I had planned a long Thanksgiving post, talking about all the things I have to be thankful for. And there are many, some of which I’ll let you in on in future posts. However, after a long drive up here to Jersey to be with my Mom for the holidays and a day of cooking, I don’t have it in me. Besides, I hope you’re spending time with your families and not roaming the blogosphere!
As much as I pretended to moan and groan, I actually enjoyed cooking all the sides. I cooked the macaroni and cheese (no Kraft here!), collard greens, string beans, and sweet potato pie. We got a pre-cooked Cajun turkey as we’re actually having dinner over someone else’s house and are sure to bring home plenty of leftovers! So there was really no need for us to cook a turkey. Judging by the pre-tasting, everything turned out delicious! I keep saying that I need to cook more “complete” meals and live less bachelorette-like. Maybe when I grow up someday.
In any event, I want to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the day with family and/or friends and “gobble until you wobble!” I am so thankful for each and every one of you that stop by and comment here and on my You Tube channel. You guys really keep me going.
As you’re sitting there with family and friends dranking and cutting up, I bet you’ll have a little of this playing in the background!
Judging by the response to my Old School Friday post spotlighting one of my favorite 90s girl groups, Zhane, I figured you might like to see more of what one half of the dynamite sangin duo is up to these days.
I had the opportunity to see Jean Baylor perform music from her solo album, Testimony: My Life Story at the Can A Sista Rock A Mic Festival back in October (yes, I know I’m late!). It was a simply beautiful set, just Jean and the guitar or behind the piano, sharing seven songs from the project that’s been in the works for 8 years.
Although we reminisce over the days when we had classy girl groups that could sang circles around most of these chicks that are hot in the streets today, I am really glad that Jean came back on the solo tip. The beauty of this woman’s voice is well-matched with the material. It was perfect for the intimate setting the venue provided. Since I did it backward and saw her live before hearing her album, I was more than excited to get my hands on a copy. I was in luck as I won a free copy of her EP after correctly guessing the artist she was channeling in “Made To Love You” (can you guess?)
The EP wasn’t enough. I had to get the entire album. I think you’ll see why.
Love Poem
Morning Time
Come Go With Me
This is the first project that Jean and her husband Mark (yea fellas she’s happily taken!), a fellow musician, put out under their Be A Light label. You can download it from her website for the low low price of $9.99.
This picture captures just how I like to listen to my jazz.
Other than mentioning how I attend the Capital Jazz Fest every year, I don’t talk much about my love for jazz in this space. I have the feeling if I did, I’d lose a lot of readers. Hey, you’ll have to deal with it today though.
There is only one song that immediately comes to mind when I think of jazz music. There is one song I can put on that I know will somehow take me through whatever emotions I may be experiencing at that moment. It’s a complex, beautiful piece by two of THE best to ever do it.
You may be familiar with this song from the movie Love Jones, which is where I first heard and fell in love with it.
Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, “In A Sentimental Mood”, 1962
*drops mic and walks off the stage*
Okay, I’m back for an encore.
If you call yourself a true lover of jazz, Miles DavisKind Of Blue is essential for your collection. Not owning this album would be like having the cornflakes without the milk. I just don’t get you.
Here’s a live performance from 1959 of “So What” from that epic album, which also happens to be the best selling jazz record of all time. Trane joins him for the performance. I couldn’t take my eyes (or ears!) off of it. I think you’ll agree.
Enjoy your weekend and be sure to check out the other old school friday participants for some more smooth jazz to get you through your day.
As I mentioned, after the election, I took a brief trip South that started out well and ended badly. Another longterm friendship is likely kaput but this one is a bit more complicated than the situation earlier this year. At some point I may blog about it. Suffice to say, I came back feeling very out of sorts. I definitely needed to take off the blues and leave some shit behind. Good thing I had two spectacular concerts lined up to make it all better.
