‘Change’ is good
Poetess Ursula Rucker beautifully capped off the eclectic local entertainment and arts showcase “We Carry Change” July 12 at Union Terminal. Teamed with astounding Hamilton-bred guitarist Tim Motzer, Rucker’s sing-sung spoken word performance was smart, artful and generally riveting. Early in her set, she addressed the efforts of local activists trying to get black performers and artists to boycott the city with grace and logic, pointing out that the arts are an ideal way to actually address issues and bring races together, as was proven by the eclectic multi-cultural audience in attendance.

CITYBEAT Vol 9, Issue 36 Jul 16-Jul 22, 2003
Cincinnati, Ohio

URSULA RUCKER + TIM MOTZER / ALEXKID @ Les Nuits Botanique, Brussels, Sept. 21st 2003

Philly’s very own Supa Sista was in town! The lady we all love since she displayed her soul, wisdom and street poetry on some of our all time favorite albums and singles from some of our all time favorite producers (Jazzanova, King Britt, 4hero,…): Miss Ursula Rucker! She did a very intimate set joined only by none other then Tim Motzer who worked with her on the Supa Sista lp and is also a member of King Britt’s stunning Sylk 130 project. Tim brought just an accoustic and ‘digital’ guitar and a sampler/drummachine but the effect was almost that of a full band, looping his own guitarplaying and adding drumbeats and even more sounds from his excellent skillz on the guitar. Great sounddesigner! Ursula herself took time to tell little stories to introduce the songs – for instance about how she got into hiphop as a kid and how she feels about it now (a massive lack of responsibility among black artists) – and to inform that she was suffering from a jet-lag that had her trippin’. At one point she even said she felt so weird as if she was doing a performance-art thing here
Fortunately the music wasn’t suffering from that as she guided us through a set of songs from both her debut and her upcoming album. Here’s the list (which Tim was so kind to give me after the show to put it on this very site!)

get ready / womansong / supa sista / untitled flow / fear in flight / 4 minutes of fun / what a woman must do / keep fallin’ / what / time

some got a nice new arrangement, like ‘fear…’ and ‘what’, which made it all the more interesting and enjoyable. Go check this Lady out in Bruges’ Cactusclub in november!!!

And guess what ? Backstage Miss Rucker and Mister Motzer were waiting to join Mr. AlexKid and band for a last encore!!! They both were asked to the stage again to bring a really brilliant song but I’m affraid I did not recognise it to tell you what it was. Probably from Ursula’s new lp. Definately the highlight of the night that made me go home on a cloud…. Another great night it was!

beyondjazz, belguim september 22, 2003