Bettye LaVette - Dmitriou’s Jazz Alley (Seattle, WA; Mar. 19, 2008)

“I’m not a music enthusiast, mostly I just sing because I like to hear me sing.”- Bettye LaVette.

Bettye LaVette has been working at her dream for more years than I’ve graced this earth. At one point she noted, “This is my 46th year in show business and my 62nd year of life”—which gives her quite an array of sources to draw from and is one of the best things about her. The show ranged from her 16-year-old debut “My Man - He’s a Lovin’ Man,” where she joked about not being old enough at the time to really know a man; covers of classic artists (Ray Charles, Elton John); her second most recent release, which consists of covers by contemporary women I’ve Got My Own Hell To Raise; and her latest collaboration with the Drive By Truckers.

The evening started out mellow with a couple of up-tempo jazz songs by her band: strong keys, tight percussion, solid bass with some country-tinged slides on the electric guitar. And then they announced “Ms. Bettye LaVette.” Cue the cheering, adoring crowd and the massive spotlight that follow LaVette’s escorted approach through the tight spaced tables to the stage. The moment Bettye LaVette stepped to the front of the stage I was struck: this woman is a performer, a star, a rockin’, bluey soul singer.

She got straight to business on stage tossing her microphone from one hand to the other—launching into her soulful, sometimes rasp-tinged voice and cross stepping and dancing across the floor. It was one of those moments where you realize you have a huge grin on your face and look up to see your cohort smiling back and nodding along as the beat begins to pick up. My notes from this part of the show read affectionately: “She can strut.” Oh, and to those folks who like hip-hop steps take note: here are the origins of modern quick hop steps.

LaVette introduced her most recent, “Grammy nominated album The Scene of the Crime” and laughed that we might hear those words again as she launched into the slower “Choices,” showing off her ability to put the emotion behind honest lyrics. That being said, she then launched into the funky, rocking, guitar led, eyes closed, hands up, foot stomping, “Joy.” This was followed by another slow song “Down to Zero” which spoke to another familiar theme of the night: an acceptance and embracing of the self. You could see the emotion as she sang the final lyric “Fall at my door”—her voice broke, her head hung and her arm dropped. What’s more is that she has the right to sing about these things—she’s struggled through her career (only one Motown hit and she’s from Detroit!?) to make herself a soul star, and lived long enough to have some perspective on life, learning, and love. Another stirring, soul-searching favorite was her closing “This Is As Close To Heaven As I Get,” which LaVette herself shared was “how I feel right now.” Both painful and empowering, the song was her most dramatic of the night: imagine the climax of a film where the heroine has an sobering personal revelation and walks out alone—and you know she’s not going back. Unlike LaVette, who walked offstage as she finished singing “This Is Just About As Close . . .  ” but returned moments later to perform her original “Before The Money Came,” and a syllable-emphasizing, raw version of Fiona Apple’s “Sleep To Dream” which sounds just as, if not more, emotional than the original (perhaps it’s that scolding tone she brings with her higher range?)

Some further highlights of the show: slow hip circles with the timing and precision of a clock to her song “My Man - He’s a Lovin’ Man,” the impression of physical pain conveyed while singing of lost friends during “Talking Old Soldiers” (I thought that sounded like something Billy Joel would write! turns out it’s an Elton John cover), and of course her exit. The band left individually as their parts finished on “Sleep To Dream,” leaving LaVette to end her set a capcella under a single stage light, singing a hymnal-style song about faith and her presence in the world. I admire the way she can sing from the heart “I have everything that I’ve requested and I do not want what I have not got,” and can’t express the added power of hearing this message from a lady who’s solo voice brought the crowd to a quiet in which you could hear the echo of her breath in the microphone. Well Ms Bettye LaVette, I’m sorry it took “40 years [to keep] on singing before the money started,” but I’m glad you’re still here.

Okay, I did have one rant: the people noisily settling their bill in the front row during her solo song. LaVette noticed.

The Bettye LaVette Band
Alan Hill (Music Director, keyboards/vocals)
Darryl Pierce (drums)
Brett Lucas (guitar/vocals)
Chuck Bartels (bass/vocals)

Set List
Unfortunately I didn’t get a copy of the setlist so I didn’t catch the titles of the first few tunes—if anyone knows please feel free to write in!

1 band number
2 band number
3 band intro
4 I Still want to be your Baby (Take Me Like I Am) (Eddie Hinton)
5 Choices (Billy Yates / Mike Curtis)
6 Joy (Lucinda Williams)
7 Down to Zero (Joan Armatrading)
8 They Called it Love (WT Davidson)
9 Maybe We Shouldn’t talk about that Now (Ed Pettersen / Kim McLean)
10 My Man - He’s a Lovin’ Man
11 You Don’t Know Me At All (Don Henley / Stan Lynch /
John Corey)
12 Talking Old Soldiers (Elton John / Bernie Taupin))
13 Right in the Middle of Falling in Love (Joe Cocker)
14 Close As I Get To Heaven

Encore
1 Before the Money Came – (original, with Patterson Hood )
2 Sleep To Dream (Fiona Apple Maggart)
3 I Do Not Want What I Do Not Have (Sinead O’Connor)

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