Emily King - Jennah Bell -- Rock'n'Roll Hotel - Mar 9 2014

Jennah Bell - This Oakland through Boston musician comes to us with a guitarist partner while playing guitar and handling all vocal duties herself. The 42 minute was utterly fascinating as it went from the expected light lounge R&B soul moves deep into surprising psychedelic folk territory. There were the daring moves of a Neneh Cherry right next to songs that sounded like Marissa Nadler. This was haunting, delicate, highly original music here. So, it was no surprise to learn that Jennah Bell was accepted into the Berklee College of Music and has worked on her songwriting with Paul Simon and many other talented writers. It did not take 20 minutes to see that she is a major talent that should be able to unite music lovers from many different genres. I even refused to let the gabby people in the back bother me as I focused on full concentration in order to lock into these wonderful songs. I will have the last laugh when in ten years, these people having their mundane conversations will be paying big dollars to see Jennah Bell.

Emily King - Here is more of the lounge soul I expected tonight coupled with doses of R&B and funky guitar. It is a packed house here to see Ms. King and her band featuring guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and a female accompanying vocalist. The band lays out attractive music that knows when to pull back and allow King's vocals to shine or to add some killer guitar moves or funky rhythms when an extra jolt was desired. Emily King has a bounce her step, musically, with a playful style that shows plenty of strength even in the softer moments. Famed producer Chucky Thompson did a walk-on half way through a song and sat in on bass for the restart. That just added to the warm homey feeling to this set. Emily King has been around over ten years now, but at age 28 has plenty of youthful enthusiasm still in the tank, and with plenty of experience and talent shown here, has a strong future to look forward to. Truly, a fun night of music tonight, and the vibe was positive and uplifting.

Quote of the Night: Overheard from people leaving the show...
"I liked her transformation--her new look."
"She looked weird."