Star-studded
show sets record |
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IT
WAS A BENEFIT concert unlike anything Halifax has ever seen
before.
Gordie Samspon, David Foster and Lennie Gallant
Photo:
Jeff Harper
Superstar producer and songwriter David Foster brought a few
of his very talented and internationally renowned friends to
the Halifax Metro Centre for his first-ever Crescendo concert
in Atlantic Canada on Saturday night.
A fundraiser for the David Foster Foundation, which covers non-medical
expenses for families of children requiring transplant surgery,
the event was a sold-out smash, offering the chance to see a
stellar lineup backed by Symphony Nova Scotia and Foster’s
hand-picked band of L.A. session players.
Headliners included adult contemporary stars Natalie Cole and
Lionel Richie and comic Sinbad, but the B.C. native and hitmaker
for acts like Celine Dion and Michael Buble had lots of talent
hidden up his influential sleeve.
The evening began with a dinner for 1,400 attendees, many who
paid upward of $600 a plate, followed by a silent auction that
helped the event raise roughly $1.6 million.
Up for grabs were items like a triple concert / meet-and-greet
package that included the as-yet-unannounced Elton John concert
scheduled for this fall, which had a winning bid of $15,000,
and a private dinner with former U.S. president Bill Clinton
that earned the charity $100,000.
The concert opened in dramatic style with Foster-discovery William
Joseph on piano, performing a majestic take on Led Zeppelin’s
Kashmir with the symphony, conducted by Bernhard Gueller.
"He’s like a younger, more talented, more handsome
version of me," griped an animated Foster, fresh from a
trip to China to arrange the music for the lighting of the torch
for the Beijing Olympics with a piece by Joseph and composer
Tan Dun.
With that, Joseph, whom Foster first encountered at a similar
fundraiser in Phoenix, launched into his new piece Heroes, an
inspirational anthem with the kind of cinematic quality suited
to the Olympics.
Foster next turned to homegrown talent, and "two
of the world’s finest songwriters": Gordie Sampson
and Lennie Gallant.
With a lush symphonic arrangement, Sampson sang Paris, the wistful
declaration of love that Foster described as "one of Faith
Hill’s favourite songs to sing," while Peter’s
Dream was the song chosen by Gallant, who received the glowing
Fosterian compliment of being "a hero of heroes . . . he’s
got the Order of Canada, but then again so do I."
As much as Foster liked to poke fun at his own ego throughout
the course of the evening, he certainly boosted those of a number
of young and fresh performers that graced the stage of the downtown
arena, transformed into a spacious ballroom through the artful
use of black curtains and dangling chandeliers.
Willowy Eleanor McCain — daughter of attendees Wallace
and Margaret McCain — sang the centuries-old folk tune
Shenandoah with delicate grace and spectral clarity, prompting
Foster to note she got the orchestra clapping, "and that’s
hard to do because they don’t clap for anybody."
"Mom and dad, I think we’ve got a team. Got a jet?
’Cause she’s gonna go places."
Other discoveries included Friday night’s winner of the
Ovation talent search, 18-year-old Newfoundlander Craig Sharpe,
who performed Robbie Williams’ Angels with stylishly mussed
hair and the voice and poise of a pro. It didn’t hurt
to have the combined vocal talents of the Cantatrice and Halifax
Boys honour choirs on side either.
But everyone was left breathless by soul powerhouse Jamia Nash,
the 11-year-old who sang on this year’s Academy Awards
telecast.
The Atlanta-born performer displayed a grown-up voice on an
aching Who’s Loving You and even did Aretha Franklin proud
with a sassy version of Respect that had the crowd on its feet.
At this rate, Jamia will likely be a star long before she even
learns how to drive.
Foster soon amped up the star power when he introduced "friend
and rival" Kenneth (Babyface) Edmonds.
Feeling the Celtic genes in the room, the R&B star tried
out his Irish accent, claiming it was his natural Indiana brogue,
before strumming an acoustic guitar and crooning When Can I
See You Again.
Foster struck up the opening chords to Edmonds’ I’ll
Make Love to You, a massive hit for Boyz II Men, which segued
into a touching rendition of Henry Mancini’s classic ballad
Moon River.
"I started hanging around you so I could learn your stuff
and try and beat you," challenged Edmonds. "Just so
you know I’ve got 10 Grammys, but David’s got 14."
Finishing up with the chart-topper he wrote for Eric Clapton,
Change the World, Edmonds gave it more soul than the original
version, proving to be as successful a performer as he is songwriter
and studio whiz.
As funny as much of the banter was throughout the show, veteran
comedian Sinbad provided a lengthy set of concentrated laughs,
wondering when he would get his chance to collaborate with the
evening’s host.
"Where’s my love song album? I want to record some
funk love songs . . . Super Freak, P-Funk . . . songs from the
time when you could love a woman and leave her . . . and still
keep the house."
Sinbad got a lot of mileage out of riffing on Nova Scotia weather
and picking on members of the audience, especially people in
the energy sector whose wives weren’t really sure what
their husbands actually did for a living.
A singer with "the voice of an angel," Natalie Cole,
looking gorgeous in an emerald gown, brought a note of class
to the proceedings with her blend of jazz, pop and soul.
She paid tribute to her father Nat (King) Cole with a sweet
and tuneful The Very Thought of You and a video duet with dad
on Unforgettable, with old home movie footage of young Natalie
in her dad’s arms. But she left the crowd with toes tapping
to her 1975 Grammy-winning hit This Will Be (An Everlasting
Love).
Up to this point, the event had been a concert, but it took
former Commodores frontman Lionel Richie to turn it into a party.
"Guess I’ll have to make this karaoke night for everybody
. . . sing along everyone!" the R&B legend implored
the crowd, taking the stage singing I’m Easy.
During You Are, Richie encouraged a woman from the audience
who was in a rather, shall we say, festive mood to shake her
booty, and she could hardly keep her hands off him.
"I thought this was going to be a quiet, dignified evening,"
he grinned before getting one of the whitest crowds I’ve
ever seen dancing to one of the funkiest numbers ever written;
the Commodores’ Brick House.
As the clock snuck up on 12:30 a.m., it was time to end the
show as Foster announced the grand total of $1.6 million, causing
Richie to remark, "I’m moving to Halifax because
I’m losing a hell of a lot of money in Beverly Hills."
A lively All Night Long turned things into a fiesta, and set
the tone for the early morning after-party in the grand ballroom,
with music by theMellotones.
Judging
by the grin on Foster’s face, the evening was even more
of a success than he anticipated.
(
scooke@herald.ca)
