( We did get a review! This was sent in to us!)
o whatta nite!
We’d been hoping the rumors were true about a potential 77 afterjam Sunday nite. We got the word last minute: it’s on!
As guests like Tyler Perry, Herbie Hancock and Jennifer Gordon (you’ll know who she is real soon, trust us) mingled in the kitchen, we heard a few strums of an acoustic guitar around the corner in the ballroom. How cool is this — a surprise acoustic set with Prince on guitar, Shelby J and Liv Warfield on vocals and tambourine and Frederic Yonnet on harmonica. They opened with “North Carolina,” Shelby J.’s theme song. Inside track on this song is that Prince and Shelby are really taking their time about creating classic material before recording Shelby’s debut CD. They’ve dabbled in the studio but after fleshing the tunes out in a live setting, the songs take on a life of their own. Expect big things from this project. The quartet stopped briefly to congratulate a newcomer to the party, Whitney Houston, on her triumphant return to the stage the previous night during the pre-Grammy Bash at the Beverly Hilton.
After a few down-home jams, Prince — still strumming and singing – led the procession downstairs to where the rest of the band was already set up in the basement.
Without dropping a beat the crew kicked into “Ol Skool Company” , a new song from the fourthcoming MPLSound CD This is gonna be 2009’s “Days of Wild”, people. Seriously, it’s treacherous.
Let’s pray Yonnet stays with this bunch because his virtuosity on the harmonica gives this band a mature sound that is somewhat lacking when Renato Neto isn’t present. Sidenote: Marva King, we were told, is no longer with the band. She is bowing out to pursue solo endeavors. Liv Warfield gave her all and then some on the song “When Will We be Paid.” Sounding like a younger version of Mavis Staples in her heyday (think Wattstax), this sister is a more than able replacement. Other highlights from the night included Anthony Hamilton lending his soul to the brew…at one point saying “Prince’s karaoke night is the hardest. Me and Cee-lo still having nightmares ’bout the last time we were here.” We love us some Ant…brother you can’t do no wrong!
“Bridge Over Troubled Water” (the Aretha Franklin arrangement, not Simon and Garfunkel although they wrote it) really got the crowd teary-eyed. Another point that should be mentioned is that hearing Prince rip through classic cover instrumentals like “Stratus” or “Frankenstein” is always gonna be a treat because they take on an otherworldliness that can only happen when dipped in purple. Boy must have gotten some new pedals or something because there were sounds coming from that guitar that sometimes turned into color. Sounds crazy but true.
The room filled up with faces familiar and not, groovin’ to “Crimson & Clover“, “I’m Going Down” “Long Train Running” and “Kiss” Dance joint of the night tho was “Hollywood Swinging.” They just couldn’t stop that sucka, no matter how hard they tried. Everyone — the servers, DJ Rashida , the security, even the housekeepers — YES everybody was dancing! Nobody outdanced The Twinz’ mother tho, who, dressed in white, was auditioning for her daughters’ vacated spot.
It seemed like one big family, everyone chill, having fun regardless of background, age, gender, race, social status. None of that mattered. It felt a lot like any Prince concert — music is the bond that unites us all. Being in a room of totally satisfied people cannot b overstated. It’s utter bliss. Try it sometime. Invite your favorite people over and put on some of your favorite music and just dance. Don’t even think about it, just dance. Like Holly Robinson, Sanaa Lathan, Chris Tucker, Bria Valente, and her handsome and gracious father, Tyler and Whitney did…just dance.
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Wow. Sounds amazing. Only thing missing is me….and 5,000 of my friends! Thanks to the no-name reporter who sent this in.-DR.FB
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