Jill Scott EXPERIENCE:JILL (EX)

EXPERIENCE includes one disc of live performances and a bonus disc of new studio recordings. Two hidden tracks follow "Free (Epilogue)."
Personnel: Jill Scott, Common (vocals); 4 Hero, Fatback Taffy, Ted Thomas Jr. (various instruments); Marc Mac (guitar, Moog synthesizer, percussion, programming); Chris Odom (guitar); Sarah Button, Ingrid Button (violin); Becca Ware (viola); Rebecca Carrington (cello); Pete Wareham (saxophone); Matt Cappy, Nick Etwell (trumpet); Jeff Bradshaw, Dave Liddell (trombone): Brad Somatik (piano, Fender Rhodes piano); Pete Kuzma (keyboards); Terry Tribbet, Andy Hamill (bass); Luke Parkhouse, Erik Tribbet (drums); James Mason, Mahawani (percussion); Eric Roberson, Carol Riddick, Vivian Green, Monique Harcum, Valvin Roane (background vocals).
Producers include: Vidal Davis, Darren Henson, Andre Harris, 4Hero, Ivan Barias.
Engineers include: Brad Somatik, Vidal Davis, Keith Pelzer.
Includes liner notes by Jill Scott, Steve McKeever.
"He Loves Me (Lyzel In E Flat)" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. "He Loves Me (Lyzel In E Flat)" (Illegal Mix) was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Remixed Recording.
One of the brightest stars to emerge from the Philadelphia nu-soul scene that spawned Erykah Badu, The Roots and Bilal is poet/vocalist Jill Scott. Riding the momentum of her 2000 debut WHO IS JILL SCOTT?, this Pennsylvannia native's sophomore bow is EXPERIENCE: JILL SCOTT 826+, a 2-CD outing of live performances and a handful of studio cuts. Backed by her fabulous 9-piece Fatback Taffy, Scott casts aside the more mannered versions of much-loved songs like "Slowly Surely" and "Getting' In The Way" and infuses them with breathy arrangements that unwind over unstoppable grooves and shimmering nuances.
Affable and loquacious, Scott's down-home on-stage patter is as engaging as her music. When she's not playfully dogging her image as a positive goody-two shoes within the intro to "It's Love," she's discussing pointed observations of a scantily clad teen at a bus stop leading into the sinewy 11-minute mix of sensuality and exploitation that defines "Thickness." New studio cuts like the ultra-funky "Gimme" and her lo-fi hip-hop Common duet "High Post Brotha" are equally potent and show Ms. Scott is only getting started down the road to a legendary music career.

• Format: CD
• Genre: R&B