Jill Scott - THE REAL THING

[JSngry]

Just got this yesterday, so opinions are still raw, but...hey.

Nowhere near as "optimistic" as Beautifully Human, but every bit as powerful.

Seems that Jill's been through a divorce since then, and a lot/most/all? of this album is self-confrontation/affirmation/etc./whatever. It's got the mojo of Marvin's Here My Dear in many spots, only it's coming from the POV of a sane, sober woman. And that makes it very, very powerful stuff.

Some of the lyrics are also intensely erotic w/o being "vulgar". You can tell that she made a lot of great love while married, misses the hell out of it, and wonders why it wasn't enough. And I get the impression that it's not just sex that she wonders this about. Then again, Jill Scott has always been somebody to examine things on a holistic level, I think. Anyway, if you can listen to some of these songs without wanting to immediately couple with your life-partner, you're a "stronger" human than I am.

The first few listens (I hit it about 4-5 times last night), I was disaappointed that there wasn't as much musical diversity as on Beautifully Human, but then I got to listening closer and realizedthat the music fit the lyrics, and that there was more variety inside the arrangements than I had first heard. So even though Beautifully Human is one of those truly magical albums that's all over the place while being in the same place & this one works a somewhat narrower zone, both have what it takes to reach deep down inside, becaue deep down inside is where they're both coming from. Beautifully Human is joy tempered by "universal" reality, The Real Thing is more like hope successfully struggling to stay on top of a far more personal - and intense - reality . In neither case is the shit fake or otherwise manufactured.

Jill Scott is one helluva talent, and this album is highly recommended.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I keep meaning to pick up some Jill Scott and never getting around to it.

Thanks for the incentive, Jim.

MG

[Stefan Wood]

Haven't heard this one, but kind of liked the previous efforts. I'm just haven't gotten into the current generation of soul/r & b singers.....

[relyles]

Jim - thanks for pulling our coat. I am so far out of the loop that I did not even realize Ms. Scott had a new recording out. And if I remember correctly I am the person that first turned you on to Beautifully Human. I am going to have to pick up the new one soon. I probably told you this before, but if you ever have the opportunity to hear her live, do not miss it. In an era where most pop stars can barely sing, she puts on a wonderful show.

Interestingly, I was just reading an article the other day about a movie currently in production in Africa where she is playing the lead role. I also think she has a role in an upcoming movile with Queen Latifah. Very talented woman!

[sal]

An ex-girlfriend of mine who I dated for a long time had "Who is Jill Scott?" and always played it. I enjoyed the album, and it was obvious that she was very talented. I then put two and two together and realized that it was her who appeared with The Roots when I saw them in 1998, when she was still unknown. She has a very powerful voice. For some interesting footage of her, check out the film "David Chappelle's Block Party", which is basically a concert documentary. She's a bit out of her element within the context of the show and the other acts, but it does display her talent quite well.

[jlhoots]

I saw a "trailer" yesterday for a movie she's in that also has Janet Jackson in it.

Some kind of "relationship" film.

Looked kinda' dopey.

[JSngry]

Probably will be.

This new album is anything but, though.

[jazzbo]

What? I heard it WAS dope!

[JSngry]

Oh, it is. It'll get you, Lon, I know.

But I don't know nothing about no movies w/Janet Jackson and stuff.

[JSngry]

...if I remember correctly I am the person that first turned you on to Beautifully Human.

Yeah, it was kinda funny how that went. You had praised it in an e-mail, and a few days (nights, really) later, I'm at work when I notice a young-ish lady listening to it. I ask her if I could borrow it when she was finished with it and she said sure, no problem. Well, I kept it all night, and she had to ask for it back. She only knew me as an "old jazz guy" and was really puzzled why I was going apeshit over a Jill Scott record. I started telling her about all the different musical activities & interests I have/had, and pretty soon she started looking at me like "who ARE you?" , so I stopped, just smiled & said thank you, & went out to buy the CD the next day.

