I hold my hand up and confess that Tom Waits' voice grates on me. I'm in a minority of one but, there you are. However, as a composer and a writer of lyric poetry it is a different matter. His streetwise words are up there alongside those of Dylan and Cohen. He's a hardboiled novel set to music.
Bypass the composer and give his raw sentiments to someone who can sing and you've got a recipe that is very palatable indeed.
Lindsay Hannon is that singer! A singer who conveys the emotions expressed as if they were her own. The sold-out Lit & Phil audience concurred with much deserved applause at the end of her 14 song, one hour, set.
I've heard her many times and never been disappointed but this surpassed everything - it was that good.
Of course behind every great singer there's a band and today's trio were the business. All three are vital ingredients and they provided the perfect foil. The more I hear Alan Law, the more I realise just how good he is. His support both sensitive, imaginative and not without humour. Paul Grainger, rock solid in support and creative when soloing. Brendan Murphy is simply amazing. His motley assortment of percussive props add rare and unusual textures to the proceedings, that couldn't be duplicated if they'd had the Northern Sinfonia, Black Dyke Mills Brass Band and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra combined in support. I mean, a boot and a spanner ...!
Catch them when you can but, be quick, Tom Waits For No Man! Lance
Way Down in the Hole; Fumblin' With the Blues; Gin Soaked Boy; Pict ure in a Frame; Chocolate Jesus; Johnsburg Illinois; Jockey Full of Bourbon; Spare Parts (instrumental); Soldier's Things; Warm Beer and Cold Women; Jesus Gonna be Here; Down, Down, Down; Martha; Pasties and a G-String
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