Publisher's Note: SoulTracks Video Countdown Editor Ann Marie Collymore, aka Soul Afrodisiac, will be on assignment this week at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and we'll be posting AMC's reviews and news from there all week. Enjoy!
(July 8, 2016) Concert Review - Bilal
Since his recent performance at the BET Awards, where he embodied Prince on “The Beautiful Ones,” some have been asking where Bilal has been all this time. Listen, it’s not like he has risen beyond the depths of partial musical anonymity. Bilal has been here all along, guesting on various albums (Kendrick Lamar, J Dilla) and putting down work on his own. Now on his sixth album, over the years Bilal has been continually providing his brand of funk-driven, rock-laden, soulful grooves for our aural stimulation. The Montreal Jazz Festival was the perfect audience for Bilal to perform for an audience that was looking for everything he had to offer.
Bilal serenades ever so gently, and then the onslaught of rhythms and vocals hit hard mid-song and carry out right through to the end. His psychedelic vibes are ethereal and spirited, which has never changed since album number one.
Opening the show with “Sirens II” presented Bilal with the opportunity to give us a resounding guitar solo that was lusty and carnal. Taking us on a journey through albums, he hit on “Think It Over,” “For You” and “Sometimes.” The latter was blended with a lengthy church driven solo that had everyone shook up. How Bilal projects his voice with such emotion and fervor is a divine sight to see and hear.
Throughout the show, Bilal also dropped some gems telling the audience, “You can peel off all of your hurt and pain into the music and be free. We need to stop all this hatred and distraction in the world and get back in love with each other.” This message couldn’t have come at a better time, as he segued into “Back To Love.” Each song had monumental jazz breaks, saxophone and drum snares galore, and vocal riffs that revealed Bilal’s prowess on the mic. The much anticipated track “Soul Sista” was the encore everyone was waiting for and ended the night on a euphoric high.
Bilal’s show was part performance, part social commentary, part live musical experimentation. He had the audience captivated and steady rocking along to each song. Dressed in his dashiki and spreading the word of love, differences and togetherness with his band through his artistry was exactly what the attendees had bargained for. So don’t sleep when he comes through your town. Bilal is here. Always has been, and shall undoubtedly continue to be.
By Ann Marie Collymore