By: David de Young
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Joe Henry at the Fine Line Sunday, October 12th - Photo by David de Young (Click for full-size.
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Sunday night at the Fine Line I eavesdropped on some audience chatter before the show (from respected local musicians, no less) wondering why the club wasn't more packed than it was. Not that there wasn't a respectably sized crowd in the bar by 9 PM when Henry began his set. One thing you immediately notice about Joe Henry fans is they feel rather strongly that he deserves more name recognition than he's garnered so far in his 17 year career. Have you heard of him? Eleven years back he was getting critical praise for his country-influenced album Short Man's Room, which featured Minneapolitans Mark Olson, Gary Louris and Marc Perlman from the Jayhawks as well as Dan Murphy from Soul Asylum. But I admit that even with my voracious appetite for music, Joe Henry already had 8 albums on the shelf before I stumbled across him this spring, being turned on to his 1999 Mammoth Records album Fuse by my girlfriend. I took it from there.
Joe Henry's appearance on Jay Leno Friday (10/10/03) might have helped him catch the attention of a few new potential fans. Like Tom Waits, Henry isn't necessarily an acquired taste; once you find his music it tends to speak with universality. But as a recent review in Fufkin (read it here) theorizes, maybe he's not looking for more fans: "Only an absolute fool would reach back into smoky lounge and jazz music and hope to strike it rich in rock n roll today. And to do so on two straight recordings, well you're either as damned a fool as they come or a wildly talented and focused sonuvabitch who could give two fucks less," writes one of Fufkin's staff writers.
Tiny Voices may exceed the expectations of fans who thought 2001's Scar was a masterpiece that Henry would have trouble moving beyond. "This Afternoon," performed on the Tonight Show and as the opening song of the Fine Line show Sunday demonstrated the richness of texture Henry is now capable of. This song, like the entirety of the new album, seems as much the work of an artist painting with colors, tones and shades as much as a musician constructing songs with words, notes and chords.
Tonight Henry was performing as a 3 piece: Joe, keyboardist Patrick Warren and bassist Ian Walker. (Note that the trumpet player and drummer who accompanied Henry on Leno were members of The Tonight Show's house band. Walker told me they'd just done a single rehearsal as a 5 piece in the green room.) Throughout the set, any instrumental parts you might think you'd miss in this trio were expertly recreated by a slouched Warren who also lends his amazing keyboard talents to the new album.
As the opening song ended, Henry remarked, "I see a few people I recognize, and a few I don't care for." This was the first of several dry-humored remarks to be made throughout the evening. Henry dug back into 1999's "Fuse" for the second song, "Like She Was a Hammer." Cheers of recognition went up for the 3rd song, the title track from 1996's Trampoline.
Henry said he was sorry to get political right off the bat. "It's not my way," he said. Immediately changing the subject immediately by saying, "I thought you guys had burned this place to the ground," referring to February's Fine Line fire setoff by Link Wray's opening band, The Jet City Fix (who might seriously want to think about changing their name since they are not likely to live that screw-up down as far as Minneapolis fans, press and musicians are concerned.)
The haunting, "Monkey" from Fuse came next, followed by the first of many favorites from 2001's Scar, "Stop."
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Joe Henry at The Fine Line. "Where'd you get your shoes," one audience member asked. "It's a trade secret," Henry replied.
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Henry paused and asked if there were any questions so far. "Where'd you get your shoes," one audience member asked. "It's a trade secret," Henry replied. "If I told you then all you guys would be walking around down there looking like this." But it's more than shoes (see photo) that gives Henry his impeccable style. With his left foot always a bit forward, Henry has the cool, confident and relaxed stance of a pro with little interest in wasting motion.
The title song of Tiny Voices followed, with its chorus of "Falling for you." Warren's keyboard was producing piano and other sounds simultaneously making this 3 piece sound like 5 or more musicians at times. Stand up bass player Ian Walker alternated between plucking and bowing his bass, providing a soothing, smoky undercurrent throughout this song and the entire set.
Next came "Leaning," and when I first heard this song (the 3rd from final track on the new disk) it conjured up unpleasant associations with Dave Matthews. But when I had a chance to reflect, and being somewhat of a Dave Matthews anti-fan, it struck me that Joe Henry is what Matthews might aspire to if he had real talent, more integrity, and pure soul. If you are a Dave Matthews fan, save yourself now and trade all your albums in for Joe Henry's. Even if it costs you 4 Matthews albums for one of Joe Henry's, your life will be richer. Trust me. As the song ended Henry joked, "I'm okay. That song sounds sadder than it really is."
As the band worked through Scar's title track, the piano gently lilted through the sweet descending string part. The last few songs of the set came from the new album except for Edgar Bergen from Scar. After "Sold," Henry commented on the Fine Line's Live TV monitors (installed as part of the renovation with some of the insurance payoff from February's fire) saying he thought it was Wilco on TV instead of a live shot of his own performance. "They're falling apart," he said. "There are only 3 of them now."
The band left the stage very briefly to return to cheers when they began the single encore, "Flag," from Tiny Voices. Henry joked that it might be played at the halftime of the Super Bowl, but he wouldn't be performing it. They'd get Shania Twain to do it.
Weblinks:
Weblinks: http://www.joehenrylovesyoumadly.com
Label site: http://www.anti.com/artist.php?id=86683
Here's the full setlist from Sunday as best as I could peg it.
| Joe Henry Setlist 10-12-03 (Minneapolis)
1. This Afternoon (Tiny Voices) |
Location Info:
Fine Line Music Café
Artist Info: Joe Henry
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