Musician takes harp to new heights
By Sarah D'esti Miller
Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY)

When they say it's difficult to define Deborah Henson-Conant, they aren't kidding, as she demonstrated in a performance with the Binghamton Philharmonic on Saturday night at the Forum Theatre.

To call her an entertainer would be a disservice to her musicianship, which is outstanding. To call her a musician would marginalize just how much fun it is to watch her. Henson-Conant is a singer, songwriter and harpist, and if you think that makes her a triple threat, you are right.

But she is funny, too, engaging the audience in conversation as well as using cheeky lyrics to some of her songs such as "Songs My Mother Sang" and her hilarious encore "I Love My Garbage Man," which brought down the house as two Philharmonic percussionists came in dressed as sanitation engineers complete with "trash cans" that they dumped on the stage and played a la "Stomp" while she clanged the lids.

Her musical style is as impossible to pin down as her act. From the opening "Cosita Latina" to the darkly beautiful "Nightingale," as energetic as a hoedown, as spirited as a Sousa march and as hypnotic as new age music, as awesomely bombastic as the best movie scores, as bright as calypso, Henson-Conant's music at one time or another sounds like all of these and more.

But it's her blues that really blows your mind about the harp. In "Way You Are Blues" she let fly a smokin' -- can't believe I'm saying this -- harp solo that was amazing, showing the harp as a natural choice for blues. Think about it -- it's essentially a naked piano that's played like a guitar, so why shouldn't it be good at the blues?

Her storytelling is anecdotal and threatrical at once and her show provided plenty of opportunity for the Philharmonic and its soloists, conducted by Jose-Luis Novo, to show off and chances for lots of audience participation.

Although Henson-Conant has revolutionized how her instrument is played, it is obvious she does it because she loves it and not for "shock value." Which means she will likely stand the test of time, doing what she does best -- even if we don't know exactly how to define it.

Deborah's Easter Greeting