You already know how Maxwell left me in a state of pure bliss. I was just as excited to see Foreign Exchange the next evening. I am a huge fan of Nicolay’s production and you already know how I feel about Phonte and and Yahzarah.
Leave It All Behind has been on constant rotation in the pod and is sure to make my top albums of the year list. I could not wait to see Phonte and Nicolay bring the album alive on stage. Then to hear that Yahzarah, Muhsinah and Zo (of Zo & Tigallo Love The 80s) would perform with them was music to my ears.
I’m sure you are still as worn out from reading the Maxwell review as I am from writing it. So I’m going to keep this one brief and let the music speak for itself!
I’ll just say that this was one of the best shows I’ve been to this year. The multi-talented (rapper, singer, and comedian) Phonte and underrated female soul singers Yazarah (longtime Foreign Exchange collaborator) and Muhsinah didn’t just sing over Nicolay’s beats. They performed and entertained almost all of the songs from the album. I’ll just highlight my favorites here. The rest you can view over on my You Tube channel.
In between songs from Leave It All Behind and the first album, Connected, Phonte interacted with the crowd as only he can. He broke down for us the key to a successful relationship (which made me crush on him even harder – if possible) and shared the story of the day he met Stevie Wonder *swoon* and Stevie actually knew who he was! Can you imagine what that’s like for a real artist who is grinding his ass off and is not on the radio fourteen times an hour? Good stuff indeed!
So for those of you not yet subscribed to my channel, here is some video of my favorites.
House of Cards (Check out Phonte looking real dapper in his fedora. Too clean. Too pretty.)
Sweeter Than You (Yahzarah sounds so beautiful on this one)
I Wanna Know (Phonte’s relationship seminar is in session at the end of this one)
Nic’s Groove (from Connected)
Take Off The Blues (yes, I did!)
Daykeeper
Okay, obviously like Lays, I can’t have just one. The entire album is really a must-own for any lover of real music. They are just beginning to tour to promote the album with stops planned in North Carolina and Atlanta so far. This is one not to be missed when they come to a city near you. Don’t get left behind!
Much ado has been made about the price of Maxwell tickets – and rightfully so! In this economy, there are plenty of other things a somewhat fiscally responsible person like myself could have done with that hundred some odd dollars I paid for my 5th row seat.
Maxie, if paying an arm and a leg for your love if loving you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right!
I can’t imagine what it must be like to have been away for so long and welcomed back as if you had never left. Folks are fickle. They forget. But it’s virtually impossible to forget a man like Maxwell.
Believe it or not, this was my first time ever seeing him live. When he was last touring, I had yet to become the ultimate concert enthusiast I am today. Can you imagine there was ever such a time for someone who will have attended forty concerts by year’s end and has over 550 videos on the YouTube channel? Me either.
However, before we get into my account of the Maxwell Experience, let’s briefly talk about the opening act, MissJazmine Sullivan. As you know, I wasn’t overwhelmed by her album but was hoping to feel differently after seeing her live.
Let me first say, the girl can sang. No doubt about that. No studio voice here. However, I was underwhelmed by her stage show. The band overpowered her voice, which as you can imagine is hard to do. At times, she sounded strained, no doubt because of the hectic touring schedule. She has not yet mastered dancing and singing and should move a little less to avoid sounding out of breath.
Overall, I wasn’t as disappointed as some music connoisseurs with her performance. She blew me away with the song that got her signed “In Love With Another Man.” However, I can’t wait to see how she grows over her career. Some things are still a little rough around the edges, but this girl has got talent. I’m already looking forward to her sophomore effort.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
I was not prepared for the way Landmark Theatre in Richmond, VA erupted when the first chords of “Get To Know Ya” filled the large auditorium – before the curtain even went up. When it did, I was thoroughly impressed with the beauty of the simple set and the band who was dressed to the nines. There was no t-shirt and sneaks to be found. Momma Viv, a stickler for such things, would have been proud.
