"I've always been curious about different kinds of music. If you dig deeply enough into any genre you find they cross over," says singer/songwriter Joan Osborne. This statement is a key to what audiences are likely to encounter from the musically adventurous Osborne when she plays Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts on Saturday, April 4 at 8:00 p.m.

Osborne is one of the most critically acclaimed R&B/Soul voices of her generation. She captured the attention of music lovers when her major label debut stormed the charts with the runaway smash "(What If God Was) One of Us" and the whirlwind that followed, including a top 5 hit, multi-platinum album sales and five Grammy nominations. Since that time, Osborne has proven to be an artistically restless yet consistently enthralling performer.

This unusual artist has spent her life experimenting in different worlds. Her musical pilgrimage has taken her to India where she studied with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan then later returned to perform for the Dalai Lama, to the Deep South to uncover the roots of the blues and into concert halls in every corner of the world to perform with artists whose names would never otherwise be uttered in the same sentence: Taj Mahal, Luciano Pavarotti, Spearhead, Bob Dylan, The Dead and The Dixie Chicks. She continues, however, to be drawn to the Motown beat and tries, as always, "to emulate the emotional rawness of their music and ... revisit(s) the simplicity of the lyrics and direct style of songwriting."

Tickets are $50, $45, $40 and are available online at fairfield.edu/quick or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. Sign up at fairfield.edu/quick to receive e-mails for special offers and discounts for Quick Center shows.

Posted On: 03-17-2009 10:03 AM

Volume: 41 Number: 252