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More Reviews of Wyclef Jean Foundation Benefit Concert submitted by: Arunesh, Derric source: USA Today, The New York Times Date: January 22, 2001 Wyclef gives jokes a pause for the cause By Elysa Gardner and Steve Jones, USA TODAY NEW YORK - Imagine that your crazy, obnoxious uncle - the one who slaps you on the back after downing a few beers, then starts divulging details about your aunt that you would really rather not know - landed a gig as master of ceremonies at a star-studded charity event. That was the impression given by hip-hop musician, producer, philanthropist and wannabe comedian Wyclef Jean on Friday night at Carnegie Hall, at a concert benefiting the Wyclef Jean Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at providing children around the world with musical instruments, education and therapy. The three-hour show, attended by such celebrities as Carly Simon and Naomi Campbell, featured performances by Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston, Macy Gray, Destiny's Child, Mary J. Blige, Charlotte Church, Third World and surprise guest Stevie Wonder. There were also winning appearances by "Clef's Kids," prodigiously gifted local music students. Jean was clearly moved by the assortment of established and fledgling talent that surrounded him. Introducing the students, who played standards representing and often blending classical music, jazz, rock, hip-hop, reggae and salsa, Jean seemed downright giddy. Leading a funky rendition of Take the A Train, he crowed loudly: "Check out this piano player - he's only 14! Check out this bass player - only 16!" But Uncle Jean's showmanship wasn't always endearing. His lame, repetitive wisecracks about race, class and union restraints on stage time could seem like cheap shots - especially when he used them in an effort to keep audience members appeased during apparent technical glitches and other presumably unforeseen pauses. "I don't know the next time they'll let a black man in here," Jean joked during one lull, as if a white man would have had an easier time wowing the multiracial crowd with such insipid patter. Fortunately, Jean's guests and co-stars exhibited more grace, and more charisma. Houston gave the most spirited, accomplished performance, segueing from a rousing version of the gospel song I Go to the Rock - in which she was backed by her protégées, the promising girl group Sunday - to the ebullient My Love Is Your Love. In a classic showbiz moment, Houston greeted audience member Clive Davis, the deposed founder of her record company, and plugged his new label, J Records. "I miss you!" the diva cooed. Pubescent soprano Charlotte Church delivered Ave Maria and the Gershwin classic Summertime clad in a pair of decidedly grown-up outfits, including a slinky sequined number with painted-on slacks. Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari wore funkier garb for an instrumental hip-hop medley, and Clapton played the sedate, dapper Englishman while performing Wonderful Tonight and dueting on Jean's new My Song. A few luminaries seemed strangely underused. Blige was in glorious voice but disappeared after singing one duet, 911, with Jean. Wonder essentially made a couple of cameos, most memorably scatting and playing harmonica during reggae band Third World's vibrant Now That We Found Love. Omnipresent girl group Destiny's Child stuck around longer, offering spunky, elaborately choreographed versions of their hits Say My Name and Independent Women Part I -- not to mention the right combination of glittery garb and bare skin needed to reinvigorate the audience. Jean, who himself sported an array of Giorgio Armani costumes that would have made Diana Ross jealous, seized on the crowd's renewed energy in the Latin-flavored finale. As Marc Anthony and an army of drummers and dancers joined the other performers, Jean frantically tried to whip the crowd into a frenzy, clearly intent that his party be remembered as a smashing success. Given the worthiness of his cause, and the richness of talent represented by his guests, I would say he pulled it off. But I'm glad he won't be joining my family for Thanksgiving dinner any time soon. POP REVIEW; A Hip-Hop Master Invokes Cultural Deities By ANN POWERS Wyclef Jean obviously exerted himself planning the benefit concert he staged for his charity, the Wyclef Jean Foundation, Friday at Carnegie Hall. This hip-hop star cajoled an impressive number of famous friends to pop