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Rashaan Patterson displays cool vibes on stage in New York. |
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Rashaan Patterson Live at the Fillmore New York
R&B Crooner Woos Crowd with Vocal Arrangements
By JOSETTE COMPTON
You might have heard Rashaan Patterson on R&B radio stations in the late-1990s, most notably through his Stevie Wonder-esqe “Spend the Night.”
If your pop culture memory encompasses the 1980s, you may have seen the 11-year old Patterson on the popular television show Kids Incorporated. Patterson, who after a three-year stint on the show, then went on to pen Brandy’s 1995 R&B chart-topper "Baby" and the title song for Tevin Campbell’s 1996 triple-platinum "Back to the World" album.
Today you're most likely to catch the 35 year-old on stage, which is where Human Nature met the R&B crooner. Following a recent one-night-only concert at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, Patterson performed before an audience of 30-somethings, who, in unison, spent a portion of the evening shouting the lyrics to several songs from his 1997 self-titled debut.
"It's like the best thing in the world [to have] songs people want to hear,” Patterson says.
Requests that flew from the crowd included "Where You Are", and of course, "Spend the Night.”
But the bald, lean, Los Angeles resident chose to kick off his two hour set with "Oh, Lord (Take Me Back)," a funky ode to his native Harlem.
As an artist, Patterson’s jazzy-funk vocals once earned him comparisons to Chaka Khan and Al Jarreau. But despite a loyal fan base and critical acclaim, he split with MCA Records in 2003 at the latter end of the so-called “neo soul” movement in R&B.
"It's hard to put me in a box," he said. "What I do is music, art…so because I'm Black it has to be soul?"
After independently releasing 2007’s Wines & Spirits, his fourth effort on his own Artistry Music record label, Patterson is working on a Christmas album set for release later this year. He's also touring, with a scheduled stop in Switzerland this summer to perform with Chaka Khan at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
At the Fillmore, a few hundred fans shoulder together for a closer look at Patterson, who appeared entranced by the music as he eased into “Where You Are,” “Come Over,” and his rendition of the seminal Sade classic “Love is Stronger than Pride.”
His falsetto floats over soft drums that anchor a steady baseline. Then, with his eyes closed, Patterson starts to scat and nibble on notes, giving the audience no clues as to how the song will end.
As a surprise, Patterson invited R&B songstress Miki Howard, known for the 1990 R&B hit "Love Under New Management," onstage for a fiery rendition of "Stop Breaking My Heart," Patterson’s first single from Wines & Spirits.
After his energetic performance Patterson was philosophic when discussing his music. "[It’s] always spiritual, and [about] my relationship with my listener," he said, adding that the exchange is “my conversation with you.” 
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