David from London
04-21-2006, 03:54 AM
Janis Ian, The Duke of York's Cinema, Brighton
by Paul Brazier
Janis Ian has been writing and singing for 40 years If Janis Ian had been one of the many younger women singersongwriters I have reviewed in the past year or so, I would have been very impressed.
Her emotive songs were beautifully constructed and sung with a tender expressiveness or a powerful edge, accompanied by some very accomplished guitar playing and subtle electronic effects.
They made what might have been a slightly worthy and dull solo vocal-with-guitar evening fascinating and magical.
But Janis Ian is not a younger woman. As she pointed out in this wonderful concert, she has been doing this for 40 years and has released 20 albums.
When I first heard her hit At Seventeen, I expected her to be a one-hit wonder. Now I find she was already an industry veteran of ten years so I shouldn't be surprised that, although I own none of her albums, I recognised at least half of the songs.
Unlike the recently rediscovered-and-fashionable recluse, Vashti Bunyan, Janis Ian has worked hard at her craft all her life which, as she explained, is the subject of her songs. The casual tone of her betweensong banter belied the painful intimate details she was revealing.
But she appears settled now, happy, and doing what she wants, a rich reward for a life lived in the public eye.
This was a rare opportunity to see a young singer-songwriter who has attained her full maturity. And a great privilege.
by Paul Brazier
Janis Ian has been writing and singing for 40 years If Janis Ian had been one of the many younger women singersongwriters I have reviewed in the past year or so, I would have been very impressed.
Her emotive songs were beautifully constructed and sung with a tender expressiveness or a powerful edge, accompanied by some very accomplished guitar playing and subtle electronic effects.
They made what might have been a slightly worthy and dull solo vocal-with-guitar evening fascinating and magical.
But Janis Ian is not a younger woman. As she pointed out in this wonderful concert, she has been doing this for 40 years and has released 20 albums.
When I first heard her hit At Seventeen, I expected her to be a one-hit wonder. Now I find she was already an industry veteran of ten years so I shouldn't be surprised that, although I own none of her albums, I recognised at least half of the songs.
Unlike the recently rediscovered-and-fashionable recluse, Vashti Bunyan, Janis Ian has worked hard at her craft all her life which, as she explained, is the subject of her songs. The casual tone of her betweensong banter belied the painful intimate details she was revealing.
But she appears settled now, happy, and doing what she wants, a rich reward for a life lived in the public eye.
This was a rare opportunity to see a young singer-songwriter who has attained her full maturity. And a great privilege.