Suzanne Vega
An Evening Of New York Songs And Stories

When she enrolled at the High School Of Performing Arts in New York, Suzanne dreamed of becoming a dancer. She emerged as a singer-songwriter, so talented that she revived the grandeur of Joni Mitchell - a Mitchell less “divine” and decidedly more “earthly” - and opened the doors to a plethora of young women armed with voice, guitar, and high hopes.

Suzanne made it, and with ineffable thriftiness, born of a reserved and exceedingly shy nature, she still delights me.

The latest signal of life, as far as I know, is this “An Evening Of New York Songs And Stories.”

I'll get it out of the way immediately, yes, there are those “Luka” and “Tom’s Diner” that almost became hits (the latter only a few years after its release and due to others’ influence), and there is also “Marlene On The Wall”, which never was a hit but is undoubtedly among Suzanne's most famous songs.

So, if even someone who doesn’t know who Suzanne Vega is were to buy this album, they would surely enjoy it, listening to those two tracks and finally be able to associate a name with the voice.

For the more aware, the listening experience offers far superior satisfaction.

It is a selection of tracks from two themed concerts recorded in March 2019 in New York, two evenings spent singing songs and telling stories with New York as the protagonist, sometimes in the spotlight, sometimes in the background.

Suzanne, voice, and acoustic guitar, is the other solitary protagonist, except when she is accompanied by subdued company of an electric guitar (Gerry Leonard), a bass (Jeffrey Allen), and a piano (Jamie Edwards): nothing else is needed because Suzanne has always had the ability to enchant with nothing, voice and guitar or just voice, exactly like in “Tom's Diner.”

Fifteen originals flow by, mostly taken from her self-titled debut, the subsequent “Solitude Standing,” and the beautiful 2007's “Beauty & Crime,” versions if possible even more sober and restrained than those in the studio, except for a “Tom's Diner” close to the DNA remix, a departure from the folk canon immediately returned in the subsequent “Anniversary” for voice and piano, and a lively and dynamic “Tombstone” on the brink of rock, whereas on “Nine Objects Of Desire” it brushed against jazz.

The most beautiful moment comes with the 4 minutes of “Gypsy”, always a wonderful song, but when Suzanne sings it, accompanying herself only with her guitar, even more so; the most illustrative of Suzanne Vega I find in “New York Is My Destination,” from the project “Loved, Beloved” dedicated to writer Carson McCullers, also beautiful and absolutely worth recovering.

In between, the remake of “Walk On The Wild Side”, to definitively convince me that only Lou Reed and Suzanne can narrate New York to me.

“New York is a woman, she will make you suffer and for her you will always be just one of many.”