Concert #658 - Jennifer Warnes at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 17, 2012)

We are getting older and so does Jennifer Warnes. She is sixty-five now, yet she still sounds like Jennifer Warnes and that is no small feat. Not too many singers posses a voice that is as expressive and nuanced as Jennifer's and it is pure joy to be able to enjoy her singing in a live setting, so many years after I first heard her voice in the early seventies.

Last night's concert at McCabe's was as good as any of my previous seven encounters with Miss Warnes. Accompanied by string ticklers Billy Watts, Taras Prodaniuk and Rick Cunha, she sang many of the songs from her last year's tour, with a few welcome changes. Even though she is not known to be someone who dwells in her musical past, Miss Warnes performed a few of her older tunes, among them "I'm Restless", "Right Time Of The Night", "When The Feeling Comes Around" and Leonard Cohen's "Bird On The Wire". They all sounded good, yet the concert's finest moments, at least to these ears, came when Jennifer tackled lesser known songs, such as Ian Tyson's "Blue Mountains Of Mexico", Bob Dylan's "When The Deal Goes Down" and the absolute highlight of the evening, Blind Alfred Reed's "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live".

Jennifer Warnes addressing the crowd

Come to think of it, with one exception, all we heard last night were slow songs of essentially the same tempo. Such shows could become boring pretty fast, yet there wasn't a trace of boredom last night at McCabe's. On the contrary, the audience, myself included, remained fully engaged and thoroughly entertained, courtesy of Jennifer's humility, warmth and, most of all, her voice.

The only fast song of the entire evening was "God Doggit, Baby", a humorous song written by the little-known Michael Smotherman and delivered by Jennifer complete with her favorite snail joke.

Guitarist Billy Watts doubled up as Jennifer's singing male partner, as together they performed "You Don't Know Me" and "Up Where We Belong". His outstanding playing of the guitar intro to Alfred Reed's "Poor Man" prompted Jennifer to ask him to play it again.

Also among the evening's highlights were Mickey Newbury's "So Sad", Allen Toussaint's "It's Raining" and the show opener "Carrying A Torch", from the repertoire of Van Morrison. For her one-song encore, Jennifer picked Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" which sounded fabulous.

My small group included our friend Deborah and extended family members Nancy and Jim. We all had a great time and something tells me that the next time Jennifer is in town we will all be back.

The end of the show: Jennifer Warnes and her band

Jennifer Warnes and Billy Watts thanking the crowd

Sound engineer Alan Kanter

Jennifer Warnes arriving at McCabe's

My Better Half (right) and our good friend Deborah

Window sign at McCabe's

Concert poster

Concert #610 - Jennifer Warnes at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 28, 2011)

This was the second of Jennifer's three sold-out appearances at McCabe's that took place during the months of September and October, 2011.

In many respects, the second show closely followed the first one, not necessarily a bad thing. Jennifer came out with guitarist Billy Watts and bassist Taras Prodaniuk, the same two outstanding musicians she had been touring with in recent weeks and months. After the intermission, they were joined by Rick Cunha, who kept a low profile while aptly playing his string instruments.

There were practically no changes in the set list, with one welcome exception: the show ended with a great rendition of "Song Of Bernadette", with lyrics by Leonard Cohen and music by Jennifer Warnes herself.

McCabe's is a truly intimate venue that quite often induces performers to be entirely themselves, as opposed to just acting in a scripted and rehearsed spectacle. From the very get-go, Jennifer was in a giggly mood and, before too long, everyone else, Taras and Billy included, were giggling along. Jennifer also happened to be in a "Googly" mood, as she made frequent references to her passion for looking things up on the Internet, pretty much like most of us. Throughout the show, I felt like being in someone's living room and that's a feeling one gets at McCabe's more often than anywhere else.

With songs written by Mickey Newbury, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Ian Tyson, Allen Toussaint, Susan Tedeschi and Buffy Sainte-Marie, among others, there were no throwaways in Jennifer's set. And speaking of Susan Tedeschi: just like in her September show, Jennifer pronounced Susan's distinctly Italian last name as if it were German. In Italian, Tedeschi is pronounced "Tedeski", a fact I was able to verify via Susan's own Facebook page. And here's the punch line: coincidentally, "Tedeschi" means "Germans" in Italian, and I'm not kidding.

