So although I loved the new album, especially with its direction now adding rock influences along with the (much needed nowadays) funk and soul, I must admit I was approaching this live event with some trepidation. My last experience seeing D'Angelo live a couple of years ago left me feeling somewhat cheated. So here he now arrived with the aptly named 'The Second Coming Tour', backed by eight musicians, which included a horn section and special guests, Jesse Johnson (guitarist from legendary funk band The Time) and Pino Palladino (bassist who recently played on Omar's newly recorded version of his classic 'There's Nothing Like This). The audience were ready. I was ready. We wanted to see for ourselves if the recent hype being generated from America was true about D'Angelo.
Last night I witnessed the return of funk/soul icon D'Angelo to the London stage and what I encountered was truly mesmerizing. After bursting forth to much fanfare with his debut 'Brown Sugar' album (1995), this gifted child prodigy confirmed his highly respected status with the audacious and multi-textured follow up, 'Voodoo' (2000), which led many to believe he was indeed the chosen one to carry on the tradition of such giants as Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. A hip hop influenced soul man for the new millennium. So it was with great dismay that his fans had to wait 14 years for his next recording, the newly released, critically acclaimed 'Black Messiah' (2014). The situation was made worse by the constant announcements of the new album's arrival (well before time) with D'Angelo performing shows where the overall consensus being stated was this skilled musician was simply 'treading water' and not delivering the quality of his earlier shows.
So although I loved the new album, especially with its direction now adding rock influences along with the (much needed nowadays) funk and soul, I must admit I was approaching this live event with some trepidation. My last experience seeing D'Angelo live a couple of years ago left me feeling somewhat cheated. So here he now arrived with the aptly named 'The Second Coming Tour', backed by eight musicians, which included a horn section and special guests, Jesse Johnson (guitarist from legendary funk band The Time) and Pino Palladino (bassist who recently played on Omar's newly recorded version of his classic 'There's Nothing Like This). The audience were ready. I was ready. We wanted to see for ourselves if the recent hype being generated from America was true about D'Angelo.
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As the much lauded and critically acclaimed film 'Selma', looking at the civil rights struggles led by Dr. Martin Luther King in 1965 to allow blacks the right to vote in overtly racist Alabama, is on the eve of its UK release (6 February), I thought it would be highly appropriate to present an interview given by the film's star, British actor David Oyelowo, who plays the icon, Dr, Martin Luther King, at a Screen Actors Guild gathering in Hollywood. The interview took place on 28 November, 4 weeks before 'Selma' would be released in America on Christmas Day, and although at that time it was unknown how well its reception would be at the box office, there was already a huge buzz of anticipation within the film industry, as you will be able to tell by the captivated audience, who had just seen the movie. The signs were in the air that 'Selma' would be making a major noise and there seem to be no doubt it would be in the running for major awards. This was indeed a time before the 'snubs' would tell a different story.
So it was under this glow of across the board outstanding reviews from the American film critics that Oyelowo takes to the stage and gives a very personal and quite revealing interview, which runs at 35 minutes. In it he talks about the vision he had from God that he had to play the role of Dr. King, how he had a hand in getting the job of directing the film to the talented Ava DuVernay, who did such a tremendous job that at the very least, she surely deserved a Best Director Oscar nomination. In his very articulate and intelligent way Oyelowo |
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