Just as I began to wonder about the follow—up to Madeline Peyroux’s excellent 1996 Dreamland album, two albums came my way to satisfy my Peyroux jones. Unspoken (Astarte) by Joy Eden Harrison, produced by Cindy Lee Berryhill, has the same loose and jazzy feel that made Peyroux’s debut so memorable. Harrison’s voice even has a timbre similar to Peyroux’s. Even her songwriting style reminded me of Peyroux’s (and also indie artist Amanda Green). I don’t mean to waste a lot of ink comparing Harrison to others, it’s just that I like Peyroux’s and Green’s and Harrison’s work, so consider the comparisons to be recommendations. I am especially fond of the songs “Forty Days and Forty Nights,” “Pushing My Luck,” “Graveyards,” “Everybody’s Good Time Girl,” “Leap In The Dark,” and “The Innocence Begins Again.”
Capable Egg (Atlantic) by Lullaby Baxter Trio, was produced by Yves Beauvais (co—producer of Peyroux’s disc), so therein lies the similarities. Lullaby Baxter (born Angelina Teresa Iapaolo) is backed by members of Oranj Symphonette and Tin Hat Trio, and to say that you’ve never heard anything like this before might be stretching the truth a bit. However, listen to “Hopscotch,” “Knucklehead,” “Rooster In Love,” “Mr. Powder—Blue Breadbox,” “Mama (Should I Bake A Cherry Pie And Hide You Inside?),” “Ding—A—Ling,” “Spacegirl,”and “Horsey Don’t Snore,” and tell me otherwise. “The Anyway Song” should be listened with a box of Kleenex.
One of the most talked about CDs so far this year is I Am Shelby Lynne (Island Def Jam) by Shelby Lynne. After spending most of the 䚪s not quite fitting into the country scene, Lynne (and producer and co—songwriter Bill Bottrell) have fashioned a sound for the singer/songwriter that works to everyone’s advantage. In short, I Am Shelby Lynne is the best Bonnie Raitt record that Raitt never made. Add a dash of Lucinda Williams and Sheryl Crow, and you begin to get an idea of who Shelby Lynne is. The Alabama native (a fact she celebrates on “Where I’m From”) makes an accessible brand of pop music that spans decades (the girl—group sound of “Your Lies,” for example), making it timeless and timely. Other standout tracks include “Dreamsome,” “Lookin’ Up,” “Leavin,'” “Thought It Would Be Easier,” and “Gotta Get Back.” A genuine masterpiece.
You may not recognize Terry Radigan’s name (or voice). I didn’t. Then I found out that Radigan was once a member of the äš s band Grace Pool (they did a stunning cover of The Blue Nile’s “Stay” on one record). On Radigan (Vanguard), her latest solo disc, the Nashville—based singer/songwriter has assembled a decent collection of songs (most of which she either wrote or co—wrote) that contains a couple of potential hits, such as “When I Get Around You,” “G—O—O—D—B—Y—E,” “So What,” and ൺ Kisses.” The dark and moody “The Things You’ll Do,” “Happiness,” and “Love Wouldn’t Lie To Me,” are also quite good.
Stephanie Rogers came to me highly recommended. She is, after all, a friend of GLAMA—winning singer/songwriter David Clement. Not To Keep (Hipchick) finds the singing actress concentrating on singing (and songwriting) with some good results. “Leonardo’s Shimmer” starts things off with Rogers having a chance to show off her pipes. She rocks out on songs such as the title track and “In The Light,” but I prefer what she achieves when she mellows out a bit, as she does on “Don’t Fall Back” and the Rickie Lee Jones—esque “Elements.”
Mary Karlzen’s 1995 disc Yelling At Mary was one of my favorites from that year. But like former labelmate Jill Sobule, Karlzen got the poor—record—sales axe. She’s continued to write and record, and her latest disc Dim The Watershed (Y&T) is terrific. Any of the songs on this disc would fit in on most radio stations playlists, so radio programmers, pay attention. Pick up this record and give songs such as “One Thing,” “Closer,” the ballads “She” and “Harbor Lights,” a chance to be heard by listeners who deserve better than most of what is currently being played on the radio.
Spirituality is the focus of Tara MacLean’s Passenger (Capitol/ Nettwerk), and to her credit she has found a way to share it with the listener without pummeling us with it. It helps that MacLean has a lovely voice, and she can belt with the best of them. A Lilith Fair staple, MacLean lives up to her folk—pop reputation on numbers such as “If I Fall,” “Jericho,” “Dry Land,” “Settling,” and the vintage Joni Mitchell—esque “Higher.”
