Back in the day, when the music we now call smooth jazz was spreading its wings there were a lot of musicians trying to make names for themselves.  One day, a friend of mine said to me, “Hey, have you heard this singer Basia?”  “No.”  I replied.  “Who’s that?”  “Are you kidding me?  She’s all over CD101.9.  How could you not have heard of her?”  My friend said.  So, I listened for this singer called Basia that everyone was raving about.  And then I heard “Time and Tide,” and that was it.  Although I had been a fan for years, this would be my first time seeing Basia perform live, so I was pretty excited about it.  As it turned out, this show was everything I expected it to be and a bit more. 

She opened the set with “Yearning,” one of my favorites, following by a three song medley complete with kazoo interludes by her longtime background singers, sisters Veronique Clarisse and Annick Clarisse-Willequet.  She sang most of my favorites that night, including “Drunk on Love,” and “Third Time Lucky.”    “Third Time Lucky” was filled with rich, beautiful harmonies supplied by Basia and her background singers.  It was wonderful hearing these songs live.  They sounded great.  She is stateside touring to support her latest release From Newport to London: Greatest Hits- Live and More which just released on 9/13.  The “and more” came in the way of a couple of new songs, including “Falling in Love with Strangers on a Train,” which had a kind of mysterious, film noir vibe to it.
 
Anyone who knows Basia’s music knows that she is a huge fan of Brazilian music and musicians.  “Astrud” was her homage to both.  “Astrud” was followed by “New Day for You.”  The evening was filled with various Brazilian fused samba tunes.  The show added a touch of theater with “How Dare You,” complete with fedoras and footwork by the Clarisse sisters.

Basia featured her singer, Annick Clarisse-Willequet on “From Now On,” which began with a lovely guitar solo by Giorgio Serci.  The hits kept coming, from one Basia song to another: “Baby You’re Mine,” “Cruising for Bruising,””Miles Away,” and then the one that brought me to this moment in the first place, “Time and Tide.”  When she hit the high notes, it gave me goose bumps.  It’s not uncommon for Birchmere audience members to shout things out to the performers onstage, so after several times of someone shouting “Copernicus,” she acknowledged and obliged and ended the show with that song.

Basia performed not one, but two encore songs, “Half a Minute,” and “Promises,” again emphasizing the beautiful harmonies with her background singers.  Basia and most of her band have been together for a long time, and they need to be acknowledged here: long time collaborator Danny White on keyboards, Marc Parnell on drums, Giorgio Serci on guitars, Paul Booth on sax, and the sisters Veronique Clarisse and Annick Clarisse-Willequet on vocals.  It was another great night at the Birchmere.