It was small. It was intimate. It was smoky. It was the epitome of Jazz.
Leslie Odom Jr. kicked off his New York Residency at the McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea last night and what a night it was. Shall I give you the play by play? Yes, I will. Read along for all the fun.
10:30 PM – The tickets said doors open at 11, so we figured if we get there a little early we can have good seats. We were right. We were behind about 20 other people all waiting to be in “The Room Where It Happens.”
10:50 ish – Leslie, with his gorgeous wife Nicolette Robinson makes their way into the venue and they walk right by us in line. My best friend almost fainted.
11:00 PM– Doors open. They let us in, we tell them our name and we are led through the darkest, most fun maze to get to the venue. It was like a game, but I didn’t come to play- I came to hear good music!
11:20 PM– My best friend and I see someone with dreads, I think to myself that can’t be Ledisi can it? IT WAS LEDISI. More about that later. Then a few more people made their way into the reserved section Billy Porter and Spike Lee, to name a few.
11:30 ish – The band comes out and warms up a little bit, shortly after Leslie makes his way to the stage dressed to the nines, there’s some applause then he wastes no time getting into the first song, “Autumn Leaves.”
11:30 PM-12:45 AM Leslie sings song from his self-titled album including; “Look For The Silver Lining”, “Joey Joey Joey”, “Cheer Up Charlie”, the most beautiful rendition of Bessie Smith’s “Nobody Knows You” and a jazzed up arrangement of Spring Awakening’s “The Guilty Ones”. His voice was as smooth as ever as he crooned and swayed the night away. The small setting added to the overall intimate feel of the concert, sometimes you felt like he was singing right at you. Between songs he offered a few anecdotes and provided context. Other than that he let his singing do the talking. The best part- halfway through the concert he told the audience he had a special guest. This special guest was none other than LEDISI. You heard me correctly! First, she sang the most beautiful arrangement of “Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered” from Pal Joey. And yes, scatting was included! Then she and Leslie did the unthinkable, THEY DID A DUET OF LEDISI’S “ALRIGHT”. Let me tell you, thats one of my favorite Ledisi songs, so to hear her and Leslie sing together was the epitome of “melodies from heaven.” He also couldn’t end the night without singing Hamilton, so he did a lovely rendition of “The Room Where It Happens”. He ended the night with the beautiful “The Party’s Over”, and just when you thought he was done he sent us on our way with a beautiful prayer.
Safe to say, Leslie Odom Jr. is making a name for himself in the music world and we can’t wait to be there for the ride. This is the first of his three Thursday night residencies at the McKittrick Hotel. All shows are, sadly, already sold out. But fear not! Let these videos hold you over, and keep checking his Twitter for when he announces more concert dates. This is a show you DON’T want to miss.