Not everyone can be a singer and a songwriter. Joanne O’Brien gets to be a great interpreter of other people’s work. Her exceptional taste in cover material is obvious from some of the songs she has chosen to cover on Isn’t It Always Love (LML Music). Karla Bonoff’s title track, Cheryl Wheeler’s “Summerfly,” Julie Gold’s “Southbound Train,” Natalie Merchant’s “Verdi Cries,” and a ballad version of “I Only Want To Be With You,” all sound great in O’Brien’s more than capable hands. The biggest surprise is “There Will Always Be A You.” It’s pretty and moving enough to briefly make the listener forget that it was written by the heinous Donna Summer.
Melissa Ziemer is one third of the band Gertrude, but as the lead singer (and co—songwriter of the disc’s 11 songs), it is her voice that you hear on the band’s eponymous debut disc (Fungo). It’s a strong and confident voice and it prevents songs such as “Driftin’ Nowhere,” “Blue Light Away,” “Air,” and “Uncle Jimmy” from becoming run—of—the—mill pop songs.
On Colour Moving and Still (Columbia), Chantal Kreviazuk sounds more like fellow country—person Alanis Morissette than I remember her sounding on her first record. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I would have thought that producer Jay Joyce (who previously produced Tim Finn and Patty Griffin) would have tried to get a different sound out of Kreviazuk, who has a voice with possibility. Still, songs such as “Blue,” “Dear Life,” “Until We Die,” “Before You,” and “Little Things,” show Kreviazuk developing into a singer/ songwriter of “colourful and moving” proportions.
I got a copy of Jolie Christine Rickman’s Sublime Detonation as a way of promoting an upcoming show she was doing in Chicago. A Chicago—area native, currently living in Syracuse, New York, singer/songwriter Rickman will undoubtedly be compared to Ani DiFranco (who lives in nearby Buffalo) and Dar Williams, but Rickman also has her own identity. You can hear Rickman’s uniqueness on songs such as the joyous “I Don’t Speak Lithuanian,” “The Never Come Song,” the mandolin—enhanced “Fly,” and “If You Were My Wife.”
Judy Paster’s five—song self—titled EP (A.I.R. Records) is a rocking, countrified affair, with all five songs composed by the singer/songwriter. The hits it stride with the evocative song “Blue Kind Of Love,” and the upbeat “Running” and “All My Relations.”
In his liner notes for Camille Yarbrough’s reissued/expanded The Iron Pot Cooker (Vanguard), writer Kevin Powell writes about buying a used vinyl copy of this 1975 album from an East Village street vendor. Fatboy Slim also discovered this album (although I’m not sure of the genesis of his discovery), and transformed Yarbrough’s song “Take Yo’ Praise,” into his megahit “Praise You.”
In addition to the album’s original six tracks, the reissue contains two other versions (a “remix” and a “club mix”) of “Take Yo’ Praise.” Part soul music, part spoken—word, the messages of this album still resonate today.
Where it’s @
compiled by Gregg Shapiro
@ A—Zone — 773/394— 0615: Ember Swift and Miranda Stone 3.19
@The Abbey Pub — 773/478— 4408: Mr. Blotto 3.10 / The Prodigals (11:30pm) 3.17
@Allstate Arena — 312/559— 1212 (TM) : Judds 3.10 / Korn 3.16 / Britney Spears 3.22 & 23 / Tina Turner 3.25 / Oasis and Travis 4.18
@Arie Crown — 312/791— 6000: D’Angelo 3.31 & 4.1 / Smokey Robinson 4.7
@A—Zone: Ember Swift and Miranda Stone 3.19
@Beat Kitchen — 773/281— 4444: Ember Swift and Miranda Stone 3.18
@The Black Orchid — 312/944— 2200: Dee Dee Bridgewater 3.22 & 23 / John Pizzarelli 3.30 & 31
@Center For Performing Arts—Governors State University — 708/487— 7774: Salsa Concerto 3.18
@Centre East — 847/673— 6300: The Babes (Sally Fingerett, Megon McDonough, Debi Smith, Camille West) 3.25
@Chicago Cultural Center — 312/346— 3278: Genesis at the Crossroads (Middle Eastern music and dance) 3.26
