Summerstage pt. II - Jazm... Ms. Cox???

About three weeks ago, the time had come again for some more freeness in Central Park... Another Summerstage, but this time around... some R&B. The show was headlined by Jazmine Sullivan, whose soulful "Fearless" album was a breath of fresh air among today's R&B (no autotune!), and was also to feature Chrisette Michele & Ryan Leslie.

Earlier in the day I found out that Chrisette had canceled. I took this sorta personal because it was the second time she did this to me! I had bought tickets to see her and Ryan Leslie at the Apollo in February... never happened.

So new line-up... Case, Jon B., Deborah Cox, Ryan Leslie, Jazmine Sullivan (in that order). Not bad!

R. Les was amazing! He's a musical genius, I must say, and very passionate about it. Great performer. I left the show singing "How It Was Supposed To Be". His band is tight!

Jazmine was aite... she sings well live but didn't really capture my attention even though I knew all her songs. Her set seemed way too scripted... and she seems to only have one screaming-type note in her range...

... Rewind...

So after Case brought a lady on stage, sat her on a stool, and sang with his face IN her crotch; and Jon B's waayy too long and boring performance (felt like I was watching Dark Knight w/o the Joker!); came the highlight of the show for me... Ms. Deborah Cox... I must say that before the show I was probably the least hyped about seeing Ms. Cox... just because she had been gone for a whiiile... as were Case and Jon but I sorta wanted to see them perform (sigh)...

Out came Deborah, looking like she just hit 25 (she's 35), and with her very first note made my blood crawl and had my ears on lockdown. With no band behind her, just accompanied by an instrumental CD, sang 3 songs and stole the show for me. She started with "We Can't Be Friends", then had the audience singing along to a song off her new album which most of them never heard before, and ended with her classic "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here". The crowd was begging for an encore but to no avail... we wanted more!!!



I'm glad to hear real R&B again. I'm glad to hear a real singer again! Even her new stuff doesn't sound watered down and "pop". MJB should take notes... no need to sell out to pop culture to make good music. No need to let a machine sing for you if you have a voice of your own! Go Deborah!

Summerstage pt. I - Q-Tip!

What season is better than summer? What's better than a free concert?... What in the world could be better than a free concert in the summer???

Last month I had the amazing experience of seeing Hip-Hop legend, Q-tip, rocking live. Chester French opened and did an okay job... but everyone was there for the ATCQ leader. This was my second time seeing him perform... (first time opening for Common at Nokia Theater Times Square) and it was even better than the first! Something about the outdoor vibe mixed with hot sun made it more intimate than a dark room with flashing lights.

I've had Q-Tip's most recent album, The Renaissance, on heavy rotation since it dropped in November, '08. It's the first Q-Tip album I ever really listened to and imo it's one of the best for '08 and so far '09... and most certainly ever! Hearing those tracks live made me appreciate his artistry even more. People have questioned Q-Tip's relevance to the current state of music, but his album stuck to its title, bringing it back to the music... minus the bling and the swag (THANKS!).

Q-Tip had his mother on stage; played a tambourine while rapping; gave a tribute to MJ for his song "Move", which samples the Jackson 5's "Dancing Machine"; went back into his older hits; was joined by Diddy on stage to dance to "Vivrant Thing"; jumped into a "Tribe" set, performing all the classics... and as if that wasn't enough, he walked through the crowd, pushing his bodyguards away, so that the audience could join him in singing "Life is Better".





That, my friends, is a true artiste!