NATALIE COLE TORCHES THE APOLLO!

It's 7:55PM and the newly computerized billboards on the outside of the Legendary Apollo Theater flashes the cover of the new Natalie Cole cd, but instead of LEAVIN', it reads LIVE IN CONCERT!

I have had my tickets for weeks, yet being here tonight, now, minutes away, makes my soul leap. I meet my good friend David and have my son Ga'Vel in tow. I can feel it in my bones. This is going to be a magical night.

I know it because of the buzz in the air.

I know it when I see L. Marilyn Crawford, my former boss in DC and now president of Primetime Omnimedia and she's rarely out at these kinds of functions.

I know when I see Timolin (Natalie's twin sister) and her husband Gary, and both sons with them (AND THEY LIVE IN FLORIDA!!!).

I know it when I look up in the balcony and see Diddy's Momma, Ms. Janice Combs, ready to party.

I know it when the lights go down and the room ignites in applause as each band member takes the stage, including Robert Adam Yancy, Natalie's only son, on percussion.

"HEY! HEY! EVERYBODY! PUT YO HANDS TOGETHER"



The groove is cold and funky. They clap and prompt us to do the same. When Tracy and Marilyn (the background singers) are finally in place, out coasts Miss Cole.

Natalie Cole, 56, ravishingly sexy, with her hair parted and tucked behind her ears, straight crystalized earrings with large teardrops at the end and minimal makeup show you just how beautiful Natalie is. The outfit--white peasant top, black satin waist cincher (which is completely unnecessary, but cute for the look), black velvet capri pants, accented by satin and all playing second fiddle to a stunning pair of black satin boots with what appear to be crystal dragons on each--shows us that Miss Natalie is clearly here to LOOK GOOD, but how will she sound? How will her voice hold up to recent barbs that she wasn't fully present onstage? How would she handle the rowdy crowd at the Apollo that had waited until about 8:30 for her to take the stage?

Natalie answered them all with FIRE!

Opening with "DAYDREAMING," Natalie has the crowd in her hands. Followed up with "CRIMINAL" and "LOVE LETTER," it's apparent that everyone has either purchased "LEAVIN'" or just knows good music when they hear it. The capacity crowd is prepared to take this ride with Natalie and she goes all the way there.

The next trio of songs are Cole Classics, and the theater loses its mind as Natalie romps through "I'VE GOT LOVE ON MY MIND," which wore the building out and Natalie ripped into like it was 1977 and she had to do her song justice! I mean this sangin' heffa tore this thing to shreds! We were on our feet! I can hear it. Something is different in her voice. That took us right into "MR. MELODY," dedicated to the fellas and swaying brilliantly into "INSEPARABLE," which the crowd sang along without any pushing. This is an anthem to Harlem and Black folks and love and you can fill it in the air. Natalie is all aglow, as reminiscent of that magnificent night with Sinbad at the Summer Jam, the crowd sings with every lyric! Yeah, there is definitely something different in her voice. Something...more. The groove on "ANNIE MAE" tells us that the hits aren't just going to be sprinkled into the night. They are going to be injected.

"When people ask me why we do this song, I say 'because it feels good!" That was the intro to "WHIPPING POST," a raunchy, rowdy blues joint that I saw Natalie do at the House of Blues more than a decade ago. SHE WAS SANGIN'! This crowd knows that they are witnessing Natalie Cole at her finest and we are not ashamed to go where she takes us! Fine, Natalie, we'll be tied to the Whipping Post! If you say so, WE ARE YOURS TONIGHT!!!

Other highlights of the night were Natalie's cover of "LEAVIN'," which was an instant hit with the crowd that loves a good LOVE GONE WRONG song, an offering of "LOVIN' ARMS" that took the crowd higher LONG BEFORE Natalie spoke about the loving arms of Jesus and took us to church. The audience was already enjoying The Gospel According To Natalie and you could see on her face that she was loving the love! "5 MINUTES AWAY" continues to prove that it should be the next single, as even my son was swaying and singing like it was on 106 AND PARK. But the night, for me, belonged to a pair of Cole Classics that closed the show. Natalie introduced the band on "OUR LOVE" and really, REALLY wailed into that song like it was the only gift she could offer the audience.

WE ARE ALWAYS CONNECTED AND WE'VE ALWAYS GOT OUR LOVE! She seems to be saying with her legendary green eyes, sparkling into each of our hearts, right from the stage to us, each. You could feel it pouring from the stage and going back to Natalie, as the crowd started to sing the song BEFORE the band intros and we had to WAIT! As she sang THUNDER into it, we are already on our feet for "THIS WILL BE" and everyone--Black, white, Asian, Latino (the night was sponsored by CHASE BANK as a part of their Legends Series)--knew that we could just cut up because we had the Common Cole Connection of this song. We all knew it, loved it and wished for it! It was a magical night indeed and Natalie's face registered every cheer, roar and romp from the adoring audience of folks who had waited for this night for many a night gone by.