When I showed up at work with it the next night, she really looked at me funny, kinda like, "o...k...how long until this old fool starts hitting on me?" And then when I didn't, she was really...perplexed.

What kind of a world do we live in anyway? :g :g

[kinuta]

I don't have much to add to the other comments but heard the cd the other day and loved it. I followed it with Joni Mitchell's 'Shine' and found the two complimented each other in an odd way. The Jill Scott is powerful, erotic and very satisfying. It'll be on my player again today.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

...if I remember correctly I am the person that first turned you on to Beautifully Human.

Yeah, it was kinda funny how that went. You had praised it in an e-mail, and a few days (nights, really) later, I'm at work when I notice a young-ish lady listening to it. I ask her if I could borrow it when she was finished with it and she said sure, no problem. Well, I kept it all night, and she had to ask for it back. She only knew me as an "old jazz guy" and was really puzzled why I was going apeshit over a Jill Scott record. I started telling her about all the different musical activities & interests I have/had, and pretty soon she started looking at me like "who ARE you?" , so I stopped, just smiled & said thank you, & went out to buy the CD the next day.

When I showed up at work with it the next night, she really looked at me funny, kinda like, "o...k...how long until this old fool starts hitting on me?" And then when I didn't, she was really...perplexed.

What kind of a world do we live in anyway? :g :g

Yeah, my daughter thinks I'm a bit weird. But she loves me...

MG

[jazzbo]

Oh, it is. It'll get you, Lon, I know.

But I don't know nothing about no movies w/Janet Jackson and stuff.

I should have put a smiley in there. . . .

"I get it. The "e" in dope is silent!"

[JSngry]

The Jill Scott is powerful, erotic and very satisfying.

Yeah, and it just reinforces how non-erotic simple fucking is and how powerful, dangerously powerful, making love is. Vulnerability's a bitch, but there's no other way to get there...

I mean, there's only one "fuck" on the entire album, and it's used in a non-sexual way, plus it's bleeped out (sic). But there's a lot of frank, non-"street" talk about the mental/physical/spiritual synergy that goes on during true, deep lovemaking, and it's....intense, almost intense as the acts themselves, all the moreso coming from the perspective of a recently divorced woman who's wondering just how the hell it happened to her.

Again, the comparisons to Marvin Gaye's Here My Dear are both favorable and appropriate. Even if the entire album's not explicitly about that type of post-divorce soul-searching, the spirit of same runs through the album from start to finish. At least it does to me.

And oh by the way - Jill Scott is one helluva good singer.

[Alexander]

I picked this up last week when it came out (along with the new Herbie), but I have yet to spin it. I've been holding off, mainly because I'm kinda broke and I want to have some new CDs that I haven't listened to yet to look forward to. I've basically stuck the new CDs at the bottom of a pile of stuff I'm listening to right now, and my attitude is "all get to them when I get to them," but the temptation is strong. Threads like this don't help either!

[Kalo]

I liked the last two, so I'm in for this one as well. Looking forward to it.

Also, I second Sal's recommendation of Dave Chapelle's Block Party, not only for Jill Scott's fine and foxy appearance and performance, but also for Chapelle's rendition of "'Round Midnight," his recommendation that comedians study Thelonious Monk's timing, and especially for the fact that Chapelle just might be the funniest human alive!

[Elissa]

How does the new one compare to Who Is? Cause, for me at least, that one didn't really have legs. I listened to it a few times, got to know it, and never put it on again. I like her voice though.

[Noj]

This one was much better, Elissa.

[JSngry]

And still is gonna be "my favorite" so far, I think.

This new one is holding up well so far. But as time passes, Beautifully Human is sounding/feeling more and more like a masterpiece, I think.

[relyles]

I think I actually liked the first one the best - followed by Vol. 2. I do enjoy the third one as well. I actually miss the more poetic offerings of the first one. I still highly recommend hearing her live if you ever have a chance. Fantastic performer.