By Joseph Filipak

First up was Kristi Alsip and from the first song, "Route 66", I knew that I was in for a great set. She has a voice that has both power and beauty - she also can make a song her own. Alsip proved this by going from "Route 66", to Sheryl Crow's "The Difficult Kind", the jazz standard "Don’t Go To Strangers", and the Black Crows' "Thorn In My Pride". Never did I feel that I was listening to a bad lounge singer but rather that I was listening to a vocalist who can work a song, as opposed to having the song work her. This explains why her set came off as great as it did. Kristi Alsip sings with the band Pursuit. I've never seen Pursuit, but I have seen Kristi, and I think you should too. Put Kristi Alsip on your short list of singers to see.

Following Kristi Alsip was Tristen. This is my fourth time seeing Tristen and she has never been better then she was on this night. The Lansing native, who is all of 18, brings to the stage maturity both vocally and musically. This is the first time that I have seen her with a full band, as most of Tristen's performances are at coffeehouses accompanied by her father Charlie Gaspadarek and Kurt Miller on acoustic guitars. Tristen performed 3 songs from her CD Something Good, "Easy Jo", "I Love You" and "Free At Last", all of which are originals. The lone cover song was "Tonight the Heartache's On Me" by the Dixie Chicks. Tristen's style is a blend of country/rock meets 18-year-old singer/songwriter, and the blend works very well. Vocally she can bring the house down, and she did, but power is only one side of Tristen's voice. The other sides are beauty and style. The first time that I went to see Tristen, I knew that she had something special and tonight reconfirmed it. If you get the chance to go see Tristen, you will know what I’m saying. It's all right there, and it's all good.

After Tristen, Rebecca Esformes took the stage to do a fun set of covers - "Let’s Hear It For The Boy", "Breathe", "Papa Don’t Preach" and "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You". I was a little frustrated while listening to Rebecca Esformes because she shows so much potential, and yet she holds herself back vocally. She performed the 4 songs all fine and well, but she never made the songs her own, which is the difference between Karaoke night and her night. She also didn’t seem all that comfortable on stage; she seemed a bit unsure of herself. Like I said, she sang the songs fine and she shows potential vocally, I just feel that she needs more experience performing live. I really believe that if I see her again in a year, I will see somebody who doesn’t resemble the singer I heard tonight.

Ending this evening’s vocal festivities was Julie Aymes. What a set - she just knocked me out. Julie opened up with "I’m Happy Just To Dance With You" and I thought that I was back in the 70s heyday of disco, but just as I thought that she went into "Good Morning Heartache", a great blues jazz standard that she pulled off flawlessly. Flawlessly could be used to describe her whole set, which was rounded out with "My Guy" and "I Turn To You". What a voice, what a talent. Yes I liked Julie Aymes, I liked her a whole bunch, and I think that you will to. Her style is not only versatile, but her voice is such that she can wrap it around what ever she wants and somehow make it her own. That is something that I love because it's then that you're in for something special, and she is. Julie Aymes is one that you should not miss. Fun, entertaining, and if you get a chance go see her, you’ll have fun too. I also think that you will be blown away.

This was a great night, and part of what made it a great night was the band - Scott Reed (Guitar), Greg Baroni (Bass), Peter Saxe (Keys) and Mark Ott (Drums). These four musicians backed all 4 of the singers, and did so with only a half-hour of rehearsal with each and the sheet music provided by the singers. Did I say musicians? How about magicians! They pulled a rabbit out of their hats with this one - great band!

The night started off with Becca Kaufman, the hostess, singing a song. Becca also closed the night by doing one more. Well I don’t care who’s on the bill, I’ll go just to hear her sing again - what a voice and what a joy it is to hear her use it! Throughout this review I have said "if you get the chance, go see them". Well that's right go. They're out there performing and, as with any artist, they need people to come to their shows. So go to a Chicago Singer Spotlight, or go see one of these very fine performers, BUT GO! And give them a hand; two put together would be nice, very nice indeed.

All Photos Provided by Dan Locke DLL Productions © 2001

More ChicagoGigs.com Reviews

Chicago Music Discussion Board