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T he P ortland O bserver • J anuary 05, 1994
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 11
1994 Martin Luther
King, Jr., Celebration
Race Issues Affecting the Oregon Jus
tice System.
Portland attorneys Angel Lopez and
Jeffrey Millner. Sponsored by the UO Law
School. 7:00 P.M. 129 UO Law Center.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12
Campus Cultural Wars.
Sponsored by the UO Law School
7:00 P.M. 129 Law Center
THURSDAY, JANUARY 13
Commemorative
Concert.
Performance by members of the UO
Gospel Ensemble.
To Com m em orate M artin Luther
King, Jr. 1:00 P.M. Beall Concert Hall.
Race and R eporting S:00 P.M., Allen
Hall.
Civil Rights History of the South:
Similarities and Contrasts with Oregon’s.
7:00 PM., Walnut Room, Erb Memorial
Union.
Sponsored by the UO Law School.
“Lou Rawls Parade Of Stars” Telethon
American Red Cross
The Fifth Annual Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Blood Drive
Maranatha Church
4222 Northeast 12th Avenue, Port
land, Oregon
3 P.M. to 7 P.M.
Yolanda Adams
The Skanner’s Eighth
Annual Martin Luther
King Jr. Prayer Breakfast
Portland Conference Center, 1020 NE
Third Ave.
‘
9:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.M.
<4
"Jade"
William H. Gray III, Lou Rawls, and Wayman F. Smith III
Through the Storm: Yolanda Adams
FRIDAY JANUARY 14, 1994
MONDAY JAN. 17,
'i
Many of the nation’s best-known per
formers and celebrities will join Lou Rawls on
Jan. 8 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the
United Negro College Fund (UNCF). This
premier television special will be broadcast
nationally to generate fund for UNCF’s 41
private, historically Black colleges and uni
versities.
The telecast - slated to air from 6 p.m. to
1 a.m. (check local listings) - will feature
some of the biggest names in show business,
while giving viewers an inside look at the
academic programs and student successes at
UNCF campuses across the country.
Ensuring a college education for Black
students in the early 1940s was the impetus
behind the formation of the United Negro
College Fund. That’s when Dr. Frederick D.
Patterson, a veterinarian and president of
Tuskegee Institute, issued a call to action to
his fellow leaders at several small Black
colleges in the south. Dr. Patterson believed
that a united effort to pool resources was the
best approach to provide funding for the
colleges.
Continued to page 9
“Make a joyful noise...” Joyful is defined
as a feeling causing or indicating a condition
of great pleasure or happiness. That is exactly
what Yolanda Adams does when singing her
praises unto the Lord; soulful, heart stirring
renditions of love.
The world has definitely begun to take
notice of the tremendous talents of Yolanda
Adams. Her latest album, “Through the
Storm” on Tribute Records was released in
August 1991, it has rendered her a 1992
Stellar Award in the category “Best Female
Contemporary Gospel Artist” The single
“Through the Storm” has also received high
acclaim; it received a Dove Award for “Tra
ditional Song of the Year” Both awards prove
the versatility of this exciting Gospel artist;
“Through the Storm” has both contemporary
and traditional Gospel styles. The musical
influences on this album range from jazz to
hip-hop. “I also tried my hand at rapping,”
says Yolanda, “You have to reach the people
where they are. If the young people are listen
ing to jazz, then I’ll give them that smooth
jazz feel with the message of the Gospel
woven in”.
A Houston, Texas native, Yolanda began
singing with her church choir when she was
only four years old. S he sang her first solo “All
of My Help Comes From The Lord” at the
tender age of eight By the time she was
Thirteen, Yolanda was singing profession
ally and touring with the Southeast Inspira
tional Choir. In 1986, she joined the Sound of
Gospel Record Company family and recorded
her first solo album entitled “Just As I Am.”
This successful album remained on the Bill
board chart for two consecutive years and in
Billboard’s top Ten for eight consecutive
months.
“Through the Storm”, Yolanda’s second
soloalbum wasco-produced with Gospel Jazz
artist, Ben Tankard. Tankard is Vice Presi
dent of the Tribute label, a Christian owned
and operated company, where he is also an
artist. An accomplished songwriter, Yolanda
co-wrote or arranged many of the songs on
Through the Storm.
As a lyricist, the messages Yolanda de
livers in her songs are not only heart felt, but
developed through lifetime experiences. “I
was in Florida the morning before a concert
and was thinking about relationships and all
of the time and energy we put into them. I
started to reflect on how we put earthly people
before the Lord and how our world revolves
around that person. “A Message to You” is
about how we have to keep our relationship to
Him in perspective. We can’t love someone
else unselfishly unless we love Him totally.”
The music for “My Everything” was
given to Yolanda by Tankard. “After listen
ing to the music I thought of what I wanted to
tell the Lord, how much I appreciate Him,
how I thank Him, how He’s changed my life;”
stated Yolanda, “that time the music came
first, then the message.”
In addition to original songs, Yolanda
adds a new twist to some old favorites. One of
her most popular arrangements, “Even Me”
from this a album is highly requested in
concert performances. “I would sing a lot of
hymns while visiting churches, but never sing
them the way they were written. Generally
after my performance, people would come up
to me and say that they gained new insight or
revelation from my interpretation of the song,’
emotes Yolanda.
