Tarrey Torae: Empress of Love (Songs)

Artists nurturing artists is a phenomenon that may extend as far back as the first cave painters.  And it likely includes those early humans who discovered you could create melody, harmony and song through voice. Chicago Artist Workshop (CAW) wears that mantle today as it fosters, helps to produce and presents the work of gifted artists across genres throughout the city. A project of the Grammy awarding winning ensemble, Eighth Blackbird, CAW began streaming live concerts in January to provide a creative outlet for artists stymied from performing because of Covid driven constraints.  With few exceptions, each concert profiles a Chicago based artist.  Currently running through March 31^st,  Eighth Blackbird Percussionist and Artistic Director Matthew Duvall wants “the series to be defined by its extraordinary caliber and creativity”. 

Song stylist Tarrey Torae was in the CAW spotlight over the Valentine’s Day weekend.  The timing proved strategic. Featuring music from her recently completed album, Catching Feelings, Torae used the opportunity to saunter through the many facets of contented love in song. 

Many consider Ms. Torae’s vocal style old-school traditional because her delivery is so unabashedly soulful and reflects both her Chicago roots and the cultural milieu that spawned R & B.  It’s an accurate assessment but says nothing to explain what distinguishes her from other talented singers.  Torae plums the depths of emotion to tell her song stories.  And she does it with a tender fierceness.  Repeating phrases and insuring each has its own distinctive emotional signature give her songs an unfettered credibility.  A truth.  

Saturday night that truth had a great time frolicking in cupid’s playground.  “I write a lot of love songs,” she confided a little self-effacingly when asked from what well does she draw her inspiration.  Her hour-long set included a dusting of mini-interviews scattered through solid renditions of six songs.  So Beautiful, Take Me Home, and I Love You were all acknowledgments of and tributes to the varied shades of what most of us would call real love.  

Resplendent in satiny baby blue and sporting a warm self-assurance, her experience working with some of the music industries brightest lights from Kanye West and John Legend to Erykah Badu and Patti LaBelle shone through in the confident ease of her stage command.

Poet and spoken word artist, J. Ivy, joined her on Hold On and Moon Cry; songs that brought a another level of zest to the evening’s show.  Long time collaborators who sealed the deal with marriage, Torae and Ivy played off one another’s contrasting but wholly complementary styles to create a very lyrical and winning sound.  Cavorting shamelessly in amorous innuendo, the passion flecked Moon Cry goes back a few years but still delights with its novel, honest depiction of romantic bliss.

For more information about CAW, their streaming series or Eighth Blackbird, visit:  https://www.eighthblackbird.org/chicago-artists-workshop/