Saturday, August 19, 2006

When listening to Ollabelle's two pleasant CDs, you might think of Cowboy Junkies playing the "Anthology of American Folk Music." Or sublime mood tunes for Cracker Barrel's Old Country Store. Or shimmering harmony gospel for people who don't like church. But would perceptions change when the band was untethered, playing a late summer date in an intimate club? Over two sets at Iota on Thursday night, the New York quintet colored within its own lines, exploring roots and gospel styles so reservedly that it often left no impression at all.

Ollabelle didn't lack chops. Both Byron Isaacs's slide work and keyboardist Glenn Patscha's rippling figures were skillful and seductive. And the singing -- from all five members -- was uniformly tight. Fiona McBain and Amy Helm's harmonies on "Heaven's Pearls" and Nina Simone's "See Line Woman" were so close they whispered like a single cold breath. But the shared vocals too often chilled the life right out of the material, even turning the raw, churning hearts of "John the Revelator" and "Soul of a Man" into museum pieces. The group's re-imagining of "Down by the Riverside" was so arid it chafed -- which made the set's brief flare-ups more puzzling. Where did drummer Tony Leone's "Reach for Love" (a raucous, Randy Newmanesque charmer) come from? What made Patscha's "Get Back Temptation" so juicy? (Pegging the rollicking take on "Ain't No More Cane" was easier; Helm's father is Levon, whose Band arrangement served as model.) If Ollabelle could swing so convincingly, why did so much of its set consist of gospel and soul played without any heart?

-- Patrick Foster