Elizabeth Willis-One

I’ve always been fascinated by musicians, especially prodigies, that are brought up and trained in classical music traditions only to eschew them for modern pop or rock. Classically trained musicians seem to have a stronger than normal understanding of music and composition. The ones that leave the classical world are rebelling against the musical limitations of that form yet almost always carry with them the initial instrumentation and theory.
Such is the case with Elizabeth Willis, a child prodigy from the age of 4 with a talent for the piano and violin. Today’s track “One” is from her self-titled debut. This is a track that Ludicris, of all people, discovered on the internet and championed. Comparisons have been drawn between Elizabeth’s voice and those of Tracy Chapman and Nina Simone. Despite the fact that there is a certain similarity between her voice and Tracy’s, I hesitate to make that comparison. I think sometimes people see a black woman singer and try to find other black women to compare her with, regardless of the accuracy of the comparison.
Not surprisingly, the track opens with solo piano and is joined by the violin. Elizabeth’s voice, full of emotion and depth, rounds out the song. It is a song of lost love. I generally have a thing against the topic since there are only so many ways you can say the same thing. However, she pulls it of and the song as a whole, with its classical violin melody and overall musicianship is worth listening to. It also gives me a new perspective on Ludicris’ musical tastes.

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Download this song (Right-click, Save-as)

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