It was a magical evening in the four-story Calderwood Hall at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Three women known as KING performed a heady blend of R&B and soul music to a sold-out audience in the classical setting as part of the RISE music series.
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For tickets and information on the RISE music series, visit www.gardnermuseum.org.
Twin sisters Paris and Amber Strother along with musical partner Anita Bias, who make up the trio, touched upon love found and love lost in their music. KING performed the mid-tempo groove “In The Meantime,” the breezy track “Hey” and the up-tempo “Mister Chameleon” from their EP “The Story,” as well as new tracks “Redeye” and “The Right One.”
Their musical stylings — slightly reminiscent of Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and Maxwell — created an atmosphere of love, joy and peace among the stylish and multi-cultural crowd. The audience, completely engaged, smiling, swaying and bobbing their heads to the melody and beat, were whole-heartedly along for the ride.
The second concert scheduled for RISE is a performance by Malaysian singer Yuna on Thursday, October 22 at 7 p.m. The singer’s infectious blend of contemporary pop, acoustic folk and R&B music is a welcome addition to the series’ line-up. Opening for Yuna is Women of the World, an ensemble of musicians from different corners of the globe performing world music.
Curated by singer and rapper Shea Rose and music producer Simone Scazzocchio, the RISE music series accomplished what it set out to do — it celebrated emerging and established artists before a culturally diverse group of various ages, who were there simply to listen to good music and talented artists.
