Sonya Jevette singing Thursday night at Cat's Art MusikCircus. Look closely to Cat to see the bubblegum because in that "Big Girls" song they have their high heels on and they love to be poppin' that gum.
Sonya Jevette gives us "Big Girls" but you have heard about that from me multiple times. It hasn't in any way lost its coolness and you can see Cat and I dancing on the stage with Sonya while she did it. The problem is that focusing on this one too much can leave you thinking it's the only good original she does and that just ain't so.
Sonya opened last night with a new song and I don't know its title but she sings about how the world is starving for love. It starves for love for the little African babies all the way through to so many people who tell you they are happy but you can see clearly they are not. John Lennon said it his way and Sonya says it in her own. What's more, she sang it in a sultry kind of way and this is a different Sonya. Her originals, very generally, take the form of ballads rather than blues but this one was kind of a slow Sonya jam that was gorgeous.
There was another one that particularly struck me and this was also, I believe, brand-new and this was "Black Woman." As the song unfolded I became more and more taken with it as I was hearing the kind of 'stand your ground' that means something. I am here with my love and my spirit. I am a black woman and I will stand my ground (paraphrased). Sonya teaches music to kids right after her show on Thursdays. What I hear in this song is that she can teach many things and she is just the one to do it.
Sonya's voice has so much power that she could scare you with it if she chose to use it that way. When she goes after those high notes, she hits them and it's with a purity that lifts you away from wherever pitiful place you are into that Magic Circus place. Sonya does it in a way no-one else can.
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