KINGSTON, Jamaica – On the eve of Valentine’s Day, eight-time Grammy award-winning, singer-songwriter Lauryn Hill commenced an eight-date, multiple-city concert series at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston, Massachusetts.
According to Hill’s official website, the concerts will span several months — with one appearance each in New York, New Jersey and North Carolina and three in Texas, before culminating in Montreal, Canada in July.
Boston led the charge with a masterclass set from Hill. The singer entered the stage close to midnight, clad in a light-coloured pants ensemble completed by her signature shaggy hip-length jacket. The sometimes-emcee and third-generation Marley matriarch, affectionately known as ‘L Boogie’, rapped and wooed poetically.
For the first few songs, which included the provocative Mystery of Iniquity from her 2002 MTV Unplugged No 2.0 live album, she accompanied on acoustic strings.
However, Hill abandoned the instrument to engage the audience before performing a mid-tempo arrangement of the critically acclaimed Ex-Factor. The extended outro, which featured notable solos from her supporting vocalists and guitarist, constructed the blueprint to the night’s experience.
Hill’s out-of-the-box approach included a curious ska/hip hop/reggae/rock hybrid performance of the widely popular Lost Ones. Though peculiar, the arrangement elicited screams of approval from the enamoured patrons. She briefly revisited tradition with a flawless delivery of her Love Jones soundtrack feature, The Sweetest Thing. The singer-songwriter effortlessly segued into a sentimental fave, Turn Your Lights Down Low, which was posthumously recorded with Bob Marley for the Stephen Marley-produced Chant Down Babylon tribute album.
Rhythmic raps and saccharine runs drizzled onto fans as the former Fugees band member reeled off ‘Score’ classics Fu-Gee-La, Ready or Not, and Killing Me Softly. Hill also treated the show-goers to a dutiful interpretation of the Nina Simone-standard Feelin Good. She wrapped the more than one hour long set with Doo-Wop (That Thing) leaving the patrons-turned-back-up singers thoroughly satisfied. The mega-hit along with Lost Ones and Ex-Factor are from her eight-times platinum, solo studio debut, Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – which was largely recorded at Tuff Gong Studios. On March 25, 2015 the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was added to the Library of Congress’s recording registry. The album turns 18 years old this summer.
Gorgette Beckford
