Tori Amos
Live At Montreux 1991-1992

Before she was famous, the redhead Tori Amos asked to be hosted at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Yes, because at the Montreux festival, now an institution, there is a habit of hosting artists who are not strictly jazz. The episode dates back to 1991, a year before Tori's debut, "Little Earthquakes". Tori would return the following year, after the album's release.

Both episodes are documented on the double "Live at Montreux".

In the first album, Tori is shy and steps in cautiously. The audience doesn't know her and is welcoming but nothing more. It's true that she has nothing to lose, but she also has much to gain in terms of recognition, for what is an international festival. She sits at the piano and begins to play. A note: probably the real Tori Amos is this one. Piano and voice, stripped-down sound and intense voice. The debut album contains other instruments (not very intrusive, to be fair) because the record company opposed releasing that record the way she wanted.

Now, returning to the 1991 live, among her songs and a Led Zeppelin cover, the future B-side "Upside Down" stands out, and it's worth wondering why it was excluded from the debut track list. Probably major label strategies, because the song, heard live here or even as a B-side, is one of her most beautiful ever.

Note that Tori had a small slip-up and forgot the words to a song. She apologizes but then recovers.

In the 1992 live, the pieces are almost the same (plus the Led covers and an interesting version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"), but you can sense that something has changed: this time the audience is cheering and she is more confident in herself. Not much to say about the music, it more or less adheres to the standards of the previous year.

Note on both concerts, which, respectively, represent the before and after. In the first album, Tori is humble, in the second Tori is more relaxed and is a bit "cheeky" with the audience. Well, it was inevitable, of course. Since then, Tori has increasingly become a "character".

I just add two things. There is a version of both concerts on a DVD. I don't really like DVDs because concerts of this kind are too static, so I suggest the double CD. But if you want to see her in shape, you will undoubtedly appreciate the DVD.

Finally, it is from the small clubs and from Montreux that her myth began to rise, although unfortunately, in the year of our Lord 2009, this myth has somewhat faded. All the more reason to listen to these live performances when she was at the peak of her powers.