An unexpected trip into London’s West End resulted in the surprise introduction to Rita Chiarelli, a Canadian roots and blues artist, at the Leicester Square Theatre. Her first major gig in England, it had been preceded by some radio and TV exposure on the BBC earlier that week, after shows in mainland Europe. Nine albums into a career stretching back to the 1980’s, her name was totally new to me, but after seeing her perform it’s pretty obvious why Rita has been dubbed Goddess of the Blues in Canada and further afield.
The evening started with a showing of ‘Music From The Big House’, a documentary Chiarelli had instigated while exploring the roots of blues music. Her journey led her to visiting Louisiana State Maximum Security Penitentiary, also known as Angola Prison. It was here that Leadbelly famously sang ‘Irene’, a tribute to the then warden’s daughter.
Shortly before arriving at the theatre I shared a conversation about US incarceration with my companions; the documentary resonated strongly as I watched and absorbed the stories of the inmates striving for a path towards understanding, acceptance and looking forward. The intolerance of Louisiana (should this read US?) judicial mercy condemning a person ‘to life’, with virtually no hope of reprieve regardless of their ‘rehabilitation’ lays emphasis on their use of the word ‘correctional’.
One can sympathise with the question – what’s the point of trying to look into your soul and move on from the person you were if all you have ahead is a life of four walls and armed guards? The desire to do just this was strongly brought out in the interviews. The flip side of the coin was looked at and raised unsettling questions – how to address the concerns and life changing circumstances of the people from the victim’s world.
This was addressed by several of the inmates, and Rita also brought her thoughts to bear on the subject. I felt she was still striving to make sense of the dilemma, quite understandably. It has to be an unsettling position to be in – on the one hand appreciating the survivors’ feelings, on the other (as the stated objective of her trips over ten years to the prison), hoping to enrich the lives and purposefulness of Angola inmates, as well as to understand her own role in this process.
From outside the gates and fences, this is not a black and white story – far from it, but I suspect for the long-term prisoners it is, pretty much from the moment they perpetrated the events that led them to Angola. A moving documentary, directed by Bruce McDonald, it is enhanced by being delivered in monochrome (apart from a few brief minutes of colour video footage taken from a local TV station’s archive). Tight close-ups of the interviewees bring you closer into their lives, making more immediate the impact of their stories, losses, regrets and aspirations.
At the core of the film is the power of music; its ability to help in healing, to cross and bring together divides, to enable expression and release passion in life-affirming positivity. The blues, gospel, country and jazz played by the inmate musicians and Rita were statements of intent, culminating in an iconic jailhouse performance, which, whilst played within recognised idioms and structures, radiates a vitality and forcefulness that takes the audience to a place beyond just being at another gig.
The documentary has made an impression, as did Rita’s magnificent gig afterwards. Joined on stage by her long time lead/slide guitar player Papa John King and double bass player Joe Phillips, the power of her voice and the vocal range she played were tremendous, knocking the CD, ‘Sweet Paradise’, which I bought after the show, into second place. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great CD in its own right and certainly showcases Rita with a full band in good light, but I sense having just the two guys with her on stage, rather than a multi-instrument band might have released some extra fire – less distractions to get in the way maybe?
Her voice has a deep and rounded lived-in authority which can range across octaves, becoming incredibly fragile and tender. A number of the songs featured in the documentary were performed, ‘Rest My Bones’ standing out, a magnificent storming gospel track in the film which translated beautifully to a stripped down rootsy blues on stage. Rita performed ‘These Four Walls’ as the final track of their main set, a lamenting slow blues that she had written as the theme song to the film – very moving. Earlier, introducing ‘I Love You Still’, Rita mentioned that a warden had approached her and stated that three subject matters could not be mentioned in any of the songs – women, drinking and … (fighting?) – the key ingredients of pretty much any country song.
Despite the restrictions the track worked out fine! The ghost of Elvis looked down on their set too – a great version of ‘Little Sister’ with subtle word changes, amending “little sister, don’t you do like your big sister done” to “Memphis, don’t you do…”. ‘Hound Dog’ got an overhaul too, starting very slow, then breaking out into a real rocker with fabulous slide guitar work from Papa John. Lyrically astute in her songs a fun highlight was the dual language ‘French Kiss’ which raised plenty of smiles. ‘Woman In Blue’, an Italian cover … there were more songs but I don’t know their titles, suffice to say that the range of vocal prowess and consummate musicianship displayed by the three people on the theatre stage was inspiring and an absolute pleasure to witness. I really hope Rita comes back to play the UK soon.
Rita Chiarelli at Leicester Square Theatre, London, March 25th 2012 – Showing documentary film ‘Music From The Big House’ followed by live performance.
Check out Rita’s website : http://www.ritachiarelli.com
Check out the ‘Music From The Big House’ website : http://www.musicfromthebighouse.com/
