Kiss Me Baby
It would be silly for me to claim to be unbiased in my review of any music created by Austin’s Patrice Pike. I’ve been smitten by her music for over nine years now and there is a good chance that if you know me personally then you have already been subjected to at least one speech from me about the wonder that is music by Patrice.
But now, I'm on the Internet so I can share my obsession of Patrice Pike with all kinds of unsuspecting strangers. And so, I give you my review of Patrice's latest release: Live! At The Brushwood Lounge...
The last few years have found Patrice Pike at what appears to be a bit of a crossroads. Her previous band, Sister Seven has been disbanded for several years now. Her following band, The Black Box Rebellion, has undergone a few personnel changes recently and her long time musical companion Wayne Sutton has started spending more time working on his solo project.
With the disbanding of Sister Seven, Patrice's musical style began to change and evolve to reflect her own personal style more than the "band's" style that had evolved over the previous half-dozen years or so.
Many of the songs Patrice has released over the last couple of years are versions of songs that have been in her portfolio for quite some time but just didn't fit with the style of the band so they were regulated to her occasional solo shows and never released on CD. With BBR, Patrice has a vehicle to explore these songs and to put a sound to the words she's been writing.
Yes, this is the softer side of Patrice, but it is also the activist side of Patrice. While she spent most of the 90's rocking on stage with Sister Seven, she's spending this decade giving her fans electric performances that cross the lines between rock, jazz, folk and R&B. The band is less likely to bring the house down jamming, but there is no less energy on stage. Her music has embraced a slower pace that lets her vocals, energy and art shine.
Patrice's songs dance and gleam before your eyes. Delivering personal messages and views of the world she sees without the trite feel of "social rock." She manages to write songs with meaning and still perform music with beauty. Patrice has used the phrase "Musical Chocolate" to describe one of her favorite songs and you will likely find yourself repeating that phrase when you hear her sing.
All of this to lead us to Live! At The Brushwood Lounge. This amazing CD finds Patrice in an intimate, acoustical performance with Wayne Sutton. The recording is of excellent quality and it gives you the feeling that you are sitting right next to the stage while Patrice sings just for you.
If I haven't mentioned it before, Patrice's voice is absolutely awesome and this recording does nothing to dilute it. Wayne, with all of his years playing at Patrice's side, provides just the right amount of guitar, at just the right times to embrace and enhance her voice rather than compete with it. I never saw them in the early days when they cut their teeth on stage as a duo but I think this recording does a good job of capturing the magic these two have always created on stage.
The selection of songs on this CD covers a few previously released songs, a couple of classic Patrice 'solo' songs that have not been previously released and several new songs since her last full length CD.
The center piece of this set is undoubtedly Kiss Me Baby. Kiss Me Baby is not a new song for Patrice fans. It was originally released on the final Sister Seven CD and Wayne has performed his own version of the song at his solo shows many times. But the original version is a very Sister Seven'ish affair that swings a bit quickly. Sans her old band, Patrice has slowed this song down and produced, well, Musical Chocolate.
The slow version of Kiss Me Baby smokes, smolders and swings. It is quite simply one of the top ten songs of all time in my book. And now, it's on CD!
But the rest of the CD is a treasure too. The acoustic version of Jackknife Girl that opens the CD is superb and captures a beautiful take of one of the best songs from Fencing Under Fire. Mystery Girl is one of Patrice's all time crowd pleasers that makes it to CD for the first time.
Another Sister Seven song, Under The Radar shines in the stripped down format and leaves me wondering again why that song was not given the publicity it deserved when it was first released. There is also the always fun Chico that always sounds as if it makes Patrice smile just to sing it.
In a nod to Wayne's recent solo work, St. Louis's Balcony let's Wayne take a spin on the mic with Patrice providing back-up vocals. Unfortunately, Wayne's voice makes a great backup harmony for Patrice, but it appears a bit weak to carry lead vocals. The song does demonstrate Wayne's long time songwriting influence on Patrice and their continued collaboration despite their growing solo projects.
Despite the fact that several of the songs are presented in their extended 'live' format and thus creep up over 5 and sometimes 7 minutes long, this CD is not short on songs. The track list comes in at 13 songs and well over an hour's worth of music. If that is not enough, the folks over at The Brushwood Lounge (who made this CD a reality) have also provided a couple of extra bonus tracks as MP3 files on their web site.
Patrice Pike: Live! At The Brushwood Lounge is simply a great live CD.
Revised 10/4/2004
Posted by on 10/03 at 04:21 PM