 |
| Vocalist Samara Joy |
You don't have to stay for an entire Samara Joy
concert to experience the fullness of her vocality. Three songs into her set ensure
you have gotten your money's worth. That's how I felt during the first set of
Joy's Christmas show at the Fisher Theatre on Thursday evening. Joy was there
with her father, uncle, aunt, cousin, and members of Larry Callahan & Selected
of God, treating a packed theater to her family's rendition of time-honored
Christmas songs. Joy introduced her family individually, bragging about their specialness.
The first half of the set felt like the family invited the audience to their family
gathering and witnessed them cutting up unfiltered. Joy opened the set with "Silent
Night" and featured her father on "This Christmas." Watching her
have fun with her family and the audience experiencing the source of her magnificence
was delightful. The family had the audience cheering and testifying like they were participating in a church revival. The set's best part was Joy performing music from the Grammy-nominated
album "Portrait" with her trio. Joy has an affinity for Detroit, and
she studied with the late Detroit pianist Barry Harris, talking about him
glowingly before performing his " Now and Then" so lovingly it's hard
to believe she only started performing jazz four years ago. Her voice is supple and warm; you want to curl up on her lap and listen to her sing. Because of the
forecasted heavy snow, I split after her first set, but I felt satisfied that I
had witnessed Joy at her best with her family.
 |
| Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin |
The buildup to the saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin's Christmas
concert at Christ Cranbrook Church was misleading. In an article by Detroit Free Press
Arts & Culture writer Duante Beddingfield, Benjamin said she would perform
Christmas songs and a selection or two from her Grammy-nominated album. She only
performed “Little Drummer Boy,” and one of her bandmates had to remind her that
it was on the setlist. The other selections the band played were from her albums
"Retox," "Phoenix," and "Phoenix Reimagined." The
audience was engrossed and didn't seem to give a shit that she only performed
music mixed with hip-hop, funk, and jazz. Solo after solo, Benjamin nearly blew
the paint off the church walls. Listening, I wonder if she was guilty of sinning,
swinging with reckless abandon. On “Maceo, “I wanted to dance in the aisle
but thought better of it, remembering I was in a church, not a jazz club or a concert
hall. Benjamin possesses inexhaustible energy. You should consume a lot of caffeine
and energy drinks to last through one of her concerts. The saxophonists Kenny
Garrett and James Carter were influences, and she embodies their aggression,
improvisational reach, and stamina. The worst thing that could be noted about her
is she has one gear, leaving me to wonder if she has any other tricks in her bag. Nevertheless, she is a consummate entertainer; the church experienced that firsthand.
No comments:
Post a Comment