Concert Review: Aaron Neville at the Dakota Jazz Club

Singer Aaron Neville

Last night I saw the legendary soul singer Aaron Neville at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. I’ve known who Aaron Neville is for a very long time, but I had never seen him in concert before. Neville performed with his pianist Michael Goods, and together they kept the audience at the Dakota spellbound for 90 minutes. 

Neville is known for his distinctive high voice, and it stills sounds pretty darn good at age 78. There’s no mistaking Aaron Neville’s voice for anyone else’s. Although Neville was seated behind a keyboard for the entire show, he only played a few opening chords to some songs. To his left was a music stand with a huge notebook filled with lyrics. Neville didn’t share that many stories during the concert, which surprised me. He’s certainly had a lengthy career in the music business. 

Neville opened the show with a medley of songs from the 1950’s and 1960’s: Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me,” Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” and “Chain Gang,” and the Drifters’ “There Goes My Baby.” Neville sang his big hits, “Don’t Know Much,” his hit duet with Linda Ronstadt, and “Tell It Like It Is,” with the former appearing early in the set, and the latter being one of the last songs of the evening. In between, Neville sang a mixture of songs, most of which were familiar to me, and most dating from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Some highlights were “Pledging My Love,” first sung by Johnny Ace and later covered by Elvis Presley, and Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire.” Neville sang two songs made famous by Nat King Cole, “Mona Lisa,” and “When I Fall in Love.” For those two songs, Goods switched to an electric keyboard, rather than the acoustic piano, and to me the keyboard ended up sounding like a cheap synthesizer. 

I was secretly hoping that Neville would play some songs by the great New Orleans songwriter Allen Toussaint, but that didn’t happen. Neville gave us lovely versions of Johnny Mathis’ “Chances Are,” and James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain.” Neville is an outstanding ballad singer, and it was fun to see such a legendary singer in such a small venue.

Concert Review: Harry Connick, Jr. at the State Theatre

Harry Connick, Jr.

In May, Harry Connick, Jr. brought his excellent show to the State Theatre in Minneapolis. I’ve seen Connick in concert several times before, and he always puts on a great show. He’s the definition of an entertainer. Connick’s versatility was on full display in concert, as he sang, played the piano, joked with the crowd, and clearly had a great time. Connick is full of charisma and easy charm, and it's hard to imagine anyone not having fun at one of his concerts. His band, as usual, was superb. 

Connick even lost a contact lens in the middle of the show, so he brought up a woman on stage to use a mirror to help him put it back in. That didn’t work, but Harry went on with the show anyway.

Connick performed a variety of songs throughout the show. He opened the show with several standards, “Without a Song,” “Just the Way You Look Tonight,” and “Just in Time,” before moving on to several songs associated with his hometown of New Orleans, like “Junco Partner.” Connick’s good friend trombonist Lucien Barbarin came out for a few numbers, and he and Connick had each other in hysterics multiple times. Connick even sang "Our Love is Here to Stay," from his breakthrough album, the soundtrack to When Harry Met Sally.

The concert dragged a little bit when Connick and guitarist Jonathan DuBose, Jr. dueted on a long, slow version of “How Great Thou Art,” but other than that the set list was excellent, and the concert ended with Connick paying tribute to a fellow New Orleans pianist, the late great Allen Toussaint, by singing “Yes We Can Can.” It was a fun evening filled with a lot of great music.

Reflections on Allen Toussaint, 1938-2015

Allen Toussaint, 1938-2015.

Me, my wife Pondie, and the great Allen Toussaint, November 9, 2013.

I was greatly saddened to hear that one of my favorite musicians, the warm and brilliant Allen Toussaint, passed away today. He was a truly gifted songwriter, piano player, and ambassador of New Orleans music. Toussaint worked with many great artists, from The Band to Paul McCartney. Toussaint's album with Elvis Costello, "The River in Reverse," is a classic. Allen Toussaint had tons of style and class. He dressed impeccably, but he was always humble and self-effacing. I was lucky enough to see Allen Toussaint live three times at the Dakota Jazz Club, in 2009, 2011, and 2013. I met him after his 2013 concert, and he was a really nice, sweet guy to talk to. I told him that I had seen him three times in concert, and he said he was glad I kept coming back. I'm glad I kept coming back too and that I got to see a giant of American music live. RIP, Mr. Toussaint.

Movie Review: Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance, directed by Mark Kidel (2013)

Elvis Costello, 1978.

Elvis Costello, 2010's. His aim is still true.

The 2013 documentary Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance recently aired on the Showtime network, and it’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of Costello’s music. Directed by Mark Kidel, a veteran of music documentaries, Mystery Dance interviews Costello himself as well as Paul McCartney, Nick Lowe, and Allen Toussaint, among others. Mystery Dance covers Costello’s nearly forty year career in just sixty minutes, and my complaint about the film is that it’s too short. But when I was researching the film for this review, I learned that there’s also a 90-minute version, which has only been shown in the UK. I’d be interested to see the 90-minute version and see what it adds.

