“I don't wanna tell you how I live/ I just wanna give what I have to give/ Maybe it'll pick somebody up” sang Raul Midon, without preamble in his catchy opening song, Pick Somebody Up. And that’s exactly what he did for almost two hours in his concert last night.

With soulful voice that sang, soared, falsettoed, scatted, caressed and perfectly mimicked a trumpet, masterful percussive guitaring that at times gave the feel of a solid rhythm section, a musicality and sense of rhythm that could only have come from divinity and genetics (his father was Argentinean and a dancer), and lots of charisma, Raul delivered 16 of possibly the most inspiring, uplifting songs in musical history.

For example:
“Some people ask me: why are you're doing this thing…/Is it for love? Is it for self-expression?/ Is it to combat depression? Is it to make people happy?/ I mean, I love it I can hear it/ I can listen when somebody smiles at me - Pick Somebody Up

And from the contemporary R&B-inflected All Because of You, to the infectious tribute to the Internet, All the Answers, to the bluesy It Ain’t Happened Yet featuring a universal lament set to an upbeat melody, to the romantic ballad Suddenly, to the joyous Donny Hathaway tribute Sittin’ in the Middle, to his second encore, the sexy slow jam I Waited All My Life written for his wife, Raul’s repertoire ran through several musical styles - soul, funk, flamenco, blues, jazz, folk, pop - sometimes all in one song.

Song for Sandra, a song of love and loss dedicated to Raul’s late mother, and Caminando (Walking), about experiencing life’s little wonders as a blind person, in particular, stood out for their musical and lyrical beauty, and received thunderous applause from a visibly moved audience.

But it was on his acoustic one-man interpretation of his collaboration with deejay Little Louie Vega, the club hit Sunshine, that his gifts as a songwriter, musician and vocalist became so apparent. A richly-textured work, this saw Raul providing vocals and both a strong clave backbeat and clean melody, strumming, slapping and plucking in double quick time, and going through rapid style, language, tone and tempo changes with amazing dynamic control, heart and soul.

When the last encore ended and Raul had left the stage, what was left was a sense that we had witnessed something truly rare… More than beautiful music…we had just been with a truly beautiful person.

Hypnotic, passionate and intense – that’s what a Dhafer Youssef show is.

Culling material from his albums, particularly Divine Shadows and Digital Prophecy, Tunisia’s Dhafer Youssef was in top form. Together with his trio of musicians from Norway, Dhafer conjured up a night of musical light and shadow from the worlds of the Middle East and Europe.

Singing with his unearthly voice – whether in a powerful roar or spine-tingling cry – as well as through his traditional Arabic oud (with digital delay effect), Dhafer had the audience riveted.

Demonstrating absolute mastery of his musical instrument, Dhafer merged his reverb-drenched oud melodies with electronic nu-jazz elements in a fusion that shifted between the utterly contemporary and the primeval, between the trance-like and the explosive. And whether the band was soothing the spirit or rocking it up, the soundscape was always subtle, elegant and potent - a tide of succinct beat programming, drums, oud, vocals, bass, guitar and more that surged and ebbed to the pulse of Dhafer’s universe.

Such was the beauty of Dhafer Youssef’s music.

Later during the post-show talk

In an intimate post-show talk with the audience, Dhafer talked about how he discovered Western music despite a strict upbringing in a Quran school, his band of Norwegian musicians who are more “African” than African musicians, his first brush with the oud and his vast musical influences. According to Dhafer, music is simply music, there’s no difference between Tunisian or Western music. “Music is like food. It can be spicy, warm or cold. When it’s good, it’s good!”

6.30pm: Fusing jazz with Asian flute, local experimental jazz outfit sOap charmed the crowd with an uplifting mix of jazz originals and reworked covers. Animated drummer Joseph “Soap” Chian also delivered an extended drum solo, which ended the set on a high.

9.15pm: Local comedian Najip Ali never fails to amuse with his wicked sense of humor. Featuring guests Swissy, Megan Bowman, George Kurstin and Inara George from The Bird and The Bee and the legendary George Clinton, Najip had the crowd in laughing fits = as he teased the artists with Singlish, durian fruit tasting and local tunes Why You So Like Dat?,
Rasa Sayang and more!

10pm: Trisno Ishak and Vanessa Fernandez go way back as members of the former Urban Xchange and Parking Lot Pimps. Collaborating once again, the duo, this time, served up country nuggets – including Baby Don’t Go, Islands In The Stream and Sweet Home Alabama  - rearranged with urban soul and R&B elements, and the duo’s tight chemistry and power vocals.

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