CD Review: Luther Vandross, Live At Radio City Music Hall 2003

'3BlackChicks Review...'

     


LUTHER VANDROSS, LIVE AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL 2003 (CD)
Running time: 75 minutes
Artist: Luther Vandross
Genre: Soul/R&B
Label: J Records
Artist site: http://www.luthervandross.com/
iTunes site: itms://phobos.apple.com/storeFront


Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2003
Review URL: 
  http://www.3blackchicks.com/2003reviews/m-bamslvlive03.html
 


I'm a big believer in Fate.

I had Luther "Lufa" Vandross on my mind earlier this week; he suffered 
a stroke, from which he's still recuperating, in April 2003, and I 
hadn't heard anything about him lately.  So I decided to post a note 
on the 3BC "Viewer's Voices" webboard on 21 October, asking if anyone 
knew how he was doing.  Strangely enough, later the same day, I got a 
notice from the Apple iTunes Music Service ("ITMS") that Luther 
Vandross has a new live CD available.  I purchased and downloaded it, 
and am listening to "Superstar" as we speak, on my iPod.  It was a 
no-brainer: I had to do a review on the CD, and iTunes, this weekend.  
It's Fate.


LINER NOTES  
Technically speaking, LUTHER VANDROSS, LIVE AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL 
2003 CD is a collection of eleven of Vandross' "greatest hits", 
performed live at Radio City Music Hall in February, 2003 (a few 
months before his stroke).  But this CD is much more than that; LIVE 
is Vandross' first live recording, a fact that's hard to believe for 
such a long-lived performer.  And even harder for me to believe is the 
fact that I've waited so long to actually own a Lufa project, 
considering how his music has had such an impact on my (love)life.  
Y'all belly-rubbers out there Feel me, right?

I've no regrets, though; this really is the album I've waited my 
lifetime to get.  Proof positive: I've been using iTunes for months 
now, and subscribed to the ITMS the very first day it was made 
available to us Mac-ers.  But though I'd sampled a small fraction of 
the hundreds of thousands of ITMS tracks before, I didn't waste any 
time here; within a few minutes of getting the notification, I'd 
already paid for, downloaded, and started playing LUTHER VANDROSS, 
LIVE.  My iPod and my ears are the happier for it.

Long-time Vandross fans won't find anything new here (hence, "greatest 
hits").  And in fact, most discerning listeners will realize that 
they've heard not only the same Vandross songs, but many of the same 
inflections, before; this tends to be the way Luther swings.  Some 
musicians (like my favorite female vocalist,  Rachelle Ferrell), don't 
like to sound "like the recording", saying they hate repeating 
themselves.  I can diggit.   But on the other hand, I am comforted by 
Luther's "repeat" performances; because he sounded so good the first 
time around, this works for him.  And for his audience.

Vandross sounds best when his sultry voice reaches out to the lover in 
you, most notably on his slower tracks.  I've never been much a fan of 
his faster tunes (many of them sound like disco to me), but there's 
plenty to love on LIVE.  It's unfortunate that this was recorded 
before his DANCE WITH MY FATHER CD hit in June; I would've enjoyed 
hearing a live version of that song.  But with great renditions of 
"Love Won't Let Me Wait" (truly one of the most romantic songs out 
there), "A House Is Not A Home", "If Only For One Night", and my jam, 
"Superstar", Vandross fans new and old, are not left wanting. 
 
If Luther didn't exactly dazzle us with a display of his patented 
Vocal Acrobatics on this live CD, that's ok.  The man can still sing 
the pants off all those other fakers who mistake disrobing on stage 
and begging their audience to Throw Your Hands In The Air, for genuine 
talent and honest entertainment (you hear me, R Kelly?).  Let me put 
it this way, for the more discerning music lovers out there: at the 
end of the night, who do *you* want singing in your loved one's ear, 
to set the mood?


TECH TALK   
As appealing as the Apple iTunes Music Service is, with their .99 
cent-per-song downloads, easily accessible via iTunes 4.1 for the Mac 
(and new this week, for Windows), I hesitated previously on actually 
downloading any of the songs I'd put in my iTunes cart.  As I 
mentioned above, there was no such hesitation this time.  But Mac-head 
that I am, I was still surprised by just how smoothly the whole 
transaction went: set up an account; pick a song/album; pay, download, 
listen.  It's that easy.

Because of Digital Millennium Copyright Act restrictions, there are 
limits to how ITMS subscribers can access, burn, share, and play their 
purchased music (refer to http://www.apple.com/itunes/ for details).  But for those 
with iTunes, an iPod, and $9.99 (plus 
tax as applicable), you can access this CD a few days before its wide 
release on 10/28/03.  Gotta love Modern Technology.

There are things about not having a physical CD that I miss, though.  
By popular demand, iTunes does have an option for viewing a CD's cover 
artwork.  But there are no liner notes to be had, and at least for 
this virtual CD, no mention of the musicians or backup singers (though 
Vandross does mention Nat Adderly for his beautiful piano solo on 
"Superstar", and Arturo Tappan's sax solo on "Love Won't Let Me 
Wait").  Still, according to iTunes' built-in stats, I've played the 
eleven tracks of LUTHER VANDROSS, LIVE, individually and as a set, 
going on twenty times so far - and that's just on my home computer.  
Good thing I can't actually wear my iPod out...

 
BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE
"Nobody does it better" is a fitting statement about, to my ears, the 
best R&B singer in the business.  Get well soon, Lufa.  I can't wait 
until I hear, and see, you live in concert again.

 
    LUTHER VANDROSS, LIVE AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL 2003 rating: 
     greenlight



Rose "Bams" Cooper                    
Webchick and Editor,                    
3BlackChicks Review                     
Entertainment Reviews With Flava!                
Copyright Rose Cooper, 2003             
EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED]                
http://www.3blackchicks.com/