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<p>Going to see Lyle Lovett and his Large Band is always a unique experience.</p><p>First of all, even though the 61-year-old singer-songwriter is from Texas, his music is not strictly country. And even though he sometimes plays solo shows with just an acoustic guitar, his music is not strictly folk. And even though his band has a horn section, it&#8217;s not strictly Western swing or a big band either.</p><p>That&#8217;s because, you know, as the title of his 2007 album told us, &#8220;It&#8217;s not big it&#8217;s large.&#8221;</p><p>Add in his trademark wit and wisdom, his sometimes quirky lyrics, and his longtime singing partner, the incomparable Francine Reed, and you have the recipe for a great night out.</p><p>Sunday night&#8217;s concert at the F.M. Kirby Center was no exception as Lovett and his ensemble thoroughly entertained an enthusiastic, fairly large audience for nearly 2&#189; hours.</p><p>The band played its first tune before Lovett and Reed took the stage, with each member taking a solo or two whether it be on trombone, piano, upright bass, or electric guitar. Lovett and Reed then joined in for the always entertaining &#8220;Pants is Overrated.&#8221;</p><p>Following a great version of &#8220;You&#8217;ve Been So Good Up To Now&#8221; from 1992&#8217;s &#8220;Joshua Judges Ruth&#8221; album, Lovett spoke to the Wilkes-Barre crowd.</p><p>&#8220;You all live in such a pretty part of the world and I don&#8217;t come here as much as I&#8217;d like,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I was here once before with my friend John Hiatt, and now I&#8217;m back with the Large Band.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;They say if you love what you do then it&#8217;s not work,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Well, I get to do what I love to do and I get to do with my closest and most talented friends.&#8221;</p><p>Besides Reed on background vocals, the Large Band on Sunday consisted of the legendary drummer and producer Russ Kunkel (originally from Pittsburgh), bass player Viktor Krauss, pianist Ben Stivers, pedal steel guitarist Buck Reid, fiddler and vocalist Luke Bulla, Keith Sewell (acoustic guitar, mandolin, vocals), and Ray Herndon (electric guitar, vocals). The horn section was Mace Hibbard (tenor sax), Brad Leali (alto sax), Steve Herrman (trumpet, flugelhorn), and Charles Rose (trombone) of the Muscle Shoals Horns.</p><p>The band continued with great renditions of &#8220;She Makes Me Feel Good,&#8221; which featured some knockout vocals by Reed, and &#8220;Cowboy Man,&#8221; featuring some fine work by Kunkel, whom Lovett called his favorite drummer in the world.</p><p>&#8220;All these guys are solo artists and session players and they are kind enough to come out on the road with me,&#8221; Lovett said. &#8220;Whenever we get together it&#8217;s like a family reunion.&#8221;</p><p>Lovett and the band carried on with &#8220;San Antonio Girl&#8221; and &#8220;My Baby Don&#8217;t Tolerate,&#8221; which featured some nifty bass by Krauss and pedal steel by Reid.</p><p>Reed and Lovett duetted on the Billie Holiday cover &#8220;Gee Baby, Ain&#8217;t I Good To You,&#8221; then they led the band on a splendid version of the King Cole Trio standard &#8220;Straighten Up and Fly Right.&#8221;</p><p>Other standouts included a trio of Lovett&#8217;s own songs: &#8220;I&#8217;ve Been To Memphis,&#8221; &#8220;Nobody Knows Me,&#8221; and &#8220;North Dakota,&#8221; a tune he co-wrote with Willis Alan Ramsey and recorded with Rickie Lee Jones.</p><p>Sewell and Bulla treated the crowd to a solo tune each, before the two singers joined Lovett around a single microphone to sing exquisite versions of &#8220;Twelfth of June&#8221; and the spiritual &#8220;I&#8217;ll Fly Away.&#8221;</p><p>Lovett saved his most famous songs for the end of the set, including &#8220;If I Had a Boat,&#8221; &#8220;She&#8217;s No Lady,&#8221; and the wonderful &#8220;Here I Am,&#8221; complete with spoken word parts such as, &#8220;Given that intellectual and emotional comparability are at the very least difficult if not impossible to come by, we could always opt for the more temporal gratification of sheer physical attraction. That wouldn&#8217;t make you a shallow person, would it?&#8221;</p><p>Lovett then left the stage as Reed tore the house down on her showcase tune, &#8220;Wild Women Don&#8217;t Get the Blues.&#8221;</p><p>Lovett returned and said, &#8220;If you ever come down our way, I hope you get treated as well as you treated us,&#8221; before leading the band on a swinging &#8220;That&#8217;s Right (You&#8217;re Not From Texas),&#8221; and finishing up with &#8220;Closing Time,&#8221; the last song on his 1986 self-titled debut album.</p><p>The Large Band returned to the stage for a glorious eight-minute reading of Lovett&#8217;s &#8220;Church&#8221; from the &#8220;Joshua Judges Ruth&#8221; album, before all of the band&#8217;s singers traded lines on the traditional &#8220;Ain&#8217;t No More Cane&#8221; to bring the evening&#8217;s festivities to a perfect ending.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Lyle Lovett brought his music, along with his trademark wit and wisdom, his sometimes quirky lyrics,and his longtime singing partner, the incomparable Francine Reed, to the F.M. Kirby Center earlier this week. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_lyle.the_.performer.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lyle Lovett brought his music, along with his trademark wit and wisdom, his sometimes quirky lyrics,and his longtime singing partner, the incomparable Francine Reed, to the F.M. Kirby Center earlier this week. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Brad Patton</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

Review: Lyle Lovett and his Large Band provide great night out