The Blue Note Jazz Festival takes place annually in various music venues across New York City and, according to the event's official website, features "a range of dynamic, culturally rich experiences and top artistry" with "unforgettable shows by outstanding jazz, soul, hip-hop, R&B, and funk players, trailblazers, and influencers". One of those outstanding trailblazers headlining this year's festival is none other than Grace Jones. I have been discovering and collecting her discography (both on CD and vinyl) for a while now so, although I wouldn't call myself a fan of jazz, I was super excited at the prospect of seeing the iconic Ms Jones live at Hammerstein Ballroom.
Those who are less familiar with Grace Jones might be wondering, what makes her so iconic? Well, the festival's website sums up her impact on music and pop culture perfectly by describing her as a "shape-shifting trouble-making meta-presence in the entertainment universe since her emergence as a model in New York City and Paris in the early 1970s" followed by her "highly provocative often riotous shows in downtown lofts and nightclubs" that saw her crowned as a Disco Queen and celebrated as a Gay Icon. She has released 10 studio albums (see a previous Slice in which I take a look at my favourite songs from each album: Have You Met Ms Jones?) while her acting credits include Conan The Destroyer, Vamp, A View To A Kill and Boomerang. She has headlined several festivals and performed at Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee (while keeping a hula hoop spinning around her waist - the hula hoop also made an appearance at last night's show!). Her name was recently on everyone's lips once again after Beyoncé paid tribute to her (twice) in her smash hit Break My Soul (Jones also provides vocals on Beyoncé's song, Move).
At Hammerstein, she opened the show singing Nightclubbing while suspended on a chair about 6 meters from the stage, draped in billowing fabric with a Haring-esque print which was replicated on her body with paint. This was only the beginning. She changed into various outfits and headpieces for each song, still chatting with the audience from the wings while getting in and out of the costumes. She exuded the bold attitude and indefinable magnetism that have defined her career and performed some of her best-known hits, both covers and originals. It was clear that at 75 she is still living her best life. Two of the stand-out performances were Pull Up To The Bumper, during which she climbed onto a security guard's shoulders for a "walk" around the audience, and Slave To The Rhythm, when she hula hooped for the entirety of the song, even walking across stage without missing a beat! I'm extremely grateful for the experience and it's probably going to take me a few days to fully process it.
The complete setlist was as follows:
Nightclubbing
This Is
Private Life
My Jamaican Guy
I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)
Demolition Man
Williams' Blood
Amazing Grace
Love Is the Drug
Pull Up to the Bumper
Slave to the Rhythm
Hurricane
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