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It's been a while since Fugees alum Wyclef Jean has played St. Louis; Friday's "Night of Symphonic Hip Hop," was a pretty spectacular return.
SLSO invited the press in for a sneak peek during rehearsals, and we happily took them up on the offer. We were wowed by the fact that there would only be one rehearsal—yes, one!—before the night's performance. It's a testament to the talent and professionalism of all involved, including Jean, the symphony orchestra, conductor Gemma New, vocalist Moira Mack, and Jean's "rebel band."
The repertoire included Fugees songs, Jean's compositions for other artists, and covers, including "No Woman, No Cry." The symphony added depth to the music, and came on powerfully toward the end. The word being whispered through the crowd, offering predictions of that night's performance, was "phenomenal." Kevin Johnson used the word "joyous" in his Post-Dispatch review, reporting that Jean literally swept New off her feet before the encore.
After the rehearsal, Jean told us he had been classically trained in jazz; he's been composing since the age of 17 (his high school nickname was "Hip Hop Amadeus"). He added that his high school music teacher would be proud to see him performing with a respected orchestra like SLSO.
Jean has been freestyle battling even longer than he's been using musical notation paper—since age 11. He performed a little bit during rehearsals, which you can watch in the video below. Enjoy!
