When folk music legend Arlo Guthrie returns to the Wolf Trap stage on Saturday evening, he’ll be accompanied by Time for Three and backed by the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Emil de Cou. “Arlo will be performing mostly with the orchestra,” said de Cou. “There are numbers he’s doing with Time for Three. They’ve played with Arlo before, improvising with him while he performs. So the show is going to be created, quite literally, onstage.”
De Cou’s roll will be keeping it all together.
| Onstage |
| Arlo Guthrie & Time for Three |
| Where: Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna |
| When: 8:15 p.m. Saturday |
| Info: $20 to $52, 877-WOLFTRAP (965-3872), wolftrap.org |
“The musical arrangements we have leave a lot of room for spontaneity,” he said, beginning to laugh. “There are sections in the score that are completely improvised. Normally in conducting, the score shows every note the piano or the guitar is playing. Arlo’s scores don’t! He has a rough indication of what the harmonies might be and then, he’ll have a blank page.”
According to Wolf Trap spokesperson Graham Binder, that spontaneity, above all is what keeps audiences enthralled with the iconic singer and songwriter who performs on piano, guitar and, quite remarkably, more than a dozen other instruments.
Still, Binder evokes deeper layers to the man and his talent that has fans waiting at the gate.
“I’d say in this order it is: his incredibly unique voice, his epic storytelling, his laid-back style and [finally] his unique ability to reach outside his comfort zone and play with musicians like Time for Three,” he said.
In fact, it is the group, Time for Three that adds the whipped cream to Guthrie’s down-home serving of apple pie.
“There’s no easy way to describe them,” de Cou continued. “They’re like a twentysomething version of Arlo and Woody Guthrie, dating to ‘way back when.’ They are not just of a folk idiom; they do country music, classical — they’re three free spirits, which is why they work so well with Arlo, who’s also a person without musical boundaries.”
De Cou is sure of a first act that includes Copland’s “Hoe Down” for the orchestra and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” performed by Time for Three. After the intermission, Arlo chooses from a list of songs that include “Last Train,” “City of New Orleans,” “Patriot” and most likely “This Land.” Time for Three may perform the “Mapleview Rag” and “Arlo’s Rag.”
De Cou’s written program shows question marks following many of the tunes, indicating it is a “wait and see” deal. For sure, it will not be run-of-the-mill.
