The fire and feel Lucinda Williams brought to the Lincoln Center stage when she headlined this August concert is informed by 25 years of making music. Deeply informed by tradition, her work remains determinedly individualistic and envelope-pushing.
In musical dialogue with her longtime guitarist, Stuart Mathis, Williams pulled evocative pages from her big songbook, going back to 2003 for the soul-stirring "Fruits Of My Labor" while showing her continued currency with recent selections like the empathetic character study "West Memphis" and the soaring, attitudinal "Foolishness."
Williams made no bones about her progressive politics while vamping through "Foolishness" like Americana's own version of Nina Simone. Mathis answered her improvisations with slicing guitar lines of his own. It never took long for Williams to transform the night's mood from quietude to fervor. Then she exited, inimitable spirit intact.
- ANN POWERS
CREDITS
Event Producer: Saidah Blount; Producers: Ann Powers, Mito Habe-Evans, Colin Marshall; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Concert Video Director: Colin Marshall; Production Assistant: Brandi Fullwood; Concert Videographers: Kevin Chiu, Chris Farber, Nickolai Hammar, Niki Walker; Editor: Nicole Conflenti; Special Thanks: Lincoln Center; Executive Producer: Anya Grundmann.