Bet Williams – Live at the Point (A PopEntertainment.com Music Review)

PopEntertainment
Feb 4, 2003
2 min read

Bet Williams – Live at the Point (Epiphany)

It's always strange to hear a recording of a concert when you had been in the audience. I have been lucky enough to experience several shows that have been changed into live albums or videos, and they are almost always a bit of a let-down, not capturing the magic of the moment. Bet Williams' Live at the Point is the exception to that rule.

Now it's only ethical for me to acknowledge right off the bat that I've known Bet since college (back in the days when her name was still Beth). But I like to think I'm objective enough to take the album on its own merits. And those merits are pretty significant.

Live at the Point was recorded over two nights at the famed Philadelphia-area venue. While Williams has made a name for herself in folk circles, that is too limiting a label for her. Her music straddles the lines between folk, blues, jazz and pop. Made up of originals and an adventurous brace of covers, the CD kicks off with a scorching rendition of Robert Johnson's "Come Into My Kitchen." The songs range from heart-felt ("Sugar In the Water") to venomous ("Killed My Man") to whimsical (the indescribable sing-along "The White Dog Doo") but throughout the songs and strong vocals weave a spell.

Williams' voice is an extremely expressive instrument, ranging from the conversational jazz-bop "Big Window" to the lovely folk-pop of "Romeo Rise" to a delicately beautiful rendition of Mark Germino's "Oriental Drag" to the giddy faux-opera "Neighborhood." If you missed the shows, Live at the Point is the next best thing. If you saw them, it is an indispensable keep-sake.

Jay S. Jacobs