It's Sister Sister

Friday I met up with a friend at Sista Sista Live, the double live recording of Amoy Levy and Celestine McPherson upcoming CDs. I managed to make it for the second half. Honestly, I went just to hang with my friend, and a little bit to see Amoy Levy sing as well. I shared the altar with her at my church a couple times, saw her sing at the SoulFingaz memorial at Joe Mama's, and held it down at an Evolution of Gospel rehearsal where she sang "Going Up Yonder" by Walter Hopkins. She's an incredibly talented singer who performed very well. I felt the attendance was strong considering these are not big names, but my friend disagreed, saying the support could have been better. Though there were some good moments, I found the overall evening disappointing for a couple of reasons.

First, it's Sister Sister. Not Sista Sista. Are you a bunch of gangsters or something. It's not MC Hamma. It's MC Hammer.

Second, why are these two singers, one I've never heard of, doing live recordings as their first recordings. Studio efforts provide artists with the chance to build a following before recording a live record. Heavyweights such as Israel Houghton and Tye Tribbett had studio efforts before they got into the "live worship" kind of recordings. In Amoy's case, because she is so versatile, I felt the same sound throughout every song worked as a real disadvantage to her. On a studio record she could really go in many different directions sonically. I didn't enjoy seeing these great songs "live." I would have loved to hear them first on a studio cut CD and then get all excited to see them done live.

Third, sometimes I think Christian artists have a false sense of where they are. This could be because everyone at church tells them how good they are. It's not really the artists fault but they should make more of an effort to realize where the compliments are coming from. So I'm going to be honest, and if you don't like it, you can ask sister Etta Mae in the back row to tell you how good you are.

In Celestine McPherson's case, I found her voice to be flat, both in pitch and in character. There was no life to her voice, especially in the ballads. I don't know how the sound was on the stage (maybe do a studio record perhaps) but she seemed lost in places. I noticed a lyric stand with words. THIS IS A LIVE RECORDING, YOU SHOULD KNOW THE SONGS BY NOW!!! I had this feeling I was watching a dress rehearsal instead of a live show. They had to re-record a song. Nothing would annoy me more than having to sit through a song twice, especially if I don't know it. Please remember people paid money to watch this.

In closing, I enjoy going out to support these artists and if I find something that's disappointing it doesn't mean I hate the artist or what they do. I just mention what I see and how I feel about it.

I'm looking forward to the Paulis Sanchez recording on May 1.