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Usually, when there is an event at the Watermill Center, the center itself and the event divide the attention, especially if someone with the stature of Norah Jones is involved. But the program slated for this weekend seems to have another dimension, creating as it does something of an excuse for a Wainwright family reunion.
“Last Song of Summer” is the title given to a concert scheduled on Saturday at the Ross Lower School (739 Butter Lane, Bridgehampton) at 5 p.m. In addition to Ms. Jones, it will feature brother and sister Rufus and Martha Wainwright. And since the siblings’ father, Loudon Wainwright III, resides on Shelter Island, and there are Wainwrights spread all over East Hampton, it is expected that there will be quite the gathering of the clan.
The Wainwright siblings have performed on the East End before— Rufus just this summer made an encore appearance at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center—but this is the first time that Ms. Jones will be making a public appearance in eastern Long Island.
Geetali Norah Jones Shankar was born 30 years ago in Brooklyn, the daughter of the sitarist Ravi Shankar. In the short time since her debut album, “Come Away With Me,” was released in 2004, Ms. Jones has become the best-selling female jazz artist, with 36 million records sold worldwide.
Even if her father were suddenly to show up in Water Mill on Saturday (which is not anticipated), Ms. Jones would be hard-pressed to compare with the Wainwrights for musicians in the family. Rufus and Martha’s mother is Kate McGarrigle of the Canadian McGarrigle Sisters. A half sister is Lucy Wainwright Roche, who is the daughter of Suzzy Roche of the Roche Sisters. Martha’s husband, Brad Albetta, is a musician and producer.
For Martha Wainwright, this weekend is a homecoming in more ways than one, because she has played at the Watermill Center several times before. “It is a place I definitely like,” she said. “Robert [Wilson] is a family friend as well as a very interesting artist, and he certainly has created a unique place.”
Ms. Wainwright, 33, is carving out a unique career. She first attracted attention with her song “Year of the Dragon,” which was included on the 1998 album “The McGarrigle Hour” by her mother and aunt, Anna McGarrigle. She moved from Montreal, where she grew up, to New York City and wrote songs while playing at clubs there. In 2005 her self-titled debut album, “Martha Wainwright,” was released.
In addition to stronger songwriting and a blend of folk and rock and country styles, what distinguished her second album, “I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too,” issued last year, were her collaborators. Her mother, aunt, and brother played on the album, as did Pete Townsend, Garth Hudson of The Band, and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan.
“Pete played guitar on the album as a favor but also, he said, as a fan, which is an amazing thing to hear from a living legend,” Ms. Wainwright said. “He’s played with me live, too. He is at a stage when he doesn’t have to think about his career and selling records, he can make choices based only on his inclinations, and that he chooses to work with me is very flattering.”
She cited another musician who can also be characterized as a living legend who has had a strong influence on her. Leonard Cohen, who is in his 70s, is on a worldwide tour of sold-out shows, and Ms. Wainwright is not surprised at his fresh wave of success.
“It is definitely his time to shine, and it’s because more than ever before Leonard is being recognized as an incredible writer,” she said. “He’s reminding people how strong a poet he is and how important great songwriting is to music. That is something that is always true, and that is why in his 70s he can sell out a concert hall in New York and London, and most of the people in those halls are one or even two generations younger than Leonard is. He is being embraced by music lovers who don’t listen to trite songs. It also impresses people that he is not trying to be anything other than himself. Leonard is an original artist who has followed his own path.”
Ms. Wainwright is following a somewhat different path for her next project. Due out in November is an album of songs first done by the French singer Edith Piaf. She had been contemplating this record since before the film “La Vie En Rose” was released, with Marion Cottilard’s performance earning a Best Actress Oscar.
Ms. Wainwright has still not seen the movie but, she said, “I’ve been listening to Piaf since I was a kid, and growing up in Montreal I was always speaking French. I wanted to make an album of French songs, but [producer] Hal Willner suggested we focus on Piaf. He saw something enduring and that hadn’t quite been done before, and the movie is apart from that.
“Also, many of her songs are still unknown in this country and they are wonderful songs, and we wanted to highlight them. It’s not about her life because I’m not an actress and we’re not putting on her play, it’s about her music and the choices she made as a singer. Inevitably, though, the songs filter back to her life because she is so much in those songs, they are such a reflection of who she was.”
Of course, there has been no stronger influence on Ms. Wainwright than her own family. Loudon Wainwright III has been recording and performing for more than 30 years as a folk and blues musician. Rufus Wainwright, three years older than his sister, has released five albums of original music, composed film soundtracks, and has been garnering much attention lately for his newest musical work, an opera titled “Prima Donna.”
Ms. Wainwright said that growing up in a musical household produced some competitiveness, but today “I think we’ve moved on from rivalries. It’s been long enough that we’ve all been musicians together that we’re very supportive and we enjoy working together, like we’ll do at Watermill Center. My husband produced and played on my last album, too. It’s clearly a family trade that we’re working to continue.”
She hopes there will be more than making music during the next several days. The patriarch of the family is Stuyvesant Wainwright, now in his 90s and living in Wainscott. He is a direct descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, the last director-general of New Netherland, and in the 1940s and ’50s he represented the East End in Congress.
“Stuyvie,” as he is called, “took my mom and Rufus fishing last year, and caught some bass and bluefish,” Ms. Wainwright reported. “I’m hoping that’s going to happen again this year with me on board. Rufus is trying to organize it. I’ll be ready to jump in the car at any point. My dad’s on Shelter Island and he’s ready to go. Hopefully, I’ll be spending lots of time with family and eating lots of fish.”
But first there is that concert to do on Saturday with her brother and Norah Jones. For tickets to the second annual “Last Song of Summer,” call 212-253-7484 or e-mail benefit@watermillcenter.org.
In related news, four recent artists-in-residence at the Watermill Center are to be featured in the New Island Festival, a first-time event taking place on Governors Island next month, with installations developed while they were in Water Mill.
on Aug 28, 2009