Funk & Feathers: Joi Returns to NYC
Last night, Joi, a performer who knows no bounds, rocked the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York City. The Queen's Daughters, a fundraiser for NextAid in the form of a loose tribute to LaBelle, assembled the searing Black female lineup of Shelley Nicole's blaKbüshe, Tamar-kali and Joi (Res was originally on the bill but dropped out for unspecified reasons). Shelley Nicole, in a long razored weave and barely there ensemble, warmed the sprinkle of an audience up, Tamar-Kali impressed and hyped further with her booming voice, cane twirling, drop-it-like-its hot dexterity and then came a force that reliably rearranges my molecular structure. Joi creeped in to the best intro ever, "Meow, meow, meow. Joi." It's rousing and anthemic and is so good that it almost makes her set list irrelevant. It pierced my teen consciousness when I first heard her in late nineties Atlanta and it still does.
Joi treated the handful of the handful that hung around for her set--the organizers sadly failed at getting the word out--to selections from her 15 year career. Her tee read "Joilicious: Funk and Feathers since '93," out from which fanned stark white angel wings, not unusual for Joi, but that night a reminder of another original who those of us who lived in ATL years ago remember seeing in platforms and colorful ensembles all throughout town. Whyld Peach, not long ago deceased, was Joi's mentor and evidence of a sound and sentiment in Atlanta's Black music community that predates the critical "aha" at Andre 3000's stank love. Joi welled up during Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome's "You Turn Me On" which featured Whyld Peach. She also treated us to that album's pointed cover of Betty Davis' "If I'm in Luck I Might Just Get Picked Up," a little bit of Bootsy Collins and some LaBelle. She exited, par for the course, with an amended version of her intro, her theme, but in that instance with a sharp shot at all those who've cribbed from her, "Copycat, copycat, get your own shit. Joi." Truer words were never said. I'm just glad I've had a few opportunities along my way to bear witness to the funk and feathers. Meow.
Click here for more photos of the evening.
*Muchas gracias to L'Erin and Joshua for getting me in the venue.
Tags: Concert Reviews, Joi, Music
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