Here’s what I was thinking after Capathia Jenkins’ and Louis Rosen’s tight, moving, musically glorious show at Joe’s Pub last night: How lucky they are to be working together.  And how lucky we are to witness the on-going story of their unbelievably fruitful collaboration.

For Capathia: Louis has created a personal repetoire for her that fits her vocal instrument and emotional range like a glove. How lucky she is. It’s like she has her own private George Gershwin, Steven Sondheim, Burt Bacharach, Antonio Jobim, and Randy Newman rolled into one. She’s a lucky, lucky girl One plus one make three.

For Louis: Capathia is a perfect muse for his continuing evolution as an artist. Her voice challenges him to create incredible songs that express many sides of them both.

As a duo: They compliment one another. Louis with his edgy, intimate, low-tech voice is great alongside Capathia’s virtuosic intensity. Each enhances the other.

First he created songs on
Maya Angelou’s poetry. Then a song cycle about various
characters growing up in a neighborhood in transition on the South Side
of Chicago (based on Louis’ non-fiction book).

Now, he’s working on a song cycle based on the poetry of
Nikki Giovanni. They did one of the Giovanni songs as an encore and it was a standout.

Great, great show. I for one am going back again next week with some friends.  For info and tickets, go to Joe’s Pub. To buy their debut album, Southside Stories, go to CDbaby.com