There are singers, and then there are forces of nature that get you all caught up. Folks, Leela James is just such a force. And if you have never seen Leela live, shame on you. The pint-sized powerhouse from the west side puts on for her music every time she touches the stage. This week, the artist that brought us 2005's vastly underrated debut A Change Is Gonna Come landed in New York City for two nights of intimate performances at the legendary downtown hot spot S.O.B.s. I was in the house for the first show, and while I could go on and on about how great of a time I had, about the funky band that accompanied her, or about her gorgeous backup singers who could sing me the phone book and I'd be smiling. But I won't. Why? Because, if you recall, earlier in the week, SB and S.O.B.s got together to give one of our readers a pair of tickets to the show. The winner was fellow Harlemite Randall Brown, who attended last night's show. After the bounce, you can check his first person review.
From Randall:
All I can say about Leela's show was that it was a SOUL REVIVAL!! She touched on all the legends: James Brown, The Staples Singers, Sam Cooke and many more with her gutsy voice and raw delivery. She worked it and worked out (my girl only did 20 push-ups on stage in the middle of a song) and left the stage a few times to sing amidst her "peoples." We got full and funky up in S.O.B.s last night ... and at times I didn't know if I was at a basement party or a tent meeting.
Joey Rich was the opening act. Before ripping the stage, he tuned on the keyboards with a little bit of Guy's "Piece of my Love" and a VERY NICE rendition of Prince's "Purple Rain" -- in honor of 9/11. He's got a smooth voice and nice showmanship. The crowd was thoroughly diggin' his original material as well as his encore of the Gap Band's "Outstanding."
At the end of the day, Leela James gave us a knock-out show last night. She threw all the way down and thanks so much to Butta and the good people at SoulBounce for the tickets!
See what happens when you roll with SoulBounce? Thanks to Randall for the review, who didn't lie one bit about Joey Rich. He's definitely someone we'll keep on our musical radar. And for everyone else, stay tuned. We've got more chances for you to win in the near future. Just keep bouncin'.
[Image: Human Photography]