@Chicago Theater — 312/443— 1130: Alison Krauss and Union Station 3.24 / Tracy Chapman 4.11
@Davenport’s — 773.278.1830: Ester Hana 3.8, 15, 22 & 29 / Beckie Menzie & Tom Michael 3.9, 16, 23 & 30 (8pm) / Urban Twist 3.10, 17, 24 & 31 (8pm)
@Double Door — 773/489— 3160: Kelly Hogan & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel and Cowlily 3.11 / Dovetail Joint (acoustic) 3.16 / Groove Armada 3.19 / Muse 3.22 / Evil Beaver 3.24
@Empty Bottle — 773/276— 3600: The Gunga Gin 3.9 / Sue Garner and Rick Brown 3.10 / The Blacks 3.11
@Fitzgerald’s — 708/788— 2118: Robert Earl Keen 3.22 / Steve Forbert (early) 3.25 / Mekons (late) 3.25 / Saffire The Uppity Blues Women 4.13 / Beausoleil 4.14 / Ralph Covert & The Bad Examples (band’s final show) 4.15 Diana Laffey & Mary and Kathy O’Hara 4.26 / Ides Of March 4.29
@Gentry of Chicago — 312/836— 0933: Anniversary party 3.13 / Rudy De La Mor 3.28 & 29, 4.4, 5, 11 &12 / Open Mic with Beckie Menzie (every Sunday) / Job Christenson w/Beckie Menzie (Mondays) / Ginger Tam w/Russ Long (Wednesdays & Saturdays) / Honey West w/Russ Long (Fridays)
@Hideout — 773/227— 4433: Tommy Womack 3.9 / Kelly Hogan & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts 4.1
@House Of Blues — 312/923— 2000: Cowboy Mouth 3.11 / Buckwheat Zydeco 3.18 / Save Ferris and Lit 3.19 / Incubus 3.22 / Guster 4.1 / Goldie 4.3 / John Scofield 4.5 / Ruben Blades 4.6 / Willy Porter 4.7 / Dick Dale 4.10 / Negitavland 4.11 / Angie Stone 4.14
@Joe’s — 312/337— 3486: The Drovers 3.11
@Martyr’s — 773/404— 9494: The Trey Gunn Band 3.15 / Freedy Johnston 3.24
@McAninch Arts Center — 630/942— 4000: Mavis Staples 3.18 / “Weird Al” Yankovic 4.30 / Tom Paxton 5.13
@Metro — 773/549— 0203: Saw Doctors 3.11 / Stir 3.14 / Grooverider 3.17 / Respect Is Burning and Dimitri From Paris 3.18 / The Donnas (early) 3.24 / The Mekons and Archer Prewitt & Friends (late) 3.24 / Lucky Boy’s Confusion 3.26
@Navy Pier — 312/902— 1943: The Prodigals (8pm) 3.17
@Old Town School of Folk Music — 773/728— 6000: Psychograss 3.10 / Word Jazz (Ken Nordine) 3.11 / Cheryl Wheeler and Ralph Covert 3.19 / Leftover Salmon 4.1 & 2 / Cat Power 4.14 / Seldom Scene 4.15 / Guy Clark and Jesse Winchester 4.22 / Richard Shindell 5.19
@Park West — 773/929— 5959: Shannon Curfman and Marah 3.11 / Aimee Mann and Michael Penn 3.14 / Matthew Sweet 3.16 &17 / Cathy Richardson Band and Kimi Hayes 3.18 / Paula Cole Band and Wood 3.24 / John Paul Jones 3.25 / Dido and Tara MacLean 3.30 / Jimmie Dale Gilmore Band 6.16
@The Patch — Halcyon 3.31
@Rialto Square Theater — 815/726— 7171: Englebert Humperdinck 3.17 / Davey Jones 3.25 / Neil Sedaka 5.19
@Riviera Theater — 773/275— 6800: Fiona Apple 3.11 / Peter Murphy 3.14 / Third Eye Blind and Tonic 3.17 / Filter 3.22 / No Doubt 3.24
@Schuba’s — 773/525— 2508: Shivaree 3.11 / Bernstein aka Dan Bern 3.12 / Hoot Nite: Plane, Trains & Automobiles 3.15 / Grant Lee Phillips 3.16 & 17 / Sara Hickman 3.18 / David Clement 3.22 / Michael McDermott 3.24 / Apples In Stereo and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci 3.26 / David Gray 3.27 / The Push Stars and Love Cars 3.30 / Bad Livers 3.31 / Buddy & Julie Miller 4.1 & 2 / Zrazy 4.4
@Stargaze — 773/561— 7363: Halcyon 4.1 / Zrazy 4.2
@Star Plaza — 773/734— 7266: Patti LaBelle 7.22 & 23
@Temptations — 847/455.0003: Stardust—The David Bowie Tribute Band 3.10
@Three Arts Club — 312/944— 6250: Funny (featuring The Sweat Girls) — an evening devoted to women in comedy 4.6
@Uncommon Ground — 773/929— 3680: Melissa Ferrick 3.27
@United Center — 312/559— 1212 (TM) : Crosby Stills Nash & Young 4.14 & 15 / Ricky Martin 7.1
@Unity In Chicago — 773/782— 2028: Zrazy 3.31
@Vic Theater — 773/472— 0449: G. Love & Special Sauce 3.11 / Luka Bloom 3.18 / Mary Black 3.19 / Pat Metheny 3.24 / The Charlatans U.K. and Stereophonics 4.4