By Jonatha Brooke ’85. New York: Bad Dog Records, 2006. $17.50 two-disc set.
Reviewed by Simone Solondz
This CD/DVD package of a 2004 performance at the Public Theater in New York City shows singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke doing what she does best: laying it down straight for a live audience. She doesn’t pull any punches, lyrically or musically. Each of these 16 original songs—a collection culled from six records and written over the course of 13 years—is intense, emotional and often dark and brooding. The CD provides a window for those listeners who haven’t kept track of Brooke’s career and are interested in seeing where she’s been since breaking up with Amherst classmate and onetime singing partner Jennifer Kimball (their duo was called The Story) and leaving behind major label Elektra Records in the early ’90s.
The opening track is a soulful almost-solo performance of “Damn Everything but the Circus,” originally released on 1991’s Grace and Gravity. It’s a fairly low-energy cut, but it showcases Brooke’s wonderful way with interwoven vocal lines as well as her trademark dissonant harmonies. Brooke has found just the right vocal match in backup singer (and keyboardist/clarinetist/guitarist) Ann Marie Milazzo. Together they swoop and soar like a pair of doves in flight.
The second number, “Sally,” adds Darren Embry on bass, a beautiful clarinet part by Milazzo and more of that gut-wrenching dissonance. What comes across here is Brooke’s confidence and accomplishment as a performer. Clearly she has been doing this for a long time.
The rest of the band—drummer Rich Mercurio and guitarist Goffrey Moore— finally kicks in for the third song, “Better After All,” allowing the listener to rock out a bit, only to head back into slow, dramatic territory with “Crumbs.” Both of these songs have their moments—growling minor shifts, hooky choruses, airy piano fills and cool electric guitar effects—but it’s hard to hang a hat on many of Brooke’s verse melodies. Here and elsewhere on the recording one wishes for a bit more variety—fewer songs that feature building rage and super-heavy instrumental breaks.
Things get sweeter again about halfway in with the great 1991 song “Love Is More Thicker Than Forget,” sung simply over piano accompaniment, followed by an arresting new song, “Deny”:
Father, father, you are making a big mistake
I am not a shiny trophy, or another call that you forgot to make
And I have listened very closely to every word you have not tried
And it should have been love, love that showed you why
You cannot deny
You cannot deny me now.
Other highlights in this set include “Room in My Heart” from Steady Pull, a clever and tuneful groove chock full of references to childhood games; the upbeat “Steady Pull”; “Linger,” a pop song from 2001 with a funky break; and a nice rendition of what is perhaps Brooke’s biggest hit—1991’s “So Much Mine.” The gorgeous harmonies make it hard for fans of The Story not to feel nostalgic, but Brooke wisely leaves us with the beautiful, gospel-tinged “No Net Below,” an undeniable testament to her power as a solo artist.
The band is competent throughout, and Milazzo and Moore both have some fine moments. Unfortunately, Brooke’s acoustic guitar sounds harsh and artificial, particularly when the band is not behind her.
The best part of the DVD—apart from seeing Brooke’s fantastic ripped arms—are the black-and-white cuts of the band in rehearsal spliced in between the performance shots. You also get to see Milazzo playing clarinet and find out for sure who’s singing what during those intense Brooke-Milazzo duets.
All in all, this package is a great slice of independent artist life and an absolute must-have for devoted Jonatha Brooke fans.
Solondz, a writer in Providence, R.I., is former editor of Acoustic Guitar magazine.
Photo: Bad Dog Records