Soul Survivor

Rickie Lee Jones. At SOhO, Monday, December 18.

Reviewed by Brett Leigh Dicks

Rickie Lee Jones knows a thing or two about the road. For almost
30 years, the musical veteran has been soulfully touring life’s
highways and byways and encapsulating it all in song. Sliding
behind the SOhO piano on Monday night, the Dutchess of Coolsville
caressed and perplexed her way through an enchanting offering that
explored these experiences. Jones delivered scintillating
renditions of songs that spanned her career, opening with “On
Saturday Afternoons in 1963,” then moving to “Flying Cowboys,”
“Living It Up,” and “Coolsville.” Oddly — and perhaps a testament
to Jones’s versatility — a member of the audience eagerly requested
the evening’s opening song not long after she actually performed
it.

Soon after, Jones was joined onstage by her band and from that
point forward, left the piano behind. As a result, the intimate
smokiness of the performance was replaced by the driving dynamics
of an ensemble. But such was the ease of her progression and Jones
hardly skipped a beat. For, just as the hauntingly beautiful
“Coolsville” had her passionately crying out from behind the
keyboard, “Nobody Knows My Name” saw Jones center stage, hunched
over the microphone, dispelling every trace of sentiment from the
song.