It’s a good thing R&B artists like Jaheim still exist.
While a sea of sex-obsessed imposters rely on cliches and simplistic come-ons to boost their sales, the 30-year-old singer has managed to retain his urban sensibilities, and still bring a sense of shy charm and old school-class to the genre.
And his husky baritone, alternately cool and blazing, is second to none.
During last night’s 75-minute set at the Berklee Performance Center, the ghetto heartthrob moved timidly, with the stiffness of someone recovering from a back injury, but sang with the voice of a latter-day Teddy Pendergrass.
It is this duality that makes him so entrancing.
The New Jersey native emerged to an impatient crowd and led off with “Voice of R&B” off his fourth and most recent album, “The Makings of a Man,” backed by four singers and a five-piece band. From there, he worked over his musical catalogue, including “Put That Woman First,” the classic stylings of “She Ain’t You,” and the tale of a reformed thug, “I’ve Changed.”
He sported three different suits, threw sweaty towels into the audience, brought out a bucket of roses for adoring female fans and drank hot tea between songs. He rarely addressed the crowd, but wasn’t quite aloof, either. Instead, he seemed to understand that working the masses can be done subtly, with a variety of moods: lively during “Fabulous,” romantic during “Looking for Love” and contemplative during “Have You Ever,” with slight dance movements drawing screams from the three-quarter capacity crowd.
Ladies rightfully swooned over the well-muscled, tattooed singer - never moreso than when he tore his shirt off during the night’s final song, “Just In Case” - but his complex appeal extends far beyond the surface.
Mostly, it’s in his ability to spin a street tale one moment, then embody quiet elegance on an abbreviated, but powerful cover of “A House Is Not A Home,” originally recorded by Dionne Warwick and later sung by the late Luther Vandross, and seem perfectly at home in both places.
An opening set from Boston’s own Lovely Hoffman suggested that the young singer has some work to do - mainly staying on key and not pulling the mike away at key moments - but has the energy and vocal chops to make the toil worth it.
