Post by dazonne on Jun 26, 2014 6:57:26 GMT 1
Hill puts new spin on her hits at Jazz Fest
BY STEPHANIE MCKAY, THE STARPHOENIX JUNE 26, 2014 12:38 AM
It was hard to set any expectations for Lauryn Hill’s Wednesday night concert at the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival. Hill’s career has been marked by both brilliance and scandal. She has shone in the spotlight and withdrawn completely. She is notorious for showing up late for concerts and reviews of her recent live shows have been mixed.
In Saskatoon, the show started 35 minutes late. The level of frustration with that probably ranges from one to newspaper writer on a tight deadline. But the resulting show was surprising, occasionally brilliant and a lot of fun.
Hill’s band, four musicians and three singers, took the stage first and began to play the Bob Marley song Soul Rebel. Then, a distinctive voice was heard from backstage. “Saskatoon!” Hill yelled, as she would many times throughout the show. She sang the majority of the song offstage and though her vocals have matured, she sounded just like the artist we all fell in love with almost two decades ago.
She played songs from from her legendary 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the winner of a record-breaking five Grammys, but not in the way one might expect. Each was rearranged completely. She refused to simply spoon-feed her hits. Everything is Everything was sped up and funked up. Final Hour had her spitting out rhymes in mind-blowing, rapid-fire fashion. Lost Ones was aggressive, gritty and rock ‘n’ roll.
The crowd responded well to her new interpretations, even if it wasn’t what they heard on worn-out copies of Miseducation. That was probably in big part due to the fact that Hill seemed like she was having fun onstage. Hill’s talent is undeniable.
The sultry, synchronized moves of her backup singers and the wild energy from her guitarist and bass player added to the entertainment.
Of course, her artistic license was more successful on some songs than others. Her ode to her eldest son To Zion is so beautiful it deserves room and time to breathe. Wednesday’s performance was too frenetic. A reggae version of Ex-Factor couldn’t recapture the soulfulness of the original.
Eight songs in, Hill transitioned to acoustic guitar and songs from her only other solo album, MTV Unplugged No. 2.0. These songs, like Oh Jerusalem and Just Like Water, were arranged simply and were all the better for it.
She went on to cover even more Marley songs. You can't really go wrong with Bob Marley, particularly if you perform the classics with heart. The show featured Jammin' and Turn the Lights Down Low.
Hill even performed two distinct versions of Killing Me Softly. The second one featured the signature vocal flourishes that made the Fugees cover so incredible. The audience went crazy when she performed other Fugees hits like How Many Mics and a pretty faithful rendition of Ready or Not. The set even diverged into the Police song Can't Stand Losing, as Hill rapped like a caffeinated hummingbird.
Almost two hours later, all tardiness was forgiven. Though she took an unusual path, the concert gave people exactly what they wanted. It was a perfect cross-section of a huge career, reimagined through the mind of Hill circa 2014.
Source
BY STEPHANIE MCKAY, THE STARPHOENIX JUNE 26, 2014 12:38 AM
It was hard to set any expectations for Lauryn Hill’s Wednesday night concert at the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival. Hill’s career has been marked by both brilliance and scandal. She has shone in the spotlight and withdrawn completely. She is notorious for showing up late for concerts and reviews of her recent live shows have been mixed.
In Saskatoon, the show started 35 minutes late. The level of frustration with that probably ranges from one to newspaper writer on a tight deadline. But the resulting show was surprising, occasionally brilliant and a lot of fun.
Hill’s band, four musicians and three singers, took the stage first and began to play the Bob Marley song Soul Rebel. Then, a distinctive voice was heard from backstage. “Saskatoon!” Hill yelled, as she would many times throughout the show. She sang the majority of the song offstage and though her vocals have matured, she sounded just like the artist we all fell in love with almost two decades ago.
She played songs from from her legendary 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the winner of a record-breaking five Grammys, but not in the way one might expect. Each was rearranged completely. She refused to simply spoon-feed her hits. Everything is Everything was sped up and funked up. Final Hour had her spitting out rhymes in mind-blowing, rapid-fire fashion. Lost Ones was aggressive, gritty and rock ‘n’ roll.
The crowd responded well to her new interpretations, even if it wasn’t what they heard on worn-out copies of Miseducation. That was probably in big part due to the fact that Hill seemed like she was having fun onstage. Hill’s talent is undeniable.
The sultry, synchronized moves of her backup singers and the wild energy from her guitarist and bass player added to the entertainment.
Of course, her artistic license was more successful on some songs than others. Her ode to her eldest son To Zion is so beautiful it deserves room and time to breathe. Wednesday’s performance was too frenetic. A reggae version of Ex-Factor couldn’t recapture the soulfulness of the original.
Eight songs in, Hill transitioned to acoustic guitar and songs from her only other solo album, MTV Unplugged No. 2.0. These songs, like Oh Jerusalem and Just Like Water, were arranged simply and were all the better for it.
She went on to cover even more Marley songs. You can't really go wrong with Bob Marley, particularly if you perform the classics with heart. The show featured Jammin' and Turn the Lights Down Low.
Hill even performed two distinct versions of Killing Me Softly. The second one featured the signature vocal flourishes that made the Fugees cover so incredible. The audience went crazy when she performed other Fugees hits like How Many Mics and a pretty faithful rendition of Ready or Not. The set even diverged into the Police song Can't Stand Losing, as Hill rapped like a caffeinated hummingbird.
Almost two hours later, all tardiness was forgiven. Though she took an unusual path, the concert gave people exactly what they wanted. It was a perfect cross-section of a huge career, reimagined through the mind of Hill circa 2014.
Source
