Over the past eight years, Jill Scott has won Grammys and sold millions of albums singing mostly about two things: sex and food, but not necessarily in that order.
Granted, she possesses one of the most dynamic voices in modern R&B;, a powerful and stunningly clear instrument with an almost operatic range. But her songs - especially many on her latest album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds, Vol. 3 - too often fall into banality.
Onstage, though, Scott can be thrilling. Live, her songs are infused with generous amounts of vocal and musical zest, something her albums could use at times. Tuesday night at the Lyric Opera House, where the Philly neo-soul queen performed two consecutive dates, Scott mostly delivered thrills. Backed by an 11-piece jazzy soul band, which included a sharp three-piece horn section, the artist drew largely from The Real Thing, her third studio album, which was released in September.
She opened with the rock-inflected title track, her voice soaring over the screaming guitar and punchy brass. That was followed by the James Brown-inspired funk of "Gimme," a hit from Experience: Jill Scott 826+, her 2001 live CD and perhaps her most satisfying effort.
Then Scott, looking down-home but regal in a simple floor-length black dress, eased into "Cross My Mind," her Grammy-winning, mostly spoken slow jam. And too many of the subsequent songs flowed in the same self-consciously sensuous mid-tempo groove. This part of the show was also heavy on the sexed-up tunes.
"I want you to appreciate my mind even when it's dirty," Scott crooned during "Crown Royal," a standout on The Real Thing and her most explicit song to date. The keyboard player's swooshing synths gave the languorous tune a dreamy feel.
The songs on the new album were loosely inspired by Scott's recent divorce. "Whenever You're Around," which centers on loneliness in a marriage, is particularly affecting. Scott's dramatic performance of it, packed with several impressive high notes, was the finest of the evening.
Although most of her show was heavy on songs with lulling tempos, the artist managed to engage with her humorous and mildly profane stage patter. "This is life," she told the packed crowd. "You don't know which way it's gonna turn."
Fortunately near the end of her set, the music took a more exuberant turn as the band pumped up the party-starting go-go rhythms of "It's Love," a prime cut on Scott's 2000 double-platinum debut, Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds, Vol. 1. The crowd was on its feet, grooving with the singer.
Scott's opening act, the Maryland-based R&B; artist Raheem DeVaughn, gave an energetic 30-minute performance. He pulled mostly from his sophomore effort, Love Behind the Melody, which topped Billboard's R&B; charts last month. Like Scott, DeVaughn is a songwriter whose lyrics can be trite but whose vocals are always impressive. Often sailing into his honeyed, Marvin Gaye-influenced falsetto, he crooned love songs peppered with awkward metaphors and repetitive choruses. But like Scott, his passion was felt.
rashod.ollison@baltsun.com