One Good Reason To Live In Cleveland

Tonight I headed downtown for dinner at Otto Moser's, and to take in the concert of the year, if not a lifetime. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Case were hosting the 10th Annual American Music Masters Series, which was a tribute to the life and music of the definitive soul singer, Sam Cooke.

The most exciting thing before the show began was the appearance of a woman in a long white gown accented by a red boa, a huge ostrich feather fan and an enormous hat, easily four feet in diameter, also made of red feathers. Her companion wore white pants and a red blazer and matching bowler hat. They made quite a stir sitting in the box seats. They were the talk of all of the folks in my section of the theatre.

The show began at 8:15, when a video screen lowered and Bill Clinton began speaking about the influence of Sam Cooke. His appearance was met with wild applause.

The first act was the incredible Blind Boys of Alabama, singing, This Little Heart of Mine and If I Had A Hammer. They were terrific.

They were followed by the emcee, Dr. Julian Bond of the NAACP, a man of stunning charisma.

Next on the line-up were Otis Clay and Cissy Houston. Cissy sang Only 16, but she was either tired, old, or hanging out with her daughter. She was out of it and had no enthusiasm whatsoever.

As the set was being prepared for the next act, we were treated to old Ed Sullivan black and white footage of Sam singing You Send Me which was breathtaking.

Then, one of the evening's highlights for me - the performance by The Manhattans. I have to go out and get some of their stuff! They did a great version of Chain Gang, and Wonderful World.

This was followed by another vintage video of Sam performing A Change Is Gonna Come.

The mood kept on rising as the magnificent Taj Mahal came out and sang Lil' Red Rooster and Twisting the Night Away. The crowd was clapping, swaying, screaming - it was a party in the house. The energy was electric. It was impossible not to feel a strong sense of communal harmony and joy.

At 9 pm, the assistant emcee came on stage, the great Morgan Freeman, recipient of a long standing ovation, just for being in Cleveland I guess.

Then came Peter Wolf from the J. Geils Band, who really tore up the stage, doing Sam's Everybody Likes to Cha Cha Cha. I've never seen anyone run around a stage like that before.

William Bell did a beautiful version of You Send Me, which lead into We're Having a Party with everyone sans the Blind Boys re-appearing on stage. There was so much energy in the house, it felt like the end of a miraculous concert. But no, it was only intermission!

Going out to the lobby, I ran into a co-worker, "Tripod Dennison", who chivalrously offered to buy me a drink. He concurred that the evening was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event, and that for $35, we were more than getting our money's worth. I was truly concerned, given the level of passion and excitement in the theatre, what would happen when Aretha Franklin appeared. I was pretty sure the roof was going to come off the joint.

The second act began with LC Cooke (Sam's brother) and the Highway QC's .

During the show Gorgeous George and Early Bird ,two famous Apollo emcees, came out and did some recollections of the early days, and their memories of Sam.

The Dixie Hummingbirds also did a song, then came Gavin DeGraw, a youngster, who gave exquisite performances of Cupid and Change my Heart For You , which received a well-deserved standing ovation.

At 10:30 Solomon Burke appeared, wheeled out on an ermine draped throne, wearing a purple sequined suit. His handsome and vocally magnificent son, Selassie, performed a lovely number, and supernaturally evoked the tone and spirit of Sam Cooke. It was kind of spooky.

Then Elvis Costello performed two tunes, That's Where Its At and Get Yourself Another Fool and then finally, Aretha Franklin, my main reason for going to the show.

It was now past 11 pm. The house was dark for a full fifteen minutes as they prepared for Aretha's entrance. There was no videos, no emceeing, no music. Nothing but black silence. It was honestly perturbing. All of the energy of the night had faded. It seemed that the audience on the whole was ready for the night to be over. Finally the curtains parted, and out stepped Morgan Freeman, who simply said , "Here is the Queen Of Soul", and shrugged his shoulders and exited the stage. There is no mistaking that Aretha is a formidable talent. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to see and hear her live, but it was a very long and uncomfortable wait. She performed For Sentimental Reasons and Sugar Dumpling, again bringing out the evening's previous performers to the stage, but there was no energy compared to the rousing and electric first act. That first act, even though it had few "heavyweights" had all of the passion and excitement. If the show was simply the second act, it would have been very disappointing.