The best songs of the evening were, once again, "It's Raining" and "Ain't No Cure For Love". Leonard Cohen's "Night Comes On" was great, too. Jennifer's singing remains top-notch and so is her entire stage presence. Having the opportunity to see her up-close at McCabe's remains a special treat for me. Will she ever be back there? I sure hope so.

The merch table

Jennifer Warnes T-shirts

The sold-out crowd

Poster in the window at McCabe's

Concert #481 - McCabe's 50th Anniversary Concert at UCLA's Royce Hall (October 2, 2008)

I caught wind about this concert many months before it actually took place and from the very beginning, all I wanted was to lay my hands on a pair of great tickets, even if I had to pay a little extra to get them  - after all, this was supposed to be the Concert Of The Year. Well, in the end, "the little extra" turned out to be $550 for a pair of third row seats, bought from a scalper operating legally as a "ticket agency". Bastards!

I had never paid as much for two tickets and I hope I never will, but in this case, I just had to do it, as my other attempts to get good seats via UCLA Live and directly from McCabe's yielded sub-par results. And there was yet another reason for my insane spending: I went to the concert with a European guest, a huge music connoisseur himself, and I just had to offer him the best possible experience and indeed, I also wanted the very best for myself.

And what an experience it was ... for about four hours we watched a parade of many different musicians who had one thing in common: sometime during their careers, they had all performed at McCabe's. With one notable exception, that is. I'm not talking about Los Lobos, as they had actually played there decades earlier, before anyone knew who they were, opening for Flaco Jimenez. The exception was Chrissie Hynde, who somehow managed to talk herself into the line-up, and I'm glad she did. Accompanied by virtuoso guitarist James Walbourne, Chrissie-the-Intruder performed two songs from her then-new album "Break Up The Concrete" and she was definitely one of the highlights of the evening.

And speaking of highlights: Odetta's powerful rendition of "House Of The Rising Sun" did not seem to be coming from a seventy-eight year old wheelchair-bound woman who was only two months away from the end of her life, then later, during the evening's grand finale, she once again impressed us with her strong vocals on "This Land Is Your Land".

Odetta, with Lincoln Myerson, Jackson Browne and Jennifer Warnes (photo by Sherry Rayn Barnett)

For an outstanding photo gallery showing most of the evening's protagonists, please visit Sherry Rayn Barnett's page at http://www.myspace.com/sherrybarnettphotography/photos

LIST OF PERFORMERS

Richard Thompson

Jennifer Warnes

Odetta

Los Lobos

Blind Boys Of Alabama

Loudon Wainwright

Peter Rowan

David Lindley

Peter Case

Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney

Ditty Bops

Dan Hicks

Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band

Ricky Jay

Chrissie Hynde

Jackson Browne

Rosanne Lindley

Van Dyke Parks

Kami Thompson

Michael Jerome (drums)

Debra Dobkin (percussion)

David Keyes (keyboards, with Odetta)

Taras Prodaniuk (bass)

James Walbourne (guitar, with Chrissie Hynde)

Eric Andersen (grand finale only)

Richard Thompson led the house band that also included drummer Michael Jerome, bassist Taras Prodaniuk, and percussionist Debra Dobkin. Throughout the evening, Richard kept a relatively low profile, but at one point he did step up to deliver a great version of "1952 Vincent Black Lightning". I  would have liked to hear more from RT, but it wasn't to be.

LIST OF MC's

Nancy Covey

Lincoln Myerson

John Chelew 

Bobby Kimmel

Most of the MC'ing was handled by Nancy Covey and she did a good job. Surprisingly, the current Concert Director at McCabe's, Lincoln Myerson, was given only a secondary role.

McCabe's is a rather modest venue and, appropriately, there were no fancy stage decorations at UCLA's Royce Hall, only a few guitars and folding chairs hanging on the back wall of the stage, all of them borrowed from McCabe's, of course. It wasn't particularly pretty, but it did bring to UCLA the "look and feel" of McCabe's, and when I say "feel", I mean the pain experienced by anyone who has ever sat on those metal chairs for more than 30 minutes!

Folding chairs and acoustic guitars hanging on the back wall of the stage

The Ditty Bops sang two songs of their own, then later they turned into Dan Hicks' Hot Licks. Together, they sang Dan's "I Scare Myself".

The Blind Boys Of Alabama performed "Amazing Grace", but with a twist: they sang it to the tune of "House Of The Rising Sun".

