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... by Joanne Corsano ... joanne@picturelake.com

Zoë Lewis Band
click thumbnail to see a photo gallery
of the concert

Personnel: Zoë Lewis (vocals, piano, guitar, ukulele, harmonica); Roxanne Layton (recorder, vocals); Kareem Sanjaghi (drums); Cliff Letsche (bass), Ken Field (sax, vocals); Lula Alex (guitar, vocals) opened the show and sang one song during Zoë's set.

I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby - Blink - Always Have the Moon - Slow Boat To China - Sweet Georgia Brown - Step By Step - These Shoes - Rotary Phone - Welcome To the Circus - Nice Cup Of Tea - Dream a Little Dream Of Me {Lula Alex sings} - Always a Sixpence - Breakfast in Bangkok - Breakfast Blues

Scroll to below videos for a review of the show.

Blink

Nice Cup Of Tea

The heavens opened up and it poured down rain as we were heading down Rte 6 for this show, as the long range weather had been predicting for the last several days. But it only poured for about five minutes, and it cleared up nicely in time for the 6:30 start at the Truro library. This summer, library shows have been dominating our concert going. The Truro Library has invested in a nice lighting system; check the photo gallery to the right for a photo of the technician with his portable lighting system that he moved around depending on who was soloing, Roxanne with her recorders, or Ken sitting in with his sax. When Zoë asked him if he'd like to sit in, he acted surprised and honored -- as if it hadn't been pre-arranged, ha ha. I'm not a big fan of the jazz saxophone, but Ken didn't play the over-the-top style of screeching sax, and his accompaniment was understated, complementing Roxanne's recorders splendidly. She had different instruments with different pitches ranging from high to low. Kareem played on drums again, the same drummer we'd seen at Herring Cove earlier in the summer, and he's the opposite of a rock basher, understated and restrained, just perfect for the type of band where the singing and the lyrics are what it's all about. Zoë had a bass player we hadn't see before, Cliff Letsche, and he kept the beat just perfectly, tapping along with his toe and obviously enjoying himself from beginning to end.

Zoë and band played for a smidge over an hour, playing two wonderful songs from the new album, "Blink" and "Step By Step," a cross-section of originals from her long career, and songs from Broadway and other favorite covers. The originals were a dynamic cross section illustrating the joy of life that any Zoë show is about. The dealing with toddlers (spinning plates) of "Welcome To the Circus" -- the wistful, happy memories of childhood of "Always a Sixpence" -- the laugh-out-loud funny "Breakfast Blues" -- the exposure to different cultures of "Breakfast in Bangkok" -- the opening your mind to different ways of life AND to every moment of every day -- "These Shoes," "Step By Step," and "Blink." Just go see Zoë and it is impossible to leave without a smile on your face.

Local teen Lula Alex opened on guitar and vocals, with backup on a hand drum machine from Roxanne Layton. Lula played a song she'd written called "Icarus," and came back on stage with Zoë to sing "Dream a Little Dream Of Me," a song originally from the '30s, but known to people of my generation from the Mamas & the Papas version. She has a lovely voice and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her.

Here is a page with a handy list of links to all pages on this website with content relating to Zoë Lewis.