06/25 @ Caffè Lena, Saratoga Springs

“She invited listeners into her songwriting, proving herself just as compelling as a singer and storyteller as she is a bassist.”

Gail Ann Dorsey’s sold-out Caffè Lena debut was a marker that her career is still blossoming and, even more so, her best work may be still to come.

Most audience members know Dorsey as one of the most respected touring and session musicians of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and 2000s, recognized for her incredible bass work with David Bowie, Gang of Four, Tears for Fears, Olivia Newton John, and Sophie B. Hawkins. Her performance showed me another side of Dorsey as a songwriter and solo performer that I was less familiar with.

Dorsey walked on stage barefoot, her electric bass sporting an anti-AI sticker. Another sticker on the music stand declared “More Women On Stage,” alongside photos of Angela Davis, Jimmy Carter, and Shirley Chisholm. As she worked through her first songs, she deftly showed that the bass can shine on its own, defying its typical position as an accompaniment amongst a larger band. She invited listeners into her songwriting, proving herself just as compelling as a singer and storyteller as she is a bassist.

When she switched to an acoustic guitar for the remainder of the night, her picking style carried the rhythmic training and instincts of her bass playing, demonstrating her years of acting as the glue for bands. This more percussive style gave her singer-songwriter arrangements an edge, tying punk and intimate storytelling together.

“I’ve been told I should not make excuses for my guitar playing, so I won’t,” she told us with a laugh.

Introducing “The Corporate World,” the title track from her debut album, Dorsey reflected on writing about the greed and materialism of the 1980s which is not too dissimilar to today. She sang the last lyric “You can’t break the door to the corporate world,” following it up with the spoken admission to the crowd, saying “I hope that’s not true.”

She described her upcoming album, The Appearance of Life, as a continuation of many of the themes in The Corporate World. Beyond corporations and politics, this record explores how technology and division have affected people’s personal lives.

After a short break, Dorsey returned with a horoscope book she found in the dressing room, carrying it on stage to read whatever revelation it held for her birthdate, November 20. She laughed as she read the page aloud which describes her as “an idealist aware of the shortcomings of nature, cooperative despite being stubborn, emotionally invested in her work, and curious.” She explained this tied into how her mother thought of her before playing “It Takes All Kinds to Make a World," which is inspired by a phrase her mother would often say to her while encouraging her to pursue her art, despite not totally understanding her dreams. The song is both about her experience as an independent girl with big dreams, as well as how we can respect everyone’s place in the world, even people you do not agree with.

Another new release she performed, “Maybellene,” was written for a benefit concert for the Maya Gold Foundation, a nonprofit founded after the tragic loss of 15-year old Maya Gold by suicide in 2015, after being invited by fellow Hudson Valley resident, Natalie Merchant. In this song, Dorsey balances sorrow, empathy, and hope that this person may be free from their pain on earth and have found a place where they are at peace. She faces these painful topics head on with refreshing honesty.

Switching gears, Dorsey explained the story of how one phone call in 1995 changed her career. While writing songs in England with Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears, David Bowie called unexpectedly. The two had never met, but Bowie remembered seeing her promote The Corporate World on television years earlier.

“That woman is very interesting,” Bowie had said, she explains. “When I’m doing the right project, I would love to work with her one day.”

Bowie asked Dorsey to join him on his Outside Tour for six weeks. Those six weeks would become 20 years of touring, recording, and friendship.

“I am here today, and a lot of you are here today because of my relationship with him. I’m grateful for that because it is very rare that you can have somebody in your life who can completely change the trajectory of your life just by being in association with them,” she said.

“I miss him beyond belief and I know the whole world does. He was indeed a special human being.”

Dorsey acknowledged that she will never again sing “Under Pressure” as she wants the memory of her “last dance” with Bowie to be the last time they sang this together. She instead closes with another of Bowie's songs, “Space Oddity."

She invited the audience to sing with her, saying, “I want you to join me, because every time we sing one of his songs together — when these moments happen — I feel like he can hear us somehow and he is smiling down on us.”

Every voice in Caffè Lena joined hers, as we all remembered Bowie and his musical legacy that lives on in Dorsey’s own music.

The audience rose for a standing ovation and Dorsey thanked us all, saying, “Be kind. Be good to each other, and be good to yourselves: that’s where it starts,” as she walked off the stage.

Can you hear us, Major Tom?