MUSIC REVIEW: Jess Klein at Napa Wine Bar and Eatery

Submitted by Seth Rogovoy on May 13, 2010 - 12:57am

Classical Music

Napa Wine Bar and Eatery
with Abi Tapia
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Review and photography by Seth Rogovoy

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – A bit of the old coffeehouse/nightclub feel that left downtown Great Barrington when Club Helsinki shut its doors at the end of last August returned when singer-songwriter Jess Klein – who frequently performed at Helsinki – commanded center stage at Napa Wine Bar and Eatery on Main Street, delivering an intense, 90-minute performance featuring her extraordinary vocals, excellent songwriting, and dynamic guitar-playing.

Klein, a native of upstate New York who climbed the new-folk ladder in Boston and now calls Austin, Texas, home, relied heavily on material from her latest recording, Bound to Love, which served her and the listeners assembled just fine, as the album features some of her best songwriting, including “When the Time Comes,” “Postcard,” and “Putty,” all of which she played at Napa.

Klein is a little bit country, a little bit folk, a little bit soul, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, and a whole lotta voice wrapped up in a deceptively diminutive package that veritably explodes on command. At times she came across as a fusion of Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris – except a whole lot cuter.

Exhibiting superb microphone technique – essential with someone like Klein who boasts an enormous dynamic range, from a low whisper to a high roar of gorgeous sustain – Klein bantered with the crowd, took requests, and even got the audience to help out on several numbers.

She also enlisted the occasional support of fellow singer-songwriter and former Austinian Abi Tapia, who now calls the Berkshires home. The two have co-composed songs and harmonized beautifully, and Klein generously ceded the focus to Tapia for a poignant number she wrote about a mining disaster.

Klein drew a small but unabashedly adoring crowd to Napa on a Wednesday night, in a comfortable, café-like setting that allowed attendees to eat and drink while she performed, or just to listen to her remarkable vocals and enjoy her overall adorableness. One hopes for more of this type of entertainment from Napa, and one is always happy to catch up with Jess Klein.

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Seth Rogovoy is Berkshire Living’s award-winning editor-in-chief and music critic.

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