My life partner told me that several acquaintances have asked her which Broadway productions she caught on our recent jaunt to New York City. Those people don’t know us very well. Predictably, we haunted music venues. Only one show commanded the exorbitant ticket prices associated with hit musicals. Aaron Neville was worth it. Accompanied by pianist Michael Goods, the legendary vocalist crooned for 200 people at City Winery. Although I wasn’t always thrilled with the selections- I would have preferred less Carole King and more Allen Toussaint- Neville still sings like a bird. Enduring a leisurely version of the Bobby Goldsboro hit “Honey” was rough, but the star made up for his lapse in judgement with readings of “Hercules,” “Mojo Hannah” and a bitterly timely interpretation of Randy Newman’s “Louisiana 1927.” You can bet I wept.
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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.
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For once, I come across as a prescient genius in Tim Finn’s analysis of Taylor Swift’s career.
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I enjoy Queens of the Stone Age’s Villians without reservation. ”The Evil Has Landed” is my jam.
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I’m down with Najee. Wanna make something of it? Poetry In Motion is expertly manufactured functional music.
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Quaint swing isn't usually my thing, but To Love and Be Loved, the new release from the veteran pianist Harold Mabern, charmed me.
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The backstory of Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa is horrific. As for the music, well, I’ve never heard anything quite like it.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
2 comments:
There was some kind of Katrina telethon concert on TV shortly after the storm, and I watched it while displaced in Alabama. I'm not even a big fan of Aaron Neville, but when he sang Louisiana 1927, I cried like a baby, the only time in that whole period of time when I let that happen.
I knew we were soulmates, Steve. Thanks for sharing.
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