live music review: john legend and the roots

On Monday, September 27, 2010, I attended a “secret show” of sorts that John Legend and the Roots played to benefit their album Wake Up! in conjunction with New York City’s 2010 Ad Week. I got access to the tickets through my sister and the gigantic advertising agency at which she works. I was very excited for three reasons: Although Wake Up! was only released on September 21, 2010 it has quickly become one of my favorite albums of 2010, the tickets were free and the general public could not attend the show. An added bonus came with the presence of a well-stocked open bar.

But my review isn’t about how much fun I had; it’s about the music, the album and the collaboration between two of the biggest creative forces in hip-hop today. I’d legitimately be surprised if you didn’t know who either John Legend or The Roots are, even if you are not into hip-hop whatsoever.

John Legend is a Grammy-winning R&B all-star whose voice is so powerful that he makes sense singing a gospel anthem or a R&B jam that features Kanye West and focuses on man’s need to cheat (“Number One” off Get Lifted). He’s one of the only artists I’m aware of today whose voice outweighs all else. He could sing a capella, and I could listen for days. Only adding to his talent is his amazing ability on the piano and quiet good looks (a girl can dream).

The Roots are a Philadelphia-based hip-hop group that has somehow merged the gap between intelligent, thoughtful rap and live music. This eliminates auto-tune, drum machines and whatever other fat clogs the arteries of mainstream rap music and places them on the same level as bands like Jurassic 5 and Atmosphere. The Roots are exceptionally talented musicians, too. Drummer ?uestlove is one of the most sought-after collaborators in music today, and The Roots became the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last year.

The two joined forces to make an album inspired by the 2008 presidential election. Wake Up! features an extended variety of old soul songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s from artists like Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Bill Withers and Harold Melvin and the Blue.  It has been said that the two chose lesser known soul songs on purpose, to expose how awesome the genre is and make the listener question what really defines a cover song. At the concert, I was unaware that the majority of the repertoire was covers because the musicians were so passionate about performing that I just assumed it was a part of a tour to support a brand new album. I am a big fan of both John Legend and The Roots, and having seen both separately before, my expectations were far exceeded in the most positive way. I especially loved the rendition of John’s first groundbreaking single “Ordinary People” and a twelve-minute soulful interpretation of Bill Withers’s “I Can’t Write Left Handed” that allowed ?uestlove and guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas to really jam out. I got to the very front of the stage and was essentially leaning (drooling?) on it for that song. It has to be in the top five of the history of my live music going.

The collaboration between John Legend and The Roots is one I hope lasts longer than this album. Perhaps the best thing about this collaboration is that they performed a show at NYC’s Terminal 5 upon the release date of their album and the whole thing was streamed for free on YouTube. Spike Lee directed. How’s that for cool?