I went out and did something fun last night so I will be good and write before I eat. That’s a laugh. Now it’s close to 12 hours later and I finished dinner.
Last night I went to see the ethereal Aoife [ee-fuh] O’Donovan and the yare Yasmin Williams. I had to search for an appropriate compliment that started with a “y” sound. Yare [rhymes with mar] means quick; agile; lively an apt description. The show was Music Hall of Williamsburg. My second to last time there, shortly before the pandemic started was to Aoife’s old band Crooked Still. The opening act was Lula Wiles. She mentioned that show from the stage as that was her last time playing New York. The last show she saw before Lockdown was The Bonny Light Horseman at the Music Hall. I was there too. That’s three shows in a row I saw there with Aoife in the building. I have always associated Aoife with Anaïs Mitchell, of the Bonny Light Horseman as people so often get their names wrong. The key with Anaïs is to realize that the dieresis above the i, that indicates it should be pronounced separately from the proceeding vowel. It is uh-nay-iss. Do I need to explain how to pronounce Yasmin or Williams? I think not.
It takes three trains to get to the MHoW, there were delays on the D and I left a little late. Doors were at 7 and I wanted to get there early for a spot by the stage. My first thought for dinner was Crif Dog but the Brooklyn Branch fell victim to COVID-19. I went for pizza. I got there so late that I decided to eat the pizza as I walked. I didn’t get to the venue until 6:35! Heavens to Murgatroyd! I was the first one there and nobody else came for 10 minutes. It was a lovely woman that came up from Philly for the show. Then Glenn arrived. I figured I’d see many friends there. I got my spot by the stage and socialized. Behind us came a mother and daughter from Salt Lake City! They didn’t come for the show. The daughter lives here. I thought she was too young to get in, maybe 15. She’s going to get carded for years. They like much of the same music I do, all the people that I call the Aoifeverse, and the New York Times call the Scene. It’s the people that showed up regularly on Live From Here with Chris Thile. Why do I not have to tell you how to pronounce Thile? I have never heard one person say it as one syllable. Has everybody heard of him before they read his name? People usually have so much trouble with the voiced final e common in Italian.
Aoife is one of the artists I’ve seen the most times, going back to her days with Crooked Still. For years if she was playing in New York, I was doing the merch. I have seen her with Crooked Still, solo, Sometymes Why, I’m with her, and duo with Sarah Jarosz. I bet I’m forgetting other configurations. Seeing Aoife is a home game. This was my first time seeing Yasmin Williams, but My Gentle Readers might remember me talking about her. The opening theme music of Gord’s Gold is her Restless Heart. That was the last piece she played. I had to stop myself from saying, “Welcome My Gentle Listeners when she got to the point where I start speaking.” Don’t get jealous of the Gentle Listeners My Gentle Readers. I’ll always love you best.
So, what was Yasmin like live? She’s yare! As much as I love listening to her recorded music, I’m doing that as I write, she’s even better live. Her musical virtuosity did not surprise me at all. What did surprise me was how much fun her banter was. She’s silly and funny. Nobody told me she’d be silly and funny. She’s pretty much a typical Gordon Friend. She told people if they had questions to just shout them out. People did. One person asked her if Bach was an influence. I have always thought that, and that feeling was intensive when watching her live. She’s as good a finger picking guitarist as I’ve ever seen. She often plays it in a non-standard position, flat on her lap, like a dobro or lap steel. But then instead of using playing with a steel she fingerpicks with both hands. It looks like she’s playing a keyboard. She creates sounds by striking the strings, sometimes with her fingers, and sometimes with a hammer. That creates a sound similar to a dulcimer. Her composition style has the breathless relentlessness of Bach on the harpsichord. At times there’s even a basso continuuo. For a while I was mesmerized watching her but then I slipped into my eyes shut listening mode so I can hear every note. With Yasmin every note has a purpose. Try to pick out the different threads. If that is not enough, she attaches a kalimba to the guitar with gaffer tape and plays that with her right hand while picking or striking the guitar strings with her left. This is simply not to be missed.
