Concert Previews
Lesley Gore When Lesley Gore recorded "It's My Party," "Judy's Turn to Cry" and other Quincy Jones-produced hits of the early '60s, she was in her mid-teens. The ascendance of the Beatles dimmed her stardom, and after a few albums in t
Lesley Gore
When Lesley Gore recorded "It's My Party," "Judy's Turn to Cry" and other Quincy Jones-produced hits of the early '60s, she was in her mid-teens. The ascendance of the Beatles dimmed her stardom, and after a few albums in the early '70s, Gore stopped recording. When
Ever Since
appeared in 2005, it revealed a mature, weathered Gore; it also coincided with her publicly coming out as a lesbian. Similar to Marianne Faithfull, the adult Gore expresses a commanding, subtle depth that is far removed from the sunshine, lollipops and rainbows of youth. She revisits "You Don't Own Me," turning it into a dark and knowing cabaret ballad, and she's sure to perform other classics tonight, but don't think of her as an oldies act.
- Steve Klinge
The Pierces
Singer-songwriters Allison and Catherine Pierce have finally shaken off their gentle and dreamy image as former homeschooled ballerinas. The Alabama-bred, New York-based sisters are showing some edge as evidenced on their sassy third album,
Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge,
and in their music videos. The noirish "Boring" - which has the two jadedly bemoaning everything from true love to haute couture - was a huge tongue-in-cheek risk, but the club hit earned the silken-voiced duo some long-overdue respect. From the weirdly menacing "Secret," which kicks off
Thirteen Tales,
to the hook-laden "Sticks and Stones," the Pierces have shifted from vanilla-flavored country-folk musings to genre-jumping between electro-pop and near-psychedelic folk with surprising ease.
- Nicole Pensiero
Maria Schneider Orchestra
Though often compared to the rarefied air of the big boys in the orchestral jazz continuum - Duke Ellington and Gil Evans, whom she assisted - Maria Schneider, to this writer's ears, breathes deepest amongst the living and the ladies. Tonally, she is emotionally rich and elegantly disposed. Canada's preeminent avant-grand jazz composer and pianist often comes across like Carla Bley without the jokes. That's a compliment. While her dramatic scores have been utilized for theater projects and festivals in collaboration with theater director Peter Sellars and the choreographers of the Pilobolus dance organization, the jazz orchestra's most difficult and daring arrangements can be heard on 1995's
Coming About
, the even-more-majestic
Allégresse
(2000), and her shockingly becalmed newest work,
Sky Blue
, 2007.
Sky Blue
is big-band jazz for cooler heads that crave complexity but dig hauntingly lush sounds.
- A.D. Amorosi