The Classic Lisa Fischer

The Classic Lisa Fischer spotlights Lisa and her band Grand Baton as they repurpose and re-imagine everything from classic rock standards to classic arias in collaboration with symphony orchestras. Lisa’s scale-defying vocals illuminate a program arranged by Chris Walden, Gil Goldstein and JC Maillard, is equal parts Henry Purcell and Led Zeppelin, fusing global rhythms with elements of opera and blues. She seamlessly melds the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” with “Habañera” from Carmen, merging six or seven songs to create medleys honoring Roberta Flack and Luther Vandross, bridging musical styles and burnishing her renown as one of music’s consummate vocalists. Her incantation on “Immigrant Song” (Led Zeppelin) goes into “Fragile” (Sting), doubling as an invitation, beckoning the audience to join her “in the music.” She gives each syllable a life of its own on a profound, revelatory rendition of “Wild Horses” (Rolling Stones) and visits the Great American Songbook with an evocative interpretation of “Blues in the Night” (Arlen & Mercer). A haunting, elegiac reading of “Dido’s Lament” (Henry Purcell) and her own “How Can I Ease the Pain” become a thunderous tour de force with “Gimme Shelter” (Rolling Stones) swelling from a prayer-like cadence to explosive catharsis, filling concert halls with an earthy resonance rarely glimpsed in the classical world. Lisa sings other arrangements by Grammy winner Gil Goldstein; “Hurt” (Trent Reznor), “Broken Instrument I” (Victory Boyd), and others.