Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Normal as Blueberry Pie

First off, how normal is blueberry pie? Serious question. As far as Zen koans go, I'm sticking it right up there with “Why has Bhodi-Dharma left for the East?” or “Why are those car wheels spinning the other way?”

Dwell on that weirdness awhile and get labile enough for a Doris Day tribute. Actually (here's where lability shall prove helpful), you don't need to know much about Doris Day to dig this disc. One open mind you'll need and at least a starting tolerance for swing (the sound, not the Lindy Hoppin' revivalist dancers -- I had my doubts about them too). Ms. McKay (pronounced "MacEye") plays eight different instruments, drags in more-than-capable help on the rest (cf. Jay Berliner, sideman to Charles Mingus and Van Morrison), and always knows where to put everything. She makes it look easy.

True, her immaculate sonic palette doesn't much hint at the perversity of her originals (consult her three previous albums), which gargle any genre you could name from the Great American Songbook to on-the-one funk in the service of elaborate satire. But look carefully at the packaging and you'll see the 27-year-old impresario sporting feet as long as her head. Oh, yes, and almost everything in the booklet is about not eating or otherwise hurting animals (a cause dear to tributer and tributee alike). Then she calls out, “I'm feeling hot as Brian!” in the middle of “Crazy Rhythm.” At least I think it's “I'm feeling hot as Brian!” You got a different idea, put your pie aside and let me know.

Sponsored
Sponsored
  • Album: Normal as Blueberry Pie (2009)
  • Artist: Nellie McKay
  • Label: Verve
  • Songs: (1) The Very Thought of You (2) Do Do Do (3) Wonderful Guy (4) Meditation (5) Mean to Me (6) Crazy Rhythm (7) Sentimental Journey (8) If I Ever Had a Dream (9) Black Hills of Dakota (10) Dig It (11) Send Me No Flowers (12) Close Your Eyes (13) I Remember You

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

East San Diego County has only one bike lane

So you can get out of town – from Santee to Tierrasanta

First off, how normal is blueberry pie? Serious question. As far as Zen koans go, I'm sticking it right up there with “Why has Bhodi-Dharma left for the East?” or “Why are those car wheels spinning the other way?”

Dwell on that weirdness awhile and get labile enough for a Doris Day tribute. Actually (here's where lability shall prove helpful), you don't need to know much about Doris Day to dig this disc. One open mind you'll need and at least a starting tolerance for swing (the sound, not the Lindy Hoppin' revivalist dancers -- I had my doubts about them too). Ms. McKay (pronounced "MacEye") plays eight different instruments, drags in more-than-capable help on the rest (cf. Jay Berliner, sideman to Charles Mingus and Van Morrison), and always knows where to put everything. She makes it look easy.

True, her immaculate sonic palette doesn't much hint at the perversity of her originals (consult her three previous albums), which gargle any genre you could name from the Great American Songbook to on-the-one funk in the service of elaborate satire. But look carefully at the packaging and you'll see the 27-year-old impresario sporting feet as long as her head. Oh, yes, and almost everything in the booklet is about not eating or otherwise hurting animals (a cause dear to tributer and tributee alike). Then she calls out, “I'm feeling hot as Brian!” in the middle of “Crazy Rhythm.” At least I think it's “I'm feeling hot as Brian!” You got a different idea, put your pie aside and let me know.

Sponsored
Sponsored
  • Album: Normal as Blueberry Pie (2009)
  • Artist: Nellie McKay
  • Label: Verve
  • Songs: (1) The Very Thought of You (2) Do Do Do (3) Wonderful Guy (4) Meditation (5) Mean to Me (6) Crazy Rhythm (7) Sentimental Journey (8) If I Ever Had a Dream (9) Black Hills of Dakota (10) Dig It (11) Send Me No Flowers (12) Close Your Eyes (13) I Remember You
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Memories of bonfires amid the pits off Palm

Before it was Ocean View Hills, it was party central
Next Article

Live Five: Rebecca Jade, Stoney B. Blues, Manzanita Blues, Blame Betty, Marujah

Holiday music, blues, rockabilly, and record releases in Carlsbad, San Carlos, Little Italy, downtown
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader