Artist: Jose Gonzalez - Song: How Low

OnMilwaukee.com Review
By: Julie Lawrence - onmilwaukee.com

Beneath little more than a white spotlight illuminating his black, curly mop and the face of his acoustic guitar, Jose Gonzalez launched into an hypnotic hour or so of swift finger-picking and gentle crooning at the Pabst Theater last night. Alone on stage for the first half of his set, Gonzalez coyishly hunched over his instrument and let his haunting songs resonate within the cavernous, still theater. Not much for chit chat, he maintained a steady, insightful rapport with his eager audience through liquid-like strumming and intense concentration on favorites like his subdued cover of The Knife's "Heartbeats" and his own "Crosses" off his wildly successful debut, "Veneer." During the show's second half vocalist Yukimi Nagamo and percussionist Christopher Berg joined Gonzalez on stage, an addition that further enhanced an already successful exhibition of song. The three engaged in gorgeous harmony for "How Low" off Gonzalez's latest, "In Our Nature." The beauty of Gonzalez's solo simplicity is his music's ability to easily adapt to accompaniment. Such small additions, like rhythmic handclaps throughout "Love Stain," added depth and projected a dynamic not found in recording, and was a genius way to enlarge a song for a live audience. The three performers periodically lit up against a foggy, glowing blue backdrop, but Read More...