Like Judy Garland’s live album at Carnegie Hall in that 1961 legendary recording, Baby Jane Dexter’s latest CD, You’re Following Me, will take its place among cult denizens everywhere. It’s magic without illusion. It’s no-frills honesty—warts and all. Too, it’s full of enough fun stuff to please any listener.

There are no gimmicks. No rabbits in a hat. The vehicle is a sold out show at the Metropolitan Room. And this live disc is Dexter’s latest feat of sharing her unique art—and opening her ample heart. Her burnished contralto is as powerful as ever. Her soft voice is effective where needed and bawdy when called for. Whether letting loose on a campy ditty like “Love Potion Number Nine” or skillfully emoting Melissa Etheridge’s torcher, “Precious Pain,” (one of the albums major highlights), she definitively shatters the moment with compelling repose. Her delivery can be hard-boiled or, at times, childlike as when belting a potent “Zing, Went the Strings of My Heart.” She rarely lowers her guard, and following a loose thread about obsessions, this savvy soul singer, like the late Ma Rainey or Ruth Brown, reveals more about life and its ups and downs than a rousing sermon on damnation and salvation delivered by a Baptist preacher.

With Ross Patterson on piano, Steve Doyle on bass and David Silliman on drums, this live recording is about as good as it gets from the clubs. Thanks to producer/engineer Jean-Pierre Perreaux, it also fully captures the quality of a studio album and, like that Garland gem, makes for a memorable listening experience.

John Hoglund
Cabaret Scenes
April 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org