Peter Rowan sang his gorgeous "Midnight Moonlight". 

After having been introduced by Lincoln Myerson, Bonnie "Prince" Billy surprised me with an excellent performance that made me want to see him as a headliner.

Jennifer Warnes sang Arlo Guthrie’s “When a  Soldier Makes It Home" and one other song.

Playing a slide guitar, David Lindley duetted with his daughter Rosanne. They were OK. Later in the evening, David came out once again to play with Jackson Browne.

Jackson Browne (left), with David Lindley

Kudos go to Loudon Wainwright, who showed up after his own headlining gig in Santa Barbara. He managed to reach UCLA shortly after 11 PM, sang one song, then joined everyone else for the grand finale.

A touch of nepotism was in the air, as Richard Thompson and David Lindley brought along their singing daughters, Kami and Rosanne, respectively. They were OK, but I would have preferred to see some of the quintessential McCabe's artists who had delighted me over the years, such as Peter Himmelman, Dave Alvin, Michelle Shocked, Chris Smither or John Hammond. I guess whoever said "You can't have it all" was right ...

The grand finale was grand, indeed. Most performers came out for their final salute to McCabe's and they all had they brief solo moments, as they sang, "Hard Times (Come Again No More)" and "This Land Is Your Land". Van Dyke Parks went down into the crowd with his accordion. Jennifer Warnes asked for Eric Anderson to join the celebration and he did. A beaming Odetta was there as well, and so were all of the evening's emcees. Modestly, Richard Thompson remained in the background with his outstanding house band. The crowd was on its feet and I immediately knew that I was part of something special, something one would normally see on TV but rarely get to experience in person.

The Grand Finale, as it began

The Grand Finale, with everyone on stage

The Grand Finale

The Grand Finale - Jackson Browne, Jennifer Warnes & Loudon Wainwright (far right)

The Grand Finale - Eric Anderson, Jennifer Warnes, etc.

The Grand Finale - Van Dyke Parks

And now for a few negatives and there weren't many of those. I was less impressed with the sets delivered by the Savoy-Doucet Band (not my style) and Peter Case, who chose to perform two long songs that I don't believe were among his best. Jackson Browne sang three songs that sounded quite boring to me. Magician Ricky Jay's card-throwing act was nothing special and definitely out of place.

But it's not right to end my write-up on a negative note. Without a doubt, the show was one of the very best I have ever witnessed, and I did witness a few.

Backstage: Taras Prodaniuk, Jennifer Warnes & Jackson Browne

Backstage: McCabe's founder Gerald McCabe, with Nancy Covey

Backstage: McCabe's founder Gerald McCabe, with Jennifer Warnes

 

Concert #605 - Jennifer Warnes at McCabe's Guitar Shop (September 24, 2011)

Last night's concert at McCabe's Guitar Shop felt more like an impromptu meeting of buddies singing and playing some of their favorite songs in someone's living room, and that's always a good thing.

Jennifer's "orchestra" consisted of guitarist Billy Watts, lately of Eric Burdon's band, and bassist Taras Prodaniuk, whom I had seen before accompanying Richard Thompson. Billy and Taras brought much more to the show than just their outstanding musicianship - with their humorous and relaxed demeanor, they were outstanding complements to a just as humorous and relaxed Jennifer Warnes.

Last night's show can also be described as "Musicians Hiding Behind Music Stands", or at least that was the impression of the folks sitting in the first few rows, maybe even further back. Okay, so I didn't get to see much of Billy's face, but that was only a minor glitch in an otherwise outstanding evening of great music and stellar sound.

"A Singer's Tribute To Her Favorite Songwriters" is yet another way of describing the show, as Jennifer handpicked and lovingly delivered sixteen of her favorite songs, penned mostly by well-known musicians but also by a couple of composers that were new to me, namely Michael Smotherman and Zachary Richard.

Twice during the show, Jennifer said "We're getting on", a direct reference to the age of most folks in attendance, including the ones on the stage. Yet her trademark vocal inflections and singing style were as instantly recognizable last night as they were decades ago. There were no attempts to hit super-high notes and no one missed them either. What we all wanted was Jennifer's warmth, her beautiful voice, a bunch of great songs and we got all that. And then some.

