Alicia Keys as she is

I must confess that I am not completely sold on soul music. First, I see melody as very important to a song and I do not like the way some so-called soul artists distort this just to show off what they can do with their voices. I also think of soul as a totally American genre. This means that you can come up with Pinoy takes on other forms like rock or bossa or folk but soul stumps everyone out here. The best we do is Vehnee Saturno’s pop/soul style compositions and Kyla’s soulful ballads.

And most of all I do not like the way contestants in singing competitions hereabouts do soul. We Pinoys are excellent mimics and we can be fantastic with microphones. So watch those singing contests and you will surely come across impressive de cajon renditions of some soul songs. The singers attack the recording word for word and note for note totally unaware that those ad-libs were never in the original melody. Those embellishments were made by the original singer who allowed his voice to just go along with his emotions. Jazz singers also do this but their approach is cool and more laid-back. The soul artists hide nothing. They let everything hang out.

While I have reservations about soul music and admit that I favor Diana Ross over Patty LaBelle and Robby Williams over John Legend, that does not mean I do not admire the artists who do soul music well like the beautiful Alicia Keys. Ok, well, I must admit it is an understatement as far as this girl is concerned. She has this full-bodied voice that seems to do everything right. Trained from childhood to be a classical pianist, she has excellent command of the music and of lyrics,  too. And because she is totally fearless about showing her emotions, listening to her is like looking deep into her soul.

Keys has released three studio CDs. Her debut album Songs In A Minor which sold over 10 million copies, won five Grammys and featured the phenomenal single Fallin’. The number of female entries to local singing contests who believed this will win them the top prize is countless. This was followed by the even bigger selling The Diary of Alicia Keys with the hits If I Ain’t Got You and You Don’t Know My Name which won four Grammys. Then late last year came As I Am with No One and which has so far delivered two Grammys.

Soul in great abundance is what all three albums have. But there is a lot more than usual in As I Am. Recorded after a three-year break from performing, every cut is a cutting display of pain that cannot help but affect the listener. Her clever piano intros take the lead in most of the tracks. But unlike the first two albums, I hear classic soul in several cuts. Think Roberta Flack. Her usual purring style remains in the slow jams and there are a number of pop cuts like Superwoman that makes the CD more accessible. One of this is Lesson Learned, co-written, co-produced and performed with John Mayer.

But because Pinoys love soul so much, the songs that click with local buyers are the powerful ballads with all those ad-libs. No One is the most popular, followed by the wistful Where Do We Go From Here. My own choice is Like You’ll Never See Me Again, which is her subtle but sexy take on I Will Survive. Other titles to choose from are Go Ahead, No One, Wreckless Love, The Thing Called Love, Teenage Love Affair, I Need You, Prelude to a Kiss, Tell You Something (Nana’s Reprise) and Sure Looks Good to Me.

Now that I have told you about how good As I Am is, you can brace yourself for more of No One and other Alicia Keys songs in the next few weeks. This is because the sultry soul diva will be back in town after four years. She is set to perform at the SM Mall of Asia Complex on Aug. 5.

This is a new venue for concerts in Metro Manila, an alternative to the Taguig open field where they did Beyoncé Knowles and My Chemical Romance. If I remember right this must be the same place where they do those fireworks competitions and where there can be a grand set-up that would be able to accommodate, the biggest local audience ever. Tickets are reasonably priced at P3,950; P2,650; P900 and P450. For reservations, call TicketWorld at 891-9999.