Sisters In Song: Coko, Shanice & Nicci Gilbert Jam In Japan

By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com

Konnichiwa! That's 'good afternoon' in Japanese. And it's about the only thing I learned in Japanese during my seven day visit to the country.

I was invited by Phil Thornton of Bright Star Entertainment to travel with the 'Lady Soul Greatest Hits' tour that featured R&B divas Coko of SWV, Shanice and Nicci Gilbert of Brownstone.

The ladies played 10 sold-out shows at Billboard Live venues in Fukuoka, Tokyo and Osaka.

'Lady Soul Greatest Hits' is an almost 90 minute show that features all three singers co-headlining. It has a very Las Vegas feel to it!

Brownstone vocalist Gilbert kicked the show off with energetic versions of her former trio's biggest hits, including 'Grapevine,' 'Five Miles To Empty,' and 'If You Love Me.'

The star of Tyler Perry's 'Meet The Browns' stage play also sang fresh material from her independent solo record, 'Grown Folks Music,' and pays tribute to the man who gave Brownstone their start, Michael Jackson.

Singer Shanice dazzled the crowd with hits like 'Yesterday,' 'When I Close My Eyes,' and 'I Love Your Smile.'

The Grammy-nominated former 'Kids Incorporated' star, who was accompanied on tour by her husband, actor Flex Alexander, also performed a medley of ballads that included Minnie Riperton's 'Loving You.'

SWV lead singer Coko then opened with the group's hit, 'Right Here,' before transitioning into Bill Wither's 'Aint No Sunshine' and her solo hit, 'Sunshine.'

Powerhouse renditions of SWV's 'Weak' and Patti LaBelle's 'If Only You Knew' followed, before making the mostly agnostic crowd have a "praise party" with her gospel hit, 'Clap Your Hands.'

The trio closed the show with an encore performance of Whitney Houston's arrangement of the Chaka Khan classic, 'I'm Every Woman.'

I have to tell you, the Japanese audiences are so gracious that they make me want to put an album out over there!

Despite the Japanese audiences speaking little to no English, the capacity crowds sang along to all of the hits.

Shanice believes the Japanese consumers are some of the best in the world.

"The people over there really appreciate real music. They treated us really well. I wanted to take everybody from and put them on our flight and bring them back to the Those people were so good. I had so much fun," Shanice said.

Coko said the outing reminded her of three other divas who worked together in the past.

"Doing this tour reminded me of when Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight and Dionne Warwick did 'Sisters in the Name of Love' back in the 1980's. It has that same feel. Working with Shanice and Nicci felt so natural and everyone really brought their best each night," Coko explained.

Right now, 'Lady Soul Greatest Hits' is in talks to do shows in London and South Africa, something that excites Gilbert.

"The tour in Japan was a gift from God, loaded with sisterhood, support, and real sangin'! I look forward to touring more throughout the year, sharing the stage, learning and moving the crowd with my sisters in song, Coko and Shanice," she shared.

I had to say that my time in was a magical one. It was amazing to see how the crowd responded to these singers and how the culture in general has such affection for soul music.

Though we don't have Tower Records here in the United States anymore, the music retailer is alive and well in Japan and the R&B and Soul sections are equal if not larger than the pop sections.

Coko's Grammy-nominated disc 'Grateful' just hit stores in Japan and is already a bestseller.

While Gilbert's 'Grown Folks Music' was released digitally in the U.S., it can be found in retail outlets in Japan as well.

Artists like Yummy Bingham who never came out in America have product in stores there. And singers like Kierra "KiKi" Sheard, Sean Garrett, Elliott Yamin and others are megastars in Japan .

So it's no wonder that the Japanese fans treated Coko, Shanice and Nicci Gilbert as though Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige were in concert. Maybe one day, American consumers will treat veteran R&B singers the same way too!

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VIDEO: See Coko perform Patti LaBelle's 'If Only You Knew' in Japan

VIDEO: See Nicci Gilbert perform her new cut 'Think Again' in Japan

VIDEO: See Shanice perform 'When I Close My Eyes' in Japan