D'ANGELO & QUESTLOVE SHUT DOWN BROOKLYN BOWL

D'Angelo has been dubbed "R&B Jesus," and on Monday he came close to living up to his billing of saving Soul, giving rapture to a Brooklyn audience despite a long delay before playing his first note of the night.

The crowd, which packed the Brooklyn Bowl to capacity, was surprisingly forgiving of the artist's near two-hour delay in taking the stage. But D'Angelo, whose seldom-used real name is Michael Eugene Archer, is an exception to nearly every musical rule. Fans have clamored for his music for over a decade, during which the singer became reclusive after the controversy over his nearly-nude video for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," and artistic pressure drove him from the spotlight.

After appearing at a Bonnaroo super jam in 2012, playing a few European dates of his own and a stint opening for Mary J. Blige, D'Angelo seems to be storming back into the public eye.

The Brooklyn Bowl sold out in minutes for Monday's surprise duet — teased on Twitter late last week — between D’Angelo (on piano and vocals) and drummer-turned-producer Questlove. His presence packed the VIP section; Maya Rudolph, Sean Lennon and Derek Trucks — on break after a weeklong residency at the Beacon Theater — all showed up to listen.

"Y'all waited 13 years," Questlove joked as the pair took the stage at around 11:00 p.m., long past the 9:00 p.m start time. "Y'all can wait another two hours."

Judging by the cheers, the Roots bandleader was right — even though the performance itself lasted only a single hour. It was an hour well spent shuttling between D'Angelo’s older originals and classic funk, and was fascinating for what it meant in terms of a rebirth for the neo-soul singer's career.

From the moment D'Angelo took the stage, took his coat off and sat down at one of his multiple electric pianos, the crowd seemed captivated by the music’s groovy intensity. D'Angelo, comping bass grooves with his left hand on one keyboard and melody lines with his right hand on another set of ivories, switched fluidly between originals from his first two albums like "Alright" and "The Root" and funk's back catalogue, including Sly and the Family Stone's "(You Caught Me) Smilin'" and Funkadelic's "Cosmic Slop."

Questlove mentioned at the beginning of the night that the gig — officially titled "The Soulquarians: Brothers In Arms," a reference to the name of D'Angelo's old touring band and the musical collective they both belonged to that was responsible for most of neo-soul's early hits — was an effort to recreate the recording process between the two musicians.

So the two pushed tempos, shifted styles and improvised as if they were challenging one another in a way that tapped into D'Angelo’s earlier days in 2000, spent recording "Voodoo" surrounded by Jimi Hendrix vibes in New York's Electric Lady studios.

D'Angelo ended the night on a high note, closing with the warm Rhodes piano riff of "Africa" from his second album before a crowd-favorite encore of "Lady" from his first. And though the mention of an album release date never came — despite suspicion that the concert was organized around news of D'Angelo's forthcoming "James River" — Questlove wouldn't let the elusive singer leave the stage without asking the million-dollar question.

"Is the record almost finished?" Questlove asked, nodding knowingly towards the crowd as he spoke to D'Angelo.

"Yes," said D'Angelo, after a pause, and the two walked off.

YOUTUBE

SOURCE