Review: OUR LADY J's Concert For Lincoln Center's American Songbook Enlivened And Enlighted The Crowd About This Golden-Voiced American Songwriter

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in cabareT to bring you all the T...

Saturday night's Lincoln Center's American Songbook concert by OUR LADY J gave the assembled audience an absolute feast for the ears. Accompanying herself on the grand piano throughout with fine support from backup singers Kathy Deitch & Kyla Page Williams, and musicians Dena Tauriello (drums) and Alex Eckhardt (bass) all under the beautiful colored lights of the brilliant Matt Berman, Lady J's original rock anthems and ballads soared through the hall. Opting for her more serious work, there was no PINK PRADA PURSE on the program, but without a song list, Bobby will be short on actual titles for you dear peeps - SORRY! What we can tell you is Our Lady J's music took her audience through the heart of a composer, performer who really does own the title of "American Songwriter." Debuting new music from collaborations with pop icons Justin Tranter and the legendary Sia, Our Lady's concert took on the feel of a temple of worship. Much of the music had sounds of whispers, choral majesty & bell-like tones evoking loss, heartache, mournful cries, and genuine love songs - all with the endemic sadness her ballads convey... and then there was Dolly Parton. The Country Superstar is a for reals hero of Our Lady J and the feeling must be mutual as La Parton, as the story goes, once handed Our Lady THE SEEKER, Dolly's Gospel hit, telling Lady she wanted to hear the song in her voice. Well, Dolly, good call because your simple affecting hymn became an anthem of love and fulfillment in the fine, rich baritone of Our Lady J. This coupled with her rendition of I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU and her surprising encore of a slow, rhythmic 9 TO 5 in a rather haunting minor key and you definitely feel J's devotion to her Lady D! ... and then she stops singing to play the piano. Adding in a beautiful classical piano solo (Chopin - we think) Our Lady J demonstrates pure practiced musicianship as fine as any you will hear on concert stages. Mykal Kilgore who (along with his handsome pianist - Stephen Oremus) took the stage at half time and slew us all with LET ME GO from his new album "A Man Born Black" and brought a roof shaking gospel meets Motown blast of energy to the Appel Room.

While Lady J has the distinction of being the first out trans writer to be hired for a major television series (she writes for Ryan Murphy's Pose on FX), a career in which she is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominee as well as Peabody Award winner, it is music where she made her first splash and where her voice is truly her own, and given that the moments where she opted to NOT synthesize her solo vocals through an electronic harmonizer were the best of the evening, one hopes that Lady J knows her singular voice is enough, her music is enough, and the heart she gives to her listeners is more than enough... it is a blessing.

Finally, Our Lady J's return to musical performing after so long in the writers' room yielded a bountiful evening of new compositions and surprising covers, and though we would have wished her to dial back the electro-processing of her fine voice just a bit, this evening for modern music lovers was a daring and tantalizing night of cool vibrations, and so we award Our Lady J a fine 4 out of 5 Rainbows.

Our Lady J Keeps Her Tweets: HERE
Follow Her Insta: HERE
She Has A Web Page: HERE
Look Up Her YouTubes: HERE
And Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

*Photo of Our Lady J By, Hudson Taylor

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