by and taught more than a dozen talented youths from his music education program, Clef's Kids, how to grace the hall's elegant stage. Mr. Jean also corralled a marching band and several costumed Carnival dancers for the show's climax, just to make it really climactic. Finally, he rearranged a Bach piece to include hip-hop beats and jazz blue notes, and conducted several of Clef's Kids in its performance. Yet all Mr. Jean needed to bring to this event was his personality, an audacious, effusive, sometimes aggravating force of nature, and the fancy crowd would have been highly entertained. Surrounded by the spectacle he had willed into being, he made what promised to be another bloodless all-star event a great time. Papa Legba, the trickster-patriarch of voodoo, had possessed the Haitian-born Mr. Jean for the night. He mentioned another deity of the cultural crossroads. "I'm the new Sammy Davis Jr.," he said during one of his many strolls into the audience. "I'm liked by everyone." Mr. Jean has actually received mixed responses within hip-hop; like Davis, he's sometimes considered too eager to assimilate into the pop mainstream. Yet as host of the first hip-hop-oriented concert in Carnegie Hall, he realized the full value of his crossover art. Ebullience made the night's fusion experiments work. Enlisting the teenage soprano Charlotte Church to sing Gershwin's "Summertime" may not have been the best idea (she did better on "Ave Maria") but the very audacity charmed. Turning "Wish You Were Here," by Pink Floyd, into a Caribbean-tinged jam session (with languid vocals by Macy Gray) absolutely worked, as did persuading Whitney Houston to go deeper into the reggae groove Mr. Jean wrote into her hit "My Love is Your Love." The room jumped with energy whenever Mr. Jean was onstage. This was fortunate, because he hardly ever left, except to wander forth to address an esteemed audience member. He frequently ribbed the music mogul Clive Davis, gawked at the supermodel Naomi Campbell and consulted with his manager, David Sonenberg. Nor did Mr. Jean ignore his less famous fans. He taught Jamaican patois to a white fan and joked with several blacks about how rare it was to see their race represented in Carnegie Hall. That last point, which Mr. Jean frequently made, is a little unfair. Perhaps he hasn't heard of Carnegie's resident jazz band. Yet few concerts here have been so aggressive about displaying African-diaspora pride. The Caribbean was represented by Stephen Marley, son of Bob Marley, and the veteran reggae band Third World, but the region's style touched nearly everything. Mr. Jean, who was born in Haiti and grew up in Brooklyn, is as interested in hip-hop's roots as in hip-hop itself. His songs reach back to what hip-hop has adapted as it reaches out to sources that it rarely incorporates, like Bach. Sometimes the mix gets messy, even silly, but like the man who makes it, it bristles with ideas. Most of Mr. Jean's guests seemed stimulated by his frenetic presence. Ms. Houston was inspired, if a bit frantic, during her gospel-flavored star turn. Eric Clapton transformed his dusty hit, "Wonderful Tonight," into a reggae idyll. Stevie Wonder, a surprise guest, was his usual radiant self. Two artists deserved bigger spotlights. Marc Anthony strolled onstage as Mr. Jean and Claudette Ortiz were breezing through "Guantanamera" and devastated everyone with a single vocal swoop. Mary J. Blige did the same in a duet with Mr. Jean on his song "911." Destiny's Child, this year's hottest soul vocal group, got two songs, but hardly earned its time. Only the trio's gifted leader, Beyonce Knowles, seemed to be singing as backing tracks played and tired dance routines unfurled. This slightly dull moment passed, though, within an evening that mostly just got better. The junior cast members from Clef's Kids couldn't really stand out amid all the star power, but their mere presence intensified the festive mood. Mr. Jean's sister, Melky Jean, proved his finest protegee with a blues-sauced, stomping version of "Amazing Grace." Ms. Jean dedicated that song to her father, a Newark minister, whom her brother mentioned throughout the evening. "My father never came to see me before," Mr. Jean said. As delighted as he clearly was to have arrived in this cultural temple, this pop millionaire genuinely seemed most concerned that one man, his father, have a good time. This expression of love was his most endearing move of all. Site design by: Dolphin Webpage Designs © 1996-2001