(March 6, 2025) Obii is an Afro-Italian vocalist who says that jazz is the root of what he does musically. His inspiration comes from instrumentalists Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane and vocalists Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.
Obii explained to the audience for the Dallas concert that became the album live obii, live, that his musical journey begins with jazz. If he could convey one quality from each of those legendary female vocalists into his own music, it would be Fitzgerald’s improvisational skills, Vaughan’s vocal dexterity and Holiday’s emotional honesty.
Obii’s set list included three songs closely associated with Fitzgerald, Holiday and Vaughan when he performed “Fly Me To the Moon,” “Misty” and “Strange Fruit.” Considering the political climate in this country, even someone who is not from the United States gets the importance of singing “Strange Fruit.”
Obii’s version is remarkably like the one that Holiday recorded in 1939. He deploys the same dramatic pauses in the phrasing, The main difference is the Holiday original features a trumpet along with the piano and Holiday’s vocal, while Obii is accompanied only by a piano on his live interpretation.
Vocally Obii’s feathery light and vulnerable tenor might remind some of another legendary torch singer, Jimmy Scott. Check out Obii’s version of “Strange Fruit” here.
By Howard Dukes
