Capathia Jenkins fell under a lucky star during her junior year at Temple University. Discovered by producers who were casting a Motown-style Uptown Saturday Night, Jenkins was selected to play Aretha Franklin. Louis Rosen, the composer and co-librettist of Book of the Night and A Child’s Garden, has written songs based on poems by Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes. He received the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in Music Competition in 2005.

Performing together, beginning five years ago, they’ve toured extensively and have appeared in several clubs in New York. At this return engagement at Joe’s Pub, it’s evident that Jenkins and Rosen have more than a few fans in New York City. Their style is inviting and accessible and the audience clearly responds.

Jenkins does the vocals with Rosen occasionally joining in. A powerful voice weaned on gospel, Jenkins has an amazing sound and wide range. On stage, she is in complete charge of the room. Rosen accompanies on guitar and piano, supported by Dave Phillips on bass and Rob Moose on electric violin. Phillips and Moose are clearly up to the standards of the team.

Jenkins and Rosen mostly performed songs from their three CDs. Standouts were numbers set to the poems of Nikki Giovanni, especially “The Moon Shines Down” and “The Black Loom.” The opening song, “How You Gonna Save Them,” and “The Ache of Possibility” were also memorable.

Jerry Osterberg
Cabaret Scenes
November 27, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org