Patti Smith/Live at Montreux 2005

Patty Smith at a jazz festival? You better believe it. While the legendary music festival has always had a history of including non-jazz bands and musicians to its lineup, letting a punk performer Patty and her band in was a bit of a stretch, and it would be interesting to see what the promoters thought when she hocks that first loogie onto the stage during the opening number (the reggae style Redondo Beach). Whatever their reaction, it’s guaranteed that they quickly got over it as the band starts to work their way through its catalog. They do excellent renditions of their better known songs, like Dancing Barefooot and 25^th Floor, and they really look like they are having fun playing their ‘hit’ single, Because the Night. The band stumbles a bit, though, playing Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone. Kudos to whoever came up with the idea of adding Television guitarist Tom Verlaine to the lineup.