JAY LUSTIG
Samantha Fish at The Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival, Aug. 16.
It got dark right around the time that Samantha Fish took the stage for her headlining set at this year’s edition of the annual Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival, which took place outdoors on the Morristown Green, Aug. 16. And that seemed kind of perfect. This blues-rock singer-songwriter specializes in songs of romantic turmoil, often building to long, fiery guitar solos. This is late-night music; in mid-day sunshine, it might have seemed a bit out of place.
Fish has been releasing albums since 2009, and received her first Grammy nomination last year. Her latest album, Paper Doll, came out in April. Backed by the same musicians who appear on the album (keyboardist Mickey Finn, bassist Ron Johnson and drummer Jamie Douglass), she performed eight of its nine songs in her 14-song set. It’s a strong album and, with its live-in-the-studio feel, its songs translate naturally to the stage, so her emphasis on it made a lot of sense.
It is also full of anthemic assertions, which went over well in a concert setting.
“Don’t fold me to your figment, dressed up in doubt/You like to use your scissors, don’t cut me out,” she seethed in the album’s title track.
“Whеn I look in the mirror, staring at the unknown/The world’s not getting clearer but I like where I’m goin’,” she roared in “I’m Done Runnin’,” continuing, in the chorus: “Hits keep coming/Clouds keep thundering/Tears and blood, but I’m done runnin’.”
Her set included three covers. MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” — a feverish rock song that is not performed very often by blues-rock bands — made for a bold set opener. Her “I Put a Spell on You” (see video below) was one of the best versions I’ve ever heard of this classic song about obsession. And her funky take on R.L. Burnside’s “Goin’ Down South” — another song about obsession — made for good exclamation point, as the show’s encore.
JAY LUSTIG
King Solomon Hicks at The Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival.
As this festival usually does, it started out with the more jazz-oriented acts, with the first set beginning at noon, and heavy doses of the blues coming later. Each act played for about 90 minutes, with about a half hour of downtime between sets, as the next act set up.
The dapperly dressed singer-songwriter-guitarist King Solomon Hicks, backed by bassist Kirk Yano and drummer Bobby Deitch, performed before Fish, and was masterful on a wide range of material, ranging from blues classics like Charles Brown’s “Driftin’ Blues” and John Lee Hooker’s “Dimples” to more rock-oriented songs (Chuck Berry’s “Memphis, Tennessee,” Tony Joe White’s Elvis Presley-popularized “Polk Salad Annie”) and a warmly crooned, reflective-in-tone cover of John Hiatt’s “Feels Like Rain.”
Blues People had performed before Hicks, and Hicks invited that band’s frontman, Kelton Cooper, to join him for an explosive version of the blues standard “Killing Floor.” Hicks said, before the song, that he first saw Cooper perform when he was 13 and thought, “I want to do that when I get older.”
It was easy to see, from Blues People’s set, what inspired him. Cooper is a commanding singer and a titanic guitarist. He and his bandmates — Mike Griot on bass, Ron Thompson on keyboards, and Gene Lake on drums — also added a lot to this day by not just playing great, but addressing current realities of American life in a way that no other act on the bill did, in original songs such as “The Skin I’m In” and “Troubled Times.”
JAY LUSTIG
Kelton Cooper of Blues People at The Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival.
They also played a version of “Hey Joe” (the rock standard associated with Jimi Hendrix and others) that changed the point of view, so that it was not about someone planning violence, but the victims of violence. (Cooper sang “What you gonna do about those guns in their hands?” instead of “Where you goin’ with that gun in your hand?,” for instance.) And they capped their set with a medley of “Got My Mojo Working” and an equally energetic but more topical song, “Get Your Knee Off My Neck.”
Billed second, the 19-piece Jazz Ambassadors (the official touring big band of the United States Army) played a wide-ranging selections of jazz tunes (including Cole Porter’s “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To,” Bud Powell’s “Crazeology,” and original compositions) with impressive flair. And Dani G. & Friends (prominently featuring saxophonist and flutist John Michalak on many songs) opened the day with a smooth set of Great American Songbook selections (“Fly Me to the Moon,” “Summertime,” “L-O-V-E” and so on) and more
Especially on a day — like this one — when there is no rain and clouds keep the heat from rising too high for a good portion of the time, this festival is one of the most easiest to navigate, among New Jersey’s major annual music events. It is free, and while it always attracts a good crowd, it is never a problem to find a spot close to the stage — or further away, if you want. The sound has never been a problem, in my experience (and I have been to most of them). And there are plenty of nearby eating and parking options.
New Jersey is lucky to have to Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival.
The date has not been announced yet for next year’s Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival. For updates, visit morristownjazzandblues.com.
JAY LUSTIG
Samantha Fish at The Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival.
__________________________
Here is Samantha Fish’s setlist:
“Kick Out the Jams”
“Paper Doll”
“I’m Done Runnin’ ”
“I Put a Spell on You”
“Lose You”
“Sweet Southern Sounds”
“Bulletproof”
“Fortune Teller”
“Can Ya Handle the Heat?”
“Don’t Say It”
“Rusty Razor”
“Dream Girl”
“Black Wind Howlin’ ”
Encore:
“Goin’ Down South”
____________________________
CONTRIBUTE TO NJARTS.NET
Since launching in September 2014, NJArts.net, a 501(c)(3) organization, has become one of the most important media outlets for the Garden State arts scene. And it has always offered its content without a subscription fee, or a paywall. Its continued existence depends on support from members of that scene, and the state’s arts lovers. Please consider making a contribution of any amount to NJArts.net via PayPal, or by sending a check made out to NJArts.net to 11 Skytop Terrace, Montclair, NJ 07043.
