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Amber Weekes: A Lady With a Song
ByTimes are different too. Think about the changes in a woman's role in American society since 1960. Think about how relationships have changed. Think about our approach to sexuality and gender identity. Nancy Wilson came up in a different world. It was a world of its own, with its own problems, and for a black woman, many of them unique. The music that made sense of life in 1960 is a memory, and for many, a good one. But it is also a bit like hearing the music that resonated with an earlier generation. When Buddy Rich made recordings of both "Bugle Call Rag" and "Norwegian Wood," he was trying to square the circle. Did he ever completely succeed?
So this is a problem for Weekes, a question not of chops, technique, intonation or taste. She has them all, and in abundance. Yet she is singing to a different audience, a different generation, a different world. Does she succeed? No writer can determine that. Only an audience can.
On that score, Weekes' flexibility and her arranger Mark Cargill's good sense are nothing but positive signs. If with a few head-to-head comparisons with Wilson's version of a couple of tunes, one can see that. "Save Your Love for Me" goes all the way back to the days of Cannonball Adderley. Wilson took it more slowly with Adderley's obbligato, Fittingly it takes two saxophones, (Gerald Albright and Paul Jackson Jr), to make one Cannonball in this version. Weekes is not the torch singer that Wilson was, and she does not try to be. So "Guess Who I Saw Today" may not have Wilson's emotional impact, but face it, these days, the possibility of being crushed by finding your partner having a drink with someone else in a bar is more likely to be replaced by some unconventional arrangement than blinding tears. Yet betrayal is always around, so Weekes' distinctively lighter approach to these songs is fine. Similarly for the gorgeous "Midnight Sun," which has attracted all kinds of heavy hitters. Weekes is a little more pop and a little airier, but enjoyable all the same. And there are a few tunes, like "Ten Good Years" or "Lady with a Song" that are pure Wilson, and virtually unrecorded by anyone else. So Weekes can do what she wants. She is not weighted down by a slew of canonical recordings.
If a singer is going to do someone else's repertoire, this is surely the way to do it. Not just a different version, but in some cases, something altogether different. No, Amber Weekes does not exactly sound like Nancy Wilson. She sounds like herself, and that is more than good enough.
Track Listing
Gentleman Friend; Save Your Love For Me; A Lady With a Song; Ten Good Years; What a Little Moonlight Can Do; Midnight Sun; Suppertime; Wave; Guess Who I Saw Today; I’m Always Drunk in San Francisco; The Best is Yet To Come; You’re Gonna Hear From Me; Wasn’t It Wonderful.
Personnel
Amber Weekes
vocalsRussell Malone
guitarPaul Jackson Jr
guitarGerald Albright
saxophone, altoRickey Woodard
saxophone, tenorJusto Almario
saxophoneRay Monteiro
trumpetMike Cordone
trumpetMark Cargill
violinRashawn Ross
trumpetTony Campodonico
pianoJacob Scesney
saxophone, baritoneAlbum information
Title: A Lady With a Song | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Amber Inn Records
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