Other outstanding works on “Through
the Storm” include “Just A Prayer Away”
written by Gregory Curtis; a message Yolanda
says “comes directly from the Lord, He voices
his sentiment of His Heart”. Also, “The Only
Way” which was written by Mervyn Warren,
formally of Take Six, and Fred Vaughn; “this
is our hip song” says Yolanda while also
being musically acrobatic; and “You Know
That I Know”, was written for the young
people. “It’s a fun song, I got a chance to try
my hand at rapping and deliver the mes
Continued to page 9
Something On The Inside: Vanessa Bell Armstrong
When the maven of gospel, Vanessa Bell
Armstrong, sings “Something On The In
side” on the title track of her latest Jive
Records release, she’s not just singing about
God; she’s singing about a Godly lifestyle,
“Whatever you have on the inside should
portray what you live, whatever you think and
how you feel,” Vanessa says.
While Vanessa enjoys creating the con
temporary music that has helped broaden her
audience among youth, she’s also pleased that
her new album contains a good amount of
traditional gospel: the type of gospel that she
grew-up listening to and that launched her
professional career. But Vanessa is quick to
point-out that “All musical styles -- jazz,
blues, R&B, rock - the mother and father of
them all is God. Music is mucic, but it’s the
message that you put in it that makes it gospel.
The message has got to be clear, uplifting and
telling people about Jesus because He’s the
good news.”
The selections on Vanessa's new album
are indeed some of her most outspoken decla
rations of faith. Half of the eight song collec
tion was produced by the late Thomas
Whitfield, the acclaimed gospel composer
who passed away suddenly last summer of a
heart attack mid-way through the album’s
completion. Whitfield produced Vanessa s
1984 debut album. Peace Be Still. This was
the first time they’d worked together on one of
there albums in some years, so it was a special
reunion. She says, “It was like old times. It
was memories.” Vanessa insists no other
producer knew her musical senses the way
Whitfield did, and no other person ever made
her feel more comfortable in the studio than
he.
Among the Whitfield contribution is the
stylish soul balladry of “Thank Ya,” the
nouveau jazz styled “You Can’t Take My
Faith Away,” the bouncy mid-tempo “Fall er,
I Stretch” and the album finale “Story of
Calvary,” a gut wrenching ballad that almost
literally finds Vanessa singing her heart out.
While recording “Story of Calvary” Vanessa
said, “Tommy satin the studio and cried while
I cried. It was so real, the song just ministered.
You could feel the spirit of the Lord and it was
overflowing. All I had to do was flow with it.”
The dramatic song tells of Christ’s crucifix
ion and foretells the Judgement Day.
Vanessa characteristically wails, “When
1 see him 1 might not be able to do nothing but
CRY and CRRRY and CRRRRRYYYY/But
when I see him 1 know you’ll be there to wipe
the tears from my eyes!”
“That’s a powerful song,” Vanessa says,
pondering its message. "I’m moaning and
groaning in that song, which I do a lot because
I’m a very sensitive person. I have moods
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Vanessa Bell Armstrong
where I just sit and think. Not just about my
problems, but other people’s too. When I start
to feel the weight of other people, their prob
lems and my own, I try to think about how
Jesus died for our sins. That’s what that song
talks about. I can’t forget why I am here --
Christ died so I might be free!”
While the album is certain to touch
Vanessa’sold fans and attract new ones, it has
had an equally profound affect on her. “I’ve
been listening to this album my self," she
remarks, “and it’s given me the strength to
want to be an extension of what Tommy has
fathered with these songs. He is still alive in
this music.”
W hile the current trend is for artists
to com pose their own songs, V anessa
explains why she prefers to record the
w ork o f others. “I t’s easy to portray what
you w rite, but i t ’s more a challenge when
you can fell w hat another w riter is trying
to g et acro ss.” She accom plishes this on
18-year-old producer V incent H erb ert’s
funky “E verlasting L ove” and his smooth
“ D o n ’t You G ive U p.” The latter was
w ritten in m em ory o f his late m other,
w ho was also a gospel singer., “I brought
th at song around to my interpretation
because, w hile I have not lost a loved
one, I ’ve g o n q jh ro u g h d ifferen t periods
in my life that Were challenging. This
song is to encourage and tell others not to
give up, no m atter what happens. Keep
holding on to G od.”
Carvin Winans handled production on
“Ounce of Your Love,” which Vanessa says,
“...has taken me to another realm;” Vanessa
duets with the husky voiced Rev. John P. Kee
of New Life Community Choir fame. This
upbeat jam for Jesus finds them vocally match
ing each other note for note, as Vanessa
emotes that this “...’something’ affects every
single thing you do, the way you walk, the way
you talk, the way you sing, it shows the base
of the message you bring.”
A native of Detroit, Vanessa grew up on
the gospel of Mahal ia Jackson and the soul of
Aretha*Franklin. Those influences were ap
parent on her earliest traditional sty led gospel
numbers like “I’m Going Through,” “God
My God” and “There’s a Brighter Day.” In
fact, the lifting, almost blues-like arrange
ments coupled with Vanessa’s astonishing
vocal energy and improvisational skills had
critics hailing her the Mahalia Jackson and
the new Queen of Gospel.
I t’s little surprise that when the p ro
ducers of the NBC sitcom “ Am en” wanted
a power-house singer (they considered
Patti LaB elle and A retha F ranklin) to
record the show ’s them e in the m id -’80s,
they chose Vanessa. L ater, she was a
smash on Broadway in the gospel m usi
cal “Don’t Get God S tarted,” which toured
nationally for three years.
Vanessa’s singles “You Bring Out the
Best In Me,” “Pressing On” and “Something
Inside So Strong” earned strong airplay on
gospel radio while broadening her audience
to include more youth. Following these tri
umphs, Vanessa appeared in the telefilm “The
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