{"id":2209,"date":"2017-04-01T13:49:58","date_gmt":"2017-04-01T17:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=2209"},"modified":"2019-09-12T12:28:30","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T16:28:30","slug":"aretha-franklins-got-it-at-75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/04\/aretha-franklins-got-it-at-75.html","title":{"rendered":"Aretha Franklin&#8217;s got it at 75"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I saw\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.arethafranklin.net\/home\/\">Aretha Franklin<\/a> last night from the Chicago Theater&#8217;s nosebleed seats, unable to make out her features but sure from the moment she first raised her voice that she&#8217;s a national if not global treasure, as\u00c2\u00a0compelling at 75 &#8212; her birthday was March 25 &#8212; as half a century ago, in her breakthrough year 1967.<\/p>\n<p>Skinnier than she looked singing &#8220;The Star Spangled Banner&#8221; at the Lions-Viking game last year, wearing an above-the-knees, sleeveless, collarless dress of gauzy white, in a wig that fell like Michelle Obama&#8217;s real hair, on gold heels she finally kicked off at the end of her\u00c2\u00a0two-hour concert, Aretha revisited several of her earthy, worldly, gospel-drawn and jazzy\u00c2\u00a0hits\u00c2\u00a0from then\u00c2\u00a0&#8212; &#8220;Baby I Love You,&#8221; &#8220;Chain of Fools&#8221; &#8220;Do Right Woman &#8211; Do Right Man&#8221; and &#8220;Respect&#8221; (her encore), from her breakout albums <em>I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You<\/em>) and <em>Lady Soul.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Chatting with full\u00c2\u00a0confidence and ease onstage, lifting an arm occasionally in triumph or solidarity and two-stepping playfully, she also sang\u00c2\u00a0her luscious &#8220;Day Dreaming&#8221; from 1972 (&#8220;This song was about a tall, tempting Temptation,&#8221; she confided to the 3600 listeners in attendance), Hoagy Carmichael&#8217;s &#8220;Skylark&#8221; (which she recorded in 1963, before her recognition\u00c2\u00a0as Queen\u00c2\u00a0specifically of <em>soul<\/em>), later tidbits including &#8220;Freeway of Love,&#8221; a 12-bar blues asserting the sweetness of someone age 16, and a visit to church on &#8220;Precious Memories,&#8221; during which she soared freely over her guest artists the\u00c2\u00a0<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2ZLWHz8ekgw\" width=\"420\" height=\"236\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Williams Brothers (as Aaron Cohen, who wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Aretha-Franklins-Amazing-Grace-33-ebook\/dp\/B005UV61G6\/\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">the book on Aretha&#8217;s <em>Amazing Grace<\/em>,<\/a> points out in his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/entertainment\/music\/ct-ent-0403-aretha-franklin-review-20170401-story.html\">Tribune review<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0she\u00c2\u00a0returned without a blink\u00c2\u00a0to a more secular groove).<\/p>\n<p>Ok &#8212; but how did she sing? Divinely. Sometimes like Sarah Vaughan, moving vowels through pitch intervals like an Escher staircase shifting dimensions of up and down, in and out, pure and fine-grained. Often\u00c2\u00a0like a great trumpeter or saxophonist &#8212; Louis Armstrong, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Lester Young &#8212; unleashing a beautiful silvery flash of tonality that captures\u00c2\u00a0all the rest of what&#8217;s going on in something akin to a sun flare. Always with firm rhythmic command, able to float her phrases, though they seemingly have body and weight, in unpredictable skeins\u00c2\u00a0through, above\u00c2\u00a0and around five backup singers and an orchestra of 15 (including three keyboardists, two percussionists, a woman drummer and woman in the horn section), asserting\u00c2\u00a0her passion in measures stretched to hold them, never losing the beat, arriving where and when she intended.<\/p>\n<p>The performance\u00c2\u00a0was well-paced, starting with a warmup man, an orchestral overture of some\u00c2\u00a0themes she <em>didn&#8217;t<\/em> sing (&#8220;Jump To It&#8221; was one I knew),her first moment onstage in a fur she shed almost instantly, then songs pouring forth in varying beats and attention to dynamics. &#8220;Skylark&#8221; was especially remarkable to me &#8212; not a song crowds demand of her, but clearly among her personal favorites, a melody she served up\u00c2\u00a0as a sumptuous marvel,\u00c2\u00a0like molasses flavored birdsong.