Lalah Hathaway

Article by: Devian Harris / Photos by: Hope West

If you were near the Atlanta metro area this past Saturday evening, I hope that you were one of the ticket holders to one of the two sold out shows for Lalah Hathaway.  Lalah confessed during the show that this was her first time in Atlanta as the sole headliner of a concert, and this will not be her last time.  After reading this review, you’ll be sure to get a ticket to her next appearance before they sell out.

At the beginning of the show I quickly realized that there would be no opening act, which meant that we would be treated to all Lalah for the entire 90 minute concert.

The set opened energetically with “If You Want To” off of Lalah’s latest release, “Where It All Begins”.  Once Lalah sang “Breathe”, it was on.  She kicked off her gorgeous leopard print stilettos and proceeded to go to work.

Lalah took us through a diverse set of her catalog which included “I’m Coming Back”, “Baby Don’t Cry”, “Small of My Back”, and “Somethin”.

There was also an amazing cover section in which the audience was treated to a jazzy, laid back remake of “Summertime”, “Forever, For Always, For Love”, Anita Baker’s “Angel”, and the classic that received a standing ovation:  a cover of her father’s iconic “A Song For You”.

The audience was also treated to a surprise appearance from singers Trina Broussard during the first show and Musiq Soulchild during the second show.

The energy flowed well throughout the concert as Lalah kept us laughing between her songs with her constant reminder that “You know that I have a cd out”.

The show was wrapped with an amazing scat session that showcased not only Lalah’s vocal and improv ability, but also the vocal ability of her amazing accompanying singers Jason Morales and Toni Scruggs.

As Lalah was mesmerizing the audience with her mastery, the thought came to me that “Lalah’s father is an icon, but Lalah’s mother gave birth to a legend”.

Here are our concert pics on and backstage along with audio footage of Lalah singing “A Song For You” in Atlanta. (more…)

Classic from Trina off So So Def’s Twelve Soulful Nights of Christmas (Sony/1996), It’s Not Really Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you and yours from the GFM Family.

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It’s been said, if Grace Jones and Prince had a child… the result would be Rahbi! And, if you’ve ever had the pleasure of watching him perform, you’d likely agree. He’s an amazing singer, songwriter, dancer as well as a very entertaining and energetic performer.

A long time staple on the Indie Soul scene, the Atlanta native has performed with Donnie, India Arie, Algebra, Trina Broussard, PJ Morton and many others. I recently saw him open up for Rahsaan Patterson and he did not disappoint. Check him out all over the web and coming soon to a city near you!

RAHBI: My Favorite Things

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Best known for her beautiful cover of Minnie Riperton’s “Inside My Love” on the Love Jones Soundtrack (Sony/1997), we anxiously await her new album, Life of a Libra, hopefully coming soon!  Her debut album, Inside my Love was re-released earlier this year, but is still difficult to find.  If you do find it, grab 2!

That album, along with the follow-up, Same Girl (Motown/2004), are probably two of the best albums you’ve never heard.

Trina, “Inside My Love”

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