Fans hungry to hear sweet soul music performed live by some of its biggest stars were energized by Friday’s inaugural Los Angeles Soul Music Festival. Stars of the three-day outdoor festival, held July 22-23-24 at Griffith Park’s Autry Museum of the American West, included Marsha Ambrosius, Joe, Jazmine Sullivan and Lalah Hathaway.
Hathaway is the Grammy award-winning recording artist who burst onto the soul and R&B scene in 1990 with her self-titled debut album. The eldest daughter of the late soul singer Donny Hathaway has performed for more than two decades with the cream of jazz, soul and R&B.
Nominated in 2010, Hathaway’s first Grammy came in 2014 for her performance with Snarky Puppy on Something. A Grammy for Jesus Children came the following year. In 2016 Hathaway made it three in a row for the cover of her father’s Little Ghetto Boy.
Reel Urban News spoke with Hathaway on the festival’s red carpet before her performance. “I think it’s important that we have festivals that don’t have the word ‘jazz’ in the title. This festival is exactly what it says it is. It’s chock full of soul music, and I think it’s beautiful for soul music to be recognized.”
We asked the second-generation singing star to contrast the appeal of soul with more commercially successful genres like hip-hop.
“I think that’s a relative question. It would be nice if the playing ground was a little more level, but those are things that are a little out of our control. So soul music is alive and well. You just have to know where to find it.”
Hathaway realizes the importance of keeping soul music alive but knows she can’t do it alone. “For me personally, I don’t have to keep it relevant. It is relevant. I just have to be myself and show up authentically. And that keeps soul music alive. Artists like Eric Roberson keep it alive. Rahsaan Patterson keeps it alive. Angie Stone keeps soul music alive. We all do our part, we all do our piece. Soul music still influences every other music in the world.”
Hathaway shared her optimism for soul’s future just before she took the festival stage. “This genre of music is fine. I hope that more people are exposed to the real soul of soul music, that makes all of this and us possible.”
Photo Credit: Reel Urban Images
