Rhiannon Giddens is an extraordinary talent.

After an insufferable half hour opening solo set by a forgettable singer songwriter, Rhiannon Giddens took the stage in a classic blue dress with three members of her incredible band the Carolina Chocolate Drops with additional stand up bass and drums. Giddens can sing a torch song, play bluegrass, gospel, and folk music with equal ease and power. The tour is in support of the relatively recent solo release “Tomorrow is My Turn” but she and the band intertwined the songs that broke her into a higher profile and Carolina Chocolate Drops tunes. It is a unique show incorporating various instruments including, as she pointed out, four banjos.

The Town Hall audience was clearly  reveling in the evening’s performance and gave Rhiannon and the band multiple well deserved standing ovations. The gracious Giddens thanked producer T-Bone Burnett, who approached her at the Inside Llewyn Davis inspired concert “Another Day, Another Time” at Town Hall a couple of years ago to do a solo album together while also conveying appreciation to her band for being supportive of the solo journey she has undertaken. It is hard not to like and root for Rhiannon Giddens and the crowd was rewarded with a guest appearance by Marcus Mumford on the final encore. Mumford, who has been in the New York City area all week, strapped the acoustic guitar back on and played one of the New Basement Tapes songs Rhiannon and he did together on the “Lost on the River” collection.

Rhiannon Giddens is amazing and must be seen on this six week solo tour. However, if you should miss this tour, you will be able to catch her somewhere down the line as she will be around for a long, long, time; someone this brilliant does not come along every day.

Today is her turn

Rock on

GQ