jazzcafe in london

Electrifying

Ursula Rucker w/ Tim Motzer
Jazz Cafe, London
08/10/2003

"The revolution will not be televised". But
maybe it'll happen at the Jazz CafeŠ.
Philadelphia's spoken-word queen, Ursula
Rucker, performed at the famous Camden
venue, leaving a spellbound audience
dreaming of a less ignorant world.
Recently, Ursula released her second album,
Silver or Lead, dropping poetical science
over progressive Hip Hop and future jazz
rhythms crafted by the likes of 4 Hero and
Jazzanova. Firmly regarded as the hottest
poet on wax, Ursula first won hearts with
her collaborations with Philly's finest, the
Roots, now she sells out in advance, over-
seas at the Jazz Cafe, whose audience was
treated to a rare reading of Ursula's tales of
racism, sexism, heartbreak and loss, accom-
panied by collaborator and producer, Tim
Motzer. Armed with two guitars, an Akai
sampler and pedals, Tim replayed the layers
of music which accompanied Ursula's
recordings, sampling everything but pre-
programmed beats to create a wall-of-
sound. Ursula's voice is captivatingly, her
delivery succinct and articulate, whilst
rhythmically on point. Her words are sin-
cere, steeped in true Hip Hop culture, yet
not cliched, and are extremely personal. To
paraphrase Ursula herself, she isn't doing
this to hear the sound of her own voice, this
is her fucking life!


Oliver Brunetti, London Student Culture

cactusclub in brugge belgium

ursula rucker @ cactus club

After performing for 40 minutes or so Ursula Rucker stopped the show because the monitors weren't working. Guitar player Tim Motzer and the drummer (gintis janusonis) also had the same problem. Ursula had asked the sound guys before if they could do something about it. She was very polite though, and it was quite fair: without monitors it is very hard to do a decent gig. So she went offstage and told the audience she wasn't coming back until somebody fixed this problem. And how was the music up 'til then? Well, it was nice, although I never felt this was like a gig I'd remember for a long time.

But then, after ten minutes, the monitor-problem was fixed, and Ursula stepped onto the stage once again. Much more confident now, she and the 2-piece band came back with a vengeance. They performed totally different but beautiful arrangements of tunes from her two albums. It all sounded so great because you know all these tracks, but don't immediately recognise them when played with only voice, guitar and drums. Don't be fooled by the word 'guitar' however, as Tim Motzer uses a heap of digital toys to turn the guitar into a versatile full blown band. (check Spectrum's post on this)
He did a mesmerizing version of 'What a woman must do' where he played all kinds of oriental bells just with his guitar. Other highlights were the great poetry of 'Soon', the three-tracks-in-one 'Q & A' and the smart accoustic rendition of the 4hero production 'Time'. In total, she performed for more than 1:45 hours, leaving us once again with a great live experience...


by Lensco for Beyondjazz.net