Vanessa Williams’ The Real Thing is the Real Deal
by Greg Ragland
Unless you’ve lived under a rock since the late 80s, it’s assured that you’ve heard the name Vanessa L. Williams when it comes to entertainment. Successful in not only Music but in TV and Movies as well, she’s the type of performer that comes along infrequently. Fortunately for music lovers, Vanessa is back after a 4 year hiatus with a new Album release entitled The Real Thing, her debut on Concord Records.
The Real Thing is a step into the world of music that Vanessa obviously is passionate about. It’s a passionate song cycle about relationships, and Williams hand-picked each song on the record as it relates to a phase of the modern-day love affair seen from a woman’s perspective.
Opening the album is “Breathless” which is the CD’s first single. It’s a good song, catching the listener up in the performers vocals & soft guitar work, but it’s by far not the best of the tracks.
“Hello Like Before” comes up next, a remake of the Bill Withers (“Ain’t No Sunshine”, “Lean on Me”) song of the same name. When Withers sang the song, the listener was put in mind of the angst of a relationship from the male point of view. Amazingly, Williams has managed to perfectly flip the sound to work from the female side of things, no easy feat.
I’ve always loved the Big Band sound, so “Loving You” is a definite treat. You can easily picture a dimly lit ballroom full of couples dancing cheek to cheek to the smoky vocals and smooth sound.
The title track, “The Real Thing” is a remake of a Sergio Mendes classic ‘Real Thing’, written by Stevie Wonder. It’s usually difficult to surpass the original, but Williams does it well with this track, eliminating the 70s Disco sound Mendes used, in favor of a full Latin rhythm.
“Lazy Afternoon” is an homage to Jazz, framing Williams vocal ability with minimal interference from the accompanying music – something quite a few artists could take a cue from nowadays.
I could go on about the rest of the tracks of the CD, but I’ve always felt that the listener needs to have some surprises in store so that the experience isn’t ruined by a review.
Suffice to say that overall, The Real Thing is a treat for the ears that I will be adding to my collection, and I definitely recommend that fans of Latin, Big Band & even Jazz pick it up when it hits the shelves June 2nd.
A note about Vanessa; her charitable contributions are many and varied, embracing and supporting such issues as education, homelessness, abuse, women’s issues and health concerns, AIDS and anything having to do with children. She is also well-known for her outspoken support of gay rights, having won the Human Rights Campaign “Ally for Equality” award in 2008. She is on the Board of Directors of Special Olympics, as well as the Board or Advisors for the Westchester Children’s Museum and supports numerous other charitable and humanitarian organizations.
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