From: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org (lucy-list-digest) To: lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: lucy-list-digest V1 #87 Reply-To: lucy-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk lucy-list-digest Tuesday, May 25 1999 Volume 01 : Number 087 In this issue: Re: [lucy-list] Lucy in Monterey Re: [lucy-list] Lucy in Monterey [lucy-list] Re: lucy-list-digest V1 #86 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 07:51:03 GMT From: jalvo@mbay.net (John Alvord) Subject: Re: [lucy-list] Lucy in Monterey Well, it was a pretty good night. (forgive the Tori Amos reference) Anne and I got there while the sound check was under way. Lucy was doing bits of David Massengill's Fairfax County to get the sound board setup right. Whew! I spoke to her and she turned to a friend and mentioned she had seen us at a house concert in Northern NJ about a year ago. (Of course I had seen her in Cry Cry Cry and a solo concert at the Emelin Theater between times). Denice Franke opened. She and Lucy both backed up Nanci Griffith at different times. Denice was quieter, softer, more repetitive than Lucy. I enjoyed the last song Lowlands most. I didn't keep a set list... I find that distracts me.. keeps me from enjoying the moment. Lucy was in a happy mood. Denice is a LOT taller than her and the mike stand initially towered over her head. Someone from the back shouted "stand up" as she struggled to lower the mike. Lucy flushed happily, a wicked grin. Lucy began with two songs and then Nina Gerber joined her. You could tell right away that it was going to be a special night. Lucy had an agenda and that was to hear Nina play with her. Repeated calls to turn up Nina's guitar (in the monitor) and turn her guitar down. It was funny to see Morgan Christopher (owner and sound man this night) work to make things right. I'd never heard Nina Gerber live before. She is a large powerful woman. She played with Kate Wolf for many years (Kate died in 1986) and plays Kate Wolf's guitar to this day. A special magic emanates from that guitar. They hadn't practiced. Nina would listen to a verse and then start tastefully adding in licks here and there. Some of the songs she knew well. Once when Lucy was working on her guitar and chatting a bit too long, Nina started a sharp rock n'roll riff, like Cheap Trick Live at Budokan sort of thing. Several times the audience burst into applause during a song... and Lucy would have her take another chorus. She used an electronic bow once, and a brass guitar slide. It was an amazing and magical night of music and I felt Kate Wolf's presence blessing the event. Lucy did a lot of the songs from Ten Year Night. Also Scorpion and Flesh and Bone from earlier albums. Lucy sang strongly. I was less aware of her powerful guitar playing than I usually am. She seemed very very happy and pleased the whole evening. Toward the end, she talking about seeing the entire crowd swaying as one to the beat. She had never seen that before. Someone from the crowd yelled out "Let's all go home together!" and she laughed and giggled. Ten Year Night was powerful. It was better than the album vocally. Lucy takes liberties with the vocal parts. Like some jazz singers, she sings over/around/under the beat. Sometimes she whispers a word or two.The crowd knew the songs and seemed to enjoy her liberties. Early on they were clapping to the beat as a song started and she suddenly stopped and said she couldn't concentrate, so please stop. One Good reason had the usual introduction, but I couldn't hear the sadness she said was present. I missed Richard Shindell on the chorus. One of the covers was Broken Things, that had the crowd holding their breath. She didn't completely know the lyrics and read off a sheet at times. She described how the song hadn't been recorded yet, so "I HAD to befriend them first" rolling her eyes. And how she had just recently received a tape of the song. Another cover was a Gram Parsons song. Great material. The concert went too quickly though it stretched to nearly 90 minutes. After thunderous applause she came back on. People called out for songs all over the room. My wife Anne cried out that Nina should do a solo. Lucy's eyes lit up, she looked at Nina, then Lucy stuck her thumb up (OK!) and sat down. Nina did "the only song I know" (which is hard to believe) and the crowd was treated to an elegant confection, a tumbling waterfall of notes. Afterwards someone asked about Nina's solo album and she said it would a short one! Finally, Lucy and Nina did "Goodnight" by Cliff Eberhart from her first album The Tide and it was a perfect choice. Most of us in the audience would dream of her that night, as the song commanded. John Alvord Music, Management, Poetry and more... http://www.candlelist.org/kuilema Cheap CDs @ http://www.cruzio.com/~billpeet/MusicByCandlelight ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 07:56:36 -0400 From: patrick t power Subject: Re: [lucy-list] Lucy in Monterey John wrote: <> When Lucy played in East Lansing in March, she asked to have the guitar mixed *way* too loud in my opinion. <> I've said it before and I'll say it again -- Nina Gerber is one of *the* best . . . bar none! It's a shame that about the only time she performs is when she's playing with someone else. Had I not gone to the Folk Alliance conference in February I may have never seen her play in person. She was part of Mollie O'Brien's band (who is no chopped liver herself in the talent category -- what a voice!) and she sat in with Greg Brown for one of his showcase appearances -- and as John described, learned the songs as he played them. Pat ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 08:35:40 -0500 From: "Tawni T. Hoang" Subject: [lucy-list] Re: lucy-list-digest V1 #86 Katie Stohlmann wrote: > no i'll write more. Ok well she had Nina Gerber playing with her who is > way cool. They didn't practice the songs beforehand and she just gets up > there and totally wings it. Everyone there was so impressed, as was Lucy! > She kept making comments about it! thanks for the cool reviews! I remember when I saw Nina and Catie Curtis at the Kuumbwa two years ago. Caite was saying the exact same thing. Instead of letting her know the key and the chord progressions each song was in, Catie said their rehearsal was generally made up of Catie explaining, " Well, this song is about this relationship and these feelings..." and Nina basically just improvised throughout the show. Nina is terrific! I saw Greg Brown over the weekend with an equally amazing guitarist, Bo Ramsey. We were soclose to the stage we could have propped our feet on it. And all I can say is, Greg Brown may rival Lucy as the sexiest folk singer I've ever seen. In fact, I think both Greg and Bo Ramsey are beautiful. And I don't think I was alone. I swear I saw both men and women of a wide age range drooling by the end of the night. Oh, and the music was good too :) Greg was being really funny and he's got so many songs to choose from, we didn't know what to expect. Great night. Tawni ------------------------------ End of lucy-list-digest V1 #87 ****************************** This has been a posting from the Lucy Kaplansky mail list digest To unsubscribe send mail to Majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe lucy-list-digest" in the body of the message