Women and men

We'll I don't warm to identity arguments.  The second wave feminism that I easily supported fifty years ago was a claim to equal treatment where it was missing, like women being required to leave some employment on marriage and pay that was different for the same job, and it was a recovery of the first wave with its trivially obvious demand for the vote and the like, but listening to Matilda Abraham I feel that intense comprehension and response to personal matters and I recognise it often enough from women and I wonder where I hear it from men.  Maybe it's there and I don't come across it.  It's certainly not in my rants (as Megan calls them!) as The Pots.  She was at Matilda too and admired it and just said people are different.  There's strength in that openness to people and experience without too much ideology.  Whatever, I admire Matilda's awareness and I was entranced to catch the emotionally charged lyrics.  The backing was pretty minimal, just simple piano accompaniment (apparently her first piano accompanied solo gig) and sometimes an aged drum machine (amusingly recovered from her Dad's shed) with very simple grooves.  The complexity was in the truth of the lyrics and at least one that I noticed with an intricate melody of divergent intervals and comfortable leading notes and assorted note lengths.  That one was Tender lament and its melody was a stunner.  She played a few covers, too, form Minnie Ripperton and Sade and even Kylie, but Matilda's presence remained central.  Matilda was playing for family and friends on a late-announced Smiths gig so it was an intimate gathering, coming from Berlin with Carl and young Abe for Christmas.  Carl sat in for the final number with a devastating solo.  What with a family and this musical prowess all round, Berlin must be doing them good.  It would.  It's renowned and I'm not surprised.  Check out Matilda's string of songs, EPs and an album on the streaming sites.

Matilda Abraham (keys, vocals, compositions) performed at Smiths.  Carl Morgan (guitar) sat in for the final tune.