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The last time Elvis Costello came through town, he brought his band The Attractions with him and rocked up a storm.
Monday night in the intimate confines of the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills, Costello brought only his guitar and a massive black grand piano for Attractions keyboard player Steve Nieve.
The resulting 90-minute show revealed yet another side of this ever-evolving artist, with the affable Costello presenting old and new songs with only the barest of musical embellishment.
Having a fine new album from which to draw material certainly helped. All This Useless Beauty (Warner Bros.), released Tuesday, started as a collection of songs Costello had written for or with others but not recorded himself. During the sessions, he added several brand-new tunes.
The Attractions play on the new album, but it's far from an attempt to recapture the mood of his "angry young man" early albums. That was then.
Now finds Costello more interested in pursuing his ambition to become a latter-day equivalent of the Gershwins or Jerome Kern, as filtered through a modern pop sensibility.
He still falls victim to his penchant for lyric ornateness check "Poor Fractured Atlas" for proof — but mostly, the album's subdued songs have focus and power. The Attractions add subtle shading, such as the understated riff that pulses through "Little Atoms," and Costello's vocals sound more assured and expressive than ever.
In addition to performing all the cuts from his new album, Costello also plucked some terrific songs from his bulging back catalog.
Nieve's piano flourishes heightened the dramatic rendition of "Just a Memory," another chestnut to which Costello brought new life with vocals even more achingly brokenhearted than found on the original.
Standouts among the new songs included the show-stopping soulful ballad "Why Can't a Man Stand Alone?" (written originally for Sam Moore of Sam & Dave) that had the timeless feel of a standard, and a version of "The Other End of the Telescope" (written with and originally performed by Aimee Mann) that only can be described as exquisite, thanks to Costello's delicate vocal phrasing and Nieve's rippling glissandos.
His complete devotion to his complex and challenging songs, together with Nieve's superb piano accompaniment, made for an evening of memorable music.
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