All Hail the Queen! Latifah at the Hollywood Bowl!
by jazzcat on Jul.16, 2007, under News
Can you imagine that the queen of hip hop soul and
television could rock the Hollywood Bowl with jazz standards? Well, I wondered
as well. I went to go hear Walter Smith III earlier in the week and he told me
that he was in Latifah’s band along with musical director Christian McBride and
quite a few other cats that I know can blow so I decided to go and see for
myself and check it out. Actually, Dianne Reeves who just recently performed at
the Bowl herself for the Playboy Jazz festival said that she was really interested in going so off we went!
Opening up for the Queen was this lovely little young lady
from Pasadena
who now claims the Bay area as her home. She goes by the one word name Goapele.
She was so sweet and there is a genuine honesty and a bit of nervousness
fueling her sound which makes our encounter with her warm and welcoming. People
seem so willing to embrace an artist who comes to deliver her craft and stays
grounded in the essence of her true self.
Goapele is a laid-back love song, groove and soul singer
with a soft peaceful spirit about her warm voice and her person. She sang a few
tunes and gave birthday blessings to one of her people who came out to support
her. I was waiting for her to soar after she opened up with some of her more
mellow material, but it was all mellow. I wanted so much more, I wanted to feel
her dig in, play with my emotions and ease me back down to earth. I did not get
that. I am not saying she does not have a nice voice, all I saying is that is
if she were a plane, she got me from LA to the Bay with not turbulence and a
safe landing.
Before the end of the set we went backstage to say hello to
Christian McBride, Laura Connelly, Dorothy Chan and a few other folks floating around
backstage. Christian was making some last minute changes in the music before
the performance. Got to get it right, get it tight! This was band that was hand
picked by the Queen and there was quite a bit of rehearsal time for this
engagement but, I heard that the rehearsals were a breeze. It was getting close
to show time so we made our way back just in time for the big intro and hit!
I was so pleasantly pleased by what happened next. I have
been to many performances and have witnessed many singers make their entry but,
there was something very special and different about this one. I have never
seen such a bright beaming glow of the perfect degree of confidence as she made
her way to the microphone. In just an instant before any words were spoken or
sung, you knew that you were in confident, competent hands and that you were
really going to be entertained.
Now let me say something about jazz and entertainment.
Usually, I am not fond of the combination and that is because the artist doing
the entertaining is like a salesperson, or a juggler or someone spinning plates
on sticks. We as lovers of this art form believe in the true essence of letting
the performance speak to you and for it self. We don’t need to be tricked,
fooled, hyped or set up to make sure we enjoy what we are about to witness.
That shows a lack of respect for an audience and an air of insecurity about the
person’s own ability to believe in the power of their own talent.
And then there was the Queen; beautiful, happy, graceful and
steeped in so much honesty along with the integrity in which it is presented
leaves you 100% satisfied. You really had the feeling of personally knowing her
as if she where one of you dearest friends. Queen Latifah made the Hollywood
Bowl her living room and all were more that welcome to make their selves at
home and comfortable for the next hour.
Queen Latifah took control of the bowl and made is seem like
she has been doing this for years and quite frankly, she has. Singing is how
she began her road to stardom and now she using those skills to enhance her
roles in movies and touch on other genres of the music. Her foundation has
already been set in place. She is not trying to convince you that she is the
next to be on the top of the jazz charts, she is just sharing all the talents
of Dana Owens, the one with the dreams and courage to make all the things in
her life come true.
When you listen to her voice you do hear her charming
qualities and characteristics all well within a more than palatable range. Her
delivery and communication with the audience is outstanding. I must admit, I
did have a big question mark floating around my dome before I was enlightened
by her charm but, now I see why she is so entertaining! It is her big ass
personality that is so wonderfully captivating.
She takes songs like “I Put a Spell on You” and you know that she listened to Nina but, makes them
expressly Dana and it works. Usually when you have more than one talent, people
tend to relegate you to the one that pleases them the most and not allow you to
thrive or blossom in multiple categories. Many times they are correct but,
certainly not in this case. Tonight we all hail the Queen for being a strong,
black, full figured fox spreading talent and love in all categories.
Everybody likes movies so a little cross promotion preview
of the song “Georgia Rose” from her July 20th release of her new movie
“Hairspray” was a nice way to sing and say go check out the movie. The song is
about a young black woman being proud of who she is and “Teef”, you know we are
proud of you! The girl is producin’ great content and getting paid from every
corner of the artistic universe. The Queen said, “Thick girls know how to put
it on your ass”. Ching Bling!
Many have approached the standards with their cheesy torch
renditions of the traditional classics trying to get you to buy the facade but
the Queen handles the standards with no fear, class and in a manner that says,
“I have always loved this music and I am going to sing, be myself and have some
fun!” Talent, confidence and honesty win every time!
For her encore, she performed Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life”
which she also sang impeccably for the film “Living Out Loud”. Queen Latifah
has one of those extraordinary careers and she not only deserves the world, she
is taking it!
LeRoy Downs