“Do you recognize any of these songs he’s singing?” The question was posed by a woman maybe in her 60s or early 70s to her neighbor near the end of Bob Dylan’s two-hour show Saturday at the Santa Barbara Bowl. For many of the dates on Dylan’s latest round of shows, he’s joined by soul-gospel singer Mavis Staples, who at 76 remains a fireball of divinely fueled energy. As he’s done throughout his exceptionally distinguished and sometimes perplexing career, Dylan has proven time again that he chooses the path of the artist over that of the entertainer. Irving Berlin’s “What’ll I Do” ached with anguish, a steel guitar providing the primary foil for Dylan’s dusky voice. As usual, he said nothing before or after songs, letting the music of the five-piece band and lyrics speak for themselves.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 12, 2016 22:43 UTC