She loves her piano

It was in the 50s, many rock and rollers, but something made Elvis Presley absolutely unique. In the '60s then so many folk songwriter came from every backwater in America that a large city could have been populated with them, but Bob Dylan there only once, and unmistakable own ... And in the last 10-15 years appeared almost every week always new R'n'B Soul Ladies on, so many that their collection would result in quite a rind of reference. Optically most memorable than vocally, always go with a perfect hip swing and often with textile liberated possible Räkeleinlagen in the video clips - total often abundant vacuous and confused. But there are also Alicia Keys.

The fact that even the larger than life Dylan the young lady a few years ago in one of his songs benevolent mentioned (in "Thounder on the mountain" from the album "Modern Times", 2006) is among musicians equal almost a beatification, but even without the help of the Master revealed itself already from their first album that Alicia Keys is simply not just another soul lady, fortunately even with remarkable voice, but an absolute thoroughbred musician.
She writes her songs mostly self that is in the genre ever extremely uncommon, and their performance will be abundantly sitting at the piano instead, not at the microphone stand swinging like on a table dance bar. And remarkable is not only the fact that they wrote themselves, but even more what she writes and how she composes. The by no means meaningless texts are supported by sophisticated compositions that almost always are in structure and complexity closer to classical music or jazz, as to simple pop-lines. This delicacy of coolness of it provides the massive beats and driving grooves aside and holds these opposites with melodic vocal lines including vocal harmonies of backgrounds together - it brings together completely different elements of different eras, different musical styles, that's really art! And more importantly, it is peculiar, unique, unmistakable.

Everything up to this point has been said applies in principle and thus for each of their previous five studio albums. They are all high-gloss productions, perfect down to the last sung and played note, but only live on stage breaks the soul of the song by the glossy facade of their undoubtedly style-safe studio arrangements, only when you see them on stage, understands how much you Alicia Keys is one with their music, how much she is not only a singer, but passionate music-worker. This impression conveyed itself in 2005 on her MTV Unplugged album, here now, eight years later, as part of the VH1-Storrytellers, she lets herself fall completely into their songs.

The CD contains 60 minutes of playing time even all eleven tracks of the video version of the album, but DVD and BlueRay come on 75 minutes concert, because they contain the unabridged told stories. As much as it certainly made sense to Nebenherhören to cut the long moderations for the CD edition, the recommendation is clearly the video output. Of course, because it Alicia Keys always nice in principle can also be seen. Much more, however, because it is precisely this detailed monologues are fascinating. It burns, it bubbles, is usually turned up punctually but also deep inside dormant and unusual way for such a young woman explains enthusiastically the idea behind each of the songs played that one can not possibly help but from the euphoria that they radiates, infect and to get carried away.

All VH1 Storryteller sessions that I saw previously, were already alone because of their intimacy a special experience. So much love but, as much devotion and genuine, unaffected enthusiasm about the opportunity to express themselves through song, to make the music a means of expression of his thoughts and emotions that I have seen in no other artist yet. About the history of the respective songs all speak that is after all the idea of ​​the show, but so happy with the original songs I have heard talk yet no musician in the series. That has nothing to do with pride or vanity, it is not a "see all her what I have invented great", but at their facial expressions, which sometimes tumbling flow of words, the shine in their eyes, you can clearly see a childlike joy and this possibility to express themselves through writing and interpreting songs to have gratitude. Although decades age difference between them and otherwise at first glance hardly any correlation between the two is, the only way I know musicians who also so much in his music rises as clearly recognizable, so much at one with his work as Alicia Keys , Udo Jürgens is. Both her piano seems immovable center of their universe, touching the black and white keys so very much more than a mechanical process.

Even if the CD contains the same songs, the stories and how they have to give in somewhat larger living room atmosphere we have just seen. So clear recommendation for CD + DVD or BD version.

The eleven selected pieces (of which only could be seen in the first eight TV broadcasting) are a large selection of hits from all five albums. The selection is good, even though they would have liked to introduce me completely from all five albums in this way and play. Although full band line-up and also using electronic elements get the shots much more purist than the known studio versions. And though not every sound is made as clean as in the studio, because they, for example, the wonderful "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" apparently with four hands simultaneously acts (playing piano she turns also continually sound settings on the synthesizer handle) while also singing, just makes from the live atmosphere. Precisely because it demonstrates how little has otherwise developed Soul Ladies pronounced divas gene with her. She is a musician, she works, decides to return to the song and when sound scrapes something, she takes back, leaves the tonal safe Choir and the syllable is a word fail later in it. Eben no perfect Routinesse but intense and real, exciting, live - Live simply.

For music purists, which the soul of a song is more important than a perfect arrangement, the songs look like once under her skirt, is "VH1 Storytellers" probably the best Alicia Keys album of all.