I did not know how the crowd would react. It’s completely different form what you’d normal here at an American show. Chris Thile will go there but no one else I can think of. It’s intellectual music, which often has limited appeal. Aoife clearly attracts an intellectual crowd. They gave Yasmin a rousing ovation. There was no, “hurry up and leave so we can see the headliner we paid for.” You must see her when she plays near you. Appropriately enough I played her on Gord’s Gold last night. Not just Restless Heart, the last song she played. The second song was Juvenescence, that’s the other song I played on my show. I applauded when she announced it. I have no word of mouth on Yasmin. I don’t know what’s considered her hits and crowd pleasers but apparently, I played ones that she’s proud of. I have to thank Katherine for introducing her to me. She found Yasmin on Youtube.
During the intermission I told Glenn to guard my spot with his life and I went to the lobby to talk to Yasmin. I gushed. You might have noticed I have a tendency to do that. I’m a fan boy but far from a typical fanboy. I’m an evangelical even thought I’m an atheist. I think I made it clear to Yasmin and everyone near me that I think she’s great.
Do you know who else is great? Aoife. She has a new album out, Age of Apathy. Do you know the different between ignorance and apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care. I said that on my show and at the concert too. You have to work the good jokes in where you can. I hope they don’t throw me out of the jokesters’ union for revealing a trade secret. I’m sure that’s what made Batman’s nemesis the Joke snap. Where was I? Oh, right Aoife. There is a quality to Aoife’s voice that I have trouble describing, a smoothness. I was leaning towards silky but satiny feels closer. Her voice is smooth but has more texture than silk. I used to think that she needed a mic to sing, that there was no way she could project. That was until I heard her sing off mic. Nope, she can do that breathy mic voice at high volume. That’s not about having a beautiful voice, that’s about being able to sing. Aoife is in no way an ermine guitar. An ermine guitar would be soft and making a pleasant sound, but I have no desire to hear one. Aoife’s singing and songwriting are just as intellectual as Yasmin’s though not as obvious about it. There’s a veneer of “Oh that’s pretty” that can be appreciated by those that don’t want to make an effort when listening. But those that make the effort are rewarded. She too played the song I played on Gord’s Gold, B61, about a Brooklyn Bus Route. The one I take to get to the House of Love where I have seen Aoife. I applauded that too. Gord’s Gold starts at 9 PM. I knew that B61 would play at exactly 9:21. Guess what time Aoife started singing it? Come on guess. That’s right, I expect you to say 9:21. The reality is I have no idea, I didn’t look at my watch, I was busy having a great time listening to Aoife and her fabulous band. Let’s talk about her band. The lead guitarist on electric was something you don’t often see in a lead guitarist; she was a woman. Take a look. You’ll often see female artists with all-male bands. You even more often see male artists with all-male bands. There are so duos where the woman sings and plays no instrument, and the man plays guitar and doesn’t sing. But a female lead electric guitarist is something we don’t see often enough. I don’t know how you spell it, but her name was pronounced ee-suh. The bass player was Ethan. So yes, there was ee-fuh, ee-suh, and ee-thin. When it came time to announce the drummer, I as trying to think of another name that would fit it. I wasted my time. His name is Robin.
The only thing disappointing was that other than Glenn I didn’t see any of the gang, and he’s not in the Brooklyn trad/bluegrass gang. The people I see at the House of Love and each other’s shows. I thought I saw Sean Trishka but wasn’t sure. The place was dark and crowded. I didn’t want to fight my way through a crowd to talk to someone when I’m not sure if he knows who I am. But later than night as the crowd thinned out and I was just about to do the same I saw Eleanor Buckland, formerly of Lula Wiles, you know the last band I saw opening for Aoife. She as on stage then. I did go over to talk to Eleanor. She just did John Platt’s On Your Radar. She is also Sean’s girlfriend, but I didn’t see Sean. I asked he had been there, I correctly identified him, but he had to run out early. But that was it. I found nobody else I knew. Where was everybody?
Going home was not easy. I had almost no wait for the L train but an 8 minute wait for the F and then a 13 minute wait for the D. Then two stops from home the train stopped. There was congestion, a train at each stop in front of us till the end of the line. We had to wait for all of them to clear out. If I walked it would be 20 minutes. I had no idea if it would be faster to walk or wait. The upshot is that I didn’t get home to midnight. I’m not complaining, the show was well worth it.
This is my longest entry in forever. I’m not complaining about that either. Now listen to Gord’s Gold. You can hear Yasmin and Aoife and other wonderful music. You don’t even have to go anywhere. The player is right here.
Wise Madness 