3 Things About Pamela Z

I saw Pamela Z at Dartmouth's Faulkner Hall, which is in the bowels of the Hopkins Center. It's a fitting venue, intimate, acoustically outstanding, and to get there, you think, as you wander a maze lined with rows of lockers, practice rooms, closets and Exit signs, "Surely, I am in the wrong place."

1. Pamela Z most reminded me about Martin Mull's saying, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

2. I can only compare what she does to others, none of whom capture Pamela Z, but who might give you an idea:
       The ethereality of Enya; the experimentalism, especially with her voice, of Yoko Ono; the artistry, delight and straightforwardness of Penn & Teller.

3. Imagine if the theremin, which you know from the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations, were updated to 2019 technological standards. Besides her voice, clear boxes with optical readers (hope I have that right) inside respond when Pamela Z moves her hands or fingers in intricate ways. She has an unerring sense of time.

Here is Breathing, which she performed Thursday night.