Arts & Entertainment
Costello
interviews a sax
player named
Bill Clinton.
Elvis Television
Mr. Costello
talks music with
his friends
In three decades as a songwriter and
performer, elvis costello has traveled
over a lot of musical ground. punk, pop,
country, soul, blues, jazz, classical—
it’s difficult to come up with a genre
that hasn’t tugged at his interest and
inflected his work. now, the revered rock
troubadour is bringing his musical quest
to television. In the forthcoming series,
Spectacle: Elvis Costello with ..., he hosts
top artists and other icons for hour-long
hang sessions mixing talk and performance in front of a live studio audience.
the 13-episode series, a canadian-
British co-production that debuts
stateside on the sundance channel in
december, finds its resonance in an
eclectic range of guests, including elton
John (who is co-executive producer with
costello), tony Bennett, lou reed and
Bill clinton, the onetime saxophonist
and former resident of 1600 pennsylvania
avenue. even in edited form, it’s easy to
see how the show takes shape around a
somewhat free-flowing format, riffing
from the sensibility of each luminary
who sits down for a chat with costello.
“I’ve been curious about the things
that make people motivated to make
music throughout their lives,” said
costello while promoting the show
last summer in los angeles. the name
Spectacle would almost seem to be misleading. “It’s not a show about trying to
uncover a dark secret that somebody’s
got hidden. rather, it’s an opportunity
