Peroux and Pidgeon appear at Folsom's Three Stages
A Review by Ken Kiunke
Staff Writer
Singers Madeleine Peroux and Rebecca Pidgeon appeared at Three Stages at Folsom Lake College Thursday night as part of the 2012 – 2013 season of Performing Arts and as part of "Jazz at Three Stages" sponsored by Capital Public Radio. Headliner Madeleine Peroux is truly a jazz song stylist, and she, along with her 4 piece backing band, would fit right in at the annual Sacramento Music Festival – what most of us remember and still call the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee. Her vocals rise and fall, sliding around the melodies with ease, as she interprets jazz and blues standards, along with her original songs.
Peroux is truly and international artist. She is American, born in Athens Georgia, but she moved away too young to be part of the music scene there, that produced REM, the B-52's, and dozens of other notable musicians. After living in Brooklyn NY, at 13 she moved with her mother to Paris, and came of age in the street music scene, developing her talent as a singer and guitarist on the streets of Europe, eventually touring with blues and jazz bands. She was soon recognized as a singer in the mode of Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday, both of whom she counts as influential to her style, along with Patsy Cline, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan, among others. Courtesy Photo: Madeleine Peroux
She featured in her show songs from all stages of her career, including her early versions of Dance Me To The End Of Love by Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan's You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, both of which sounded great, and not much like the originals. She also covers Robert Johnson's Love In Vain, which is on her latest album Standing On The Rooftop. Her Love In Vain is moving and soaring with emotion, and very different from Johnson's bare bones original, or the Rolling Stones' slow blues/rock rendition. She also sang the title song Standing On The Rooftop, which featured some beautiful slide guitar and piano from her band. Of course, she included a few French songs, La Javanaise and J'ai Deux Amours, which she naturally sings like a native. Her singing style is moving and challenging.
She will often hit a note that does not sound quite on, then hold it for just a little longer that you expect, before sliding back into the key. She rises and falls, gets soft and loud, and interprets the lyrics as storyteller, all of which makes her the jazz artist she is. I first became aware of Rebecca Pidgeon in the 1997 film The Spanish Prisoner, which was written and directed by her husband David Mamet (and has nothing to do with Spain or prisoners.) I later saw her in the 2000 film ‘State And Main’, also by Mamet, and she became one of my favorite actresses.
Like a Zoey Deschanel from 10 years earlier, she plays these great characters with wide eyed confidence in themselves and others, and who radiate goodness and warmth and draw you in; you just want to hang out with them. And then you find out she is also a great singer and songwriter! I discovered her album Tough On Crime from 2005, loving her gentle and stirring music. Like Peroux, Pidgeon is international; born in Cambridge, Mass. to British parents.
Her family moved to Scotland when she was 5, and she studied drama in London, after which she returned to the US, which accounts for her slightly unusual accent – like her citizenship, a mix of American and British. Her mixed career of music and acting came to fruition in the 1990's when she released a series of solo albums while appearing in several movies and stage plays. Her latest album is called Sling-shot, and all the songs from her set on Thursday were from that collection.
She opened with her "rock" song, Disintegration Man, followed by the upbeat but sad I Loved No-One and Get Up, Get Out, and then four more songs from Slingshot. Her style has been called folk, probably because she is a singer-songwriter and guitarist, but her songs show influence from pop, rock, theatre, jazz and folk music, so she really fits into the "Indie Pop" category - which of course is wide open.
To me, it means you can hear the individual instruments blending together, with melodic and harmonic vocals serving as another instrument in the mix. Belle & Sebastian, The Shins, the Fleet Foxes, and Zooey Deschanel's She & Him are perfect examples, and Rebecca Pidgeon fits right in with this sensibility that rejects the highly produced and synthesized modern pop music on today's airwaves. She appeared with one other musician in the Three Stages show, an electric guitarist and backing vocalist (Tim Young) who blended nicely with her lead vocals and acoustic guitar. The only drawback was that she was the opening act, and thus only had a 7 song, 30 minute set for us to enjoy, but it was a great half hour, and nice opening for Madeleine Peroux's set. Rebecca Pidgeon and Madeleine are currently touring together and with other musicians. For more information about their music and shows, see www.rebeccapidgeonmusic.com and www.madeleineperoux.com
Courtesy Photo: Rebecca Pidgeon
Three Stages Theatre at Folsom Lake College, 10 College Parkway, Folsom, CA. Event tickets can be purchased at the Box Office, online at www.threestages.net or call The Three Stages Box Office (916) 608-6888.
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