Barbara Morrison: Lady swings the blues

When: Monday, Jan. 5, 2008 • Where: Dakota • Who: Barbara Morrison, voice; Lee Blaske, piano; Dave Karr, tenor saxophone; Gary Raynor, bass; Joe Pulice, drums

I love Barbara Morrison, and I don't just want to hear her sing. I want to be her girlfriend and go shopping and take long lunches with lots of wine, or maybe martinis. I'd hope she'd be in the mood to tell stories from her 30-plus years as an entertainer, performing with jazz and blues legends including Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Charles, Etta James and Joe Williams. I'd try to make her laugh because her laughter, like her singing and her stories, is such a pleasure.

How many times have I seen her? Three, four, maybe five? It's been almost two years since she was last in the Twin Cities, as a headliner at the 2007 Summer Jazz festival. The audience for her second set at the Dakota on Monday was small. I was embarrassed for us as a community of people who are supposed to know something about music. As a friend said later, "There should have been a line out the door." I came home and stayed up late to write a review.

Photo by John Whiting.

Robert Robinson

When: 12/16/07
Where: The Dakota
Who: Robert Robinson (voice), Lee Blaske (piano), Holly Collinson (voice), ?? (electric bass), Dan Collinson (drums); backup singers Annette Hardy, Sandy Hodges, Jeanne Lee, Valerie Robinson

Robert Robinson spent 15 years touring with Lorie Line, and his show at the Dakota was a holiday show. Two reasons for me not to go, but I've heard about Robinson for years without ever hearing him sing, so we went. When I saw Debbie Duncan in the house, I knew everything would be all right. If you must hear holiday music, it might as well be the kind that makes your hair stand up.

Around these parts, where he's a beloved institution, Robinson is called the "Pavarotti of gospel," and the label fits. He has a big, beautiful voice and he knows how to use it. The playlist was standard Christmas fare, but some songs left room for gospel-tinged improvisation, and there Robinson and his singers stretched out. Singer Holly Collinson, wife of Wooddale mega-church Worship Arts Pastor (and Robinson's drummer for the evening) Dan Collison, brought her soprano to the stage for several tunes including "The Prayer," a hit for Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. It was all very professional, very smooth, and very held together by Lee Blaske's piano.