Have you ever just found certain artists that you fall in love with their music so much you'll beg or borrow (stealing is not an option) to see them if they every come to town?
In the last week I've been lucky enough to see two of those, it started with Tyrone Wells last Tuesday and it ended with Josh Groban last night. Like I told Dale it was AHHHHHHHH-MAZE-ZING! Not only does Josh have an truly mesmerizing voice, but he has the personality and sense of humor match. He kept my sister and I in a amazement for 2 hours last night, we found out that Sacramento has a special place in his heart because he performed his first professional appearance in the same arena we were in 9 years ago at the age of 17.
What does that have to do with Angelique Kidjo? If you've heard Josh's latest album, Awake, you'd notice that it has an African influence to it, with a few songs featuring the great Ladysmith Black Mambazo, this stems from a visit to South Africa and a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Josh's opening act was a WONDERFUL woman named Angelique Kidjo who originally hails from Africa. He also has songs co-written by Imogen Heap, John Ordrasik (Five for Fighting), Dave Matthews and Herbie Hancock.
Angelique is an four time grammy nominated singer that uses her background to create the most amazing music. This woman has such an brilliant enigmatic presence on stage. I guess if you had to describe it with one word it would be ENERGY, not only from her performance but also with the vibe she emits. While Josh used the entire stage she used just a small portion that popped out from the front, but she commanded every inch. What I didn't understand was how the majority of the people could sit so still in their chairs during her performance, I certainly couldn't.
Give her a listen, on her Official website or her MySpace site. Her new album, Djin Djin is supposed to drop on May 1st with guest artists that including Josh Groban, Carlos Santana, Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, Peter Gabriel, Amadou and Mariam, Ziggy Marley, and Branford Marsalis. She'll open for Josh's tour through the April 7th, Las Vegas show and then she'll start her own headlining tour.
My Trusted MOGs
I totally agree with you - I have listened to her "Black Ivory Soul" album over & over, and it always has the ability to energize me & really just pump up my spirits no matter what. I can't wait to get this new one - I just checked out the songs on her myspace, and it sounds like another excellent album so far. So happy to see someone post about her. I came across her as a Bill Laswell fanatic, and he produced, played on & brought some of his buddies in to play on Black Ivory Soul, and following his work brought me to her (as is the case quite often I find).