My soul must have been crying out for some TRUE music, because I have been reveling in pure artistry within the past week. These people have brought back the days when people could SANG (not just sing), and it was all about the first instrument and not about how many rap collaborations and sampling can fit on an album. I'm going to break it down into three parts. Wanna hear it? Here it go!
Heather Headley @ Avenue
Last Tuesday (Jan. 17), I went to see Heather Headley at Avenue Nightclub. She was promoting her upcoming album In My Mind, which hits stores Jan. 31 (please send up a prayer that Circuit City will have it for $7.99!).
Drama with the Avenue staff aside (please see Butta's blog for more detail), Heather ripped it! She sounds so much better live than on a CD, but that's those stage chops for you. She kicked off the show with "He Is" from her first album, then went into songs from her new album: "Losing You," "I Didn't Mean It" (which was an excellent song written by the R&B artist Ne-Yo), and two others. She also did covers of "Back to Life" by Soul II Soul; "Whip Appeal" by Babyface; and damn near brought the house down with "Superwoman" by Karyn White.
She ended the show with "In My Mind", the title track from her upcoming album. This song took her back to her chuuch (yes, "chuuch" LOL) roots. She was wailing like the Lord was waiting for her backstage. :)
Heather is a performer and she was one of those rare singers (like Lalah Hathaway) who came out without pretense or fanfare, and understood that people came to hear her sing, and that 's just what she did. She was dressed down in jeans, a sweater, boots, and her wedding ring BLINGING. Her microbraids were pulled back into a high chignon and her makeup was flawless and understated. And her smile...chile, she really needs to do endorsements for Crest Strips. I mean...simply beautiful!
Cop the album when it comes out.
Next up: W. Ellington Felton and Eric Roberson at The Black Cat.
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