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Email Story to a Friend June 19, 2006 Rondstadt runs the gamut at Britt She was gracious, warm and witty, and of course she sang beautifully. Linda Ronstadt, whose career has spanned nearly four decades, came to Jacksonville Sunday night to entertain a sellout crowd at the Britt Pavilion. And entertain she did, with a 75-minute program of 16 songs — some familiar like "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" and some less so, like "Lush Life," written by a teenager in 1930s. She devoted the first half of the show to standards, songs she learned to do with Nelson Riddle, like "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "Guess I'll Hang My Tears." She said she likes standards "because they are written for singers." But then in the second half she cut loose with rock and other favorites like "Just One Look" and "Ooh Baby Baby." One of the evening's highlights was her "Somewhere Out There" duet with Arnold McCuller. "We love you," yelled a fan. "Tell my kids," Ronstadt replied. Advertisement She also talked about her approaching 60th birthday (next month). She said that to ease the blow she decided to skip 59 and has pretended to be 60 for almost a year a now. Ronstadt was ably accompanied by a six-member band: Bob Mann on guitars; Jon Gilutin, keyboards; Trey Henry, bass; John Ferraro, drums; Lawrence Feldman, tenor sax and flute; and Cisco Dimas, trumpet and fluegelhorn. Singers McCuller and Marlena Jeter came out for the second half of the show to lend backup harmony. The opening act, a short once since the concert began at 8 instead of the usual 7:30 p.m., featured the local combo Siskiyou Summit, two-time headliner at the Oregon Bluegrass Festival. Formed in 1999, it's a six-member group with Bob Evoniuk on dobro; Crystal Reeves, fiddle; Jim Calhoun, bass; Glenn Freese, guitar; Jeff Jones, mandolin, and Rick Nelson on banjo. They packed seven numbers into a 30-minute set, featuring songs like "Breakdown," "Hard Driving Railroad Man" and "This Heart," and then closed spectacularly with an energetic "Orange Blossom Special" with Reeves on the fiddle. Ronstadt released her first album in 1969. She became one of the most popular interpretive singers of the 1970s. Then as she moved into the 1980s, she began to change her sound with the times, adding new wave influences. More recently she has settled into a pattern of adult contemporary pop and Latin albums. Her worldwide album sales have exceeded 50 million and she has more than 30 gold, platinum and Grammy Award-winning records to her credit. She was in Denver Friday night. After Sunday's show she takes a couple of weeks off, then plans eight concerts in California and Washingon during July. Next up at Britt is a concert by British jazz singer, songwriter and pianist Jamie Cullum. It's at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Both reserved and lawn tickets are still available. A program with Elvis Costello and The Imposters and the New Orleans piano and horns of Allen Toussaint follows at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, with a few lawn tickets still available. Cleve Twitchell is a retired Mail Tribune editor and columnist. E-mail him at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Casino Reviews Advertisement s Advertisement