Bernice Lewis's new "Release"
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., March 3, 2000) - Bernice Lewis has long been a Berkshire-based songwriter with a national following. Every year she performs in various parts of the U.S. and Canada; she regularly graces stages at top folk festivals; her albums are reviewed in national publications; she leads workshops on songwriting and performing; her songs are recorded by other performers; and she has the recognition and respect of her better-known peers.

Whatever Lewis has achieved, it has so far been by dint of talent and her own hard work. Lewis has no record-company machinery behind her. She is a one-woman management company, booking agent, publicist, record label, publisher and road manager. Long before Ani DiFranco famously threw down the gauntlet against the corporate honchos and refused to sell out, Lewis and many like her were struggling to get their music heard outside the mainstream.

Against such odds, it is a tribute to Lewis that she perseveres; even moreso that she thrives. Lewis's recordings have always been filled with well-written original compositions: upbeat folk-rockers, poignant ballads and love songs, comic novelties. Polished and professional, her recordings have also been intimate postcards from a friend, unassuming yet memorable, picturesque yet down-home.

Lewis's brand new album, "Religion and Release" (Sanctuary), boasts all these qualities. Yet at the same time, it builds upon all that has come before. The clarity of the writing and the sophistication of the production on "Religion and Release" pushes Lewis's overall sound up a notch to the point that it is indistinguishable from that of the best-known contemporary singer-songwriters - several of whom appear on the album.

"Religion and Release" kicks off with "Gotta Get Better," an upbeat, Eagles-style country-rocker colored with Rick Tiven's fiddle and harmonies by Jennifer Kimball. One could easily hear it being played on contemporary country radio.

The album then does a 180-degree turn into "When the Guru Was Around," bound to prick up ears of local listeners. A shimmering ballad and a highlight of the album, the song is obviously inspired by the rise and subsequent downfall of Amrit Desai, the founder and spiritual leader of Kripalu in Lenox. It was Desai who built Kripalu into one of the nation's leading centers of yoga study, only to leave in disgrace following allegations of sexual impropriety.

But Lewis's song isn't a vindictive indictment of Desai. Rather, it puts the disappointment that followed in his wake in the context of his accomplishments, and more importantly, in the context of the ancient tradition he was passing on.

"To follow someone blindly it's a blessing and a curse/But never being led, it could have led us to much worse," sings Lewis, who although she never lived at Kripalu, spent time there during Desai's reign. Lewis also leavens the number with a bit of serio-comic humor: "We'd wake up every morning and spend an hour upside down."

In the end, as the Indian-style percussion gets louder, the singer insists that the message not be confused with the messenger. "We found out he was human and we let him fall from grace/And we began to doubt the world could be a better place/As if the truth were different from the truth that he passed down."

This sophistication is typical of Lewis's work on "Religion and Release." The title track, paired with "Mama's Wine Glasses," talks about family, heritage, and how the past impinges on the present - "In my father's will he left me the pictures of time standing still." Like "Moses and Me" on her previous album, "Isle of Spirit," Lewis's "Mama's Wine Glasses," which recounts the preparations for a Passover seder, is set in a Jewish landscape while addressing universal truths.

Lewis, who lives in Williamstown, showcases her voice, which has mellowed and smoothed out over the years and lost some of its stringency, on an a capella rendition of Dennis Dougherty's "More Than My Share." The proceedings are lightened with a couple of novelties, "Normal's Just a Setting on the Washing Machine" and "Born to Schmooze." Both songs have long been staples of Lewis's live show, and are given arrangements that emphasize their informal, coffeehouse aspect, replete with audience sing-alongs.

The album, mostly recorded at Derek Studios in Dalton and engineered by Derek's Greg Steele and Bobby Sweet, closes with a jazzy, impressionistic ballad, "Glacier," with aptly icy, impressionistic electric guitar by Adam Rothberg, the Pittsfield native and multi-instrumentalist who produced the album.

The album also features guest appearances by well-known singers and musicians including Dar Williams, Ellis Paul and Brooks Williams. In addition to Rothberg and Tiven, the album's Berkshire talent contingent includes Mark Kelso and Bobby Sweet.

"Religion and Release" is Lewis's best album to date. There's not a bad note on it, nor any song that won't hold up to repeated listening. It only makes one wonder, what will she do for an encore?

Lewis celebrates the release of her new album with a concert tonight at the Main Street Stage in North Adams at 8 p.m. Call 458-0944 for more information.

Concert watch

The Albany-based husband and wife jazz/cabaret duo Sonny and Perley recently released "East of the Sun," an entertaining collection of pop and jazz standards with some Brazilian selections. Vocalist Perley Rousseau tackles numbers including Antonio Carlos Jobim's "A Felicidade" in Portuguese, behind which pianist Sonny Daye plays percussive keyboards. The album, which also includes selections by the Gershwins, Charlie Parker, Irving Berlin, Milton Nascimento and John Coltrane, was recorded with the John Hilton Trio. Sonny and Perley will perform tonight at the Castle Street Café in Great Barrington at 8:30. (528-5244.)

The Pat Metheny Trio, with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Bill Stewart accompanying the contemporary jazz guitarist, bookends our area with a show tonight at the Troy (N.Y.) Savings Bank Music Hall at 8:30, and a show tomorrow night at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton at 8. Metheny's trio has just released a new CD, "99>00" (Warner Bros.), featuring mostly original compositions by Metheny but also including versions of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" and Wayne Shorter's "Capricorn," marking the first time the guitarist has recorded tunes by those modern jazz giants. The trio music is light years removed from the world-beat/smooth-fusion sound of the Pat Metheny Group; instead, the trio follows a mainstream bebop approach, albeit one featuring Metheny's fluid guitar lines. The record also includes three numbers on which Metheny plays acoustic guitar. (518-273-0038.)

Also tonight, Garth Hudson, organist from The Band, fronts the Crowmatix, with special guest Professor Louie, a.k.a. producer/keyboardist Aaron Hurwitz, at the Van Dyck in Schenectady at 7 and 9:30. Look for them to perform classic songs by The Band and related material. (518-381-1111.) Tomorrow night, the Van Dyck hosts a jazz-fusion Guitar Summit with Chuck D'Aloia, Jack Fragomeni, and George Muscatello, while over at Valentine's in Albany (518-432-6572), Bim Skala Bim heats up the crowd with its patented mix of ska and rock.

On Sunday night, classic singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot performs at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall at 7:30.

On Monday night, pianist Jim Argiro fronts his jazz quintet for a free concert at the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield at 7. Argiro is advertised as "music in the style of George Shearing."

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[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on March 3, 2000. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 2000. All rights reserved.]