Jill Scott returns to her roots in a homecoming celebration at The Met

By the time Jill Scott asked, “Anybody feel like singing?” midway through the first of three sold-out nights at The Met on Thursday, the answer was a foregone conclusion. The adoring hometown crowd had already proved that they could take over Scott’s vocal chores en masse, as they had a few minutes earlier with “He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat).” For much of that song, Scott simply backed away from the mic and beamed at the audience roaring her lyrics back at her.

Jilly from Philly wasn’t about to be shown up by her own fans, however. She ended the song with a stunning burst of operatic filigree that spotlighted the range and power of her versatile voice. Over the course of the two-hour performance she veered from gritty R&B to lilting soul, hip-hop staccato to jazz syncopation, coaxing rotund bass notes, sensual intimacy and dynamic bombast from that vibrant and virtuosic instrument.

Thursday’s show was the beginning of a delayed homecoming for the North Philly-born neo-soul chanteuse, who is touring to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of her beloved 2000 debut, Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1. The not-very-round number is due to the fact that her planned 20-year celebration was scheduled for 2020, and we all know the rest of that story.

Even with the extra few years added on, it was clear that Who Is Jill Scott? had rarely left heavy rotation for most of the lively crowd. No doubt at least a few of them could recall crowding into the much less glamorous environs of the Five Spot in the late 90s, where Scott originally emerged at the open mic sessions hosted by Black Lily. She became known outside of the city in 2000 when The Roots won a Grammy for “You Got Me,” for which Scott wrote the chorus — her vocals were replaced by Erykah Badu.

Who Is Jill Scott? came out later that year, and the singer has gone on to take home three Grammys (and a horde of nominations) since then. Though the bulk of her current tour is focused on revisiting her debut album, which she performed in its entirety, she bookended the show with a handful of songs from the two later volumes of Words and Sounds. The night got off to a blistering start with “The Real Thing” from Vol. 3, Scott’s seven-piece band showing off their hard rock skills as the song crescendoed with the familiar riff from Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.”

Scott emerged in a multicolored robe emblazoned on the back with her face and sequined afro. She quickly shed the wrap for an outfit of glittering black and shimmering silver. Clips spanning her life, from baby pictures to her cinematic roles, played in an on-screen montage during “Jilltro,” the sound collage that opens Who Is Jill Scott?

She became animated and playful on “Exclusively,” luxuriating in the song’s post-loving afterglow and adjusting its convenience store shopping trip for inflation (orange juice up from $3.29 to $8.95). Throughout the evening Scott teased the audience with the album’s sexual frankness, adding sound effects and hand gestures that raised raucous laughs and at least one marriage proposal from those in attendance.

“I Think It’s Better” featured a drama of romance and rejection played out by a pair of graceful dancers. “The goal is to get you some tonight,” Scott promised as she engaged in a less traditional pas de deux with her bassist Adam Smith, who evoked orgasmic shudders from the singer with the lowest of his low tones. The intention was similar for Scott’s opening act, bassist and vocalist Adam Blackstone, who invited the Roc Nation vocalist Dixson to add his soaring sultriness to a cover of D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel),” saying, “I’m settin’ it up for you, fellas.”

Fresh off of musical director duties for Rihanna’s Oscars performance (a role he also played for her Super Bowl show), Blackstone’s opening set with his jazz-soul band The Legacy Experience brought him full circle. The Trenton native began his own career in Philly, and thanked Scott on Thursday for his first opportunity as a musical director.

Blackstone, who released his debut album Legacy last year, started his 30-minute set on the upright bass, with Philly jazz mainstay Chris Farr taking a soulful solo on tenor sax. The jazz vibes quickly gave way to R&B covers, with Blackstone switching to electric bass and singing Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” with a coda from Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke.” Like Scott he embraced the mission of setting the mood for romance, ending with Dixson crooning The Gap Band’s “Yearning for Your Love” to, “talk to the ladies.”

Not exactly an event for the whole family, then, although Scott did announce that her mother was in the house. She thanked her for allowing young Jill to watch while Mom and her aunts, “drank Manischewitz and listened to Millie Jackson.”

She also leaned into the political edge of her powerful debut, leading into “Watching Me” with a showstopping revision of “The Star Spangled Banner” that began, “O say can you see / By the blood in the streets” and concluding with a reference to, “the home of the slave.” (“In case you’re wondering how come Jill don’t sing at the Phillies game,” she added.) She went on to compare enslavement to consumerism and social media to being assimilated by the Borg from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Whether it was the presence of a lively hometown crowd or simply Scott’s natural gifts as a performer, she communed easily with the packed house on Thursday, leading them in a chant of self-affirmation and looking back on the mistakes and successes of her 50 years. She left on an apt note of celebration, ending the show with “Hate On Me” and “Golden” while shouting out North Philly, Girls High and other local and personal landmarks. She’ll have two more chances to walk down memory lane when she returns to The Met on Saturday and Sunday nights.