Amos Lee: Live From The Artists Den | Rating: 8.2/11 |
Released: March 12, 2013
The unassuming and gentle ease with which Philadelphia’s Amos Lee wields his talents is something of a gift in this musical climate of technological treatments and penchant for over-emoting. As pairing music and historic architecture is The Artists Den’s MO, this session was recorded in August 2011 at the Fox Theatre in Tucson, AZ and is a DVD designed for worshipers of Acoustic Soul, Folk and Americana, R&B and Gospel-touched Country – all of which are genres obviously anchored in Lee’s soul and psyche. The audience, seated and captive, displays possibly the most concerted concentration and appreciation of a performance outside of an opera house. And while the vibe is so mellow that you might think the crowd is collectively snuggling in a morphine cocoon, that’s the kind of attention that Amos Lee warrants.
Joined by his friends, Joey Burns and Calexico, and maintaining a tempo that 90% of the time feels like two-stepping with a lover at a roadhouse on a Saturday night, Amos Lee traces an outline with some of the strongest and earthiest cuts from his self-titled debut album, Supply and Demand,Last Days at the Lodge and his current release, Mission Bell. Delivery is key as Lee’s performance is vulnerably nuanced with the intent of extracting emotions lyric by lyric, inflection by whisky rich inflection and never does the band (that includes the Tex Mex horns) overwhelm or disturb the moment. Oddly, as visually attractive as Fox Theatre is (and a bit of it’s history is shared), the setting comes off as a bit impersonal with the audience so far out of Lee’s ‘reach,’ but the folks in the seats don’t seem to mind as the music is welcoming and Lee a humble servant of the evening.
Extras: Low key but charming interviews with Lee and Joey Burns.
Choice plays:
“Supply and Demand”
“Cup Of Sorrow”
“Flower”
“Street Corner Preacher”
“Out of the Cold”