Coachella 2008-
Another Chick in the Wall
Violinist Lili Haydn set to rock with Roger Waters at Coachella
It’s not often a violin player steals the show from a rock icon, but during Roger Waters’s Sunday performance at Coachella you may struggle to keep your eyes off L.A.’s Lili Haydn. After running through childhood aspirations of acting — she played Rodney Dangerfield’s daughter in the 1983 movie Easy Money — she discovered the violin and shifted her focus to classical music.
She got distracted for a bit pursuing her degree in political science at Brown University, but that just makes her an even more kick-ass party guest. How many others float effortlessly through the intricacies of Bach’s English Suite No. 3 and the weaknesses and strengths of rational choice theory over bruschetta and Bordeaux?
Aside from the presumed charm of her party banter, Haydn is one of L.A.’s most in-demand session violinists, still making time to compose her own music on the side. By 1997, she had a contract with Atlantic Records and was creating a very eclectic musical resumé. She has swum from the L.A. Philharmonic (with whom she soloed by 15), to Herbie Hancock, Porno for Pyros, Hootie & the Blowfish, George Clinton and Parliament (she does a wicked version of “Maggot Brain”), No Doubt, and even Robert Plant and Jimmy Page (as a soloist during “Kashmir”).
The daughter of actress/comedian Lotus Weinstock and video artist David Jove, Haydn enjoyed the kind of unconventional upbringing that allowed her more freedom than many of her playmates (she went by the name Helicopter for a while, with her parents’ blessing). This, too, makes her awesome.
Haydn’s debut album, Lili, was released in the fall of 1997, followed by Light Blue Sun in 2003. After that came Goodbye Stranger, followed by Place Between Places on Nettwerk Music, written in her Laurel Canyon home studio she calls Lililand.
On her most recent recording, Haydn truly shines while unleashing her emotional intensity. The title is taken from a lyric from Light Blue Sun, and from a song titled “Wounded Dove,” written about her mother’s death. “Wounded dove, what can you tell me ’bout the place between places.”
For one night, it might just be a lot like a night playing violin along with Roger Waters in front of a gazillion ardent music lovers, while helping remind us all what happens if we don’t eat our meat. There will be no pudding, but you might be able to find some churros near the VIP section.
Published: 04/23/2008
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT
