Amber Weekes: A Lady With a Song

It is difficult to know exactly what to do with a recording like this. Amber Weekes is a very good singer, and from the outset, she calls this a "celebration" of Nancy Wilson, not an imitation or a recreation. You can hear Wilson's influence throughout: her articulation, occasional staccato delivery, deep sincerity and emotional heft come through in Weekes' recording. And a good recording it is, make no mistake. Anyone who enjoyed Wilson, or any good female vocalist, will enjoy Weekes, because she has what it takes. A lovely voice, very good delivery, and the ability to sell a song—even a classic one. When you invite comparison with Nancy Wilson, you are setting the bar awfully high. But the only real copy here is the title of the recording, which Wilson also used.

Times 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.