RAYE, Live at Montreux Jazz Festival ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Serendipitously, this last Saturday they ran a rerun of a Saturday Night Live from last season that featured RAYE as the musical guest. I haven’t watched a full SNL in recent years, but for whatever reason I decided to land on NBC and watch it. She absolutely blew me away on there. So when I saw she had a new live album out, of course I had to listen to it.
To say the performance on this album is a showcase of powerhouse vocals is an understatement. She does things with her voice on this album that will make your throat hurt just thinking about it. But the pain is worth it. She really delivers a knockout performance here, and pulls off vocals that will leave you in awe.
The song selection is great here, too. It’s not the full performance, but the highlights here are definite highlights. It’s comprised of original songs, and a stirring rendition of the James Brown classic “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” The band is also top notch. This is one of those live albums that reminds you how great a live album can be. The energy captured on this recording makes you feel like you’re there.
Favorite song: “Mary Jane”
