Marcus Mumford and the New Basement Tapes Take ‘Ellen’ to ‘Kansas City’
Just a few days after hitting The Tonight Show, the New Basement Tapes supergroup closed the week out on Friday by showcasing their lost Bob Dylan songs project on Ellen. The band, combining the talents of Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Jim James, the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Rhiannon Giddens and Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, treated the show to a performance of “Kansas City,” the third track on their freshly-released album, Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes.
Mumford handled lead vocals on the rollicking track, joined by James, Giddens and Goldsmith with lush harmonies for the chorus while Elvis Costello (who took the spotlight on The Tonight Show when the band performed the album’s title track) hung out in the back on the piano. Like all songs on Lost on the River, “Kansas City” features lyrics written by Dylan during his Basement Tapes sessions in the late Sixties, set to new music and arrangements by the band and producer T Bone Burnett.
The supergroup makes its next TV appearance on November 19th with a stop on Jimmy Kimmel Live. On November 21st, Showtime will air a documentary about the making of Lost on the River.