Inni-K and Rebecca Jordan at the Rockwood Music Hall 11/13/12

Inni-K and Rebecca Jordan

November 13, 2012

After a rather difficult and long day at the office, I changed – I hate going to shows or bars dressed up in business clothes – and rushed downtown to the Rockwood Music Hall, to catch singer/songwriter Rebecca Jordan. With the place being small, getting a seat is a premium. And since i’ve been suffering from a case of plantar fasciitis over the last couple of weeks, standing at shows for hours at a time is painful to the point of being kind of distracting. (Not too long ago, I was at a show at Webster Hall, and half the time I was there, I was in a great deal of pain – to the point that I began to only focus on my own discomfort. Trust me, it’s not lot of fun.) So I wound up walking in the venue toward the middle of Irish singer/songwriter Inni-K’s set.

Speaking with a lilting, sing-songy Irish brogue in between songs, Inni-K’s material had a quiet, understated and beguiling beauty. And although there was a small, early crowd – a crowd I suspect that was there for her – the crowd was enraptured by her. It was honestly one of the rare times that I had been at Rockwood where people weren’t completely disregarding the musicians on stage by audibly talking or playing with their phones. But back to her set …Inni-K’s set was a solo set in which she played piano. She was about to cut her set short due to technical issues – in her travels she had somehow forgotten her loop pedal – but instead, she asked the audience to help her, by singing along with her, as she sung in Gaelic. That’s one of the moments that makes going to live shows in town so special.

Following her was Rebecca Jordan, and unfortunately she was delayed a bit because her bassist, who resides in Jersey had some difficulties with NJ Transit. For those of you not in the metropolitan area, NJ Transit and LIRR suffered massive amounts of damage with Superstorm Sandy, with some train lines being out for months, if not longer. When her bassist finally showed up, profusely apologizing, it was about 7:20 or so, and that meant Jordan would be playing a rather truncated set. Still, backed by a backing band, Jordan’s sound bridged R&B, jazz soul and indie rock with a disarming, kind of goofy charm and self-assuredness. “Eve,” a song which references the Biblical story of Adam and Even in the book of Genesis, was a highlight as it was the rare song that came with an empathetic view of Eve. In Jordan’s song, it was Eve’s curiosity and desire for understanding that was ultimately her downfall, not her being evil or deceitful. Much like Inni-Ki’s set, “Eve” had a delicate beauty to it. All in all, it was some impressive music.

Inni-K