The idea of men gathering to lift their voices in song sounds interesting enough. Now add to the equation an all male vocal tribute to Mary J. I’m on board! Tell the truth, which Mary do you prefer, the homegirl, tough as nails, drama-laden, drama-free, enlightened, or empowered Mary? Whatever your preference “Men Love Mary” had you covered. The evening was the brainchild of Soulbounce.com founder, Butta, in collaboration with SOL Village, the artist showcase hosted by Eric Roberson (aka Erro). The soundtrack for the affair was Mary J’s 1994 classic “My Life” reworked by six shining stars of the indie music scene: D-Maurice, Darien, Bradd Marquis, Jesse Boykins III, TL Cross, and Mr. Entertainment himself, Eric Roberson. Before the official program began, Mr. Roberson launched the show with a funky, rocked out rendition of the American Idol audition gem “Pants on the Ground”. After capturing the room’s attention, focus shifted to the tragic devastation of Haiti. Sharing the newly penned “A Prayer for Haiti”, Eric pledged to donate 100% of the evenings CD sales to Haitian relief efforts.
“Men Love Mary” was chock-full of artists not merely performing Mary J’s material, but reinterpreting songs in their own flavor. D-Mo delivered “Mary’s Joint”, this man showed his worth not only serving and featured artist, but pulling double duty providing backing vocals for Erro. Here’s the kicker when the backing track for “Love Without a Limit” wouldn’t power up, D-Mo still belted that tune out with the audience providing background vocals. Next up was Darien with “Be Happy” including lacing his offering with a touch-of-rhyme, TL Cross with “You Gotta Believe”, Bradd Marquis “I Never Want to Live Without You” for a minute or two brother man channeled the recently deceased Teddy Pendergrass by dropping a few bars of “Love TKO”, Jesse Boykins III delivered a ragga-tinged version of “No One Else” to Eric Roberson’s rendition of “My Life”. Not to be outdone, the audience was also invited to pay musical tribute to Mary J. Eric asked for any brave audience member to lift their voice up in song for “Not Goin’ Cry” (‘Waiting to Exhale’ soundtrack), “Just Fine” (‘Growing Pains’) and with full crowd participation for “All That I Can Say” (‘Mary’). Though the event was called “Men Love Mary”, the ladies in the house had a whole lotta something to share as well. Over the familiar melody of the Roy Ayer’s classic “Everyone Loves the Sunshine”, we were treated to the velvety voice scatting of Lorenda Robinson(Brown Baby Girl), Kiki Hawkins (The Kiki Experience) doing what she does best wrecking the set with her powerhouse vocals. Most memorable for me was witnessing Kimberly Nichole just rock it out.
The evening’s close featured all “Men Love Mary” artists retaking the stage, then along with the female vocalists in the house (Tess, Kiki Hawkins, Lorenda Robinson, and Kimberly Nichole) for a jam session styled version of “My Life”. One audience member was so positively impacted she took to the stage offering praise and a performance, her name – Kim, her gig –playing drums for Beyonce. Had Mary J. had been in attendance she would’ve been honored, and flattered by the expression. A great effort for all involved, “Men Love Mary” brought me joy!
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