Despite some rain, Sheila E dazzles at Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre

Detroit Free Press

Under threat of rain as severe thunderstorms pounded parts of the metro region, dynamic singer-percussionist Sheila Escovedo, known worldwide as Sheila E., performed to an enthusiastic crowd Wednesday night at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, kicking off the venue's 2021 Wednesday Jazzy Nights series.

Despite the weather experienced in nearby areas, which exacerbated residual flooding from recent storms and left more than 100,000 without power Wednesday night, downtown Detroit saw comparatively little precipitation.

"(I'm) happy to say there were no complications," said Shahida Mausi of Right Productions, which handles booking and operations for the venue. "The show started promptly to a great crowd. It was exciting and wonderful to have so many back with us.

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"I have a long love affair with Detroit," Escovedo said by phone after arriving in the city Wednesday morning. "The 'Purple Rain' tour with Prince started here, and it was just crazy. We ended up here a long time because it was so popular they kept adding dates."

Indeed, the legendary tour played its first date Nov. 4, 1984, at the Joe Louis Arena, with Prince backed by the Revolution and accompanied by Sheila E. and Apollonia 6; they would play six more dates there over the following eight nights before moving on, playing 98 dates in all before wrapping in Miami the following April.

"The first night, I lost my voice," she said. "The second night, the entire sound system went out during my performance and the audience started booing. I opened the show, and they were booing! The only thing, for some reason, that still had sound was the electric bass, so I picked that up and started playing, and they booed even more. Prince came to the side of the stage and was like, 'Come offstage, we have to fix this,' and I'm out there trying to yell 'I'm sorry' to 20,000 people who can't hear me."

She laughed at the memory.

"Well, it took about 15 minutes for them to get the sound back on," she said, "and I said, 'I want to go back out and finish.' Prince said, 'You don't have to do that,' and I was like, 'Are you kidding me?' So I went back out there, and that was the beginning of a love relationship with Detroit."

Decked out in spangled pants and a topknot, Escovedo wowed the Aretha crowd Wednesday night with a wide-ranging set that included her hits "The Glamorous Life" and "A Love Bizarre," covers of the Beatles' "Come Together" and Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing," and even a church-flavored number where audience members were pulled onstage to dance.

Escovedo has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years and particularly thrived creatively during 2020's COVID-19 quarantine period, when she released several singles and started a YouTube series, "Sheila E TV," featuring interviews and duets with famous friends from the music industry. Though back on the road with a mounting tour schedule, she intends to continue taping episodes.

She also has two new, full-length albums on the way, a gospel set and a salsa record — her first of each, despite her deep faith and extensive background as a Latin drummer. In fact, she and her father, Latin jazz percussionist Pete Escovedo, are slated to receive the Latin Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in November alongside other powerhouses such as Puerto Rican salsa titan Gilberto Santa Rosa, Dominican merengue diva Milly Quezada, and Brazilian samba legend Martinho da Vila.

"Some of my favorite gospel artists are going to be on the record," she said of her debut worship outing. "And I'm working with (arranger-producer) Tony Succar on the salsa album. We just did the first song from it. I'm not going to tell you who's singing on it yet. But, oh my, we're reaching out to a list of the best Latin artists, and I already know a couple who are going to join us. I can't wait for these two records. This is what I'm living for right now."

She added, "And to be receiving this Lifetime Achievement Award with my dad from the Latin Grammys at the same time. ... I just think God is still opening all these doors, and I'm so, so grateful."