Vaneese Thomas Down Yonder

Vaneese Thomas
Down Yonder
Seque Records

Blues and soul fans will ll be delighted by this new album by Vaneese Thomas, the youngest daughter of Rufus Thomas. On the twelve originals, she is backed by guitarist Al Orlo, keyboardist Robbie Kondor, bassist Will Lee, and drummer Shawn Pelton. Also collaborating with her are Lawrence Boo Mitchell and Reverend Charles Hodges along with trumpeter Marc Franklin and baritone saxophonist Kirk Strothers from The BoKeys. Older sister Carla Thomas added backing vocals, and Kevin Bacon sings a duet with Vaneese.

This recording certainly gets off to an impressive start with the swampy Tony Joe White feel of the opening “Ebony Man.” Singing with a delivery that has a hint of Tina Turner, she forcefully spins the tale of a sharecropper with whining slide guitar and a hard groove. The mood switches to the Memphis soul feel of the pleading “I Tried” with the Memphis Horns section and the organ of Hodges. Then there is the country-soul flavored “Highway of Regret,” with a reflective vocal and Katie Jacoby’s moody violin. It is followed by the Memphis grinder “Wake Me,” with the horns blasting away as she sings about waking her from the nightmare, and pain she feels. Carla is one of the backing singers on the song of hope “Second Chance,” about folks needing “a second chance when it comes to love and romance… .”

Another standout selection is the funky blues-tinged ”Lies” when she tries to get to the truth of the matter as her lover keeps lying. There is some marvelous blues guitar, and the horn section is brassy and punchy. “Handle Me Gently” is a wonderfully sung soul-blues ballad about needing some tender loving to help her recover from being hurt so many times. “Legacy of Pain” is a poignant duet with Bacon about murders in Mississippi that remain unprosecuted with a plea bring justice to the crimes. After the slow-burning soul of “Last Kiss,” there is “Gone,” where guitarist Orlo evokes Pops Staples on a gospel-rooted performance in the manner of the Staples. The album closes with more gospel flavor on the title track as Vaneese sings about being a vagabond who keeps getting drawn back to the city on the Riverbank.

Vaneese Thomas continues to impress listeners with the latest album. This recording mixes strong original songs, focused backing musicians with superb soulful singing. It provides more evidence of how marvelous a singer, not merely a soul-blues singer, Vaneese Thomas is.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is Vaneese (from 2015) performing a Syl Johnson-AL Green classic.

Vaneese Thomas Blues For My Father

Vaneese Thomas
Blues For My Father
Segue Records

The youngest daughter of the legendary Rufus Thomas, Vaneese Thomas, like her sister Carla and brother Marvel, have been involved in the music business dating backing to singing back-up vocals for Stax. After college she relocated to New York where she was a session singer and songwriter. She has issued several albums that showcase her singing and songwriting, and the latest is “Blues For My Father” (Seque Records). It had been five years since her last album, “Soul Sisters Volume 1” (Segue Records), where she resurrected classic soul recordings from the likes of Bettye Swan, Tina Turner, Etta James and her sister Carla. This new recording, as indicated by the title, has her delving more into blues and she contributed ten originals and also handles two covers, one of which is from her late father.

Produced by Thomas and her husband Wayne Warnecke, there is a variety of musicians appearing on this, but the core is Buddy Williams on drums, Will Lee on bass, Robbie Kondor on piano and Tash Neal on guitars with Warnecke on percussion. There are appearances by (among others) Marvel Thomas and Paul Shaffer on organ, Ron Mathes and Jeff Mironov on guitars, horns led by Tim Ouimette and Perry Gartner and Shawn Pelton on drums.

What stands out on “Blues For My Father” is Thomas’ vocals. Rob Bowman, who penned the liner notes, mentions “Vaneese’s masterful control of phrasing, breath, intonation and timbre.” In other-words, she can flat out sing with a display of vocal dynamics as well as power to leave a strong impression on the listeners. She belts out about having the blues while sitting at the station waiting for the train to bring her lover back on the opening “Southern Central Blues.” Then she gets sassy celebrating her man who plays no tricks and “10 X The Man You Are.“

The Memphis funk of “Wrong Turn” is a delightful duet with sister Carla (while Marvel adds organ) with some punchy horns in the backing and a crisp guitar solo from Jeff Mironov. “Wrap Your Arms Around Me” has a bit of southern rock feel as Tash Neal is on dobro with Mironov again on guitar. Part of the melody here is evocative of the Ricky Allen recording “Cut You Loose,” although her lyric is telling her man to wrap his arms around her and never let go.

The centerpiece of this release is a duet with her father Rufus, “Can’t Ever Let You Go.” Like Natalie Cole did with her recordings with her deceased father, Vaneese adds her vocal to the original Rufus Thomas recording. Husband Warnecke pulled out Rufus’ vocal from the original analog masters, added some exhortations from other Thomas recordings, then provided a contemporary backing, and guitar and sax solos along with Vaneese improvising around her father’s vocals.

Other highlights on this set include “Corner Of Heartache And Pain,” a straight, slow blues about the pain felt after her man left with Paul Shaffer on organ. “Love’ Em And Leave’ Em Behind” is a soulful number where Vaneese tells a heartbreaker she has seen her friends in too much pain, but he won’t do the same to her. “Southern Girl” is a celebration of her roots and the south with Kirk Whalum taking the sax solo. There is also a straight cover of John Fogerty’s “The Old Man Down The Road” before the disc closes with a wonderfully sung lament, “Blue Ridge Blues” backed simply by Rob Mathes’ guitars.

“Blues For My Father” is a showcase of Vaneese Thomas’ craft as a songwriter and her soul-shaking vocals and should have considerable appeal among blues and southern soul audiences. 




I received my review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the November-December 2014 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 357). I recently reviewed her most recent recording, The Long Journey Home.

Here Vaneese is performing at the 2015 Pennsylvania Blues Festival.