It wasn't always an odd thing to find myself at the Red Butte Amphitheatre on a Sunday night in August. This Sunday past, however, was special in the sense that I, a person who sees at least a dozen or so concerts in any given year, was attending my first live music event in 18 or so months.

I had become accustomed to doing without. Doing without something that I absolutely love.

I never would have predicted that Meshell Ndegeocello would be the fist artist I'd see post-pandemic lockdown. Having worked in the music industry in the late '90s, I was vaguely familiar with her work as an artist who organically mixed jazz, hip hop and electronic sounds with traditional soul music. I think they called it "neo soul," but labels never made sense to me. They're too confining.

Being woefully unlearned in Nedegeocello's music and not having access to a setlist, I can only give you a sketch of the contents of her 80-minute set. There were covers of TLC's "Waterfalls," Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," original songs "Good Bad Day," "Forget My Name" and a few I couldn't place. "Forget My Name" being the most haunting, hypnotic and and beguiling track of the entire evening.

Nedegeocello colored the dying light of day with a melancholy groove. It was beautiful, cool, and seemingly effortless.

I wasn't the only one impressed, Dee Dee Bridgewater and members of her band watched from the side of the stage taking pictures, recording videos.

With night upon us, Bridgewater's band took the stage. The night was dedicated to the sounds of Bridgewater's 2017 release "Memphis... Yes, I'm Ready," a collection of songs connected to her birthtown of Memphis, Tennessee. These were the songs that Bridgewater listened to on her transistor radio growing up.

While primarily known as a jazz chanteuse, Bridgewater has always been soulful. So, a set dominated by Southern soul might feel out of place from a distance, but to me it makes perfect sense. Besides, it was still a night of standards, just not the songs made famous by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday or Duke Ellington. I'd argue that the distance between jazz and soul in the 1950s and 1960s was a slim line. That's what I like about that era of R&B. It's what I miss in most contemporary R&B artists.

So, instead of "A-Tisket, A-Tasket' we were given Bridgewater's spin on tracks like the Gladys Knight & the Pips hit"Giving Up," Barbara Mason's "Yes, I'm Ready," Ann Peebles "I Can't Stand the Rain," The Temptations' "I Can't Get Next to You," Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel," B.B. King's "The Thrill is Gone," and Carla Thomas track "B-A-B-Y."

But the music is only half of the Dee Dee Bridgewater experience. She's a remarkable storyteller and her personal connection to the songs gave her plenty to talk about. When Bridgewater tells a story the audience doesn't just hear it. They feel it too. She's infectious, full of life and exactly the sort of performer that I needed to escort me out of the nightmare of the last 18 months and usher me into whatever might come next.

I hadn't seen Bridgewater in twentysomething years. Still great. None better.

My only complaint? I would have loved to have heard her take on Prince's "Purple Rain." Still, we did get Aretha Franklin's "Respect" as the encore and that was something unexpected.