Live at Red Rocks

Live at Red Rocks

Time was when Rickie Lee Jones and Tom Waits were fellow travelers with a shared neo-boho, singer-songwriter style, the self-conscious musical equivalent of characters from an Edward Hopper tableau. But unlike Waits, who got in touch with his inner Beefheart and embraced a more avant-garde approach, Jones has largely stayed the cocktail crooner course, refining her melodic sensibility and continuing to inject generous doses of folk, jazz, R&B, and world music influences into her itinerant hipster shtick. (Strains of reggae, zydeco, and Dixieland, along with a vocal assist from Lyle Lovett, find their way into this album's version of "Love Is Gonna Bring Us Back Alive.") Compared to <I>Naked Songs</I>, her 1994 plunge into the realm of the unplugged, this live outing is more representative of the full range of Jones's strengths, with gloriously polished yet vital renditions of favorites such as "Rodeo Girl," "Satellites," "Coolsville," and the obligatory "Chuck E.'s in Love." Along the way, Jones serves up memorable covers of "Gloria" and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying," dispenses onstage parental advice, and, inspired by exceptional vocal and instrumental arrangements throughout, generally sings up a storm. Like Joni Mitchell before her and Sophie B. Hawkins after, Jones may no longer be the commercial flavor of the month, but this live recording serves as an engaging testament to her steadfast artistry. <I>--Bill Forman</I>