Well as I talked about winning tickets to see this guy at the Danforth Music Hall on my other blog, my critique about his show gives it a 1 1/2 thumbs up! Seeing Amos Lee on his latest tour, Last day at the Lodge, is worth it.
I came to the conclusion 1/2 way through Amos’s show that this guy really covers his musical bases quite nicely! Motown, Funk, Blues, Jazz, Folk and Southern rock, to a lesser degree, is all there to let the listener soak it all up.
On a side note, I would find it very interesting if he added a bit of a middle eastern flavor to his style. I think he could pull something like this off in a very unique way. I am just throwing that one out there.
His Motown sound was fabulous when he used it! His keyboardist, which was a major contributor to this sound, knew his place in the band. He was very eloquent in his approach to playing this by sliding in and out of a tune very tastefully and in the back ground.
Amos’s sprinkling of his falsetto voice was not over used at all I found. This just added some musical colour to the songs he plays. His guitar playing was very good but not all that technical. I’m almost 100 % sure that he uses a B-Bender on his Fender telecaster.
The one tune that he did, “Won’t let me down”, had this Flight of the Conchords feel to it, honestly. I closed my eyes for a second and pictured the leader singer of the Flight of the Conchords, singing it and it was very believable. I brought this train of thought up to my wife during the show and she couldn’t see though. Musicians always seem to have this different view of how they intemperate music I think.
My favorite song of the show was “Sweet Pea”! It is a short tune that he through in there for the hell of it. I just love that old school big band/jazz feel that his chord progressions nudged us towards. Leon Redborn must of had some sort of influence on this guy at one time throughout his informative days. I think I’ll figure this one out and try it live just for the fun of it sometime.
So I would not mind seeing this guy live if he comes into town next. If anything, he will broaden your musical appreciation for all the different genres that are out there … but not the more contemporary, in your face ones that don’t quite cut it with me.
Keep on Jammin’
