Attended the "Tribute" not really knowing what to expect other than an extensive lineup of great recording artists paying homage to Dionne with their interpretations of Warwick's discography. That's exactly what materialized the first half of the show with the opening number dedicated to her gospel roots and featuring a diverse group of artists with similar backgrounds. This entourage included sister Dee Dee, aunt Cissy Houston, Della Reese, Shirley Caesar, Candi Staton, Andre Crouch, Sandra Crouch, Gerald Levert, Donnie McClurkin, Bebe Winans and Cece Winans along with Edwin, Lynette, Tramaine and Walter Hawkins.
The opening number was followed by a string of well executed interpretations of "Warwick Classics" with Dionne seated 2nd row center taking it all in. Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson delivered a "no holds- barred" rendition of "Make It Easy On Yourself" in a tempo similar to Dionne's live version on the "VERY DIONNE" album. A straight forward version of "Walk On By" was delivered by Gloria Estefan and Brian McKnight did the same with "No Night So Long". Gladys Knight earned a standing ovation with a heartfelt performance of "A House Is Not A Home"and Leslie Uggams really surprised me with a perfectly executed "Broadway" version of "I'll Never Fall In Love Again". Jill Scott handled "The April Fools" beautifully and the O'Jay's showed us they still have what it takes with "Always Something There To Remind Me".
Following a 20 minute intermission - it was the second half of the show that really caught me off -guard. I anticipated another couple of hours of what we experienced in the first half of the show. Much to my surprise - things started with an introduction of Dionne Warwick by Gladys Knight. Dionne appeared to a standing ovation and from that point forward was on stage for more than two hours without even a sip of water. Others have reported that Dionne has never sounded better. I first attended a Warwick Concert back in 1967 at Mr. Kelly's in Chicago. Since then - I have seen her perform all over the country at least 40 times and she has never sounded better than she did at the Kodak Theater that night.
Her virtuoso performance included "This Girl's In Love With You" and "Alfie" with Burt Bacharach (Burt contributed a few lines). Burt also provided some complimentary remarks after being introduced by Dionne. She sang perfectly executed versions of "Theme From The Valley Of The Dolls", "Heartbreaker" and "San Jose" (salsa version citing her recording with the late Celia Cruz). Dionne's duet performances included "Wishin & Hopin" (Olivia Newton-John), "Reservations For Two" (Kashif), "Weakness" (Stevie Wonder), "Anyone Who Had A Heart" (Cliff Richard), "I Say A Little Prayer" (her son - David Elliott) and "Close To You" (Richard Carpenter on piano).
Additional duet performances included Dionne and Jeffrey Osborne singing "Love Power" (sounding every bit as good - if not better than their original 1987 recording) They also sang Jeffrey's hit "On The Wings Of Love" (Hoped they would also do "Take Good Care Of You & Me" - NOT).
Thom Bell (producer of the TRACK OF THE CAT album and the #1 single "Then Came You" took to the keyboards and was joined by The Spinners and Dionne for a terrific performance of that #1 song.
Smokey Robinson along with Gloria Estefan joined Dionne for "You'll Never Get To Heaven" (they performed it twice because of a glitch in the video taping equipment) Dionne's only break was for a touchup on the makeup performed center stage by her makeup artist. During another technical interruption Dionne offered up some impromptu jokes.
Several takes (and lots of laughs) were required for "That's What Friends Are For" (Gladys, Dionne & Stevie). Stevie Wonder also paid tribute to Dionne's involvement as the Musical Director for the movie "The Woman In Red" and her bringing him to the project. A performance of "I Just Called To Say I Love You" followed. Dionne closed the evening with "I'll Never Love This Way Again"
This was definitely a "not to missed evening". The 42 piece orchestra was seamless with smooth personnel changes to accommodate the various performers. Kathy Rubbico does a fantastic job on the piano and conducting for Dionne.
This will hopefully and deservedly surface as a television special with maximum audience exposure. A DVD and CD of this evening would also be welcomed!
Disappointments were few: Nancy Wilson offered a beautiful tribute to her friend Dionne but did not sing. Also - B.J. Thomas and Isaac Hayes who were billed in advance were not there (perhaps they performed in advance on tape without an audience due to scheduling conflicts).
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE "50th GOLDEN TRIBUTE" PERFORMANCE!
Ron's Review / WARWICK TRIBUTE @ The Kodak
Moderator: mark
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GehVorbei
