RICKIE LEE JONES AT PALACE COURT

“Taxes and death and trouble-- this I know,” sang Rickie Lee Jones at the Palace Court shortly after midnight Wednesday, providing at least as likely a prophecy for 1987 as any to be found in the tabloids.

Jones, one of pop’s most acclaimed and individualistic figures, doesn’t do many concerts, so an appearance by her in a tiny (100-seat room) on New Year’s Eve could be the stuff of legend.

This singer-songwriter isn’t the likeliest of New Year’s Eve attractions. Though often celebrative in its own way, her music has a distinctly bittersweet taste. Still, Jones’ willingness to ring in the New Year with a few perennial bar-band tunes and the intimacy that the Palace Court afforded more characteristic, sumptuous ballads, like her own “Company,” made her perfect company for the transitional hours.

Looking a bit like a ‘20s flapper with a touch of Sheila E., a gregarious Jones maintained at least half her set in a subdued mode with minimal accompaniment, though she was intermittently joined by a full band and backup singers. She celebrated at midnight with “Twist and Shout” and closed with “Alley Oop” and “Money,” but also saw fit to deliver a delicate “Autumn Leaves” and an a cappella “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

The mood was too informal--and the carryover noise from the Palace festivities next door too distracting--to show off Jones at her most brilliant. Still, there were more than enough endearing moments to again pointedly prove that she’s far more than the cocky waif associated with “Chuck E.’s in Love” (which went unperformed Wednesday). She’s everything a great singer should be.