Being a lover of live music and concert going, I had the awesome privilege of attending the “Hampton Jazz Festival” for the very first time. I must say it was surely the best musical experience I have done in a long while. This Festival has been in existence for 48 years, this three day musical highlights a wide array of genres. The creation of the Festival began in 1968 to celebrate Hampton University’s 100th Birthday. Needless to say, the festival was a big hit, so it continued on as an annual celebration that some have incorporated there family vacations as well as family reunions around. This festival is packed full of great African American History and there are great museums that also partake in the annual celebration as well.
This year’s spectacular lineup included Jazz, R&B, and Soul Artists.
It included several great women that rock like “Avery Sunshine”, “Myra Smith”, “Fantasia” and the incomparable “Jill Scott”. I had the opportunity to witness an awesome performance from the Grammy Award winning soprano vocalist Ms. Jill Scott.
This was the sixth appearance for the singer songwriter at the Hampton Jazz Festival. The Philly born artist features a diverse plethora of talents, everything from poetry, singing, and acting.
Jill’s unique styling is what many of us have come to love about this diverse artist. The woman’s catalog is totally amazing, from the very first Cd where she asked you “Who is Jill Scott”, “Words and Sounds Vol.1. 2015 marks the 15th anniversary of the album’s debut. She’s exclaiming from the top of her lungs that she’s living her life like its Golden. The fact of the matter is, I’ve never seen how diverse and versatile an artist could be until I attended this show. This lady truly commanded the stage. You could absolutely feel the energy coming from the stage presence of this amazing artist. The most interesting thing I took away from her performance was the way she arranged and delivered each song that she sang. She explained the origin of the song and through the song she actually took you there as well. Scott Also performed several great cuts off her upcoming CD entitled “Woman”. Expected release date is July 24th, I’m so in love with the current single entitled “Fools Gold”. The single speaks about falling in love, but how sometimes following your heart can lead to foolish decisions. This is just one of many of songs that describe life situations and experiences from a grown woman’s perspective.
Once again, I express deeply that the proof of the healing powers of music is if you have a favorite artist that when you’re having the worst day ever you can put your favorite record on and immediately your day is better. Jill is gearing up for a summer tour and I can’t express more than I have that if you guys have never seen this awesome musical treasure you owe it to yourself to experience something that really truly can’t be explained. It’s something that must be witnessed.
