This story is featured in CityBeat's May 17 print edition.
The next time you’re driving around Clifton’s Gaslight neighborhood, check out the music murals painted on various buildings on Ludlow Avenue. These are music legends who have played the historic Ludlow Garage, such as Albert King, Captain Beefheart and Iggy Pop. Rickie Lee Jones' mural stands above the street too with her in a boho beret. The veteran singer-songwriter-chanteuse returns to play the Ludlow Garage on May 18 with a jazz quintet. This is her opening tour date to celebrate the release of Pieces of Treasure, her new record of Great American Songbook classics.
From her classic, self-titled debut in 1979 featuring the hit, “Chuck E’s in Love,” to her last release in 2019, Kicks, Jones has blended pop, jazz and folk/blues in her own inimitably soulful way. Equally adept on piano and guitar, the New Orleans-based singer often plays solo and delivers intimate, expressive versions of her own standards. Not just a great songwriter, Jones is also an excellent interpreter as you can hear on her handful of covers’ records — like the new Pieces of Treasure. Her quicksilver, emotional voice is a natural for this collection, and though her music has always been steeped in jazz overtones — this is her first jazz record of Great American Songbook torch songs, from “Just in Time” to “One For My Baby.”
Jones explains why she loves singing jazz to The Believer last December: “I’m so far behind the beat, and that’s hard in pop music, because pop and folk music would like you to sing pretty much in the first couple of beats. But I like coming in late and singing whatever I feel like singing when I get there! Jazz is the perfect place for me to do that."
Rickie Lee Jones plays Ludlow Garage at 8:30 p.m. May 18. Info: ludlowgaragecincinnati.com.
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