As you’ll see, there was no need for Maxwell to “Get To Know Ya.” He was already intimately acquainted with each and every screaming female in the sold out theatre. Of course the fellas played it cool. They were just watching the clock, waiting for dude to set them up for the night so they could get home and reap the benefits.
From there, he went into the very apropos “No One.”
I try to forget ya but you’re all I wanna do
I can do better but there’s no one quite like you
Though I love Maxie’s uptempo songs where he gets to swivel them hips as few men can, the joint that earned him a coveted spot on my top fifty songs listis “Til the Cops Come Knocking.” My second favorite is “Sumthin Sumthin (Mellosmoothe).” Obviously, it’s his drop-your-granny-panties ballads that do it for me. So I was more than ready for what Eric Roberson likes to call, “the sexy part of the show.”
He warmed us up with the sentimental sweetness that is “Lifetime.”
Then the lights went down.
It was all I could do to hold it together. It was almost like a spiritual thang hearing him sing “This Woman’s Work,” which always makes me think about the tender love scene in one of my all time favorite movies, “Love and Basketball.” That falsetto sounded oh so sweet. I was no more good once he got down on his knees. The performance earned him his sole pair of granny panties, tossed upon the stage by an actual Granny!
Richmond must be a conservative city because I surely expected more to be thrown after his performance of “Everwanting (To Want You To Want).” Against a beautiful red and green backdrop, he got down on the floor and showed the men how they need to work the middle showed the ladies just how he works those hips offstage. It was a beautiful thing.
At this point, I almost got into an altercation with the stinky breath security guard who shut me down and commanded that I stop recording. You KNOW I don’t take too kindly to that. As much as I paid for that ticket, I should have received a professionally recorded DVD of the whole show immediately afterwards! In any event, I obeyed orders for the time being.
So I was forced to just sit and watch him perform:
W/As My Girl
Pretty Wings
Simply Beautiful (Oh how I love seeing him perform this up close and personal. He KILLS this song.)
Fortunate (I was in agony at not being able to capture this)
Help Somebody (Obama-inspired song) (I’m just bitter at this point)
Til The Cops Come Knockin
Sorry, toy cop. I had to bring the camera back out and at least get the audio. I had been warned by a fellow Twitizen that that his performance of my favorite. Maxwell. song. ever was absolutely orgasmic. By the time he was done, my leg was actually shaking and I was reaching for shit that wasn’t even there. His band is outstanding, simply top notch.
He pretended to bid us adieu and we mock screamed bloody murder until he came back out and performed “Acension (Don’t Ever Wonder).”
He bid us adieu again. We needed more! more! more!
He blessed us with a performance of “Whenever Wherever Whatever.” Another spiritual experience. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him the entire time. I think you’ll agree.
Yessir. I’m the REAL maverick.
As you can see, much like a Jill Scott show, it wasn’t just a concert, it was an experience. Maxwell is the consummate performer. He doesn’t just sing, he entertains. He commands the entire stage and performs in front of a sold out crowd like it’s an intimate performance for fifty.
When he cracks jokes like these, he becomes someone you can envision just hanging out and tripping with.
“Women, ya’ll looking all crispy (Viv: don’t ask). Ya’ll all lotioned up. All Vaseline Intensive Cared up.”
“I’m talking to all the cornfed, cornbread eating women. The collard green and fried chicken eating sistas.”
“Fellas, I’m setting you up for tonight. You’re gonna get some tonight!”
Oh how he reminds me of Jill in that way. Hmm…now wouldn’t that be a super concert? I’m putting that energy out there in the musical atmosphere. He says he’s touring again next year. Hey, you never know!
Maxwell is here in DC for the next couple of nights before heading up to Baltimore, New Jersey, and finally back home to NYC where it all started. From the comments I’ve been getting on these videos, I think we all agree that those of us who have seen him on this tour are “fortunate” indeed.
*Okay, okay. I know the hair is gone! So sue me. I miss it!
SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE 