''Lalah Hathaway Live'' is the first live album by American singer

Lalah Hathaway Eulaulah Donyll "Lalah" Hathaway (born December 16, 1968) is an American singer. In 1990 Hathaway released her first album titled ''Lalah Hathaway''. After releasing another album, titled '' A Moment'' (1994), it debuted at number 34 on the To ...

. It was released on October 30, 2015 through her own label, Hathaway Entertainment, and

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. The album won

Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...

at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2017. She also earned a Grammmy for

Best Traditional R&B Performance The Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers of quality traditional R&B vocal performances. ...

for her cover of "Angel" by

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

. It is the spiritual successor to her father Donny's '' Live'', which was recorded in 1972. In addition to her own songs, there are covers of many songs by artists like Baker ("Angel"), Luther Vandross ("Forever, for Always, for Love"),

Vesta Williams Mary Vesta Williams (December 1, 1957 – September 22, 2011) was an American singer-songwriter, who performed across genres such as pop, jazz, adult contemporary and R&B. Originally credited as Vesta Williams, she was simply known as Vesta begin ...

("I'm Coming Back"),

Randy Crawford Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952) is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a solo artist. However, she has ap ...

("When Your Life Was Low"), as well as her father's hits ("Little Ghetto Boy" and "You Were Meant for Me").

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

editor Andy Kellman rated the album four out of five stars. He wrote: "Like her father's album Live''.html" ;"title="' Live''">' Live'' Lalah's includes a performance of "Little Ghetto Boy," and the faithful version here opens a set that easily bounces from point to point in her discography. Among the standouts are the consecutive "Baby Don't Cry" and "I'm Coming Back," both originally recorded for Lalah Hathaway, and an 11-minute version of Luther Vandross' "Forever, for Always, for Love" that best displays the increased depth and richness of Hathaway's voice ..Topped off with a pair of new, high-quality studio cuts that help fill the compact disc edition to capacity, this is essential for Hathaway fans." '' SoulTracks'' critic L. Michael Gipson note that "compared to what is currently in the marketplace, discovering this album is akin to striking oil in the Dakotas. Lalah Hathaway's enormous talent and technical proficiency are all evident throughout and Hathaway at 80% is better than too many to name at their fullest throttle ..Perhaps the potential success of this project will encourage Hathaway to make more than one live recording, outside of the revered guest spots on Marcus Miller's and

Kirk Whalum Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk' ...

's respective concert recordings. Her own legacy, independent of her father's, certainly deserves it."

Commercial performance

''Lalah Hathaway Live'' debuted at number 33 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart in the week of November 11, 2015, selling 15,000 copies in its first week. It also debuted at number two on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...

and number three on the Independent Albums chart, marking her highest-charting set yet on the former chart, while becoming her first entry on the latter.

Track listing

Personnel

*Lalah Hathaway – vocals *Michael Aaberg – keyboards, organ *Dennis Clark – vocals *Brian Collier – drums *Errol Cooney – guitar *DJ Spark – DJ *Ben Jones – bass, guitar *Vula Malinga – vocal arrangements, vocals *Jason Morales – vocals *Jairus Mozee – guitar *Phil Peskett – piano *Eric Seats – drums *Eric Smith – bass *Bobby Sparks II – keyboards, organ *Stacey Lamont Sydnor – percussion *Lynette Williams – keyboards

Production

*Producers: Darhyl Camper, Divageek, Lalah Hathaway, Ben Jones, Eric Smith *Engineers: Les Cooper, Anthony Jeffries, Benita Lewis (mixing engineer), Coobie Lewis (mastering, mixing), Josh Lewis, Jimi Randolph (monitor engineer), Jeremy Underwood, Brian Vibberts

Charts

Release history

References

2015 live albums Grammy Award for Best R&B Album Lalah Hathaway albums {{2010s-pop-album-stub