Lalah Hathaway, Wellington NZ, 2022

Legacy: Lalah Hathaway sings Donny Hathaway

19th October 2022
Wellington Opera House, Wellington, New Zealand.

Review and by Tim Gruar. Photography by Nick George.

It’s been three long years since the Wellington Jazz Festival has hosted international artists. So, tonight’s opening gig was extra special. When I caught up with Marnie Karmelita, Creative Director at Tāwhiri, the creative force behind events like the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, she was positively buzzing. For the events team it’s been a long, protracted process to get this one back on the tracks. Aligning with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival was a stroke of genius, allowing players from the Northern hemisphere the opportunity to tour Down Under in these uncertain and expensive travel times. As tonight’s Festival opener, Lalah Hathaway said, “this is the farthest I’ve ever been away from home.”

Tonight’s gig was extra special as it also featured the NZSO, under the expert baton of Aussie conductor Benjamin Northey, who will also lead the MSO when the gig heads across the ditch.

Lalah Hathaway is a five-time Grammy winner and daughter of American the legendary soul singer and musician Donny Hathaway. She is undeniably music royalty and a 30-year music industry veteran having collaborated in Jazz, Soul, Rap and Pop with heavy hitters like Mary J. Blige, Pharrell Williams and Kendrick Lamar, and shared the stage with everyone from Prince to Stevie Wonder and Anita Baker.
The first time she appeared on wax was back in 1969  (and she wasn’t even a year old – but you can hear a sample of her crying on her dad’s single “The Ghetto”).

Donny Hathaway was an R&B songwriter and performer, best known for soulful duets with Roberta Flack like “Where is the Love?” and “The Closer I Get To You.” Although he was one of the most promising talents of his generation, Hathaway suffered from depression for most of his life. He committed suicide in 1979, at age 33. Lalah was just 10 years old.

When you hear songs like ‘A Song For You’, you can’t help wondering if this was written as some consolation to Lalah. The lyrics say it all: “I know your image of me / Is what I hoped to be / I treated you unkindly/ But darling, can’t you see? / There’s no one more important to me”.

This song was a definite highlight in her set tonight, so tenderly delivered that it brought tears and goose bumps. It was part of her show ‘Legacy’, dedicated highlights from her father’s repertoire.

Donny Hathaway had two daughters, Eulaulah Donyll (Lalah) and Kenya Canc’Libra. The younger of the two, Kenya is a session singer and one of the three backing vocalists on American Idol. Both daughters are graduates of the Berklee College of Music.

Lalah has managed to carve out her own career in contemporary R&B. She’s notched up 5 Grammys plus other numerous awards. One was for a live album that cover’s her father’s song ‘Little Ghetto Boy’, which was another highlight in tonight’s gig. Incredibly well sung, with such tenderness and care and empathy.
But she’s still coming to terms with her father’s legacy. She told media recently about a concert in Japan when she covered one of her dad’s songs. A man came in and sat stoically in the middle of the room and cried through the whole show. A testament to how much Hathaway’s music means to some people – even when they can’t understand the words.

It is this concert that Lalah Hathaway brings Donny Hathaway’s material to life, almost large than life. And what a voice! In each song she scales multiple octaves from low register to high ‘A’s mimicking (or perhaps leading) the first violins before dropping back to sidle up to the double bass and cellos. It’s just spinetingling to see her work so effortlessly with this 90 piece orchestra.

And the NZSO are clearly enjoying the gig, too. The brass, in particular, are having a ball. During a number of dramatic moments they provide a Spector style wall of Motown sound that shakes the floor. Soloists punctuate several of the bridges on tracks, but never rob Hathaway of her spotlight.

They blast through a selection of Donny’s classics, starting with the very ‘loungy’ ‘Flying Easy’, the almost gospel ‘I believe To My Soul’ and the major hit ‘Where is The Love’. The latter, obviously, gets a huge cheer as everyone realises what’s happening. The duet, originally donwe with Roberta Flack around 1972, ‘The Closer I Get To You’ is treated so perfectly, it almost seems that this vessel of sound is glass. Lalah Hathaway is pith perfect, almost clinical in her execution, but there is some ‘soul’ behind it. I do wish, though, that she’d allowed us to see something of a crack or two. Just to let us know she’s effected. Her training and craft is obviously on show here. And there’s a huge dollop of that American Star Glamour here too.

During these numbers, Hathaway lets us in on a ‘bit of trivia’. “During these recordings,” she says, “Daddy was playing and Roberta was whispering the lyrics to him, so he’d sing them right.” “True Facts!”

After a very suave rendition of ‘You Were Meant For Me’, she does another Donny re-cover, ‘Jealous Guy’. Hathaway reveals that it wasn’t until she was about 25 yrs that she realised that Donny didn’t write this. If you’ve heard the original, then tonight’s version was pretty close. It’s not the Lounge Lizard or Rock’n’Roll version we are used to by Brian Ferry or John Lennon. Instead it’s a slow, slinky, funky take. I prefer it. In Lalah Hathaway’s hands it totally works so much better. And with the NZSO on tap, it’s just perfect.

They do faithful versions of ‘Love Love Love’ and ‘For All We Know’ then comes ‘Voices Within (everything)’ – a song I wasn’t familiar with. What a blast. This is straight out of the Stevie Wonder/Gil Scott Heron/Marvin Gaye song book. All street and Soul Brother attitude. On this an orchestra could have sludged up this but instead the treatment gives gravitas and power.

‘Someday We’ll Be Free’ reminds me of Mingus in places. A song of Black Rights Movement in the 60’s but (sadly) still relevant today.

Then the aforementioned numbers – ‘A Song For You’ and ‘Little Ghetto Boy’, both absolute highlights. 90 minutes with Lalah Hathaway goes so fast, you hardly notice it. She may be diminutive in stature but she’s larger than life in soul and sound.

She finishes with a story. 50 years after recording, an alternative version was found. A slower version. “Perfect for me.” She’s taking about ‘This Christmas’ which has just been released as a duet with her dad (thanks to technology). It’s yet another chance to hear this perfect timbre in action, almost too glossy at times, but very classy. And she finishes on the ‘b’ side, called ‘Be There’ which s equally as strong.

The reception is a well deserved standing ovation and multiple curtain calls. We are all appreciative of this opportunity to get back into festivals and to enjoy such a professional behind the mic. Northey’s treatments and arrangements are seamless, never overtaking the singer. He’s hilarious to watch, as he moves deftly but carefully on the podium, using clever gestures like thumbs up or finger waves to bring in or dismiss players as required. Interesting that the first and second violins seem to stiffly turn off and on like automatons, while the brass and percussion are bopping about behind their music stands, thoroughly enjoying their time at this funk fest.

Lalah Hathaway opened this festival, one of over 100 separate events going on all over the Capital this weekend. What a voice. What a concert. What a way to start, what a celebration and a welcome back to the Wellington Jazz Festival!

Were you there at Wellington Opera House for this beautiful dark gig? Or have you seen Lalah Hathaway perform live some other time? Tell us about it in the comments below!

_{Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only. This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase a product using an affiliate link, Ambient Light will automatically receive a small commission at no cost to you.}

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