Phil Cook at The Sinclair Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Phil Cook, man. I’m shaking my head trying to capture how that show felt last night.

Here’s the thing. At one point in the show, Phil talked about how much Aretha Franklin meant to him. He reminded everyone that it’s Aretha playing the piano on all those records we love so much. He said that her death hit him in a way he hadn’t anticipated. Now, many, many people would then play an Aretha Franklin song; but Phil must know that you don’t do that. Like Adia Victoria tweeted, the only way to properly do an Aretha Franklin song is to “walk out on a stage containing a boom box of her greatest hits and press play.” But you can pay tribute, and Phil and his band did so, so beautifully with a cover of George Jackson’s song, “Sing One For Me, Aretha.” If you know anything about Phil Cook, it’s that he feels indebted to black American music. In the liner notes of People Are My Drug, his incredible album that came out in June, he writes to Aretha, Donny Holloway, the Staples Singers, and many other black artists: “I stand not on your shoulders, but at your feet.” And it is this sensibility–of humility and celebration–that permeates his performance.

Phil opened the show with Randy Newman’s tune, “He Gives Us All His Love,” switching the pronoun to ‘she.’ If anything, the song told us that Phil came to sing. It starts with just Phil and a drum beat, and all the instrumentation on the song is so subtle that his vocals can really take center stage. The crowd at The Sinclair was so appreciative and sensitive to what was happening on stage that for most of the night, we were simply quietly taking it in. Of course, when Phil led us in singing, on “Steampowered Blues” and on the brilliant and soulful encore, “Take Your Burden To The Lord,” we were there for it, but, for the most part there seemed a feeling of rapt respect that kept people pretty quiet.

I was so happy to hear “Belong,” off of Phil first record, Southland Mission, which he said was thirty-five years in the making. He started it with a gorgeous, lilting play on the melody, and it ended big and full, expressing all the heart of someone longing for home. Phil has been on the road non-stop either on his tour or with Hiss Golden Messenger since April, so it can’t have been hard to channel that feeling.

When you see Phil Cook live, you’re going to know that you’re seeing someone do what they were meant to do. Not just someone who is talented, not just someone who puts on a good show. Someone who was put on earth to play music. And you’ll feel full and joyful and humble and connected as a result.

Phil has three more shows on this tour: at The Boot & Saddle in Philadelphia; Capital Ale House in Richmond; and The Ramkat in Winston-Salem. If you’re near those places, get there. We have a few pics of the show up on facebook–check them out and share. And, if you didn’t get to check out Phil’s incredibly thoughtful reflections on People Are My Drug, empathy, and justice, you gotta catch up!