Lindsey Webster, The Art of Sound, Lambertville, NJ, 11/14/2018



On Wednesday, November 14th, The Art of Sound, a high end audio store located in Lambertville, NJ hosted a performance by Lindsey Webster as part of their "Unplugged" jazz series. Attendance was limited to fifty by the size constraint of the space; The Art of Sound is located in a former nineteenth century paper mill nestled along the Delaware River and Canal. I had just seen an email from Webster listing two tour dates, one in California and the other in New Jersey. The NJ booking turned out to be The Art of Sound, and we were lucky enough to secure the last pair of tickets to this special show.

The conversion of the paper mill to an audio showroom can be seen in the pictures below. This had to be one of the coolest and most unusual spaces in which to see such an event.

Webster sat on a stool and just sang, accompanied by Keith Slattery on piano. Don't get me wrong, I love her three albums but this show was truly special in that Webster sang a good number of standards, too. She opened the show with a super soulful "God Bless The Child". After that, we might have expected jazz/pop classics like "Autumn Leaves" and "A Kiss to Build a Dream On". Her take on "Over The Rainbow" was beyond the usual making it more personal. As thrilling as it was to hear these selections from the Great American Songbook, it was even more extraordinary to hear Webster doing more modern classics like "Don't Wait Too Long", a Madeleine Peyroux cover, Prince's "Call My Name", and "Make You Feel My Love" her Adele cover written by Bob Dylan (watch below).

Her set was supremely well constructed to then survey all three of her albums with some well chosen originals. Webster's albums and singles have all had great success on the contemporary jazz charts of both Billboard and iTunes.

Webster brought it home with Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" followed by Etta James' "At Last" to end the evening. These were both superb renditions but I must say that the Stevie Wonder tune may have been my favorite number of the set. Regardless of the unlikelihood of Lindsey Webster "hanging out with those hoodlum friends of mine", the message of "I Wish" is universal. Your choice of covers can say almost as much about you as your own material, and I just love that Webster loves Stevie Wonder a much as I do.

The show was captivating in its simplicity. Slattery accompanied Webster with some very jazzy piano parts. Her songwriting and production partner as well as keyboardist in her band, he is also her one-time husband.

The unplugged nature of the event and the intimacy of the venue freed Webster to be conversational with the audience. There was plenty of laughing, stories, song explanations and song information like the tidbit that "Those Three Words" is her personal favorite among the songs she has written. Overall, she seemed to be free of the normal concert format and really enjoyed the performance. For me, as good as her albums are, this show offered a new dimension to this artist, and the backing by Slattery was just perfect; his piano was a joy to hear. Many thanks to The Art of Sound for holding this event, and many thanks to Lindsey Webster for appearing.

Watch "Make You Feel My Love"


Setlist:

1. God Bless The Child
2. Autumn Leaves
3. Don't Wait Too Long (Madeleine Peyroux Cover)
4. A Kiss to Build a Dream On
5. Over The Rainbow
6. Make You Feel My Love (Covering Adele singing Bob Dylan)
7. Call My Name (Prince Cover)
8. Where Do You Want To Go
9. Open Up
10. Those Three Words
11. Love Inside
12. I Wish (Stevie Wonder Cover)
13. At Last (Etta James Cover)


"The Art of Sound’s ongoing quest is to creatively and sincerely deliver the most premium sound in the most uniting, yet technological way, through our state-of-the-art expertise, inevitably propelling one to an utmost time and space, amid a sonic, custom-designed, personal music experience. We relish in the ability to share this with you. Sound never felt so good."


The Art of Sound
19th Century Location
21st Century Technology

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