By: David Schultz

You have to find Alejandro Esocvedo. Sad as it is to say, it is unlikely his music will be brought to you. A musician’s musician, Escovedo occupies that all-too-populated realm of the musical pantheon that exists outside the attention of mainstream press and radio. For many, Alejandro Escovedo’s biggest claim to fame might be the fact that he is former Prince acolyte Sheila E’s uncle. Appreciated by adult alternative radio and worshipped by free form radio and listeners willing to accept music that escapes genre classification, Escovedo’s artistic take on rock and roll combines the frank openness and eloquent passion of the great singer-songwriters, the rambunctious energy of raunchy punks and the Tex-Mex, Doug Sahm style of alt-country rock. If Leonard Cohen and Neil Diamond can rock, well so can Alejandro Escovedo. For his return to New York City this past Friday night, Escovedo opted against a return engagement at Carnegie Hall in favor of an intimate gathering at the Mercury Lounge.

Escovedo’s band, or orchestra as he refers to them, perfectly suits his ability to blend empathetic ballads with some nifty electric guitar work. The remarkable string section, comprised of violinist Susan Voelz and cellists Matt Fish and Brian Standefer bring depth and feeling to Escovedo’s more contemplative songs. With the strings providing plaintive melodies, Escovedo offered songs that sound like more intricate versions of Lou Reed’s meditative material. Less detached than Reed, Escovedo doesn't remain as emotionally dry and he has a much more harmonious voice than the oft-monotone former Velvet. An aging punk rocker, Escovedo ended a good number of his songs playing urgent rhythm guitar over David Pulkingham’s skillful leads, the imprimatur of his Austin, Texas roots stamped proudly upon the results.

Escovedo previewed “Sister Lost Soul,” “The Nuns Song” and “Sensitive Boys,” new songs he’s written with Chuck Prophet for an upcoming album. He gave each of the songs a little introduction and even though he seemed slightly sheepish at presenting tunes which he claimed were works in progress, they had a fine, finished quality to them. The majority of his set featured upbeat classics like “I Was Drunk” and he closed with a raucous version of his randy “Castanets,” a song Escovedo recently returned to his repertoire after removing it in protest after learning George W. Bush had it on his iPOD.

Able to offer credible versions of Ian Hunter’s “I Wish I Was Your Mother” and The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” Escovedo opted for the former, playing a stripped down, touching offering without bass or drums. To close the night, guitarist Nick Tremulis leapt to the stage for a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Beast Of Burden” With Tremulis and Escovedo sharing verses, the song took on a subtly homo-erotic vibe which disappeared when Escovedo gave Tremulis his guitar and left the stage allowing Tremulis and Pulkingham to finish the night with a flurry of guitars.

I must confess that before Friday night’s show, my breadth of knowledge about Escovedo was limited to having once heard his live version of “Gravity/Falling Down Again” (which teases Lou Reed’s “Street Hassle”) many years ago on Vin Scelsa’s Idiot’s Delight and the moderate airplay WFUV gave “Arizona” when The Boxing Mirror came out. Based on that small sampling of Escovedo’s material, which really is just the tip of the iceberg that is Escovedo’s back catalog, I was expecting an overly serious-minded “artiste” to take the Mercury Lounge stage. Escovedo’s relaxed sense of fun and ability to tap into the emotional elements of a song while not forgetting the ecstasy of a three-chord guitar assault made his seventy-five minute set seem all that much shorter. With my appetite whetted, I have begun to remedy the dearth of Escovedo’s music from my collection.

Labels: Alejandro Escovedo