On Saturday, after a wonderful day with Maya Azucena, I traveled to Annapolis to see some of my favorite artists at the Soul Sista Serenade hosted by SEI Entertainment and Rams Head Annapolis!
I am a big fan of Yahzarah [of course] and Sy Smith but had never seen Maya Azucena or Conya Doss perform live.
Let me say that the line up was genius, every lady had a different style and a different sound there were no carbon copies.
Yahzarah hosted but also belted out a few songs in between each artist.
The opener was Maya Azucena or Maya who? as her website reflects lol. From spending the day with her I knew she was quirky and she displayed this on stage. Now i don’t say quirky in a bad way, it was rather refreshing to have someone so organic. She performed my favorite song of hers, "Junkyard Jewel", to which she beat boxed in the middle (told ya...quirky). She also did a song called "Warriors" where she displayed her rapping skills. To be quite honest I wasn’t sure how the audience would take her. There were a lot of older audience members and I wasn’t quite sure what they would think....THEY LOVED IT! After her set the place erupted. I guess young or old good music is good music!
The lovely Purple St. James took the stage again and did a tribute to the late Michael Jackson by singing "Billie Jean"
(the footage below is from the date at the Birchmere provided by RED Soul)
Yahzarah has the amazing ability to recreate a song into her own image and the reflection is always so beautiful.
Next up was Sy Smith and she came out as a FUNKSTER [wild glasses and flat fro to match]. She told the audience that she woke up feeling like a funkster so she’s a funkster and maybe the next day she would feel like being a stripper...an audience member yelled out "be a stripper today"....that person had wonderful timing lol.
Sy did a slew of songs from her latest album Conflict including "Aquarius Rising", "Spies" and "Fly Away" (which is getting spun heavy on WHUR). Sy has incredible vocals and was certainly complimented by her background singers. Hands down her performance was the most polished of the night. She ended with a tribute to MJ in which she recounted her meeting with him only weeks before his passing as she auditioned for his upcoming tour as a background singer. Sy is funny, talented, and one of the best performers ever and I wish that more tributes like hers and Yahzarah's were televised instead of infuriating public displays such as the BET awards...but I digress.
Purple blazed the stage once again with her song "Last To Leave", which is also being rotated on WHUR. When the smoke cleared and the standing ovation had been seated she introduced Conya Doss.
I was excited to see her set. She was the other performer I had never seen live. I can safely say that a good amount of the audience was there to see her. Most knew her songs and there was a comfortable vibe that took the room. I really enjoyed her performance; her background singers were wonderfully talented and added to her show. I could see why she was one of the new spokespersons for the McDonalds coffee line.
After her set The Purple One took the stage and introduced a special guest...The Floacist! It was a wonderful and beautiful surprise! She performed the MJ song "Butterflies" and chopped it up in a manner that was just so undeniably smooth. Yahzarah crooned behind her and it was a tribute that I think Michael Jackson would have been proud of.
(Video is at RAMS HEAD done by RED Soul)
Then all of the ladies took the stage and did a combined tribute to MJ, a beautifully harmonic tribute that I really think invoked his spirit because though the mood all night was one of fun and excitement a feeling of peace was left at the end of the show.
Each artist left with a few new fans. After the show I saw a mass of people with several cds and stood in line to have them signed by all of the soul sistas. It was a great night and I’m glad I took the trip.
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