NORAH ROCKED
Norah Jones, under the stars, at the Santa Barbara Bowl was a kind of celestial event of its own.
She is an extraordinary singer, with a unique blend of power, earthiness, mellow soul and plaintive phrasing. On this tour she is backed by a band of exquisite players who can easily slide from driving rock, bluesy funk and beyond. There were moments when the band wandered into a kind of exploratory atmosphere of high energy improvisation, where Norah's rich voice was the grounding and tether that made it work. It was, to my amateur ears, contrapuntal. This is a different Norah than some of her earlier, softer work, but it is thrilling and superb.
Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons who opened were a special treat with a country and folk lilt. He's a great lyricist and I hope we see and hear more from him.
A quick observation-too many people seem increasingly self absorbed and rude. There were entirely too many people texting during the concert and too many of the crowd from the upfront and center seats thought nothing of entering, after Norah had begun. Rude behavior on both counts!
The drive down the coast and back was vacation land beautiful and stunning.
DAY FILE
PLUM CRAZY
See you down the trail.
I don't think you meant "my armature ears". Maybe "my amateur ears"?
ReplyDeleteI just heard a Fresh Air program on NPR that featured a Canadian singer - Susie Arioli. She's huge in Canada and practically unknown in the U.S. She does beautiful jazz standards. Check her out. And then there's the incredible and gorgeous Melody Gardot.
If all of that fruit is yours, I'll bet your just plum(b) proud!!! :)))
Moderation of course!!!
DeleteThanks. These automatic spellers are sometimes a step ahead and too fast.
ReplyDeleteI know very little about music, but I love the artistry with which you describe it, the way you create notes with words.
ReplyDeleteStephen-
DeleteThanks. I consider that high praise.
I had to look up "contrapuntal" and I'm still not sure what it means.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid texting everywhere at any time is becoming a way of life.
As for concert rudeness- how about the people that leave early to beat the crowd?
Steve-
DeleteAlways good to hear from you. That a busy TV exec takes time to look up a word is impressive. This is from Apple Dictionary-
contrapuntal |ˌkäntrəˈpəntl|
adjectiveMusic
of or in counterpoint.
• (of a piece of music) with two or more independent melodic lines.
DERIVATIVES
contrapuntally adverb,
contrapuntist |-tist|noun
ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from Italian contrapunto (see counterpoint) + -al.
In this case I meant Norah was doing a particular melody while the band was going off almost as in a jazz riff with a different melody or harmonic direction. Norah was their connection back into the harmony.
How are you?
Tom,
ReplyDeleteYou notice the rudeness because you're not in Indiana anymore. And, that's not just parochial perspective talking. As you well know, politeness tops every survey done about Indianapolis/Indiana. We miss you here.
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ReplyDelete