Last night Jim James performed at the 23rd Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall with Phillip Glass. Tibet House Benefit Concert staple Rahzel also performed (twice--see his rehearsals with Glass, James Blake and Das Racist for last year's benefit via Okayplayer TV here), as well as Ariel Pink, tUnE-yArDs, Patti Smith, Tibetan monks and more. But this post is all about Jim James. His uplifting new single "A New Life" off his debut solo LP Regions of Light and Sound of God, is the kind of song that makes new converts--not in the sense of "hey, I'm a fan' but in the sense of "religious experience." Last night's performance was so good it transmits that kind of spellbinding powere even when captured on a pretty good camera-phone, situated in the nosebleed mezzanine (watch below.) But You know a song is powerful when it has that kind of resonance with the mighty ?uestlove, justly famous for encyclopedic knowledge of music and an incredibly high bar for being impressed. In a rare moment of online elation, ?uesto described James' performance of the song with The Roots as the "most beautiful song I ever played on @LateNightJimmy...this will be the new Say Anything 'In Your Eyes'." Scroll down for a few of ?uesto's other tweets in regards to that performance--which is, objectively speaking, one of the best things to happen on TV in recent memory--an exchange that lead to loose talk of a Jim James/?uesto duets album. Better yet watch the performance itself, which for some strange reason was never posted on this site. Then check the full listing of Jim James tour dates, to find out when he's coming to convert a congregation of new believers near you.
4/17: Louisville, KY @ Brown Theatre
4/19: Milwaukee, WI @ The Pabst Theater
4/20: Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
4/21: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
4/23: Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
4/24: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
4/26: Boston, MA @ Royale
4/27: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
4/29: New York, NY @ Webster Hall
4/30: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
5/2: Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom
5/3: Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
5/6: Austin, TX @ Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheatre
5/7: Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
5/9: Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
5/11: Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
5/12: San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
5/14: Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
5/15: Seattle, WA @ Neptune
