Everyone should hear this beautiful sound of music! Don't miss out on this exclusive concert that features some of the best singers around: Dianne Reeves, Angelique Kidjo, and Lizz Wright.
Reserve your tickets now:
http://www.njpac.org/default.asp By Tad Hendrickson/For the Star-Ledger
Music with a message is tricky. It can be quite provocative when the two come together to create great art with a conscience, but more often than not, it is an uneasy marriage in which either the message or the music come up short.
Delivering on both fronts, a concert titled “Sing the Truth” finds singers Angelique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves and Lizz Wright honoring social and political music written and performed by women.
“We start at the root of the tree with Odetta, Abbey Lincoln and Miriam Makeba,” says Dianne Reeves, 55, whom some might remember for her role as the singer in George Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck” or for her dozen albums for Blue Note Records. “We move on from there to Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco. All kinds of songs end up being a part of what we do.”
The multisinger format of “Sing the Truth” was first presented at Carnegie Hall in 2004 to honor Nina Simone. It has evolved over time and the current incarnation of the project spent a month on tour this summer, with occasional other shows since then. The Sunday afternoon performance at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark will be the final one of this year.
The three “root of the tree” artists, who all died between 2008 and 2010, were very different from each other, but all were iconic human rights leaders in the ’60s, an era when the movement was at its height and populated with many great figures.
Makeba was exiled from her native South Africa from 1960 to 1990 for her outspoken criticism of Apartheid, testified at the United Nations in 1963 and subsequently became Guinea’s ambassador to the United Nations.
An early inspiration to Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan and others, Odetta was an activist who used blues, gospel and other traditional styles to honor the African-American folklore tradition.
While married to drummer Max Roach, Lincoln was featured on some of jazz’s most overtly political songs, most notably Roach’s “Freedom Now Suite.”
On Sunday, the fiery Benin-born Kidjo, 51, will honor Makeba; Wright, 31, will apply her earthy blend of gospel, blues, jazz, and folk styles to Odetta’s material; and jazz singer Reeves will celebrate Lincoln.
Yet according to Reeves, something more organic and sisterly happens when the three singers (who all remain onstage throughout the performance) and their five-piece band — which includes drummer/musical director Terri Lyne Carrington and Geri Allen of Montclair on piano — come together.
“The band members are co-creators,” Reeves says. “These are just great musicians. And it’s kind of nice because the whole concept of call and response is right there for you to just join in and be part of. Sometimes Lizz will be singing and Angelique and I will just pick up the mic. It’s not rehearsed. It’s that way because we feel it, just like we would do on any bandstand.”
This camaraderie evolved over time. Each of the singers knew each other from crossing paths professionally over the years on festival bills or through the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where Reeves held the position of creative chair for jazz. Now after all the concerts together, the three are close off the stage, too.
“I love both of them,” Reeves says. “They are just bright lights. The performances are one thing, but what happens together before we go on is what inspires what happens onstage. We were out all summer long, hanging out, talking and laughing, and just being together. All that makes a difference.”
Sing the Truth
Where: Prudential Hall at New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark
When: Sunday at 3 p.m.
How much: $25 to 90; call (888) 466-5722 or visit.njpac.org.
Posted By: How May I Help You NC
Saturday, December 17th 2011 at 3:04PM
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