Review: Post-Arista Aretha Franklin hits Radio City

BY GLENN GAMBOA | glenn.gamboa@newsday.com

March 24, 2008

These days, it's good to be queen.

Of all the emotions Aretha Franklin has inspired in her reign as the Queen of Soul - strength, vulnerability, faith, defiance and pain, to name a few - the one she doesn't get enough credit for conjuring up is joy. But that may soon change.

Franklin's show at Radio City Music Hall was brimming with joy. From the uplifting gospel selections punctuated with hallelujahs, to the playful deliveries she gave to "Don't Play That Song" and even "Respect," to numerous jokes and ad-libs (when she was handed a glass tumbler of water, she quipped, "Streisand got stemware"), she was definitely ready to have a good time.

She paused before taking her place at the piano, explaining, "When you're plump, everything rolls out when you sit down," before quickly adding that she was more than happy with the attention she gets for her looks. "Would you rather have leg of lamb or leg of Aretha?" she joked.

Franklin is almost always in fine voice when she takes the stage. But it is an even grander treat to see her in an equally fine mood. The additional spark added to her inventive twists to "My Funny Valentine," swooping from her lower register to the upper tip of her range, and the bouncy turn she gave " Moody's Mood for Love." She also did her share of hip shaking and boogieing in her stocking feet.

Songs from her forthcoming album "Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love," for her own Aretha's Records label, fit the mood well, especially "Better Than Gold." Franklin was careful not to do too many new songs, asking, "Am I singing what you want to hear?" and throwing in the occasional "You like it?"

After all, when she didn't renew her contract with Arista Records last year, Franklin found herself on her own in the music industry for the first time in nearly 50 years. But the freedom seems to suit her and Franklin certainly isn't alone.

At Radio City, she had a 30-piece orchestra, four backing singers - including the great Cissy Houston and Tawatha Agee - and a special guest appearance from the Temptations' Ali Ollie Woodson.

And, of course, she still has her fans. "This is one we all sing," she commanded before "Respect" and the capacity crowd was only too happy to comply.

Her sole misstep was placing her 23-year-old son Kecalf's set of Christian hip-hop in the middle of her own.

The break was short and likable enough, but it stopped the show's momentum. It also made her 75-minute set feel short, even though she was onstage for more than an hour. Fans hoped she would return for an encore, but when one of her helpers came onstage to fetch her wrap, her high heels and her purse, it was the sign the queen had left the building.

ARETHA FRANKLIN. The Queen of Soul adds to her kingdom. At Radio City Music Hall on Friday and Saturday. Seen Friday.