The Farmers market is an historic landmark in Los Angeles, open since 1934, a sort of obligatory tourist stop with semi-open air restaurants and specialty food markets. The Groves, an Hollywood mega-mall recently built next door, has removed some of the market old fashioned attraction, but there is still some charm left, with a food court proposing authentic Cajun food and a Beer and Wine bar that organizes concerts from 8 to 10 pm.
Dafni and her band, Mark San Filippo on drums, Geoff Rakness on upright bass, and Peter Kavanaugh on lead guitar, were playing a free show on Saturday night, a very long set of 22 songs taken from her upcoming release ‘Sweet times’, from her last album ‘Charlie’s Lonely Sunday’, as well as many covers. She told me later, while offering me so nicely two of her CDs, that she does not sing any of her songs from her first album, ‘Drifting in Circles, but that she should dig it too since her husband likes these early songs.
They started with the uplifting and playful ‘Dimes’, a happy and light tune which could be classified as country if there was not for this jazzy twist at one third of the song.
The style is a blend of many things, from country to rhythm and blues infused with jazz tempo and even sometimes tango (‘Let’s pretend’) or jazzy-gospel-ish (‘Save me), from sweet ballads to more rocking parts (‘Walking out the door’), or even honky-tonk numbers, always supported by confident vocals sung with a warm voice which still reminds me Madeleine Peyroux, although it is clearer and less smoky.
There were waltzes, like the slow and peacefully nostalgic ‘Part of me’ with its 50’s sensibility guitar solos, there were ballads, like the soulful and so pleasant ‘Under the blue skies’, and songs that could have given you the feeling they were covers of some old classics of the 30’s or 40’s, although they were her original songs.
Take for example ‘carried away’ which could have been a little bit of a country song, a little bit of a jazz song with its impression of faux ancient and its bouncing melody just like being on a bumping road, or ‘Save me’ which had that even more retro sounding melody and arrangements.
‘Broken letter’ from her previous album had the dusty atmosphere of the desert and spacey fluidity of some Calexico songs and ‘Complicated’ that she sung just after, broke up the western mood to go flirting with lounge jazz.
They covered played ‘The best that I can do’, by Shelby Lynne’s sister, Allison Moorer, an orginal by Dafni hereself, the Fats Waller’s standard ‘Honeysuckle rose’, and Billie Holiday’s ‘Me myself and I’ and ‘Billie’s blues’ among other songs. Dafni is not afraid to cover the classics, does it with ease, and it’s hardly if you can tell the difference between them and her eclectic and subtle mix, actually the Holiday’s song sounded more rhythm and blues than jazz tuned. By the way she dedicated this last song to the late great Jimi Hendrix who was found dead on that same day of September, 40 years ago.
And she can dig some very obscure stuff (at least for me), like this blues from Sippie Wallace, ‘You Gotta Know How’, a singer/songwriter who recorded on Louis Armstrong album and had apparently a big influence on Bonnie Raitt, or also Odetta’s ‘Blues Everywhere I Go’; may be Dafni was actually born in another time.
I really enjoyed their cover of ‘Rattlesnake boy’, written by Dafni’s good friend Tony Gilkyson, a hee-haw country tune with a guitar line that reminded me of a Cash’s song
Before leaving I asked Dafni how her practice of the mellophonium was going, as she had mentioned she was trying to get back to the French horn last time I saw her; she said it was getting there, but needed even more practice!
Set list:
Dimes
Under the blue skies
Someday
Sweet time
Save me
Best that I can do
Carried away
Rattlesnake boy
Part of me
Broken letter
Complicated
Honeysuckle rose
Gotta know how
Me myself and I
Walking out the door
Billie’s blues
Anything at all
Drifting
Gloomy day (a new song)
Let’s pretend
Everywhere I go
Day and Night