Hopefully the longer version adds more details, since Mystery Dance is a little light on those. In the film Costello talks about making an album and says he made it just because it was time to make another album. As he’s talking the film shows the cover for his 1981 album “Trust.” Is that the album Costello is talking about? It’s not clear. If it is, then it’s a damn good album he came up with just because it was time to make another one. I also learned while reading an interview with director Mark Kidel that he visited Paul McCartney’s studio and heard demos that Paul and Elvis made when they were writing songs together. It’s not made clear in the film whose studio it is, and I would have appreciated a little title telling me that I was seeing Paul McCartney’s studio. 

One of the coolest moments in Mystery Dance is when we see a clip of Costello’s father, Ross McManus, singing “If I Had a Hammer” with the Joe Loss band. Father and son look a lot alike, and the film highlights Costello’s relationship with his father, who was a trumpet player and singer. But again, I wanted more details. What did the elder McManus think of his son’s success? What did he think of Costello’s music?

Costello is one of the great singer-songwriters of the rock era, and he’s one of the most versatile, recording with everyone from Burt Bacharach to opera star Anne Sofie von Otter. Costello had a great quote in the movie, and I’m paraphrasing slightly, “Whenever you do something that’s a little bit different from what you usually do you get some people who act like it’s the end of the world. It’s not.” Costello is an ideal subject for a documentary, because he’s extremely articulate and intelligent. It’s also apparent how much respect other musicians have for him. Costello’s love for all kinds of music comes through very strongly. It’s great fun to see the wonderful Allen Toussaint talk about recording the album “The River in Reverse” with Costello.

There’s not much of an arc to Costello’s career as presented in Mystery Dance. No dramatic events or turning points are uncovered. I think there’s a lot more to Costello’s story, but maybe he’s saving that for when his autobiography comes out later this year.

Concert Review: Allen Toussaint at the Dakota Jazz Club

Allen Toussaint, "Songbook," 2013.

Me, my wife Pondie, and the wonderful Allen Toussaint, November 9, 2013.

Last month my wife and I saw Allen Toussaint at the Dakota. It was the third time I’ve seen Toussaint at the Dakota, and he has put on a great show every time. I reviewed his 2009 show with his band  here. His 2011 show was a solo show, as was the one last month. Toussaint is a wonderful performer to see solo, as his piano playing is the perfect accompaniment to his legendary songs.

Toussaint is a great piano player, and his voice is warm and inviting. At the age of 75, he hasn’t lost a step. He opened the show with a medley of famous instrumentals he wrote, including “Java,” which was a big hit for fellow Crescent City resident Al Hirt, and “Whipped Cream,” which was the theme to “The Dating Game,” and was a big hit for Herb Alpert. Toussaint introduced himself to the crowd, saying, “I’m not so full of myself that I think you all know who I am. I’m Allen Toussaint.” He’s a really humble guy, and seemed genuinely thrilled that people would show up to see him perform. The Dakota was much more crowded than when I saw him in 2009, and both shows were sold out. Toussaint is a musicians’ musician who doesn’t have a huge media profile, but for those music fans in the know, Toussaint’s fingerprints are all over popular music. In addition to writing numerous hit songs for New Orleans artists like “Mother-In-Law,” “Workin’ in the Coal Mine,” and “Fortune Teller,” he wrote arrangements for The Band for their live album “Rock of Ages,” he played the piano on some songs on Paul McCartney’s “Venus and Mars” album, and he made an excellent album with Elvis Costello “The River In Reverse.” Toussaint also has a new live album called “Songbook,” which is full of great live versions of his greatest hits.

In addition to a medley of his famous instrumentals, Toussaint also performed a medley of his New Orleans hits “A Certain Girl,” “Mother-In-Law,” “Workin’ in the Coal Mine,” “Fortune Teller,” and “Lipstick Traces.” Toussaint also sang lovely versions of “It’s Raining” and “Brickyard Blues,” two more hits he wrote for other people. It’s always fun to hear a great songwriter like Toussaint sing their own songs, even though other people had the hits with them. I think the only songs that Toussaint sang that were covers were “St. James Infirmary” and Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans.” (Toussaint invited the audience to sing along “City of New Orleans,” saying, “All white people know this song.”) 

One of the highlights of the show was the last song, “Southern Nights,” which was a big hit for Glen Campbell. Toussaint plays the song much slower than Campbell’s version, and he plays the melody of the song as he speaks about the childhood memories that inspired the song. When I saw Toussaint in 2011, his version of “Southern Nights” was about 15 minutes long, and simply mesmerizing. Toussaint apologized that he didn’t have enough time to tell us the whole story, so it wasn’t quite 15 minutes long, but it was still magical. 

It was a wonderful concert, and afterwards Toussaint signed autographs for people. He was very generous with his time, and of course, super nice to everyone. He’s a true gentleman. I told him that I’ve seen him 3 times, and he said he was glad I kept coming back. Any concert of Allen Toussaint’s is a treat not to be missed. As always, he was impeccably dressed, wearing a blue-purple suit, with a matching pocket square, of course.