<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Fgzmxef0Vlc\" width=\"420\" height=\"236\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>How I go on! Aretha had\u00c2\u00a0a picture projected on a screen dangling over the musicians of herself with Barack Obama (to cheers, of course), ran a brief clip from (but didn&#8217;t stop singing during) the 1974 film <em>Claudine (<\/em>starring Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones with music by Gladys Knight and the Pips, produced by Curtis Mayfield), and gave a shout out to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rainbowpush.org\/pages\/jackson_bio\">Reverend Jesse Jackson<\/a> (&#8220;He&#8217;s still doing it!&#8221; she exulted of his political activism) and his son Jesse Jr. (&#8220;It&#8217;s nice to see him out,&#8221; Aretha intoned dryly about the ex-Congressman on supervised release\u00c2\u00a0after imprisonment for fraud and campaign malfeasance charges).<\/p>\n<p>She spoke of loving Chicago, recalling favorite soul food restaurants. She cuddled up for a chorus or two in an overstuffed armchair centerstage,\u00c2\u00a0losing no vocal power, precision or place in her story. She seemed to be having fun &#8212; an attitude\u00c2\u00a0I don&#8217;t recall from the last time I saw her perform in Chicago, at the Park West in 1985 (broadcast as a Soundstage special,\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Aretha-Franklin-Live-Park-West\/dp\/6305339716\/\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">available on video<\/a>). Her audience, from my vantage, appeared to be largely\u00c2\u00a0but not exclusively middle-aged and white, and universally thrilled\u00c2\u00a0to have been amid the crowd in her presence. I think of women singers who&#8217;ve represented (and challenged) their cultures by dint of indomitable voices and personas &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Umm-Kulthum-Voice-Like-Egypt\/dp\/B000K0YG8M\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Uum Kulthum<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Undisputed-Queen-Salsa-Celia-Cruz\/dp\/B00L4LKRFC\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Celia Cruz<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/La-Vie-En-Rose\/dp\/B000TE1FCY\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Edith Piaf<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Great-Original-Performances-1925-1933\/dp\/B002SG03BU\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Bessie Smith<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Lady-Day-Complete-Columbia-1933-1944\/dp\/B0080HJWBI\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Billie Holiday<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/20th-Century-Masters-Millennium-Collection\/dp\/B000VZR7PU\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Judy Garland<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Best-Song-Books-Ella-Fitzgerald\/dp\/B000W0X4YM\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Ella Fitzgerald<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Inside-Betty-Carter\/dp\/B015JZMFVC\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Betty Carter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Essential-Barbra-Streisand\/dp\/B00136Q3FQ\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Barbra Streisand<\/a>. That&#8217;s an old school list? Ok, add your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Best-of-Beyonc\u00c3\u00a9\/dp\/B01HRAEQXC\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Queen Bey<\/a>. There is no dethroning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/30-Greatest-Hits-Aretha-Franklin\/dp\/B001BZLA9S\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Aretha Franklin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.howardmandel.com\/\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">howardmandel.com<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.feedburner.com\/fb\/a\/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1102712&amp;loc=en_US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Subscribe by Email <\/a> |<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/JazzBeyondJazz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Subscribe by RSS<\/a> |<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Follow on Twitter <\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/archives.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> All JBJ posts <\/a> |<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I saw\u00c2\u00a0Aretha Franklin last night from the Chicago Theater&#8217;s nosebleed seats, unable to make out her features but sure from the moment she first raised her voice that she&#8217;s a national if not global treasure, as\u00c2\u00a0compelling at 75 &#8212; her birthday was March 25 &#8212; as half a century ago, in her breakthrough year 1967. