Fittingly, appearing at the Blue Note on February 11, 2013 at 8PM and 10:30PM, is the sensational ABIAH. The most promising of a very short list, this New York native has been singing since childhood.
[Music]
Throughout its existence, the Blue Note has particularly excelled in presenting the most stellar crooners on the planet.
Donny, Sarah, Nina, Andy, Kurt, Cassandra, Diane— so off-the-iconoclastic-genius-meter that we refer to them on a strictly first-name basis. These are the true crooners; the rare ones who could sing anything (jazz to blues to pop) and who owned everything they sang.
It’s 2013 and stellar young crooners are hard to find. Fittingly, appearing at the Blue Note on February 11, 2013 at 8PM and 10:30PM, is the sensational ABIAH. The most promising of a very short list, this New York native has been singing since childhood.
The Blue Note is located at 131 W 3rd Street, New York, NY 10012. Phone:(212) 475-8592. Ticket price is $15.
Under his mother’s tutelage, ABIAH naturally started out singing gospel in church. By the end of high school, he was heavily into classical music, jazz and pop. For the last ten years, the artist has been polishing his star in New York’s vibrant singer-songwriter, jazz, soul, underground scenes.
On November 15th, Madoh Music/eOne/Nia Distribution released ABIAH’s debut album to critical acclaim (#20 at Billboard), Life As A Ballad produced by ABIAH and Keith Witty. Ain’t no half-stepping here: The backing musicians including ABIAH’s cousin Robert Glasper, Ulysses Owens, Jr., Marvin Sewell, Keith Witty, Chris Eddleton, and David Rosenthal are Gen-X all-stars; the repertoire, an eclectic blend of jazz/pop originals, eight ABIAH originals, and one re-imagined cover. Life As A Ballad reveals ABIAH to be uniquely blessed with a mellifluous, full-bodied five octave voice, emotionally-nuanced phrasing and an intuitive ability to swing.
Genius enough to transform a Prince classic into a dreamy, transformative groove called “Doves”. Fearless lush Beatles-esque harmonies of “September” and transcendent, transporting melodicism of “Foolish Heart” to the achingly beautiful “Goodbye“. Open enough to flow from jazzy Latin-soul slo-drags (“Next Time Around“) to AC-friendly (“Life As A Ballad“, “Turn The Light On“) and the folk-like “This Time”.
Better start getting used to hearing from ABIAH.
Life As A Ballad [8-17358 07052 0] available Now on CD.
www.abiahmusic.com
