Shake, rattle and Raitt: Bonnie’s back in town
Her great voice and sterling musicianship backed by a tight band at the NAC
Bonnie Raitt With Marc Cohn Southam Hall, Friday night
Standing on the stage of Southam Hall Friday, Bonnie Raitt, her trademark red hair with that striking white streak on full display, was a testament to perseverance and talent.
The just-turned 63-year-old singer/guitarist and her excellent band proved once again that age is no impediment to talent, and that time ripens the music and makes it new again. She invoked the Lord but she did not need His help turning the packed hall into a rocking club.
Raitt, who is touring on the strength of her Grammy-winning 2012 album Slipstream (she has 10 Grammys BTW), has her career on a rebound of sorts, but really she never lost her way, despite battles with her demons and the politics of greed and anger.
She comes from a musical family. Her dad, John, was a Broadway star and Bonnie played the guitar from an early age. She attended Radcliffe College, where she studied social relations and African studies. Instead of going to Tanzania, she met the bluesman Dick Waterman and the course of her history changed. By 1970 she was playing in blues clubs in New York. But it wasn’t until 1989 that she broke into the big time with Nick of Time.
Slipstream is her 16th studio album, praised as one of her best by publications from American Songwriter magazine to Rolling Stone.
Her Ottawa show is her first in six years or so since her triumphant appearance at Bluesfest.
Slipstream itself started in the studio with producer Joe Henry. Four of the songs from those sessions made it onto the disc, but she also included covers of tunes by Henry, Paul Brady, Bob Dylan and the late Gerry Rafferty.
Her cover of Rafferty’s Right Down the Line has become a welcome fixture in Raitt’s repertoire, and her performance of it Friday night was dazzling. Dylan’s Million Miles was also worth the price of admission: sultry, sexy blues.
She sang her hits, including a hot version of Something to Talk About. And in a special, emotional encore that featured her brother David on harmonica, Raitt delivered a passionate version of I Can’t Make You Love Me.
Credit her with a great voice and sterling musicianship. But she is also a commanding leader of a tight band that includes George Marinelli (guitar), James Hutch Hutchinson (bass), Ricky Fataar (drums) and Mike Finnigan (keyboards).
The evening opened with the sensational American singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, who delivered a powerful and poignant rendition of his best-known song, Walking in Memphis, Friday night. Cohn and Raitt have worked together on and off over many years. He has opened most of her shows on the Slipstream tour.