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1491,1493,1494,1492],"class_list":{"0":"post-2209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-aretha-franklin","9":"tag-chicago-theater","10":"tag-queen-of-soul","11":"tag-women-singers","12":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/imgres-2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-zD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":121,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2008\/09\/meet_the_neas_new_jazz_masters.html","url_meta":{"origin":2209,"position":0},"title":"Meet the NEA&#8217;s new Jazz Masters","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"September 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The National Endowment for the Arts' latest class of official \"Jazz Masters\" includes\u00c2\u00a0vocalist and guitarist\u00c2\u00a0George Benson, drummer\u00c2\u00a0Jimmy Cobb, alto saxophonist\u00c2\u00a0Lee Konitz, harmonica and guitar player\u00c2\u00a0\"Toots\" Thielemans, trumpeter\u00c2\u00a0Snooky\" Young,\u00c2\u00a0and recording engineer\u00c2\u00a0Rudy Van Gelder. \u00c2\u00a0All estimable choices, each receiving $25,000, opportunities to participate in photo shoots and public appearances and introduction\u00c2\u00a0an official\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":104,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2008\/07\/newport_by_bus.html","url_meta":{"origin":2209,"position":1},"title":"Newport by bus","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"July 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"As an enclave of the newly gilded during the Gilded Age, the town of Newport, Rhode Island was \u00c2\u00a0 somewhat privileged by its relative isolation. The easiest ways to get to this promontory during the 1890s may have been by making a fortune in railroads, or by yacht -- the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1974,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2016\/02\/mavis-staples-hbo-doc-hits-relevant-civil-rights-notes.html","url_meta":{"origin":2209,"position":2},"title":"Mavis Staples&#8217; HBO doc hits relevant Civil Rights notes","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"February 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\"I'm not as frisky as I used to be but I feel like I am,\" Mavis Staples speaks the truth with a grin and a twinkle in Mavis!, an endearingly upbeat bio doc premiering on HBO tonight (Monday, February 29). Appearing early in the month\u00c2\u00a0for a sneak preview\u00c2\u00a0at Chicago's Du\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"mavis staples performs at HBO documentary Chicago premiere Mavis! at DuSable Museum","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/mavisrick-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":223,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/07\/mandela_day_african_music_fest.html","url_meta":{"origin":2209,"position":3},"title":"Mandela Day African music fest, Brooklyn","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"July 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper with Li'l Kim, Dave Stewart and French first-lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy celebrated Nobel laureate\u00c2\u00a0Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday July 18 at a heavily reported\u00c2\u00a0Radio City Music Hall concert, but in Prospect Park Nigeria's King Sunny Ad\u00c3\u00a9 headlined a free five-act, seven-hour pan-African Celebrate Brooklyn! show drawing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2007\/07\/howard_mandel.html","url_meta":{"origin":2209,"position":4},"title":"Howard Mandel","author":"djm","date":"July 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm a Chicago-born (and after 30 years in NYC, repatriated in 2014) writer, editor, author, arts reporter for National Public Radio, non-profit organization consultant and videographer -- a veteran freelance journalist working on newspapers, magazines and websites, appearing on tv and radio, teaching at New York University and elsewhere, specializing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;about&quot;","block_context":{"text":"about","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/about"},"img":{"alt_text":"HM2.for%20web.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/HM2.for%20web.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2007\/07\/delta_blues_on_the_hudson.html","url_meta":{"origin":2209,"position":5},"title":"Delta Blues on the Hudson","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"July 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"John Hammond Jr. impressed me some 20 years ago with his solo blues harp-guitar-vocal act that seemed about as close to the style of Delta blues songster Robert Johnson as exists. He did it again, just last night. That engagement back when was at Madison Square Garden, and John Lee\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}