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| Charlotte
Church, accompanied by Wyclef Jean, performs at
Carnegie Hall Friday, Jan. 19, 2001 in New York to
support the Wyclef Jean Foundation. The foundation
funds programs for children's music education. (AP
Photo/Mark Lennihan) Thanks to Chuck of Team USA for
passing these along! |
HIP-HOP, HOORAY!!
WYCLEF AND HIS FRIENDS WOW THEM AT CARNEGIE
By DAN AQUILANTE
ROLL over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news.
The hip-hop barrier was broken last night at the venerable Carnegie Hall
when Wyclef Jean became the first artist of the genre to headline music's
most sacred shrine.
If it relieves the stuffed shirts, the concert which benefited Jean's
foundation (dedicated to music education for kids) wasn't a typical mugs 'n'
thugs hip-hop gathering, but then, Jean isn't the typical hip-hop artist.
His outspoken commitment to kids was the magnet that attracted the likes of
Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Charlotte Church and other
musical celebrities to play what will be remembered as one of the most
eclectic, memorable concerts of 2001.
If there is one complaint that could be made about this terrific show, it
was that 2 1/2 hours was just too little time to squeeze in all the goodness
that was on tap.
While Jean's former bandmates from the Fugees were conspicuously absent from
this musical variety program - ending rumors that the show was going to
reunite the Grammy-grabbing trio - Jean got more than a little help from his
other friends.
For many in the audience, the Clapton/Jean guitar duel was the sun that this
star-studded concert orbited around. Seeing rock's most famous ax man and
hip-hop's most accomplished guitarist strumming together in the final
breaths of the show neatly delivered the night's very simple, yet very big
message: Music unites people and crosses cultures. Heavy stuff made light by
deeds, not words.
Clapton donned his standard black-on-black suit, but his all-smiles attitude
betrayed the somber attire. He and Jean projected an old-friends
relationship even though this was the very first time the two had ever
played together. Their song "Is This Romance?" was good, although a keen eye
and ear picked up a nervous hesitance in Jean's fret work.
It may have been due to working out with one of the legends of his youth and
it could have been because he injured a finger when he was break dancing
with the B-boys of the Rock Steady crew who made an early-show appearance.
The highs outnumbered the lows at this show that aimed at diversity. While
the many children from Wyclef's foundation who performed during the event
were very accomplished, the unspoken desire was for more minutes for the
host of heavy hitters such as Blige, Houston and Church. Not to mention the
night's secret musical weapon, Stevie Wonder, who redefined the overused
kudos - awesome.
Wonder, in duet with Jean for the reggae beat "Gone 'til November", was
terrific on harmonica and surprisingly good in a freestyle rap/scat with the
show's host.
Of the women singers, Houston was in top form for both her gospel and a pop
numbers; Blige also was very good performing "911" with Jean. That song, one
of the most popular off of Jean's latest disc "The Ecleftic", easily unglued
the fans from their seats.
But of all the big names, it was little 14-year-old Charlotte Church who -
in her duet with Jean on "Summertime" from George and Ira Gershwin's "Porgy
and Bess" - earned the night crown as queen of the divas. Church's pure,
soaring soprano against Jean's classical guitar work would have raised goose
bumps on a dead man.
Music events just don't get much better than this one. Jean's biggest
problem now is how he'll top this show at next year's fund-raiser.
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