Uncomfortable Genius

If you're moved by music, you probably have your faves. I remember the summer-driven moment I first heard "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys. I loved Carl Wilson's vocal tone and the break down section. Just listen to the first note he sings: "I..." which he made more like "Ahhhhh..." Is it not astounding?  

So, music can have this power, this emotional pull. And one artist in particular has always roused my deepest core: Miss Rickie Lee Jones.

Some people recognize the true genius that is Rickie Lee Jones; some think she's bizarre; others haven't heard of her. I am seated solidly in the first category. No other pop singer on this planet, in my mind, encircles the soul of music like RLJ. She is an un-studied jazzer at heart, who accesses some other world and creates rich harmonic structures, singing with pained clarity in a mostly pop format. It floors me. I've heard Rickie live probably 30 times and as any RLJ fan knows, you could get a moderately grumpy, pained performance as she chastise an upright bass player for his intonation, or tell the audience to hush it, but then again...you get a glimpse of her incredible creative bag. She is always an edge-of-your-seat experience. 

One time she hired a coupla guys who didn't have time to rehearse for Orchestra Hall in Chicago, so she had them work by EAR. She would start a song on piano or guitar, and the instrumentalists (a guitarist and upright bassist), just followed along while Rickie played in and out of strange time signatures, forging chords no one had ever heard, while she signaled what to do with her vocal cues. To me, it was breathtaking! My hubby and our two friends were upset by the free-flow of this, however, and took to drinking vast quantities of alcohol. Maybe it is kinda hard to "get" Rickie and what she's about, but I like her for her pop sensibilities (I'm a pop singer for crying out loud!) and her depth and complexity within the format. She actually has lots of very palatable, hit-type songs and is a two-time Grammy winner. Satellites Video.

And maybe the reason I have never toured is because of Rickie. Unlike my musical idol, being out of a certain comfort zone whigs me out. I couldn't handle living "on the jazz side of life," or partying with Tom Waits at the Tropicana Motel all night. But, would I write cool stuff if I unleashed my "demons" the way she so openly conjures hers?  Would I have access to musical brilliance if I didn't allow myself the conventions of comfort and happiness?

My favorite RLJ is her at the piano, doing her jazz thing, in that pin-point sweet soprano.

I wonder if she thinks all her wounds are worth the transcendent music we are so fortunate to hear her make...