I've seen Ben Folds perform live more than half a dozen times and each concert tops the previous one. A natural-born showman, Folds is equal parts Elton John, Billy Joel, Peter Allen and Burt Bacharach. When I attended his solo concert on the night before Thanksgiving 2002, he not only covered Bacharach ("Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," a song that was written before at least half the sold-out audience was born) and Wham! (a spot-on reading of "Careless Whisper"), but he also did a rendition of Liz Phair's "Chopsticks," leaving the gender of the original version unchanged. On Ben Folds Live (Epic), an obvious play on the name of his former trio Ben Folds Five, Folds does one cover (Elton John's "Tiny Dancer"), and the remaining songs include crowd-pleasing favorites from Folds's solo album and the discs he recorded with his band, including "Zak and Sara," "Army," "Brick," "Philosophy," "The Luckiest" and "Best Imitation of Myself."
Start spreading the news, Liza's Back (J), as she declares in the song of the same name on her new live album. In good voice, sounding stronger than she has in years, Liza Minnelli belts out songs written specifically for her (the title track penned by Kander & Ebb), songs she's waited a lifetime to sing ("Something Wonderful," directed at husband David Gest), and songs she's earned the right to sing ("Some People" and "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy). The "Cry" Medley ("Cry," a slightly revised "Don't Cry Out Loud" and Orbison's "Crying") sounds cornier in theory than it does in practice. Even war-horses such as the required Cabaret tunes ("Mein Herr," "Money, Money," and Liza's own theme song "Maybe This Time"), "New York, New York," and "Over The Rainbow," sound as refreshed as the diva herself.
Long out of print and overdue for remastering and CD issue, It's Better With A Band (DRG), Barbara Cook's 1980 concert recording has the potential to introduce a whole new generation to this acclaimed Broadway musical theater actress. On this 15-track live recording, Cook is as at ease singing Irving Berlin, Noel Coward, Leonard Bernstein and Jerry Herman, as she is with Peter Allen, Harry Nilsson, Melissa Manchester and Carole Bayer Sager, and Laura Nyro.
A song by Irving Berlin can also be heard on The Last Concert (Concord) by the late Rosemary Clooney. Her rendition of "God Bless America," closes the disc "to honor the victims" and "to salute the heroes" of Sept. 11, as well as "invoke the spirit of all Americans," according to Allen J. Sviridoff, the album's producer. Recorded in Hawaii with the Honolulu Symphony Pops, Clooney performs such classics as "Sentimental Journey," "I'm Confessin' That I Love You," "Just In Time," "You Go To My Head," and "They Can't Take That Away From Me," in her inimitable style.
Back In The U.S.: Live 2002 (Capitol) is Paul McCartney's latest live disc. McCartney makes the most of the Beatles' 2001 chart-topping success on this live effort by performing Beatles tunes on more than half of the double-disc album. The live renditions of the solo and Wings-era McCartney numbers hold their own in such auspicious company, and all the songs take on new meanings in light of McCartney's personal history and struggles.
One of the most fascinating things about the McCartney disc also holds true for Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series Vol. 5 - Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Revue (Columbia/Legacy). Hearing McCartney sing Beatles tunes in his lived-in, 60-year-old voice, alters our perspectives on the songs just a little bit. On the previously unreleased Live 1975, we hear the always evolving Dylan as a 34-year-old man, performing songs from the early days of his career ("Blowin' In The Wind," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll") through the mid-seventies ("Isis," "Sara," "Hurricane"), which makes for a compelling listening experience. A bonus DVD includes performance footage of "Tangled Up In Blue" and "Isis."
You don't have to see the roster of guest performers on the live album Stars & Guitars (Lost Highway) by Willie Nelson and Friends to know that Nelson is acquainted with some very cool people. It's hard not to share the audience's enthusiasm after hearing Nelson sing with Sheryl Crow ("Whiskey River"), Rob Thomas ("Maria"), Lee Ann Womack ("Mendocino County Line"), Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora ("Always On My Mind"), Norah Jones ("Lonestar"), Patty Griffin ("Angel Flying To Close Too The Ground") and Emmylou Harris ("Till I Gain Control Again"), to mention a few.
I am well-aware that Dave Matthews inspires nothing short of rabid devotion in his fans, but I'm just as interested in the parody and poking he gets from his detractors. Apparently a magnetic live performer, Matthews has released as many studio albums as he has live discs. I'm unconvinced, even more so after listening to Live At Folsom Field - Boulder Colorado (RCA).
Sort of a cross between the country picking of Willie Nelson and the jam band gymnastics of Dave Matthews, Leftover Salmon swings and solos through nine songs on aptly named Live (Compass).
The late Jeff Buckley continues to be a source of inspiration and fascination, years after his death. The five-disc box set The Grace EPs (Columbia) is, as you might have guessed, a collection of five EPs, between three and four songs in length, that include the promo-only Peyote Radio Theater, So Real (a.k.a. Live At Nighttown), Live From The Bataclan, The Grace EP and Last Goodbye, that do what they can to expand on and extend Buckley's all-too-brief legacy.
Finally, the now-defunct Smashing Pumpkins live on in live recordings from the early-to-mid 1990s on the CD Earphoria (Virgin) and DVD Vieuphoria. The previously bootleg-only live releases present the Pumpkins in concert venues around the world and even in their hometown. The Frogs, a controversial gay band, also make an appearance on the DVD.