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Wow.
Today's Washington Post's Style section has a terrific story about British soul artist Amy Winehouse.
One of the things I love about the Post is the writing quality and Teresa Wiltz does not disappoint. Wiltz pens a story that is evocative and vivid. I found myself searching the web high and low for audio clips of Winehouse. She is, as Wiltz implies, the real deal. I've set my sights on hearing her in the flesh and as soon as possible.
This morning, when I was listening to Winehouse, I had the same sensations as when I first heard Janis Joplin, Astor Piazzolla, or Amalia Rodriguez. There's this sensibility and directness in her singing that brims with blunt conviction: "Here's how it is."
Disconnected as I am these days from the streetside of the music business, it really turns my crank when I hear an artist like this for the first time. I am, after all, a 54-year old white guy who wears suits and who is about as far from the cool music underground as somebody can be. Don't get me wrong - I like where I am. I get to peek into the average audience member's experience as they travel the continuum between "Never heard of it" to "Can't live without it."
Wow.
Posted on February 7, 2007 09:26 AM | Permalink
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Comments
As Arte Johnson used to say on "Laugh-In": VEEERRY INTERESTING!
I, too, count myself among the recent discoverers of Amy Winehouse. I read about her in a record review in The Globe and Mail. I thought, "Any singer who can be said to be channeling Aretha and Gladys Knight is someone I've gotta hear." I went to my local CD store and purchased two CDs, and was not disappointed.
Winehouse is, I think, one of those performers who would be even better in the flesh than on disc. She has a look that, in photos, can look a little trashy, but onstage could be a total knockout.
Neill, I, too, am a 50-something white guy whose connection to the pop music scene could be characterized as "sporadic". But that's what make the special "discoveries" special. As someone whose college experience was accompanied by R & B (both playing it and listening to it), it's great to hear contemporary artists who can really put it out there.