It is always pretty ‘sweet” to hear lovely ladies harmonize. Winnipeg trio Sweet Alibi returned to the Slice for the first time in a year, April 17 to caress the ears of a handful of people with their lovely jazz tinged folk music.
The trio, including Jessica Rae Ayre on acoustic guitar and harmonica, Amber Nielsen on guitar, ukulele and brushing a snare drum and Michelle Anderson on guitar and banjo sang together beautifully as they switched between an array of instruments. They also had a bassist/keyboardist to add extra aural textures.
I arrived at the end of their first set while Nielsen was playing the ukulele and singing a pretty version of Bob Marley’s reggae classic “One Love” as her bandmates sang lovely harmonies.
They sounded like other female folk trios like the Be Good Tanyas, Cracker Cats and Oh My Darling.
In their second set, they gave the audience a taste of their appearance at this year’s South Country Fair, by playing several tracks off their last CD “, a few from a new CD to be released later this year which is being produced by the Imaginary Cities. They also had some cool jazzy covers, especially a cool version of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings’ “Mama Don’t Like My Man,” which Ayre sang right next to a new song about her ex -boyfriend.
Their vocal harmonies soared during an a capella song they sang after that.
Neilsen sang a touching song she wrote about her dad who used to pick her up from air cadets while drunk, and who consequently let her drive home as Anderson played a pretty banjo solo. One of her highlights was “Something Good” which she described as being “cheesy, but it’s my new favourite.”