More than once this week I had this exchange with puzzled friends and acquaintances:
“I’m going to see Jamie Foxx at the Grove on Thursday.”
“Wait, what … is he singing?”
It’s a curious thing, how Foxx can be so widely regarded for his acting –- who doesn’t know he won the Oscar for his uncanny performance in Ray? –- yet not garner even half as much attention for his records, strong sellers though they continue to be.
It was the breakthrough of Ray, in fact, that led Foxx to take a second stab at a music career (his first album, Peep This, came and went in 1994 with little notice). Enlisting production help from the likes of Timbaland, Kanye West and Babyface –- and loading up his discs with cameos from, among others, Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo, T.I., Fabolous and Mary J. Blige –- Foxx has certainly made a name for himself in urban-soul circles these past few years, first with the double-platinum Unpredictable (2005), then with his December release Intuition. (He’s also only the fourth person in history -– behind Sinatra, Streisand and Bing Crosby –- to have nabbed an acting Oscar and topped the Billboard album charts.)
But while he definitely has a secure reputation, what Foxx still lacks musically is an identity. As was evident time and again during Thursday night’s nearly sold-out Grove gig –- a warm-up for a 63-date tour that arrives Oct. 16 at Nokia Theatre -– Foxx so strains to emulate influences and peers that he often fails to just be himself.
At best, he’s R. Kelly with class, randy but not too raunchy.
“How many ladies are mad at their boyfriends?” he asked at the outset of his show. “Well, I’ll be your boyfriend for an hour and a half. No strings attached, I love it.” Later, infusing bits of comedy into his set (a wise move), he pretended to be a female fan: “I just got my hair did. Cost me $65. You can pull on it later, but I don’t want to sweat it out right now, there’s a recession on!”
It was because of asides like that, in addition to resolutely strong vocals that proved he doesn’t need Autotuning vocal effects to make his songs click, that Foxx came across so instantly appealing, even to male admirers just looking for some sweet soul. All the same, I still had a hard time locating the real Jamie amid his energetic performance.
To rephrase the hook he sang in Twista’s hit “Slow Jamz,” he’s a little Marvin Gaye, some Luther Vandross, all parts of New Edition, maybe a little Usher, a splash of Ginuwine, a touch of Prince in his falsetto … oh, and he’s still plenty enamored of Brother Ray.
His people greatly discouraged any press coverage of this low-key kickoff. (That’s why there are no photos attached; the one above is from his appearance at the 9th annual BET Awards last Sunday.) So perhaps some constructive criticism won’t be welcome. Still, if there’s one recommendation I’d make, it’d be to ditch the Ray Charles shtick a third of the way in -– or at least downplay it.
Turning his back to the crowd, clenching his arms close to his side and swaying a bit so that we know exactly what’s coming, Foxx spins around in character, cracking jokes in Ray voice before leading some call-and-response on “What’d I Say” and sliding from “I Got a Woman” into the smash built out of it, “Gold Digger.” Absolutely he should keep those songs in his set; “Gold Digger” especially makes ’em go wild. But to lace it with impersonation was flat-out corny and misguided: At this point in his career it smacks of trading on his greatest performance, rather than putting himself across as a star on his own terms.
Otherwise, Foxx’s show, abetted by an eight-member ensemble including DJ Irie, two keyboardists and two backing vocalists, is a well-prepped winner that’s ready to roll into larger venues pronto. Is it groundbreaking like some of Kanye’s spectacles? No. Is it in fact anything more than something special for the ladies, a chance for them to revel in all things Jamie while savoring all of his radio hits, from “Extravaganza” to “Just Like Me” and “Blame It”? Of course it isn’t.
And what’s wrong with that? He may feel re-energized after the passing of Michael Jackson, as he mentioned here, but that doesn’t mean he’s trying to be the next King of Pop. Like his song says, he’s just letting it do what it do –- and that’s good enough. For now.
Also:
- O.C.’s Hootenanny turns 15 with a bang
- Steve Howe does double duty with Yes and Asia
- John Fogerty adds heat to fireworks show at the Hollywood Bowl
- Clapton & Winwood retrace faded footsteps at the Hollywood Bowl
- Daughtry to play the Fonda on 13-date small-venue tour
- Adele still charming but not quite ready for the Hollywood Bowl
With his comments about hurricane Katrina, why would the OCR push this pathetic racist.