Last Saturday night Carrie and I had the joy of seeing Rickie Lee Jones at the Max M. Fisher Music Hall in Detroit as part of the annual Concert of Colors (all for free, no less). I’ve been a big fan of Ms. Jones back since my hippie days when her second album ‘Pirates’ was a staple in the communal farmhouse I lived in.
While I have seen many wonderful, wonderful shows over the past few years, this concert was on a whole different level due to the fact that Rickie Lee didn’t just perform her songs, she in many cases reinvented them. She used the talents of her brilliant young band to take her songs from a place that was at once familiar and totally new and different at the same time. Rather than just merely improvise (as in solo), she and her band wandered through and played with her extensive back catalog, at times letting her voice dance wordlessly with her backup singer and violinist in a Van Morrison meets Jane Siberry type groove.
The undisputed highlight was when Rickie Lee mentioned that her daughter was into European dance hall music, (“the worst kind” she wryly noted, “and I love it” she continued). She then led the drummer to pound out a dance hall disco-ish beat while she started singing her much loved 1981 classic “Livin’ It Up”. As the band followed, the tune grew more dense and driven as time went on. Conducting the band from behind her piano, she pushed the song and her musicians to totally new places. The band seemingly was in uncharted territory as they followed Rickie Lee’s hand signals in turning a formerly light and airy four minute track into an eight minute long epic, the music ebbing and flowed, the drum beat always moving it forward.
Watching how Jones used her songs and her band as a canvas, I was once again reminded why live music is central to my life. Rickie Lee held thousands of us transfixed together, creating a sense of unity and joy that was palpable in the hall. She brought us all together in a way that only great music performances can. All hail Rickie Lee Jones.