Manasota Music Review: Twinkle and Rock Soul Radio: Rock = Live

BRADENTON – The first time I saw Twinkle and Rock Soul Radio live, I was immediately struck by how out of place everything seemed. Don't get me wrong, I mean that in the best possible way. Over the years, I've seen hundreds of shows from blues to rock to jazz at Ace's Live in west Bradenton, and the intimate little Florida roadhouse that has become a major second-tier venue on the southern blues/rock circuit is one of my favorite places to hear local music.

In this case, however, Ace's seemed ready to burst at the seams–and not just because of the full house crowd. The big sound coming from the guitar duo of Twinkle's brother Tony LeClerc on bass and his 30-year collaborator Lenny Brooks on a howling lead seemed more like arena rock than club fare; the percussion from Benny Puckett pulsed through the wooden, barn-like beams, and the voice coming from the tiny, lithe siren at the center of the stage was not something you associated with backwater blues clubs and $5 cover charges.

That's because Twinkle Schascle Yochim is not a club singer. She's the personification of a rock star, and her band is a rock-solid ensemble of top-shelf veterans whose combined big-league experience would equal or exceed most household names in the genre. Twenty-five years ago, the Sarasota native was on pace to become the superstar that her immense talent suggests. She was signed to Warner Brothers Records and her debut album, Haunted by Real Life, was starting to get major attention, thanks to the video for the single Can't Get Love with Money seeing healthy rotation on V-H1, as well as the use of Garden of Love in the hit soap opera Days of Our Lives.

A critically-acclaimed performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival–for which she was accompanied by Eric Clapton’s Band–followed. The future seemed almost limitless. However, a major shake-up at her label saw the A&R deck reshuffled, and her promising career seemed to practically die on the vine. Twinkle returned to Sarasota, a family and kids followed, and while she's made numerous on-stage appearances with some of the biggest names in the business from Bad Company to the Allman Brothers, the world has largely been deprived of her musical talents. Its loss, however, is our gain, and getting the chance to see such an incredible group live in small, intimate settings is a rare musical privilege.

The band's new live CD, Rock = Live, recorded at Spirit Ranch, successfully captures the raw energy of their live shows for portable enjoyment. The 10-track CD is heavy on the band's excellent original material. From killer guitar-driven anthems like Sanctuary and Rock is Love to mellow numbers like I've Got You Now and Everything is Alright, both Twinkle and the band demonstrate the broad range of musical mastery that their collective pedigree would suggest. They soar on the upbeat fan-favorite Happy and deliver a '70s-centric masterpiece with Fly on Silver Wings.

The four covers include outstanding takes on Jimi Hendrix's lesser-known classic Little Wing, and the Otis Redding hit Respect, plus a solid rendition of the Aretha Franklin hit Chain of Fools. Twinkle has perhaps her finest moment when she sings the old T-Bone Walker classic Stormy Monday, the first song she ever performed live, back when she was just an adolescent–with Greg Allman no less. It's tough to add anything to such an oft-covered song, yet she successfully manages to make the blues standard her own.