Divas in New York
- menschmedia
- Feb 4, 2008
- 1 min read
Since the first of the year, I’ve seen three incredible women in concert in New York City: Barbara Cook, Judy Kuhn, and Joanna Newsom.
Perhaps the last is the most interesting. As a rather clueless 55-year-old, I’d never heard of Newsom, let alone heard her sing. But the excitement of going to the big city is partly about serendipity. With an extra night to see a show, I scoped out the most exciting event that had the maximum hip signifiers (BAM, sold out, freak folk, harpist, accompanied by a symphony orchestra) and begged a ticket because of my media connections as a senior producer at the senior’s product.
So who and what are Joanna Newsom? Well, everyone there was in their twenties and thirties. Everyone was dressed as an artistic sort, or a tech type. And Ms. Newsom was a winsome pop songstress, who sometimes sounded like a mewling cat, but only enough to scare away the old folk. With roots in Irish and Scottish folks songs, singer songerwriter expressionism, and straight from the heart girlish charm, Newsom was that perfect work of art, a singer who spoke directly into the ears of her audience.
To hear her, search for her on YouTube…
More on Barbara Cook, and Judy Kuhn as Laura Nyro, as soon as I can prove that more than three people have read this recent post. Write to me: menschmedia(at)yahoo.com.
See my most recent work at http://radioprimetime.org/specials/
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