Jennifer Warnes at McCabe's (with Billy Watts and Taras Prodaniuk hidden behind stands)

Jennifer's set list included quite a few songs I had not heard before and when it came to the ones I knew, I don't think I could have picked better ones. The concert's best songs, to these ears at least,  were "It's Raining", "Ain't No Cure For Love" and Dylan's "When The Deal Goes Down". Ian Tyson's "Blue Mountains Of Mexico" was also exceptionally good.

A few words about "It's Raining", a song I first heard on Jennifer's 2001 album titled "The Well". Written by a certain Naomi Neville, this song alone is worth the "admission price" - just listen to Jennifer's soulful voice and her exquisite delivery. I had no clue who the songwriter was, until Jennifer revealed to us that Naomi Neville was the pseudonym used by the great Allen Toussaint in his early days. So when I got home after the concert, I looked up my copy of "The Allen Toussaint Touch", and lo and behold, there was the original version of "It's Raining", sung by Irma Thomas, yet another huge favorite of mine. Irma's version is quite different, but equally good.

Jennifer Warnes will be back at McCabe's in October 2011 and you can bet your life that I'll be there again.
 

Fans lined up in front of the venue

The crowd settling in



Concerts #238, 239, 508 - Jennifer Warnes at the Miner Cook Athenaeum and McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 14, 2001 - May 17, 2009)

Where else but in Southern California can one get to see Jennifer Warnes perform in small venues and not just once, but multiple times?

My first encounter with Miss Warnes took place on February 14, 2001, at the Miner Cook Athenaeum, on the beautiful campus of the Claremont McKenna College. The concert was announced as “An Evening With Jennifer Warnes”, and what an evening it was! In perfect vocal shape, she seemed to enjoy performing for the distinctly intellectual crowd of about two hundred fortunate folks who filled the Athenaeum to capacity. Jennifer sang a few songs from her then-current album, “The Well”, including the title track and the dreamy “The Panther”. Not unexpectedly, there were also four Leonard Cohen songs, but ten years after the event, I can only recall “Ain’t No Cure For Love” and “Coming Back To You”. She was accompanied by an outstanding band that had the following lineup:

Billy Watts, guitar
Skip Edwards, keyboard
David Jackson, bass
Lee Spah, drums
Hani Nasser, percussion
Matt Cartsonis, mandolin
Chris Darrell, mandolin

Ten days later, Jennifer performed at McCabe’s with the very same band and needless to say, I was there, together with my wife, and our good friends Ken and Marilyn. Jennifer's set pretty much mirrored her Claremont gig, which was fine by me. Like many other fans, I was hoping for a Leonard Cohen appearance, but no such luck. A few years later, I found a photograph at www.jenniferwarnes.com that shows Leonard and Jennifer chatting backstage at McCabe’s, so at least I can claim that Leonard Cohen and I were under the same roof for a couple of hours. Here’s the photograph:

Jennifer Warnes and Leonard Cohen at McCabe's (February 2001)

Well, there was no Leonard Cohen, but there was Jackson Browne, who sat quietly in the second row, right next to my wife, who had no clue who her neighbor was. At one point during the show, Jennifer invited Jackson to take the stage and the crowd went bananas, to put it mildly.

Once again, Jennifer dazzled the crowd with her impeccable voice and style. Later in the show, she mentioned her big radio hits, but did not sing any of them, to no one's chagrin.

A few years later, in May 2009, Jennifer Warnes performed once again at the intimate McCabe's, in front of 150 spectators who were lucky enough to grab tickets before they were all gone. I grabbed a couple, here's one of them:

Ticket for Jennifer's appearance at McCabe's in 2009

The concert was the final show of a short West Coast tour, with stops in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. I sat in the front row, together with my wife. Once again, Jennifer - backed by a group of top-notch musicians - put on a great show. The highlight of the concert was the superb "Song For Bernadette", lyrics by Leonard Cohen and music by Jennifer Warnes herself - regretfully, the lyricist did not make a surprise appearance.

Band Lineup

Jeff Pevar, guitar

Debra Dobkin, percussion

Chris "Kazz" Caswell, keyboards

Steve Postell, guitar

L to R: Jeff Pevar, Debra Dobkin, Chris Caswell, Jennifer Warnes and

Steve Postell at McCabe's (2009)

The concert had a short and decidedly unusual non-musical detour: using a screen lowered from the ceiling, Jennifer presented a tribute to her late mother, complete with photographs and heart-warming stories about her life.

Seeing the great Jennifer Warnes up-close at McCabe's remains one of the high points of my concert-going career.