Jarrod Lawson in Berlin: Preserving Real Soul

He is one of the hottest tickets this year, and deservedly so. His debut album last year was clearly my favorite Soul album of 2014 and he’s without a doubt one of the best Soul singers to come on the scene in the last 20 or so years.

I had the chance to see Jarrod Lawson‘s first ever show in Paris in early April (see review on these pages) and on Wednesday, he made his first appearance in Berlin. Starting out with the song that introduced him to me on Farrell Newton‘s album (“Everything Is Clear”), Jarrod and his group The Good People delivered amazingly soulful sets which consisted mainly of his debut album and a track from his 4-song EP (the beautiful, majestic “Soul Symphony”) among a couple of cover songs.

And one of those covers, which he didn’t include in his Paris show, was a song by the almost forgotten UK Soul singer Lewis Taylor from his fantastic 1996 debut LP. Jarrod really needs to be praised for picking this particular song (“Right”) from Taylor’s epic project.

I also realized that his piano playing was much more focused and at the same time loosened up than three weeks before. And his voice is simply outstanding, oozing Soul, class, and orginality backed with an astounding dose of authenticity by way of his intricate, personal, and thought-provoking lyrics. Here’s a singer that thankfully keeps serious Soul singing alive. The future looks bright.

Oh and the duet with his background vocalist Tahirah Memory (“All The Time”) is simply one of the most beautiful love songs I’ve heard in many, many years. Check out Tahirah’s first solo album.

Jarrod Lawson & The Good People will be back in Europe to play the major festivals, among them Northsea Jazz in the Netherlands and JazzOpen in Stuttgart. Go Jarrod!