From: owner-jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org (jangle-poets-digest) To: jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org Subject: jangle-poets-digest V10 #28 Reply-To: jangle-poets@smoe.org Sender: owner-jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jangle-poets-digest Monday, April 27 2009 Volume 10 : Number 028 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [JP] Maura Kennedy & Friends 4/23/09 Jazz Central, Syracuse NY [MercyHous] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:17:31 EDT From: MercyHouse1@aol.com Subject: [JP] Maura Kennedy & Friends 4/23/09 Jazz Central, Syracuse NY This is called "Maura Kennedy & Friends" because Maura was helped out by 3 other musicians on 5 of the 14 songs she played. This show was part of the Words & Music Songwriter Showcase series, hosted by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers. He was one of the friends who accompanied Maura, the other two being Arty Lenin and Gary Frenay, longtime friends of Maura who play together as the Neverly Brothers and as the FabCats. Near the end of the show, Maura confessed that Arty and Gary were among her biggest influences, presumably inspiring her and helping pave the way for her career in music during her formative stage, playing stages in Syracuse or in college. It's important to note that the musical chemistry between Maura, Arty, and Gary on "October" was simply amazing, especially since there had been absolutely no rehearsal. And Arty in particular was a crack guitarist on 3 other songs, doing solos and fills on "Patience," "Time Will Steal Your Heart," and "New Way to Live." He also sang vocal harmonies on all 3 of those songs, again, amazing since it seemed clear that Maura had no idea what Arty was going to play or do. He apparently had learned the songs online. As I understand it, he approached Maura before the show about sitting in on a couple of her songs -- she said she'd rather not -- but he insisted and won her over. I thought that that was very fortunate, because Arty rocked! On all 3 songs on which he played, he brought out nuances in the music that I'd never considered before. And that is all part of the folk process. Most importantly, Arty made Maura look really good in the process, by not detracting from what she was doing. He played and sang just what he felt that he had to do, but no more. I thought that that showed a lot of good taste and musicianship on his part, and I thought that that also showed a lot of good taste and musicianship on Maura's part, having Arty on hand and using his talents in just the right spots. Before "Freefall," Maura introduced me to the audience as her Number One Groupie -- I have in fact managed to make every Maura Kennedy solo show so far, September through April, at the Living Room, at Kenny's Castaways, at the Bitter End, at Googie's, at Common Ground, and at Jazz Central. So I've seen virtually every configuration of musicians who've played with Maura on this special Maura Kennedy material. I say virtually, because Maura has also played her solo material in little slots at Kennedys shows, and I haven't made 100% of the Kennedys shows as I have with Maura's solo gigs. Maura has been accompanied, upon occasion, by Pete Kennedy, by a stageful of musicians at the Guitar Gods and Goddesses Workshop at Falcon Ridge, by Ray Mason, by Kelly Flint and Vicky Emerson, by Karen Savoca and Pete Heitzman, and by Rocky Roberts. Maybe she's been accompanied by others too. But I thought the collaboration with Arty Lenin and Gary Frenay was the best one so far. The other thing that is important to note is that Maura keeps on getting better and better, right in front of my eyes, every time I see her. This was the most nervous I've ever seen Maura for any show. But after thrashing through her opening song, the rocker "Make It Last," she was able to take the tiger by the tail, settle down to the business at hand, and deliver one stunning rendition after another of some of the best songs I've ever heard, by one of the best singer-songwriters I know. Maura said that this was her first-ever full solo show, but it was in fact her second -- she did 14 songs at Kenny's Castaways on 10/9/08, and she did 14 songs at Jazz Central Thursday night. It was her first *hometown* solo show, relative to her home-away-from-home, her family home Syracuse. NYC is her new home, so the Kenny's Castaways show in October was sort of a hometown show too. The difference as I see it is that NYC is just crawling with musicians and stars and talent and people, by the millions and millions. Maura was more relaxed for the NYC hometown show because she knows that there are a whole lot of other fish in the sea in NYC. "Safety in numbers," just a drop in the bucket. But the pressure was felt by her much more strongly at her Syracuse hometown show, with old friends and her dad in the audience, because Maura is more of a big fish in a small pond there, and she really wanted to do well there. I thought it would be interesting to compare her NYC hometown show set list with her Syracuse hometown show set list, for these have been her only 2 full solo shows so far. Kenny's Castaways 10/9/08 NYC Chains Patience Some Kind of Life (premiere) Just the Rain New Way to Live Sun Burns Gold Freefall (for Bruce) Listen Listen (Sandy Denny) (last played 1985) Time Will Steal Your Heart Shadows with the Lonely (with Pete) Summer Could've Lasted Forever (last played 1984) Wild Honey (only time ever) Season of the Witch (only time ever solo) Make It Last Jazz Central 4/23/09 Syracuse Make It Last Sun Burns Gold Freefall (for Bruce) Shadows with the Lonely Chains (with Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers) Time Will Steal Your Heart (with Arty Lenin) Patience (with Arty Lenin) Just the Rain Dreamless Sleep Summer Could've Lasted Forever Thing with Feathers October (with Arty Lenin and Gary Frenay) New Way to Live (with Artie Lenin) I Found a Road (encore with Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers) Before Maura's extended set, there was a round-robin songwriter showcase among 3 songwriters, Tim Herron, Emily Arin, and host Jeffery Pepper Rodgers, lasting about an hour, followed first by an intermission, and then by Maura who was the featured artist. Maura couldn't remember if she'd played "Dreamless Sleep" before, and asked me from the stage where she'd done it. "Somewhere," I said. I had to look pretty hard later, to determine that I've only heard her do it at Jammin Java 12/5/08, which was its premiere, during my Bernadette Roadtrip Weekend to 3 Kennedys shows in VA and PA, the weekend before my 500 Weekend of the Nields, Strangelings, Winterpills, and Hungrytown. After the show, Gary Frenay came up to me and said, "You picked a good singer-songwriter to follow!" I thought so too. There have been 3 Maura Kennedy solo shows to die for so far -- Kenny's Castaways 10/9/08 in NYC, the split show with Pete at the Bitter End 10/30/08 in NYC when Maura performed her whole set dressed as Catwoman, and this one, Jazz Central 4/23/09 in Syracuse. I hadn't originally planned on driving all the way back to Boston after the show, but I was so buzzing with excitement, so full of grace, blissed out, or what have you, I drove the 5 and a half-hour drive back almost as if in a dream, one of my best drives ever, with virtually no one else on the road as I whizzed through a ghostlike Albany, as I skirted a sleeping Boston, and did everything else between Syracuse and Quincy -- probably my longest 1-day round trip roadtrip since the Columbia Folk Festival 7/13/97 when Nerissa & Katryna Nields did their historic first-ever billed N&K proto-Probe show. I definitely feel the flow of history unfolding right before my eyes with Maura Kennedy too! I was feeling the excitement of the moment with Nerissa & Katryna's new beginning in 1997, and I feel that same kind of excitement of new beginnings just bursting at the seams, every time Maura Kennedy steps onto a stage to play in 2009. Bruce Check out the Kennedys' Official Home Page: http://www.KennedysMusic.com/ Fab photos, the Official tour diary, dashboard Buddha haiku, groovy merchandise...what more could you ask for? ------------------------------ End of jangle-poets-digest V10 #28 **********************************