Concert Review—

Marc Cohn Took His Ridgefield Audience On A Soulful Joyride

By John Voket

Singer/songwriter Marc Cohn has said the best professional advice he ever received was from Jerry Wexler, a producer who worked with the likes of Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin, among others. Cohn met him at a party in the days before he locked his first record deal on the strength of the Grammy-winning debut single “Walking in Memphis.”

While Wexler was viciously critical of an early demo, he proceeded to recount some wisdom the producer said he got from Ray Charles which continues to resonate with Cohn to this day. Wexler advised Cohn, “If you’re singing with full emotion, the appropriate amount of emotion, it should be like a full cup of coffee, and not one drop ever goes over the edge.”

Ever since that conversation, Cohn says his main criterion is: When you’re singing, never let anything go over the edge. That professional policy was repeatedly reinforced on Sunday, March 11, as Cohn and his band delighted a standing room only crowd as he wrapped up a brief spring tour at The Ridgefield Playhouse.

Performing with a backing drummer and bassist for just the third time on this short tour, the Grammy winner coaxed some adventurous improvisation from the duo with the help of his regular sideman, guitarist Shane Fontayne. Of course he never went completely over the top, leading his musicians down musical avenues from which a pleasant return would have been difficult.

He also pushed audience interaction to, but not over, the limit, engaging in conversations with audience members between and even during numbers, and allowing the crowd to sing most of his aforementioned hit, “Walking In Memphis.” As the tune ended, Cohn applauded the audience mentioning that he even heard the appropriate vocal inflections from the chorus of hundreds who happily recanted every word.

But it was Cohn’s delivery, whether alone behind the keyboard or in front of the full band, that most definitively held true to his mission to fill that magic musical cup to the brim. Opening with the tried and true “Ghost Train,” he quickly shifted to new material from the upcoming fourth album which Cohn said is due out by fall.

In a recent interview, Cohn told The Newtown Bee that he thought this new material comes closest to his truest and best output. And he certainly presented the raft of recently scripted numbers with as much intensity and passion as I’ve ever heard in numerous concerts I’ve seen since the early ‘90s.

His rendition of “Life Goes On” received a folky, almost haunting treatment thanks to show opener and fiddle player Kristina Beaty lending her instrumental talents. Fontayne donned a harmonica and strummed a sparse acoustic guitar line during “Giving Up the Ghost,” and switched to Fender Strat to set a different mood to “Dance Back from the Grave.”

This new number, Cohn explained, was derived from a poem written after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. While the partly spoken, partly sung number relates the observations of the original writer, Rick Bragg, Cohn admitted that he had never met the man in person but was moved to convert the prose to song after being touched so deeply by the moving narrative.

Backed by the full band, “Dance Back” was transformed into a muddy, funky march complete with a percussive sound of rattling bones thanks to the creative percussion work of drummer Joe Bonadio. Bonadio then proceeded to demonstrate how he could squeeze a song’s worth of expression out of  just three of his cymbals during “Rainy Season.”

One of the high points of Cohn’s individual performance came next with a new song, “Listening to Levon.” He poured his heart out on this number about young romance and the incredible power of music, which could only come from personal experience.

Turning to the audience for suggestions, Cohn then settled on one of his other debut hits, “Silver Thunderbird,” which seemed to re-engage a segment of the audience that clearly came to hear more familiar material. This worked fine, but Cohn got the last word in by adding a new and final verse to the song which helped bring the story of his dad’s favorite ride full circle.

As he transitioned to the opening notes of “Walking in Memphis,” he made note of the fact that the first time he ever heard the song on the radio, he was driving through Connecticut. Cohn proceeded from his most popular “calling card” number to another biographical sketch. He explained that “Miles Away” related how Cohn stayed true to his ideals while almost losing his first record deal in the process.

“Dig Down Deep” unraveled into a medley of Van Morrison tunes before Cohn began freeforming lyrics about the talents of guitarist Fontayne and closing out the main set for the evening. His encore brought a big surprise, the seldom heard and highly energetic “Paper Walls,” from Rainy Season.

Obliging the repeated shout outs, Cohn finally sat behind the grand piano for another trademark hit, “True Companion.” Although he acknowledged the song was written for his first wife and that performing it causes him to revisit the pain and anguish of his divorce, he admitted that “I have to get into what it means to you,” which brought many of the packed house to its feet as the evening of wonderful music and storytelling drew to an end.