By Donna Marbury, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Mar. 10--Even if his album photos show him with his head down and shoulders slouched, don't let Kem fool you.

The singer is much more than a melancholy soul man.

Decked in a pinstriped suit with a deep-pink undershirt, Kem grooved along with a packed crowd Wednesday night in the Ohio Theatre.

He performed many of the songs from his latest release, Album II, accompanied by a band but no backup singers. A good move: The best sound to supplement Kem's tenor is a dynamic horn section.

He controls his voice like an instrument. On Heaven, as he bared his soul, it was a light and airy saxophone. During Love Calls, it mimicked a bluesy, smoky trumpet.

His subtle voice was almost overpowered by the audience singing along to Find Your Way (Back in My Life), but Kem managed to maintain a mellow sound in a call-and-response session with the audience.

Before his gentle rendition of I Can't Stop Loving You, the singer proclaimed music "the miracle that has occurred" in his life. The once-homeless and -alcoholic singer sang his redemption in Brotha Man, an up-tempo scat about his spiritual journey.

In a three-song encore, Kem tenderly sang the audience into the seats with one of them, Where Would I Be. Despite "always being compared to Al Jarreau," he paid homage to George Benson and introduced his band while jamming to the classic On Broadway.

It is easy to see why Kem has captured mature audiences; his subjects -- relationships and spirituality -- are surely for the suit-and-tie set. His easy performance style makes audiences feel as if they're part of an intimate jam session.

Newcomer Leela James opened with a mixed bag of her hits, including the single Music. She paid tribute to artists ranging from the Supremes to Sam Cooke as she sassily explained her stance as a real singer, not just an R &B hot girl. Sometimes her gritty vocals didn't match her material, but she ended her set with a stirring cover of Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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