Everlasting Love

by

Vanessa Williams

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First off, extra points to Vanessa Williams for using the lesser-known Rufus/Chaka Khan tune "Everlasting Love," rather than the too-familiar Carl Carlton song with the same name (that seems to get revived every year by somebody). Even more extra points to include -- and put her stamp on -- the Ohio Players' underrated soul ballad "Let's Love." In fact, although my aversion to nostalgia and most smooth jazz/soul had me unsure if I would get much out of this CD, the parts come together with enough inspiration on EVERLASTING LOVE to have me pretty enthusiastic about the results. While I've enjoyed a lot of Vanessa's prior music, i.m.o. this album shows off her voice most consistently to best advantage.

As with a lot of contemporary artists who've reached backwards in time for material (Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, even Rod Stewart to name just a few), Vanessa is doing the same here. However, whereas most of the others focused on tunes written prior to the rock era, Vanessa planted herself a few generations forward on the pop culture timeline, landing in the 1970s. Specifically, she selected tunes that inspired her as she was growing up, and fortunately for us she passes along these emotive connections to the listener, offering her strongest vocals to date. Furthermore, although the tunes are among the most memorable of that decade, most benefit from not having been redone extensively ("You Are Everything" excepted; a great song but too-familiar via soooo many cover versions over the years).

Some may quibble that the album -- with a live band and classic tunes -- seems stuck in a time warp (ala Anita Baker's most recent album). Yet who wants to see a class act such as Vanessa trying to compete with the boys and girls on today's hit list (as such peers as Janet, Mariah, Toni, and Madonna get caught up in doing to varying degrees)? Sure, there are other potentially rewarding options for Vanessa (neo-soul, vocal jazz, etc.). But sometimes an artist just has to go with what feels right, and EVERLASTING LOVE really seems to have the right feeling, one that overrides any preferences that the listener may come in with (such as those I listed myself).