duggup

I must confess I have always had a soft spot for Suzanne Vega’s work since I first heard back in the Eighties. Jools and I saw her at the Dallas Brooks Hall in the late Eighties (September 1987 it turns out) and find that I can still call up memories of the performance (which for someone who occasionally cant remember what if he ate lunch, is pretty good going) and her guitarist (Marc Shulman)and especially the crisp phrasing of her delivery. I think this is where I heard “Solitude Standing” for the first time.

Her 2007  album is called “Beauty & Crime,and is a collection of collection new songs that use New York city as the subject and the setting. We have her acoustic guitar melodies with very cool rythm patterns, the dichotomy of her intense personal lyrics and the almost dispassionate delivery, the space around her voice and the instruments, it’s all still there. Vega has always been an artist who pushes the boundaries of the singer-songwriter format.

Here is a video of “Frank and Ava”…

What prompted this (apart from the regular appearance of a number of her songs on the MP3 player) is I spotted a live concert over at the RTE site. A concert by New York singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega recorded by Radio France -France Inter at Fiesta des Suds, Marseilles, France on 20 October 2007. (you will need Real Audio loaded but it’s worth it.) The concert is a ripper, you really should have a listen.

Highly Recommended

Websites at www.myspace.com/suzannevega and www.suzannevega.com/