Few singers give off as much joy and energy as Angélique Kidjo. She combines her West African/Benin-roots with jazz, funk, R&B to create music that is completely irresistible. On stage she is a human hurricane. So it will be interesting to see how that energy works during her live stream event Angélique Kidjo: Live with Carnegie Hall on Tuesday, April 28th starting at 2 PM EDT/11 AM PDT. The event can bee seen on Carnegie Hall’s website as well as its Facebook and Instagram pages.
Previous Live with Carnegie Hall events have combined conversation with performance. Time will tell what Kidjo has in mind for this live event. Perhaps this performance last week online with Yo-Yo Ma will give us some idea of what part of it might be like.
When I interviewed Kidjo in 2014, she was amazed at the path her life and career had taken.
“Well to tell my own story for me the purpose of doing that is to empower people to live their dreams fully. When I started singing in Benin when I was 6 years old if someone had told me I’m going to be where I am today, I would have told that person…the dream I’m dreaming is way beyond my capacity. It’s about empowering people to see their own potential and unleashing their own potential.”
In 2019 Kidjo released an album celebrating the music of Celia Cruz. The year prior she released an album recording The Talking Head’s landmark album, Remain in Light, in her own style. The results were pure joy.
That’s the bottom line with Kidjo. Even when she tackles socio-political material, there is always a generous helping of joy infusing every note.
Whatever the limitations of social-distancing and its impact on these live-stream events, expect that joy to permeate the distance and go straight to your soul.
If you are unable to watch Angélique Kidjo: Live with Carnegie Hall on April 28th, Carnegie Hall, so far, has kept all archived live-stream events available on their Live With Carnegie Hall page.
Photo of Angélique Kidjo by Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello/Courtesy of Carnegie Hall