Aretha Wears same dress to Radio City i got the chance to see Aretha Franklin again last night. She was at Radio City Music Hall, a huge space in all its art deco glory. There were man and women, whites and blacks and young and older and accents of all sorts. We were there on the eve of Easter for the Queen Of Soul. Aretha pointed out her bestfriend neighbors, gave us her NYC history lesson including 5 years with Art Blakely, John Coltrane and her time at the Village Vanguard. She also introduced Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson in the audience. Cissy Houston Sang backup vocal. Aretha had the Aretha Franklin Orchestra and sang a variety of songs from over her catalogue. Chain of Fools, Respect, My Funny valentine...
She was joined by Ali Ollie Woodson from the Temptations. THey did a duet. Aretha played less than 90 minutes with a 10 minute bit with her son singing two HIP HOP numbers.
She also sat at the piano and played Falling out of Love. Seeing it was before Easter there were 3 numbers from Amazing Grace and as part of an encore Aretha Played
EAster Prade on the piano. She said she always wanted to be there, be here so she was gonna go to the easter parade. She told old NY stories about the 5 years she lived in NYC. She started at the Apollo and moved downtown to the Village Vanguard and Village gate where she sang with Art Blakely, John Coltrane. and more....
she acknowledged Reverend James Cleveland, as her gospel mentor
Her set list was a little different than below but similar to the show i saw...
Soul diva engaging, worthy of respect
For those who were around during her late-'60s heyday, when her voice was a wondrous force of nature and seemingly every hit record became an anthem, that time is treasured. She wasn't just the Queen of Soul but a beacon of pride in black communities. Feminists celebrated the naked emotionality and iron-willed determination conveyed in every note of her classic music. It has become a cliche to call Aretha Franklin one of pop's greatest singers.
Although her status as a legend is incontestable, Franklin has long stopped performing with the explosive passion that years ago cemented her exalted place in the pop pantheon. But her Thursday night performance at a packed Meyerhoff Symphony Hall was still engaging.
The 90-minute show, which benefited the Bon Secours Foundation of Maryland, started with a long, Vegas-style medley of Franklin hits, courtesy of her gargantuan band. There were about 22 pieces altogether, including a 10-piece horn section. Afterward, the Detroiter made a diva entrance, decked out in a robin's-egg blue spaghetti-strap gown trimmed in matching feathers. She kicked off the set with Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher," a questionable choice. Franklin surely has enough punchy songs of her own that she could have started with.
Although she was mostly overwhelmed by the band, her take on the song was brief. She slowed things down a bit and vocally skated through the 1970 classic "Call Me" before shifting back to brassy soul with "Think." The most moving part of the show came later, during Franklin's performance of "Angel," the 1973 ballad written by her sister, the late singer-songwriter Carolyn Franklin.
As the artist began the famed spoken intro of the tune ("I got a call the other day. It was my sister Carolyn ..."), Franklin choked up. She turned her head away, wiping tears. The band played on as the house clapped and shouted encouragement: "It's all right, Aretha!" "Take your time, girl!"
After a stagehand brought her a tissue, Franklin dabbed her eyes, regained her composure and beautifully crooned the brokenhearted ballad as if it were a prayer.
From that point on, the notoriously aloof diva warmed up to the crowd. Beaming, she introduced her son Teddy, who played guitar in the band. Before launching into "Ain't No Way," Franklin also introduced her old friend on background vocals, Cissy Houston. The mother of Whitney, she famously sang the soaring vocal obbligato on the original 1968 recording. Presumably the New Jersey singer, who's well into her 70s now, can't hit those notes anymore. So the duties were turned over to a younger background singer named Brenda White. Her voice swooped and spiraled behind Franklin's buttery tones.
Between songs, the legend offered glimpses of sly, self-deprecating humor. Before sitting down at the piano to sing a cut from her still-unreleased new album Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love, she told the house, "This gown is a little tight tonight. I want y'all to pray for me as I go sit down. Things can pop out, you know." Tickling the ivories, she added: "But some brothers like it plump. Huh? Hallelujah!"
Never leaving her church roots far behind, Franklin ended with "Old Landmark," a rocking, sanctified number from 1972's Amazing Grace. She didn't wail and shout the way she did on the album all those years ago. Fans may long to see the Queen of Soul lose control like that again. But she hasn't gone there in years.
rashod.ollison@baltsun.com
