Record of the Day: Joan Baez, “Bowery Songs”

Joan Baez
“Bowery Songs” (Cd Koch b000AA41M6)

The calendar sheets scroll by quickly but Joan Baez doesn’t seem to notice at all.
Her voice is as brilliant as it was at the beginning, her concerts are always sold out in America and Europe, and even if the folksinger’s latest albums haven’t caused earthquakes in the sales charts, her music continues to speak directly. to a vast audience, rightly enchanted by the skill with which Joan presents a colorful and captivating mix of new and classic songs from her inexhaustible repertoire.

Recorded in 2004 in New York, “Bowery Songs” finds her in perfect form in front of an adoring audience who probably knows every song by heart (but the recording fortunately spares us the collective chants).
Accompanied by a band of very good musicians (among which Graham Maby, Joe Jackson’s former bassist, and guitarist Erik Dalla Penna stand out) Joan dusts off imperishable classics by Woody Guthrie (“Deportees”) and Bob Dylan, including beautiful cover of “Seven Curses” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”, the latter decidedly less sarcastic and ruthless than the original but capable of highlighting the beautiful melody more.

His curiosity as an interpreter also extends to authors of subsequent generations, such as Steve Earle (present with two songs,
“Christmas in Washington” and “Jerusalem”) and there is no shortage of traditional songs such as “Farewell Angelina”, “Silver Dagger” (where Joan’s guitar is accompanied by delicious banjo interventions) and “Dink’s Song”.

The quantity of songs performed by Joan Baez in these decades is such as to inevitably leave the selection of favorite songs incomplete; the choice of songs is however wide and guarantees over an hour of pure listening pleasure, without ever giving the impression of a nostalgic or moldy performer and always sounding passionate.

The singer’s political commitment is always in the foreground (one of the songs on the album is dedicated to Michael Moore, while another addresses the incurable plague of the Middle Eastern question, hoping for an end to hostilities); over time it has taken on a less militant color without however abandoning its firmness of purpose or awareness of its own reasons, giving voice once again to those who are oppressed and forced to leave their land to find work.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.