[ CONCERT REVIEW ]

JOAN BAEZ

AT PICK-STAIGER HALL

With 47 years of performing under her belt, 63-year-old Joan Baezcould sit back, put her feet up and take it easy as the grand dame offolk music. But instead the singer who helped put the genre on themap remains at the top of her game. One of the greatest interpretersof popular music, she has in recent years championed the work ofestablished and up-and-coming Americana artists.

These songs, along with a handful of old standards, were the vitalcore in Baez's sold-out show Friday night in Evanston. While some inthe mostly gray-haired audience may have wanted more of the past,Baez mined the riches of the present. The result was a …