{"id":402302,"date":"2025-09-06T09:32:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T09:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/402302\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T09:32:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T09:32:10","slug":"live-judith-hill-howard-assembly-room-leeds-05-09-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/402302\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVE: Judith Hill \u2013 Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, 05\/09\/2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since first opening its doors in January 2009, hundreds of illustrious artists have performed under the Howard Assembly Room\u2019s magnificent barrel-vaulted ceiling, though there will not have been many whose pedigree is quite as impressive as that of Judith<\/strong> Hill<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The daughter of Japanese classical pianist Michiko Hill (n\u00e9e Yoshimura) <\/strong>and Los Angeles\u2019 funk musician Robert Lee\u00a0\u201cPee Wee\u201d\u00a0Hill<\/strong>, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Judith Hill has collaborated with many luminaries, including Stevie Wonder<\/strong>, Elton John<\/strong>, George Benson<\/strong>, Prince<\/strong>, and Michael Jackson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In 2009, Judith Hill sang the wonderful duet, \u2018I Just Can\u2019t Stop Loving You\u2019 with Michael Jackson on the film, This Is It. Prince then mentored her for two years and co-produced her 2015 debut album Back in Time at his Paisley Park studio in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

It would be perfectly understandable if Judith Hill were to become frustrated that her career is always framed in the context of her past creative contact with such pop royalty. She has, after all, released five successful solo albums, the last of which, Letters from a Black Widow, was released in 2024 to widespread critical acclaim. And if any further proof were needed, tonight\u2019s performance affirms that Hill is a hugely talented artist in her very own right.<\/p>\n

\"097<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you gotta light that match,\u201d Judith Hill tells us. \u201cPour on some gasoline. And burn it up.\u201d She is here in Leeds on the third and final date of the English leg of her tour of the UK and Europe and is three songs into an already incendiary set before offering us this sage advice. Hill and the three other members of her band \u2013 bass, drums, and keys \u2013 then proceed to lay waste to \u2018Burn It All.\u2019<\/p>\n

Judith Hill has never played in this West Yorkshire city before and clearly intends to leave an impression. She opens on piano with \u2018Wanderer\u2019 \u2013 from her 2021 album, Baby, I\u2019m Hollywood! \u2013 before shifting to electric guitar for \u2018The Pepper Club\u2019 from her second album, Golden Child.<\/p>\n

By then Judith Hill has already shown her versatility, embracing funk, jazz-fusion, soul, and R&B as she dives deep into her back catalogue. She hasn\u2019t yet gone anywhere near Letters from a Black Widow but does so next when she lays down a dirty rock guitar riff for \u2018Flame\u2019 from that record. And this is all before we have even spoken about that voice. It is an incredible force of nature, one that just suspends disbelief as it hangs in the air with such defiance and a decibel-defying volume all of its own.<\/p>\n

\"056<\/p>\n

\u2018Angel in the Dark\u2019 \u2013 the final track on Back in Time \u2013 concludes the first half of the show. A short intermission follows during which Hill must surely draw breath such is the energy she has already expended. But there is to be no letting up after the break as the four musicians launch straight into \u2018Give Your Love to Someone Else,\u2019 with Hill\u2019s voice once more on fire as she blazes through the blues.<\/p>\n

A supremely emotive \u2018Dame De La Lumi\u00e8re\u2019 follows before \u2018Fire\u2019 by 70\u2019s American funk band Ohio Players<\/strong> is given the full Hill treatment. Is there anything she cannot do? Well, she is certainly not scared to expose her more tender, vulnerable side as she returns once more to Letters from a Black Widow with the poignant \u2018More Than Love\u2019 ahead of the heavyweight finale of \u2018Cry, Cry, Cry\u2019 where the intensity is dialled up even higher to skyscraper levels. It is potent, life-affirming stuff.<\/p>\n

Photos: Simon Godley<\/p>\n

More photos from Judith Hill at Howard Assembly Room in Leeds<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since first opening its doors in January 2009, hundreds of illustrious artists have performed under the Howard Assembly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,393,4884,1860,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-402302","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-leeds","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115156664040773878","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}