Everett Symphony, Nadine Shanti: Singer-songwriter brings something extra to the stage

Published 1:05 pm Wednesday, October 15, 2008

There’s a word they use back in singer Nadine Shanti’s home state of Louisiana.

That word is “lagniappe,” which sounds like “lan-yap” and means an unexpected bonus or a little something extra. Like if you went to your butcher and bought some steaks, the butcher would throw in some free ground beef as a bonus for being such a good customer.

Lagniappe is the word Shanti uses to describe what patrons can expect when they attend Friday night’s pop concert by the Everett Symphony Orchestra as they pay tribute to Burt Bacharach at the beautiful new Byrnes Performing Arts Center in Arlington.

Shanti is not only the guest singer for the evening but the guest historian. Her master’s degree is in musicology, so along with her gorgeous full-bodied delivery of classic Burt tunes, she has all sorts of tidbits, humor and personal stories to share about Bacharach, his writing partner Hal David (“Walk on By” and “Do you know the way to San Jose”) and singer Dionne Warwick.

That’s the lagniappe.

“There aren’t a lot of people out there doing the music and actually talking and connecting with the audience. This is real cabaret,” Shanti said. “Most people kind of get up and do song after song and the audience doesn’t get to know anything about the artist. They won’t have that problem with me.”

Shanti also has done all the arrangements of the music she will perform and adds her personal stamp to those numbers. For instance, she has tinged the song “Always Something There to Remind Me” with a little Jose Feliciano and when she does “What the World Needs Now,” she throws in some Beatles.

This is the second time Shanti has performed this Bacharach pops concert with the Everett Symphony. She said she enjoys that Bacharach’s music is timeless and musically challenging but also comes out seamlessly simple and catchy for the audience to enjoy.

“It’s a rare combination,” she said in a phone interview.

Singer and songwriter Shanti has gained quite a name for herself as a Seattle entertainer since the release of her second CD, “Violet’s Lane.”

Born and raised in New Orleans, Shanti is known for being innovative and versatile. She is also known for being completely at ease onstage and makes the audience feel her enjoyment of her art.

Shanti promises that the audience will be completely entertained by those extra stories or lagniappe about what she calls the pop triumvirate of Bacharach, Warwick and David, the result of lightning striking just once in the music industry.

“I would be tracing Bacharach’s life and how he met Hal David and Dionne and what broke them apart and the time capsule of what was happening (in the) movie and music industries and put those songs into context with a lot of information,” Shanti said. “That’s what it is, live info-tainment.”

Reporter Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.