Dans Papers - June 1, 2007 - The Soulful Sounds of Joan Armatrading at WHBPAC

Joan Armatrading's soulful, penetrating sound has been around for a long time. I still remember listening to her at my cousin's seafood restaurant at the Montauk docks, where Lenny's Restaurant is today. Back in the summer and fall of 1984, my cousin Lexa would blast Joan Armatrading's bluesy, folksy songs all over the Montauk docks and while working in this restaurant, I would look out at the setting sun, over the boats and the water and feel so peaceful hearing this moving music. She started singing in the early 1970s and was well on her way to stardom by the mid-80s.

Lexa and I would buy each new album as it hit the charts - we liked her name, which sounded so rhythmic and different. Now, over twenty years later, she is still belting out the blues and I come to find out she is originally from the Island of St. Kitts, where I have vacationed and never realized that she was from this gorgeous seaside resort. But maybe that's why her music seems to blend so well with the sea. I also came to find out that this popular and prolific singer and songwriter will be making her East End debut at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 9. So if we live long enough, and if they last long enough, eventually we will get to see all our favorite performers, hopefully!

I'm sure I'm not alone in being excited that Joan Armatrading is finally coming to the Hamptons, on a rare American tour and that she is still cranking out new albums and hit songs after performing for over 30 years. I was thrilled to hear that she has just come out with yet another album called Into the Blues, which was released in the U.S. on May 1. A video for the first single, "A Woman in Love," is also circulating on YouTube and similar sites. The album, which Armatrading calls "the CD I've been promising myself to write for a long time," has a strong blues-rock feel. It is her 18th album so far, in a prolific career. She made her first one in 1972, with Whatever's for Us and made her last one in 2004, Live: All the Way from America.

Working with the finest musicians, Joan Armatrading is coming to the WHB Performing Arts Center to celebrate "Into the Blues," as well as material from her stunning, 35-year career. This record burst to the top of the Billboard Blues Chart and has also landed the #2 slot on the iTunes Blues Chart. Driven by her passionate guitar, Armatrading's heartfelt music touches the listener and makes them yearn for more. Her voice is rich, soothing and haunting - her emotional sound is not easily forgotten. It is reminiscent of the melodic sounds of the Caribbean, where she was born in 1950.

Born in Basseterre, St. Kitts, Armatrading was seven years old when her family moved to Birmingham, England. Her first job was not in the music field, but working at Rabone Chesterman, makers of fine engineering tools. Ironically, Armatrading was fired from this job for bringing her guitar to work and insisting on playing during tea breaks. She moved to London in the early 1970s, to perform in a production of the popular musical "Hair," where she met her first song partner, Pam Nestor. They worked together on an album, Whatever's For Us, on the Cube label. But Cube considered Armadtrading to be more of a star, crediting her and, as a result, the two women had a falling out. In 1975, when she was free to sign for A & M, Armatrading made her next CD, Back To the Night, and then she went on to make her following top album of 1976, Joan Armatrading and a hit single, Love and Affection. In this album, she infused some jazz-influenced material, which she also incorporated into future albums, like Show Some Emotion. Some more hit songs came along, including "Willow," "Down to Zero," and "Kissin' and a Huggin." Armatrading gained a new audience for her writing and performing with "The Flight of the Wild Geese," which was used during the opening and end titles for the 1976 war film, The Wild Geese.

In 1980, she reinvented her playing style and released her next CD, called Me, Myself and I, a harder, pop-oriented album produced by Richard Gottehrer. This same pop style was also noticeable in her next albums, Walk under Ladders (1981) and The Key (1983). Armadtrading made a "vocal cameo" appearance on the 1986 Queen album, A Kind of Magic. One of the secrets to her success has been her ability and desire to constantly reinvent herself, to incorporate different styles of folk, rock, pop, jazz, reggae and blues over decades. Her other biggest hit singles were "Me, Myself and I," and "Drop the Pilot."

Armatrading has been nominated twice as Best Female Vocalist for the Brit awards and also nominated twice for the American Grammy Award of Best Female Vocalist. Along with numerous platinum, gold and silver albums and consistent, enviable critical acclaim, she was also been nominated as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Rock in a 1999 VH1 poll. So don't miss this exciting opportunity to see her live on the stage of WHB Performing Arts Center on June 9 at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $80, $65 and $50. Call the Box office at 631-288-1500, or check online at www.WHBPAC.org