My wife and I went to see Kim Burrell in concert on Saturday night at the Allen Room at New York’s Lincoln Center.  She was INCREDIBLE.

We knew we were going to be in for a treat cuz it was being billed as A Gospel Christmas… how often do you hear her singing Christmas songs?  So, I was already excited.  But I just about LOST MY MIND when I opened the Playbill to discover that the background singers were gonna include Katrina Spence (buddy of mine from my old church– we used to sing on the Praise Team together), Ayana George (a sangin’ gal who frequently sings with Donnie McClurkin), Jerard Woods (my favorite male background singer in the industry who often sings with CeCe Winans), and… *wait for it* Melonie Daniels.

The anticipation was almost too much when they stepped on stage promptly at 7:30pm.  Everyone looked REALLY great and they were complimented by this absolutely breathtaking, intimate space in which the entire wall behind the stage is a window overlooking Columbus Circle, straight down 59th Street (disclaimer: that’s NOT them in the photo, of course… I didn’t take a picture cuz I didn’t wanna get kicked out, but you can see the nice venue >>>>>).

She was in great voice.  She was tasteful in every choice she made– the right amount of riffs, the proper placement of growls.   The arrangements were true to her gospel roots, but authentically jazzy, too.  And she was a consummate professional– gracious and playful, even cracking jokes with the audience throughout the show (at one point, she asked people to yell out their favorite Christmas songs… when someone yelled out “Chestnuts,” she responded “Chestnuts???  Whole Foods,” pointing to the Whole Foods Supermarket downstairs).   Most importantly, she unashamedly and unapologetically represented and worshipped Jesus Christ in each song.

I had but two qualms: (1) the mix wasn’t stellar, so I often heard too much band, not enough background, and definitely not enough Kim Burrell; and (2) the audience didn’t appreciate her the way I wanted them to.  You could kinda tell that only a few dozen folks in there even own a Kim Burrell CD, let alone knew who she is.  Since it was part of a Jazz at Lincoln Center series (and members of Lincoln Center probably get some discount/priority tickets), a lot of folks in the audience were… not the type of people you’d EVER see at a gospel ANYTHING.  And so, as a result, there were very few shouts of “go ‘HEAD, KIM!” or “that’s alRIGHT!” except from my wife.

Still, a magical evening (I hope she recorded it and releases it as a Christmas album next year).  Oh, and I feverishly scribbled down the entire song list just for you folks:

1. “Silver Bells”
2. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
3. “Winter Wonderland”
4. “What Child Is This?”
5. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
6. “This Christmas” feat. Jason Nelson (yes, the artist/songwriter from Baltimore and twin brother of Jonathan Nelson)
7. Medley: “What A Friend We Have In Jesus,” “Amazing Grace,” “Thank You Lord,” “Give Thanks”
8. “Sweet Little Jesus Boy” feat. Daughters of Zion (three awesome praise dancers who danced their behinds OFF in a VERY tight space!)
9. “Little Drummer Boy”