A world famous rock 'n' roller gives material pleasures up for the gift of life and deity. Sounds like a movie script? It was supposed to be, but it turned into the concept for Lenny Kravitz's new album "Circus."
"A lot of the critics out there didn't get (the message)," Kravitz told the Deseret News. "That's OK, it's art. And it's up to every individual to make something out of it, no matter what that something is."Kravitz, calling from the Virgin Records office in Los Angeles (he currently lives in the French Quarter in New Orleans), will play Salt Lake City at Abravanel Hall, Monday, Jan. 29. Current Los Angeleno and former Utah resident Poe will open the show at 7:30 p.m.
"The album didn't begin as a concept album," explained Kravitz. "But it turned into one while I was writing the songs."
Kravitz calls "Circus" a "rock gospel" - very much in the light of other such productions as "Godspell" and "Jesus Christ Superstar." The story follows a rock idol who realizes where his life is going and reflects on where he is. And retraces his steps to find salvation. Kravitz said even before the music came into play, he began writing a screenplay.
"That didn't go on very long," he said. "Maybe someday."
Kravitz, a very religious man at 31, said the religious theme on the album was deliberate. Music was presented to him at an early age.
Kravitz's formal music training took place while he sang in the California Boys Choir and, yes, the Metropolitan Opera. But he also cut his teeth on jazz.
"God and Jesus Christ are everything to me," he said. "What God has given me is the gift of music. And I wanted to glorify God with the gift I have. I was influenced by everything from opera to funk. I love all types of music and I refuse to be limited."
Though he has been passed off in the past as a retro-rocker, rip-off artist and poseur, Kravitz just keeps his mind on his own projects.
"You can't respond to criticism like that," he explained. "I just keep trying to express myself."
Sure there are elements in Kravitz's music that brings to mind Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and even John Lennon, but sit down and listen to those artists and you can also hear their influences. Hendrix takes nods to Chuck Berry, the Zepp's slide work can be traced directly to the Delta Blues, especially to Memphis Minnie and Lennon tried his hand covering Buddy Holly tunes.
"Life, really, is my main influences," said Kravitz. "It's all good, but there are ups and downs, pain and joy. And that's where I get my material."
So it is safe to say most of the songs he writes are autobiographical.
"Definitely," he said.
Kravitz is the son of TV producer Sy Kravitz and actress Roxie Roker (Helen on "The Jeffersons"). He is half Bahamian and Jewish. His boyhood was spent with his parents' on Manhattan's Upper East side and his grandparents' Brooklyn/Bedford Stuyvesant apartment.
He hit the scene with 1989's "Let Love Rule" and scored a No. 2 hit with "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" from his second album "Mama Said" that paved the way for his multi-platinum 1993 album "Are You Gonna Go My Way."
- POE, real name Annie Danielewski, got her name after she went to a costume party dressed as "The Masque of the Red Death," based on the story by Edgar Allen Poe.
Poe (the singer) is the daughter of a documentary filmmaker, and consequently moved around quite a bit as a child. She even ended up in Provo for a couple of years in high school. She has also lived in Africa, New York, Spain and India.
Her music career began while on a scholarship to Princeton. She dabbled in the organic music and moved on to electric tunes later on.
The mix of Poe's sweet, playful voice and somewhat disturbing lyrics has caught the attention of critics who are raving over her debut album "Hello." The single "Happy Trigger Jack" is No. 31 on Billboard's Modern Rock Track chart.