Maysa Rocked B.B. King's

In my effort to make up for years without a real social life, I've started checking out some concerts. I've always loved live music, but since the money was short, I could only get to the free stuff most of the time. Now that I've got a real job, I can actually pay to see some of my favorite artists. The only catch is that I've got a schedule now, so I've got to work around it. I'll still miss some shows, but I'll catch enough to keep myself happy.

I finally got to check out B.B. King's Blues Club on 42nd Street. A lot of people I liked have played there, but I've always missed them. This time I got to see one of my favorite smooth jazz vocalists, Maysa Leak, live and in person—and she didn't disappoint. I've loved Maysa for years as the lead singer for the British jazz-funk band, Incognito, and as a solo artist, so I was stoked to see her perform live.

I also got the chance to hang out with a couple of my young co-workers and introduce them to her music. With all the half-assed, over-produced "singers" out there now, they need to be able to know and appreciate real music, and real "sangers," when they hear them.

The Carmen Chiles Band did a rock-based set as the opening act, which was cool enough. What I liked most was that it was fronted by a young sister who played acoustic guitar. Maysa, who came with a band including two female background singers and a 19-year old drumming phenom, brought the house down with cuts from her solo projects, including my favorite, Can We Change The World (which she said she wrote in 15 minutes after witnessing the deplorable way hotel workers were treated in Indonesia while on tour with Incognito), a few R&B standards, and the Incognito hit, Deep Waters (another favorite), which she did as an encore performance.

I'm totally looking forward to the next show, wherever it may be. Now that I'm on B.B. King's email list, there won't be too many I'll miss.