LIVE AT PARADISO

Personnel: Beth Hart (vocals, guitar, piano); Beth Hart; Jon Nichols, Jon Nichols (guitar); Tom Lilly (bass guitar); John Nyman, John Wyman (drums). Audio Mixer: Hans Bunt. Recording information: Studio Paradiso (Dutchview) (05/2004). Editors: Hans Bunt; Hans Brethouwer. Photographers: Anders Terlaack; Jeroen Bos. This live date from Beth Hart was recorded at the famed Paradiso Theater in Holland. Hart is an artist who knows no boundaries when it comes to confessional disclosure and in a live setting it works well. She pours out her soul to an audience who knows what she's about. The music is rawer than on her studio offerings and her delivery is all passion, pathos, pain, and power. It's true she's not Janis Joplin but the comparisons are unfair to begin with. Hart's a thoroughly modern artist. She's listened to all the records from the days of yore and she's been influenced by them, but the stuff she sings about comes right from her own life and experience. Her band may not be exceptional, but they understand the drama in her songs and how to bring it out in front of a crowd. There is no compromise here, no concession. This set is what it is: a hard rocking, straight-up set of Hart's best-known tunes form her three studio offerings. The album's finest moments are "Leave the Light On," with its gut-level spoken word intro; "Immortal," which simply screams, and "Am I the One." The encore here is her version of Led Zep's "Whole Lotta Love," which fans will treasure. This actually may be the best place to start with Hart rather than her studio records because it showcases her at full power. ~ Thom Jurek