Jon Pareles' on Amy Winehouse's On-Stage Detachment

Jon Pareles of the NYTimes was as disappointed in Amy Winehouse-as-"performer" this week as I was back in March. But his causal attribution differs from mine. In explaining her odd persona live, Pareles points mainly to her Britishness (and its removal from the origins of soul, e.g., African-American church choir) & her age (growing up on "hip-hop's version of R&B"). I don't know... those factors might be (small?) pieces of the puzzle, but I don't think you have to be American, African-American, or Aretha's age to have soul - to show deep emotional connection with your songs - on-stage. Corinne Bailey Rae is just one example in a long list. She's British, half-white, did not get her start singing in a gospel church (it was a much more conventional brethren church choir) and is only 4 years older. Her songs are more neo-soul than retro, of course -- but having recently seen her live, let me tell you, the woman feels her music on-stage...

I just think that Amy Winehouse's performance issues have much more to do with being Amy Winehouse, specifically, than they do with the circumstances of her nationality or her age.

Just Call Me Randy Jackson

He pretty much said everything I said, right after I said it last night.

Last night was not a great show, but I'm still for Jordin.

Highlight of JazzFest: Corinne Bailey Rae

We saw a lot of great shows, and, to be honest, I thought the songwriting on her album as a whole was inconsistent & could get boring... but, live in person, Corinne Bailey Rae was *incredible*. She plays her voice like a master instrumentalist -- she's got this seemingly intuitive, amazing control and timing. She also has a lot more power than you would guess from hearing her radio hits. In the studio recordings, her voice can sound maybe a little too precious. Live, it is more raw and complex. She plays around with her vocal timbre -- sounding sweet for moments, yes, but many notes are complemented by this raspy finish that lingers in its reluctant release of your chest. In a good way.

And the other cool thing about her as a performer is that her whole being smiles throughout her show. Not only her mouth, but her eyes twinkle, her skin glows... and it's actually not weird. You know those people that never stop smiling, even when what they're saying isn't worthy of this big grin - those awkward smiley people? That is not what I'm talking about. The way she smiles -- you get the sense that it's completely authentic - that it's the result of just completely surrendering to the inherent beauty in all *real* human emotion & experiences-- even the complicated and not-all-sunny ones.

You don't have to have the range of Mariah to be worthy of divahood.

If you ever have a chance, please see this woman live.

Here's a preview - not from our show at Tipitina's, but from an earlier show at Webster Hall:

She Still Has Slightly Purple Hair

So Rich and I were wandering aimlessly around the French Quarter late this afternoon when we heard a trio of Brits talking/walking behind us. A girl and two guys. They were butchering the pronunciations of the streets, and the girl was lamenting her bad sense of direction. Rich was endearingly smirking at their accents. I took pity on them, being known for both a bad sense of direction myself as well as a compulsive tendency to try to help any people I can. I turned around and said "Decatur Street is that way" to the girl behind me. She laughed, put her hand on my shoulder warmly and said in her smoky voice, "oh thank you so much! ha - I wasn't even saying it right. Cheers, thanks again, cheers!" I turned back around and as we walked away, it hit me why she looked so familiar: it was Joss Stone! She was -- somewhat surprisingly to me -- really down-to-earth and lovely. And also, like just about every celebrity I've ever met/seen, incredibly normal in real life. I mean, yes, there's the slightly purple dark hair (i think the dirty blonde looks better on her) and multiple? nose rings, and she was wearing pants with huge hearts all over them ... but she had acne "just like US", and her hair was frizzing along with mine in the NO humidity, etc. etc. Hahaha - we should have told her that one of her songs was featured on our wedding save-the-date CD...

I kind of felt badly that I was criticizing her songwriting on this blog just days ago... I do love her voice though.

In a more "local" sighting, we walked by guitarist Ian Neville (Art Neville's son; Aaron Neville's nephew) who was standing outside of Port Of Call - he still looks about five years younger than he is (I think he's like 25 now?) Hopefully he'll pop on stage at some point tonight at the Howlin' Wolf.

P.S.... Pela

If you don't know Pela, check them out. They're a rock band - their debut album, Anytown Graffiti was just released last month. I like 'em.

Vote For Jordin

Vote for Jordin; that song kicked her ass tonight, but she shouldn't get kicked off this week. Chris actually did not sound too nasal this week - wow!, but I still don't like him. And I love Justin Timberlake, so it has nothing to do with his "style" - the problem is he doesn't sing that well generally, and he doesn't really have style. JT definitely does. No comparison whatsoever, people. Phil Stacey is still creepy and not cool enough OR uncool enough for me to ever buy a record of his. LaKisha was better than she's been in weeks, but I still don't want her to win. Blake's "big risk" was pretty decent; he didn't annoy me too badly this week. And Melinda showed more style/personality than she has in weeks. I loved the whole "I don't know how to rock" shtick. A new fresh spin on the old stale modesty thang. Nice.

Speaking of Awesome Voices: Feist

Feist's new album, The Reminder, was released today. Many many lucky people who get advance copies of albums have already written lots about it. It is indeed a glittering album. Her best work yet.