As Natalie returned for her anticipated encores, the crowd just got louder and livelier. When she returned, Natalie wasted no time going right into "I'M CATCHIN' HELL," and I have GOT TO SAY that this is my song and it still does the same thing to me that it has done since I was 12 YEARS OLD! On my feet, in the aisle, I thought I was gonna lose my mind, because it had been sooooo long since I had heard all of these songs in the same show and Natalie was on fire. There is a new timbre in her voice. Something has happened and our Sophisticated Lady of Soul is truly reinvented and reinvigorated! As she and Tracy tear into the "SAD, SAD SONG!" vamp, the band is playing, Tracy is showing OFF and Natalie is gone! She squeezes EVERY SINGLE DROP OF SOUL out of each SAD and if we will stay with her, she's got to testify! Somewhere in all of that sexiness and sass, Natalie is getting born again! I thought at times that I was transformed back to my livingroom in the projects of Washington, DC when I would play my NATALIE...LIVE! albums and press the headsets of our riggity old stereo so close to my ears that the suction would hear when I was through, hours later. Natalie caught hell last night and wrestled it to the ground and picked up glad tidings for her peaceful living and she smiled because there ain't nothing stronger than love, indeed.

After Natalie finished the song, she and the band do a playful "Glory Hallelujah" dance to get all of the Hell that she caught off of her. I have seen the show before (in NYC @ HIRO BALLROOM and in RED BANK, NJ @ COUNT BASIE THEATRE). Both times, it was a fun frolic and a great way to close the song.

This time, it felt different. Somewhere in the dance, Natalie really did seem like she was shouting off all of the hell that she has caught in her life, in her career and even some nights on this tour. If you know the Holy Ghost, there is a moment when the face of the person consumed seems to change from a delightful joy to a unleashing. Something got off of Natalie Cole last night and I pray that it's done and gone because if THIS Natalie Cole is the one that we are going to be hearing from this night on, WE ARE IN FOR A TREAT AND A NEW LEVEL!

To close the show, Natalie has to make note of the stunning and unexpected death of soul superstar GERALD LEVERT. She acknowledged that she had just seen him in DC at the 25th Anniversary of RADIO ONE and she is shocked. She also talks about how many of her friends have lost their mothers in recent days and she's clearing in a serious mind as she says "TIME...TIME IS SLIPPING AWAY, SO IF YOU HAVE A CHANCE, LET SOMEONE KNOW THAT YOU CARE. IF YOU ARE HERE TONIGHT WITH SOMEONE SPECIAL, HOLD THEM AND LET THEM KNOW." With that, we were treated to "UNFORGETTABLE." I grabbed my son, whom I had to scold in the ride from Central NJ, and we hugged and it was alright. Whatever had been, it was alright now. Whatever had made Natalie think that she hadn't done the right thing by getting back to her roots and trusting her instincts, it was alright now. "UNFORGETTABLE" felt as soulful and soul-filled as Natalie's own masterful songs this night. Tonight, we remembered that Nat and Natalie had shared laughs and she had looked into that legend's eyes and been scolded and lifted and loved and fathered. In this building, where not only is Nat King Cole's picture proudly displayed, but the street bears his name, Natalie Cole found that special, certain, soulfully singular something that has always made her...different.

Natalie Maria Cole was in rare form at the Apollo on this Friday night in November in this the year of our Lord 2006. Going backstage after the show, fans and family alike got to take pictures and meet each other (I had met Timolin, but finally got to meet Casey and saw Robbie again and spent time with Timolin and Gary and their boys and it was a lovely way to spend an evening). Ms. Combs had made her way backstage, as had the young female star of "ARE WE THERE YET?" ALEISHA ALLEN. After about an hour and watching Natalie, who was resplendent in an exquisite vintage teal****tail dress and teal velvet pumps, prepared to spend the evening with friends, taking pictures, signing autographs, laughing with her friends, family and fans, I said to her "YOU SANG YOUR FACE OFF TONIGHT! THERE IS SOMETHING NEW ABOUT YOU TONIGHT!," her response was simple but true.

"I KNOW."

She knew it too. Something was transformed at the Legendary Apollo. After I kissed our loving friend and her trusted assistant/sister/friend/heavyload sharer BENITA, I was off. As I walked away from the Apollo, I looked back and also wanted to kiss the building itself.

The Apollo had given me my Natalie back, and just like the album that gave us "OUR LOVE," "ANNIE MAE," "LA COSTA, (my personal lullaby)" and "KEEPING A LIGHT," I was THANKFUL from my soul for the Soul of Natalie Cole!