Dawn and I have been patiently waiting for the Snow to arrive and last Friday it finally did. We took the drive, after a rock start with demands from my job on call pager going off, to the Berks Jazz Fest in Reading PA and walked in on one of the best Snow falls we ever saw. Phoebe Snow was last seen by us as a walk on guest of Bonnie Raitt at the Mann Music Center a few years back, and we both wondered if we would ever get the chance to see her solo. Well lo and behold, she appears as a performer for the Jazz Fest, and I had gotten tickets for Dawn for a Valentines Gift. Even though we were late for the beginning of the show, what we did see was by far, one of the top 10 shows in my opinion we have seen in a looooonnnnngggg time.
Firstly, Phoebe is a funny woman. She, as she put it, "shamelessly promoted" her new album all night. Imagine our disappointment when after the show there was no merchandise available in the lobby. But "shamelessly promote" she did and mostly in a comical way. Next, she is a great story teller. But Most of All, she is a one of a kind vocalist. At 57, to still have control over her 4 octave voice is a feat mastered by only a God-given few. She has such great control over her legatos, as she effortlessly ran through her 4 octave range. Her ability to hold a note is amazing. Rarely, have I seen someone hold a note as long as she did on one song. Then, she has a rare ability, in that when she covered Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart", she paid her respect to Janis, all the while making the song truly hers.
The Band was tight as could be. Just drums, guitar bass and keyboard. Phoebe played guitar on one song, but it was her vocals alone, that had the crowd in a frenzy all night long.
We loved the show and will most certainly be picking up the "shamelessly promoted" album for continued enjoyment of this rare and wonderful songbird that is Phoebe Snow.
