Amos Lee - Mission Bell

I first heard of Amos Lee a few years ago when a friend of mine, who had a crush on him, gushed incessantly about him. I listened to some of his songs and liked what I heard, but when my friend and I lost touch, I forgot about Mr. Lee.

I am regretting that very much.

I put Mission Bell into my computer, and sank into my bed on this cool winter eve, which was the perfect choice for listening to this record. Mr. Lee is blessed with a languid, bluesy voice which flows over you like a gentle river. In fact, at the end, it took me a few minutes to realize the music had finished, not because I wasn’t paying attention, but because I was lulled into such a restful state that I simply did not notice.

For anyone who is a fan of Norah Jones’ style of music, Amos Lee will be for you. It therefore should be of no surprise that the two have collaborated together a multitude of times in the past. This album however contains a different group of collaborators, including the inimitable country legends Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams. This collection touches on a variety of different musical styles, from the aforementioned country, as well as jazz to hip hop, blues and rock, all while retaining Mr. Lee’s signature folky soul sound. His is prime music for listeners who like their music soothing like a cup of warm chamomile tea.

The strongest song on the album, Jesus, has an up-tempo beat and the soulful sensibility of a spiritual that allows the listener to feel he or she is in Church right next to Mr. Lee as he prays like a man who has lost everything but his sense of prayer. He is a man on his knees begging for salvation. It then backs into Hello Again, a laconic jazz standard number.

The smooth nature of the music belies the sad and sometimes pained tone of the lyrics such as on Learned A Lot in which the narrator tells his long-gone lover that despite the ending of their relationship, that he appreciates the relationship for what it taught him.

Clear Blue Eyes is a beautiful collaboration with Lucinda Williams, a plaintive paean to a lover who has been abused terribly in the past, breaking the heart of the narrator who wants nothing more than to erase these wrongs and care for the tortured lover. It would be perfectly suited for a soundtrack, if it hasn’t already been chosen as such. The album closes out as it started with a reprise of the song El Camino in a duet between Mr. Lee and Willie Nelson. Their voices have different timbres and one might be tempted to think they come from different genres, but the song is a perfect melding of two very different and yet uniquely gifted voices in a lovely and smooth exit of a wonderful and soothing album.

Amos Lee's Mission Bell is available for purchase starting January 25th, 2011.

Charlotte Church at The Eldridge

Photo Credit: Dara Avenius

I’ve long been a fan of The Charlotte Church Show, Youtubing it and enjoying both the sense of humor of the host and the duets she often performed with her songbird guests. So of course when I found out that Ms. Church had an upcoming listening party at The Eldridge, an intimate and exclusive venue on the Lower East Side, I jumped at the chance to attend!

Shortly after midnight, a polite but appreciative group were treated to a listening party by Ms. Church, a singer who has dazzled the Pope and countless millions of people in the past. In the low lit venue, the young woman with the angelic voice stood and sang, simply accompanied by her guitarist and co-writer, Jonathon Powell.

Giving the audience an insight into her heart, the first group of songs were noted for their melancholic tone. Let me put it this way – if you are going through a breakup, and you live in the UK, buy her album "Back to Scratch" immediately and wallow along with Ms. Church. If you are not going through a breakup, then buy it anyway, just because the songs will break your heart. They have a very pop yet folksy sensibility, the kind of thing one could see Joni Mitchell writing and singing if she were making her name today.

In between each song however, Ms. Church lightened the tone with her noted sense of bawdy humor, appealing to the audience to play along with her. This included, when there were some technical difficulties, mock-interviewing an audience member and perfectly mimicking her “Lawn Guyland” accent.

She debuted a new song, “Only Bruises”, which hopefully will be on a future album. She continued the heavyhearted tone with “Unravelling”, from her recent album “Back to Scratch.” The next song, “The Story of Us” was just a gorgeous song. I hate to use the writer cliché of “haunting”, but if the word fits, use it, and so use it I must. In this song, one could hear the soprano voice that made her famous as a child, but couched in the heartbreak of an adult who has been through a bit more of life, that voice takes on another level.

Photo Credit: Aurora Pfeiffer

“Snow”, a song written solely by Mr. Powell was a sweet tune that plays well on the ears. Taking the party to a more upbeat tone, next came “Cold California” which isn’t about actually about California at all, but camping – in Wales! After a quick riff about the difference between Wales and England, and a brief questioning on sports rivalries to explain this difference, she introduced a song written by neither a Welshman nor a Brit, but an Irishman. Her newest single “Don’t Think About It” is a pop tune best described as groovy. Yes, groovy!

The final song was introduced as a pseudo-encore song, but in the cozy venue, it would have been silly to exit and re-enter, as noted by Ms. Church. Therefore, she launched into her most well-known song, “Pie Jesu”, dazzling the audience easily. The voice has more than retained the innocent beauty of the child, but has also grown into that of a young woman who has had to abandon the blind faith of childhood through heartbreak and loss.

I Love Music

Originally published: The Record (New Jersey) January 16, 1996 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e03 The Record By DARA AVENIUS, Paramus High School

I love music. I can't remember a time in my life that didn't have a soundtrack to it. Even when I was little, I would get up to watch "Fame," and "The Jackson 5" (but just the beginning song, because I didn't like the way the cartoon was drawn), and "Fat Albert," and "Happy Days." I would dance to the shows' theme songs (which I still do, but only when I'm alone, thank you very much). I would even watch those infomercials that sell music from some era. The era I loved the most when I was little was the hippie era: I identified with the carefree attitude and freedom that the music and the people seemed to have.

I've been exposed to many different types of music, and I like to keep an open mind about it, never putting down a type of music until I have at least listened to it a few times. I still have a diverse taste in music; why should I limit myself to just one type? From my mom (who likes Ella Fitzgerald, Edith Piaf, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, etc.), I have learned to appreciate good music, even though she may not agree that it is good music. In a time when everyone is punk and into noise and the electric guitar (which I also love), I am still a sucker for a beautiful voice, thanks to her. Two of my favorites right now are Jeff Buckley and Jewel, who both have amazing voices that I wish I had.

I think part of why I love music is that I have no musical talent (trust me). I can write, draw, dance (another reason I love music), photograph, and do other creative things, but I can't play any musical instrument, and I can't sing.
I wish I could, because I think singing is an amazing gift. A very special moment in my life came when I was at a camp in Colorado. A bunch of us sat around a campfire, and two of the counselors had acoustic guitars and sang. I love the idea that people can get together, enjoy one another's company, and be at peace with themselves and in such a beautiful place, that you could have music anywhere, not just in a concert hall.

I still count that as one of the best concerts I've ever been to, and in the last couple of years, I've been to about 80 or 90 shows. I've gotten deeply into the music scene now and I couldn't be happier. When I'm not in the best mood, I'll go to a show, and chances are I'll be a lot happier. I have a lot of stories about moments at shows that will never happen again, and that makes them really special to me.

I would love to get into the music business. I really like the idea of being around something that has had so much meaning in my life. I can't imagine what I would do if I lived in Puritan times, when music and dance were forbidden because they were thought to be tools of the devil. I guess I would just have to be burned at the stake.


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