days where you had a publisher that was going to work your songs.

“It was two parts to it [the project], one was the fun of doing duets the other was reworking the songs as no one else was working them.”

Morrison’s career has seen him duet with the likes of John Lee Hooker, Tom Jones, Ray Charles, Carl Perkins and Bobby Bland in the past.

And there was one name he had at the top of the list for this project.

“The idea has been around for years really,” he says. “It’s what you call a side project.

“It started back in October 2013. I wanted Bobby Womack – he had been one of the first people on my list for many years. So Bobby Womack, Mavis Staples and Natalie Cole were playing the Blues Festival in London and so was I. That made sense to get them during that. Those three kind of kicked it off for me.”

The album also features duets with established legends like George Benson, Mark Knopfler, Steve Winwood, Taj Mahal, and P J Proby, as well as newer talent such as Clare Teal, Joss Stone, Michael Buble and last year’s Love Supreme Jazz Festival highlight Gregory Porter.

Morrison also reunited with long-time band member Georgie Fame, who first played with the Belfast-bluesman’s live band 25 years ago.

“It’s hard to book him,” says Morrison. “He’s got his own band which takes up a lot of time. I wanted to use his band too for that track, but that become too complicated.”

When it comes to playing live Morrison has eschewed the big tours for smaller gigs and one-off performances like the Love Supreme Jazz Festival.

“I can’t do tours anymore,” he says. “Too exhausting. I don’t like travelling, I never have, especially long distance travelling. I like it even less now because I am tired now. Just to cross the bridge, finish a gig and go home.”

Recently his touring diary has seen him play smaller venues combining dinner and a show as well as the bigger stadiums and festivals.

“I have always liked small gigs, there is nothing new,” he says. “It’s harder to do when you have the overheads I have. So those type of gigs, by the nature of them, can pay. It’s a dinner/supper club kind of situation and it pays for everything.”

As a proponent of the classic R&B style he is frustrated by the direction the music has taken.

“I can’t relate to it now, what they call R&B,” he says. “It doesn’t have any rhythm in it. It doesn’t have any blues. It’s very robotical I find.

“The words take on different meanings after a while. It’s like the word spiritual – 100 years ago that meant mediums, séances or something. Then there is this new age version of it.

“It’s like soul – I don’t know what that is any more. To me soul was like Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Bobby Bland, Solomon Burke, Bobby Womack. But what is it now? It’s just a word, it can mean anything.

“I feel like you know what you know and you just get on with it. I don’t really know if there is any [blues and jazz] tradition anymore.

“I was lucky to meet, work and hang out with all these people – get to know them, learn things and observe stuff.”

Weekend tickets from £126.50, day tickets £66. Visit www.lovesupremefestival.com