SAIDAH BABA TALIBAH plays Harbourfront Friday (July 29). See listing Rating: NNNN
There’s something refreshingly out of fashion about Toronto soul-rock diva Saidah Baba Talibah. While her take on R&B is steeped in the roots of the genre, she’s not stuck in that 60s throwback sound so many have mined since Amy Winehouse struck gold with the formula. Instead, she has more in common with the psychedelic hard rock tangents groups like Labelle explored in the 70s. But even they didn’t think to replace funky bass guitar with pumping sousaphone, one of the many small touches that make (S)Cream both alien and familiar.
Talibah is the daughter of jazz and blues legend Salome Bey, and has the pipes to match her lineage. She brings to mind a less ?tortured Mary J. Blige, while her backing band is as likely to slide into a shredding guitar solo as a slinky funk groove. Those wailing guitar heroics (courtesy of Donna Grantis) seem odd at first, but who says you can’t combine head-banging with hip-swinging?
Top track: Place Called Grace
