London Underground in their wisdom suspended the entire Northern line so getting home from Camden was very interesting. After running for the bus in 4 inch heels (more difficult than it sounds especially after Leela's had us doing a dance-a-thon), I had to wait 30 minutes for a train home. I pity the people opposite me on the tube home, as I discovered when I got in, my periodic bouts of sleep and random choice of mascara had given me lovely panda eyes. I should have realised when someone asked if I was ''o.k'', they probably thought I'd been in a fight.
Waiting for the train home, there were some street kids teasing some older less street kids. It made me wonder about the divide between rich and poor. The reason behind the taunts was probably jealousy of the teenagers who go to a good school, get a good education and have wider extracurricular activities (i.e don't need to hang on street corners). In an ideal world all children in London would have access to a good standard of education and I wonder if we would see a positive change in the behaviour of some of the troubled teens. School is obviously one aspect of things and home life is probably a more important an influence on childhood. It reminded me of the inner city school I attended and the tension we all felt. You knew that any moment a friendly situation could change into a situation of bullying and humiliation. I just tried to keep a low profile and just got on with it as it were. Violence doesn't solve anything. I suppose that's easy for me to say I'm not a child experiencing physical and mental abuse daily or feeling betrayed by my friends....
There was theatrics, dancing, flirting with the audience and of course wonderful music. The largest afro in the world on the most petite lady with a big big voice. As usual the Jazz Cafe crowd were tentative to start with, mustering half hearted cheers as Leela James came on. She quickly put a stop to that telling us ''she came to get funky'' and we needed to get with the plan. We all looked at each other bemused. I've never seen an artist with so much energy, she was bodypopping, dancing to ragga and jumping up and down in between belting out her songs. A member of the audience handed her a card and she got him up on stage to vibe with her, he bodypopped like his life depended on it. I kept thinking this woman is 'out there'. In another section of the show, she got the entire front row up on stage to dance with her. The crowd lapped it up. I should mention I was standing behind two men with the largest afros I have ever seen and Leela kept calling out to them. There was a singing standoff between the two sides of the audience, Leela's and that of her keyboardplayer as well as the obligatory solo for each member of her backing band. I particularly loved one of the bass players and the bands ability to switch between different styles namely ragga, rock and soul. She went off stage after an hour of playing and we had to scream at the top of our lungs to get her to return for another thirty minutes. I knew they were wrapping up the show and she had played most of the album but I was convinced she wouldn't leave without playing 'When you love somebody'. I guess she was saving that for tomorrow night. Upset and disappointment don't quite describe how I felt. The show was too short and she'd skipped mine and many others favourite song.
In summary Leela James is an excellent artist with incredible energy, passion and a voice that embodies soul and the blues. The change is here and I just hope everyone is prepared.
*Image from www.hiphoprnbsoul.com/ index2.php
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