Ndidi Onukwulu

WHO: Ndidi Onukwulu
WHERE: Bessborough Gardens
WHEN: June 30/07
(photo from www.ndidi.ca)

This was one of those shows where I really regretted not bringing my camera. Ndidi Onukwulu was fierce. With a demure ruffled black dress cinched at the waist by a fiery red belt, lips painted the same shade to match and tattoos winding up her legs, Onukwulu displayed the passion inside of her in appearance alone. One part a lady and equal parts fire and musical fervor, this woman can sing the blues, and work a crowd.
"I used to be in a relationship with someone who would leave me at home all alone. So to get back at him, I wrote a song about him," she told the crowd. Almost all her songs had stories attached — a musician outside the New York City projects she lived in for a while who just played to make people feel better, and a song she wrote for the children of the world suffering in wartime. "Our children are our future," she said to some appreciative clapping and cheers from the audience.
Her narratives weren't just sob stories either. You could really feel the acute way she perceived the pain in the world and used her music to try and make it better.
At the end of the show she asked for a cordless microphone, got down off the stage and moved through the crowd, bringing everyone in the gardens to their feet for her last song, dancing with any audience member who wouldn't stand.
Her guitar player Madagascar Slim (a three-time Juno Award winner) also deserves a mention. At first I was impressed by the way he built a whole song with just his guitar alone, but he later revealed to the crowd he was using digital looping. Regardless, he was able to fully accompany Onukwulu with his guitar alone, provide a full, rich sound and have time to let loose with some solid blues riffs.