LALAH HATHAWAY/RAHSAAN PATTERSON

at Carter Barron Amphitheatre – Washington DC

June 21, 2003

by Dawn! E. Robinson

On the evening of June 21, LALAH HATHAWAY and RAHSAAN PATTERSON came to serve dulcet tones and funky grooves at DC’s Carter Barron Amphitheatre.

But first, a word to clueless concert booking agents. The show was opened by this smooth jazz band.  The name escapes me now.  The band was decent enough but I don’t think most people in attendance were in a smooth jazz kind of vibe; especially in the general area where I was sitting.  After several long songs, they were joined by a singer for a really watered-down version of The Isley Brothers’ “For the Love of You” that never really got going.  Anyway, they weren’t exactly a great warm-up for what was to come.  For my taste, they could have done a much shorter set – or not been there at all – and the Hathaway-Patterson concert could have been a lot longer.  But already, I digress…

LALAH HATHAWAY & RAHSAAN PATTERSON were introduced together and shared a band: keys, bass, guitar, drums & 2 backup singers.  Patterson started the show singing backup for Hathaway as she did “Baby Baby Don’t Cry”, “I’m Coming Back” and “Something in Common”.

Hathaway then introduced Patterson and, before starting, he thanked Hathaway for calling him up and asking if he wanted to do a gig in DC.  There was some talk about the two of them being kindred spirits, having both been burned by the music industry.  Then he took the lead, with Hathaway singing backup, on “So Fine”, “Where You Are”, “Friend of Mine”, “It Ain’t Love” and a song from his forthcoming CD, the title of which I think he said was “Always Find Myself.”

Patterson and the backup singers then left Hathaway the stage for “I’ll Fly Away”, “When Your Life Was Low”, a song I think was titled “We Were Two”, a seemingly impromptu rendition of “Summertime” and another song the title of which I didn’t catch.  If I was disappointed at all, it was because she didn’t do “For All We Know” from the Grammy-winning CD The Song Lives On recorded with Joe Sample.  In fact, she didn’t do any songs affiliated with her father (Donny Hathaway).  But what she sang that night, she sang really well – as usual.

Oh my gosh - The TONES that poured out of these two wonderful singers!!!  Both of them were in GREAT voice and sang in and around the funky grooves supplied by their band.  It was only the second time I was hearing Patterson live – he opened for Rachelle Ferrell last year at Warner Theatre.  The sound was bad that night and I couldn’t really appreciate his vocals.  But on this night, the sound was PERFECT and I could really hear Patterson’s depth of tone, his Chaka-inspired ad-libs, his great range and spirit.  I had to run out the next day and find his two CDs.  I’ve been listening to them repeatedly ever since.

As for Hathaway, I’ve never really heard the sister sing a bad note.  She has dark, rich tones that “sound” like melting chocolate.  She sings from the depths of her heart and you can’t help feeling it.  But she accomplishes this without ever screaming or straining.  She hasn’t tried to capitalize on her father’s singing style (like so many would-be Donny Hathaways and Stevie Wonders out there).  She has her own distinctive sound.  But there are moments in her singing, especially in her low register, when those Hathaway vocal genes can’t be denied.

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