Today we celebrate singer-songwriter and neo-soul pioneer Maxwell. He was born Gerald Maxwell Rivera on this day in 1973. The Brooklyn, NY native began writing music at 17, and landed a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1994 after building a reputation playing around New York City. With the successful release of his first three albums between 1996 and 2001, Maxwell became one of the defining artists of the neo-soul genre, along with artists like Erykah Badu and D'Angelo.
On his third album Now, Maxwell includes one cover: a soulful rendition of the 1988 Kate Bush song “This Woman’s Work.” This video finds him performing the song during his MTV Unplugged concert in 1997. His band includes a harpist and a string section, and their handling of this song is particularly ethereal.
