Photo by Ryan Lely/Sonoma Valley Sun
LeAnn Rimes wowed the crowd as the opening night headliner.
Even a “Smoking Gun” couldn’t fire the crowd up for Robert Cray, at the opening night of Jazz+ last Thursday. Cray and his band of seasoned veterans took the stage at 6:30 p.m., sharp, to a nearly packed house to kick off this year’s sister event of Jazz Aspen in the big tent at the Field of Dreams.
Since his arrival on the scene in 1986 with the “Strong Persuader” release, Cray has methodically placed his music in a genre that’s not quite all blues, soul or gospel but a clever combination of all three. In his set, which ran over an hour, he showed that he could do justice to all three genres live as well.
Jim Pugh and the Hammond B3 were pumping out that traditional gospel and ‘70s soul groove but it was the traditional blues numbers that really got the crowd’s attention. Cray’s licks definitely have a signature tone. Much like listening to Mark Knopfler or Robin Trower, you know when you’re listening to Robert Cray. He rotated his collection of Fender Custom Shop Stratocasters for each song, each one with a little different tone but all unmistakably his. He’s quite a visual player as well, almost mouthing each and every note. The familiar hit numbers were the most powerful parts of what, overall, was a show that never really kicked into high gear. It was a nice showcase of what the Robert Cray Band can do, but the night truly belonged to LeAnn Rimes.
When she and band took the stage just after 9 p.m., it was obvious that this was Rimes’ crowd, stage, and sound system. The sound was absolutely full and clear as the Tennessee native belted out song after song, including many hits and some new tunes as well. She prowled the vast stage with total confidence, as she’s been a headline draw for more than half of her 25 years. Her vocals were powerful, almost in mid-tour form. The crowd responded well to her repertoire, especially the third number on the night’s song list. “Blue,” her cover of Patsy Cline’s famous tune and her first hit, brought the house down. Her band was in top-notch form as well and Rimes gave everyone in it a chance to shine.
Musically, Rimes has positioned herself in an interesting way. She’s not quite true country and western, not quite pop but a new genre that could be referred to as the “American Idol Genre.” She’s managed to capture hits on the country and western and pop charts but has also managed to endear herself to that whole generation below her age. The background screens made it seem like one was watching American Idol, with the similar camera angle shots and flashy backgrounds.
Rimes wrapped up the show with an encore of two songs including a rocking version of Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” that left the crowd certainly loving LeAnn Rimes.
Some 15,000 people attended the four-day Memorial Weekend Jazz+ Festival in the Field of Dreams – and that figure includes only those at the headliner events in the big tent. “Wine and Song,” which featured various musicians playing in locations around Sonoma such as El Dorado Kitchen, the Swiss Hotel, Sonoma Meritage and the Red Grape, was also a huge success, with all tickets to both days sold completely out.
