This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Part soulful jazz diva, part hip-hop goddess, part funky street poet, Jill Scott is a woman with experience. And, apparently, a woman who must be experienced live to be appreciated fully.
That’s the main lesson learned from Experience: Jill Scott (826+), the followup to her Grammy-nominated, double-platinum 2000 debut Who is Jill Scott? Words & Sounds: Volume 1. One half of this two-disc set holds eight superb new studio tunes from the Philadelphia-bred vocalist, whose satiny voice and sock-it-to-ya sensuality are glorious to behold, both on bootyliciously funky tracks like Gimme and soul ballads like Gotta Get Up. But the real prize is the 85 minutes of live fare that comprises the bulk of this set. Mostly recorded on Aug. 26 (hence the title), these dozen tracks capture Scott as she works her magic onstage in front of a hometown crowd, taking tracks from her debut disc and stretching them out into loose, comfortable joints complete with stories, singalongs and plenty of tasty licks from her supple, superb band. All in all, a pretty unforgettable experience.
