Keys opens door to award vault

Spencer Patterson

Friday, March 11, 2005 | 8:30 a.m.

At age 24, Alicia Keys has nearly as many Grammys to her credit as she does songs.

Last month the vocalist/pianist captured four Grammy trophies, second only to the late Ray Charles, to whom Keys also paid tribute with a performance alongside Jamie Foxx.

Among Keys' awards: Best R&B Album (for second CD "The Diary of Alicia Keys") and Best R&B Song (for "If I Ain't Got You").

In 2002, the Manhattan native matched the Grammy record for a female artist, leaving with trophies, including Best R&B Album for debut effort, "Songs in A Minor."

Saturday night, Keys brings her award-winning talents to The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel. Doors to the sold-out show open at 8 p.m.

Keys appeared onstage three times in Las Vegas last year. She performed her song "Karma" at the "World Music Awards" and the "Billboard Music Awards" and contributed to a "Ladies First Tour" stop at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

At the latter, Keys easily overshadowed bill mates Beyonce and Missy Elliott with a high-class, high-energy set featuring such chart-topping numbers as "Fallin'," "If I Ain't Got You" and "You Don't Know My Name."

Promising neo-soul newcomer John Legend is scheduled to open Saturday's concert.

The Ohio-born vocalist/pianist, who performed with Kanye West during the rapper's show at Rain at the Palms last October, is touring behind debut album "Get Lifted."

Who: Alicia Keys.

Where: The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets: Sold out.

Opening act: John Legend.

Keys' band: Sarah Devine (vocals), Onree Gill (keyboard), Paul John (drums), Steve Mostyn (bass), Jermaine Paul (vocals), Denise Stoudmire (vocals), Dave Watson (horns), Arty White (guitar).

Latest release: "The Diary of Alicia Keys" (2003, J-Records).

Album feedback: "Beneath that sensuous surface there is some craft, complex musicality, particularly in how Keys blurs lines between classic soul, modern rhythms, jazz, pop melodies and singer/songwriter sensibility." (All Music Guide, 4 stars); " 'The Diary of Alicia Keys is an assured, adult statement, steeped in the complicated love life and musical dreams of an ambitious young woman who has absorbed enough Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin records to live up to the soul promise of 'Harlem's Nocturne.' " (Rolling Stone, 3 stars).

What to expect: Tunes from Keys' two superb albums, though not necessarily the exact same versions. The dynamic performer has shown an ability to successfully rework her material as a way of keeping her relatively small catalog fresh.

Tour feedback: "What really sets her apart is not just how well she puts over all this material, but also how comfortably she glides among generations." (Hollywood Reporter); "Her voice was sweet and soothing one moment and as strong as a brick house the next as she sang 'If I Was Your Woman /Walk On By." (South Florida Sun-Sentinel).

Says Keys: "I know the depth of his talent, and it runs deep. I mean, he's good. He plays for real. He doesn't just kind-of, sort-of play. He plays for real and he sings for real." (on Jamie Foxx, after their Grammy Awards show collaboration).