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Dear Mister Archer,
Over the years I have travelled many circles of friends and acquaintances with whom I share the same passion for grooves, and naturally at some point, your name comes up...It's like no matter what we are discussing, even arguing about - could it be about who caries the heritage of black music's all time greats like Marvin, Curtis, Sly or what the best sonic trickeries we've heard on a record are or the concept of timeless compositions and arrangements that send a chill down your spine - someone will pull out a card off their sleeve with your name written on it...I've soon come to realise that when it comes to live shows, there are two groups amongst these people: Those who were there on July 12th 2000 when the Voodoo Tour hit Paris and those who missed out on that day...The latters often smile nervously about how their own circles of friends and acquaintances keep beating the same (Questo) drum about it...I was one of the lucky few who constantly brag about that show being the highlight of my generation when it comes to live music in Paris, how it was Prince, James Brown, Funkadelic tightly rolled into a mighty sounding perfectly choreographed two hour ride...Until tonight I guess.
Black Messiah. Even if it wasn't the reason why you named the record. Phone calls were made, texts and emails were sent. As we were waiting in front of the venue, we met with friends, old faces we haven't seen in years, people who came out of the shadow of their busy everyday, we hugged with a smile, shook hands, caught up for a few minutes about what was going on in our lives...Those were were already there on July 12th 2000 and the others, walking into procession all together, expecting to witness or witness again a holy moment in Paris.
"Black Messiah is not one man. It's a feeling that, collectively, we are all that leader.". The lights came down at 9pm sharp. I always thought Le Palais des Congrès was a weird choice for one of your shows as it is better known for musicals, operas or ballet dancing, and mostly because the entire audience is sat. Until...You were on that stage by yourself in the dark delivering the words to Prayer, and THAT line "I believe someday we will rise" followed by a request for us to stand up. No modesty needed here: You were our leader, our Messiah tonight as 3000 something people got up their seats never to fall back again, unless to regroup after being hit by some realisation...What is happening here?
For two hours, we embarked on a journey from the present: 1000 deaths, It Ain't Easy, Really Love, The Charade, Back To The Future, which all nicely transferred from the record to the stage with very faithful arrangements...To some memory lane: The always very efficient Feel Like Making Love, the magnificent funky update on Brown Sugar - one of my personal highlights - One Mo' Gin, Chicken Grease...finger licking good as the spirit of Spanky joined you guys on stage...
My favourite moment was when you played Sugah Daddy and then moved onto that Money jam...Yes, we french people are notoriously known for being bad in English. No other moment was more significant of that than when you asked "What the name of my band?" and the entire room replied "Yeaaaaaaah" Haha. Same answer when at that moment you transitioned into the jam and asked "Do you guys make any money?"...Maybe I'm wrong, and we gladly expressed our financial status only because we were willing to pay to see some more. And boy, did those intense 10 minutes of funk delivered...I was taken back to the Voodoo tour Jonz In My Bonz crazy jam with the mad breaks, crazy vocal acrobatics, false stops and starts...I turned around and saw an entire room made of people of all generations, ethnic backgrounds (some dude next to me came all the way from Seoul, Korea to see the show !!!!!!!!) just smile and dance like they were on X...The groove is a hell of a drug...
You seemed happy there. Re-energised to be surrounded by your people - Chris Dave on drums, Pino Palladino on bass, Pookie on keys, Jesse Johnson on lead guitar, Kendra and friends on vocals...They lay such a heavy solid funk groove foundation for you to play with - Yeah, I could agree with Questlove that your voice is your best instrument because it was quite amazing what you did in the low and high tones, the screams - and create that dialogue with them - Best band leader I've seen since some guy from Minneapolis - and the audience...to the point where I have never seen you shake and hold so many first row hands...
Yeah you seemed happy to be back on that stage...
"How Does It Feel?" - It was almost 11, members of The Vanguard were leaving the stage one by one...It was just you again. You and a piano. There's something special happening when you sit behind it...Some obvious organic synergy as your hands travel effortlessly the 88 keys...Yes, I admit that I made fun of all the women surrounding me who looked at you on that stage with sparkles in their eyes because I knew they were rolling that video in their mind...Me, I was taken back to when 14 years ago, I came back home with the Left and Right 12" under my arm, listened to it on my dad's turntable, flipped to the B Side to listen to Untitled for the first time and had goosebumps. I thought they say lightning never strikes twice the same spot...
"I'm not ashamed to say that, for me, D'angelo is a God" - Youssouf. The show was over. Dilla's Workinonit came on the speakers. I thought "This can't be a coïncidence !". We went outside, met our friends again with a big grin on everyone's face, almost meaning "You won't be able to brag again now that we've seen that !". In a very rare occurence for shows in Paris, people stuck around, had a cigarette or two, went for drinks, took group pictures and talked about the show... like we needed to nurture our collective memory of that moment...
My friend Youssouf went into a hyperbole with good intentions...What I believe he means is that it is unfair that your unique talent in our generation's musical landscape single spotted you as the torchbearer of multiple legends that came before you, and we cannot even imagine how heavy of a burden it must be to carry the expectations, our expectations...but for more than a decade, and for the future, him, me, my friends and thousands of other Parisian people have been open armed about following you no matter what musical path you take us on.
Cheers ! rafiki aka phinydee
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