Justin Hicks at Jazz Dock in Prague
Singer and songwriter Justin Hicks played music from his recently released new album “Man Of Style”, which came out on September 18th. Known for his work with Meshell Ndegeocello on “The Omnichord Real Book” and “The Gospel of James Baldwin”, he finally steps out on his own and he proved from the very first second of the set that he’s a unique and highly imaginative artist, both as a singer and songwriter. Playing the autoharp on the show opener “Wendy”, one of the highlights of his album, together with Marvin Sewell on guitar and Kyle Miles on bass (who also supported on vocals), he showed his amazing versatility and totally fascinating voice right from the start. There are shades of gospel, jazz, blues, soul, and folk in his phrasing and timbre so that it always totally underscored and enhanced his lyrics, like on the mesmerizing “Rest Assured”.
Justin also played a couple of songs from a project he released back in 2010 called “Scratches From Mercy”, among them the hauntingly beautiful “Eyes”, where he switched to piano. The song was later recorded on the Baldwin album with Meshell Ndegeocello. It remains a poignant and utterly thrilling piece. His voice can sound like Andy Bey, like Lizz Wright, being able to directly pierce into your heart and soul but still, he keeps on sounding inimitable. He surprised me with two cover versions too. Never really being a fan of “Nothing Compares To You”, the Prince staple later successfully covered by Sinead O’Connor, he came up with a fresh and intoxicating version with new twists and spins. It was the first time that I actually liked the song. And he dedicated “Harvest Moon”, the Neil Young classic which was covered by Cassandra Wilson for her “New Moon Daughter” album which played an important part of Justin’s musical career, to the singer who recently passed away much too soon. His version was excruciatingly beautiful and heartbreaking. The second part of his set last night was pretty moody and atmospheric, proven by the fascinating “Oh!”.
The title track was included as well. With the affectionate lyrics of the tune (“how can i be growing when i feel so weak”), he made another strong statement. But it wasn’t all on the darker or melancholic side which he proved with the hilariously quirky “Poly” or the brooding “I’m Just”. Justin left us into the night with the endearing “Use Your Head”. Mark your calendars for December 11th. That’s the release date for the vinyl version. In the meantime, listen and pre-order through his Bandcamp page. Justin plays Jassmine in Warsaw on October 8th and La Meson in Marseille on October 10th.
