Trans-cendent
Music
Published 06/30/2011

by Gregg Shapiro

http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=music&article=869

Downtown NYC performance legend Justin Vivian Bond (formerly known as Justin Bond) will be familiar to readers as the proprietor of the sex-club in John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus, and one-half of the campy cabaret duo Kiki and Herb. Dendrophile (justinbond.com) marks Bond's solo recording debut and includes "In the End," the song Bond performed in Shortbus. It's a terrific, powerful song, and fits in nicely with the rest of the material on the disc. Bond covers Joni Mitchell ("Court and Spark") and Joan Baez ("Diamonds and Rust," paired up in a medley with Leon Russell and Bonnie Bramlett's "Superstar"), and does the songs justice. Another cover, "The Golden Age of Hustlers," illustrates Bond's gifts as an interpreter. More than half the selections are original Bond compositions, ranging from the hoedown of "Equipoise" to the drag drama of "The New Economy" and the sexy pop of "Genet." Be warned, Bond's voice is an acquired taste, but one worth attaining.