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All The Hits At The House Of Blues
10/13/2003 7:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy
One casualty of hip-hop's rise has been the live R&B album. The few concert recordings that surfaced over the past several years have largely been sterile affairs reflecting their DAT-dominated era. This two-disc recounting of Raphael Saadiq's appearance at the Los Angeles House of Blues in July 2003 is different; it ebbs, it flows, and most importantly, it breathes, blowing out the deliciously greasy scent of funk made the old-fashioned way, with guitar, bass, drums and quality songwriting. Of the several guest appearances, the reunion of Saadiq's early-'90s band Tony! Toni! Tone! is most significant, as the group's seven-song mini set highlights the crucial bridge they provided from new jack swing's glistening technology to the retro sweat of neo-soul. However, typically flamboyant turns by Joi and D'Angelo add sizzle, almost threatening to swipe the spotlight from the star. They don't, because while Saadiq is neither a shouter, nor a pleader nor a silken-voiced smoothie, his vulnerable tenor connects on a different level, making the odes to love ("Faithful"), home ("Uptown") and humanity ("Blind Man") ring even truer than they did in the studio.
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