An evening with McKnight

IT WAS an enchanting night for fans of world-class R&B singer-songwriter Brian McKnight when he took time off from his current world tour to make a stop in Kuala Lumpur to perform a black-tie event at the Mandarin Oriental.
This is the iconic crooner’s second time in Malaysia. His first visit was in 2014.
McKnight is widely recognised as one of the strongest contemporary R&B singers since he made his debut in 1992 with the release of his self-titled album.
He is now not only a singer but also an arranger, producer, and musician who plays eight instruments including the piano, guitar, bass guitar, percussion, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet.
An Evening with Brian McKnight kicked off at 9pm with talented local soul singer Elvira Arul serenading the crowd with four songs to set the mood, before the star of the night came on.
The 48-year-old singer took to the stage with a suave yet dynamic performance of his 2006 R&B single, Used to Be My Girl that earned him cheers and applauses from the audience.
Despite looking more matured, his voice still remained robust and versatile as he sang in his signature smooth baritone vocal style, effortlessly hitting the falsetto notes while demonstrating his incredible melisma techniques through some of his hit numbers from his various albums.
These songs included Only One For Me, My Kind of Girl, Cherish, Everything, Anytime (in which he won a Soul Train Music Award), and Find Myself in You.
He continued to wow the crowd by singing several popular covers such as Van Morrison’s Crazy Love, Halls and Oates’ Kiss on My List, Stevie Wonder’s Overjoyed, Michael Jackson’s Rock with You as well as Nat King Cole’s When I Fall in Love.
But without a doubt, the highlight of the evening for many was his performances of his chart-topping tear-jerking R&B numbers such as Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda; 6, 8, 12; One Last Cry; and his phenomenal hit Back at One, which instantly swept audiences off their feet.
The lyrics, his vocal prowess and passionate execution made his performance an emotional one.
The multi-talented instrumentalist also demonstrated his skill on the piano and the guitar.
McKnight also tried to make the concert as intimate as possible by engaging with the audience and getting them to croon along.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of McKnight’s debut self-titled album.
Among his many albums, the most successful have to be his 1997 Anytime, which sold over two million copies and was nominated for a Grammy, and his 1999 Back at One, which hit sales of over three million copies and his most successful album to date.
In total, McKnight has earned 16 Grammy nominations so far but unfortunately has yet to score one.
McKnight will be continuing the rest of his world tour in the United States, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Denmark, Canada, Mexico and Barbados.