Ali McGuirk celebrated the release of her new CD Til It’s Gone with a blistering show on Thursday night at Brooklyn’s Bell House. The album is on the Signature Sounds label, is co-produced by Jonah Tolchin, a great singer-songwriter in his own right, and features some expert studio musicians like Fred Tackett. The show was opened by Jackie West and Morgan Weidinger, two promising singer-songwriters who were both impressive, and who might have been the focal points of any other review, but McGuirk soared above them both.
Singer-Songwriter Billy Bragg often points out that emotion is the currency of music. If that statement is true then the fortunate 40-something members of the audience were easily paid in full. McGuirk flew through her 12-song set in about an hour which left the crowd wanting more. She was backed by a solid band (guitar, drums, bass), but the musical focus fell squarely on her shoulders, or more accurately, on her vocal cords.
McGuirk has incredible range and warmth in her voice, but what really launches her into the talent stratosphere is the emotion that she conveys with each lyric. She can go from a smoldering whisper to a full-throttled wail in an instant. During her performance, it was hard not to compare her to renowned vocalists like Janis Joplin, Adele, Joan Osborne, Amy Winehouse, or any other powerhouse singers, and the real news is that she absolutely belongs in that company.
She walked on the stage, delivered thank yous to the openers and to the audience, and immediately launched into “All Back” a smooth ballad from the new album, that would fit well on any “best of 70’s R&B” compilation. She then followed with “Leave Me” which starts off sounding like a typical torch song to a lost romance but builds into a sizzling and empowering female manifesto. Next up was “Milk” the grittiest and most growly of the songs on the new album, in which her anger was concretely palpable. She went on to play all nine songs from Til It’s Gone, plus two other originals: “Exorcist” and “When I See You”. She closed the evening with her only cover of the night, a daring cover of a Betty Davis’ “Anti Love Song.” Grab the new CD or better yet, go see her perform it live; she’s on tour.
