YahZarah Oduro celebrated 25 years of her music at April’s installment of Apollo Music Café. Oduro, who has toured with Madonna, Erykah Badu, Lenny Kravitz and Anthony Hamilton, performed a set of her unique blend of soul, rock and R&B for about an hour in front of an intimate crowd at the Apollo soundstage, located inside the historic theater.
Oduro was joined onstage by a four-piece band that included a keyboardist, a drummer and two guitarists. The five were joined onstage by a saxophone player for one song.
“Tonight, I’m going to tell stories, but most importantly, I hope you know that my heart is open wide, and I’m going to tell all my business tonight. … It’s a union house, so I guess I can’t tell the whole night, but I’m going to tell you some things and I hope you enjoy it,” she greeted the audience shortly after taking the stage.
“But the rule is if you want to get up and dance — I know you all are sitting down, and some of us are used to institutions that say, if you are sitting down, you can’t groove to — but consider this a house party where you are the guest of honor and feel free to rock with me,” Oduro encouraged the audience.
And rock with her the crowd did. Oduro received several standing ovations while performing mostly original music and sharing stories about her music, including a song which her mother — who was in the audience — co-wrote with her.
Some of the songs the Ghanian-descended singer performed included “Drugs,” — in which she sings of love as an addiction — “Beautiful Ashes,” and “Starship,” a song that she says she wrote in about 15 minutes. She also breathed new life into songs by incorporating new songs into the arrangements, including the hook for the worldwide Tyla hit, “Water.”
She closed out her set with the Prince classic, “Purple Rain” in front of a crowd that was standing throughout the performance.
The monthly series Apollo Music Café has featured Grammy Award winners PJ Morton and Samara Joy in the past and will feature singer Grace Gibson in May.
