The vivid colors of Luther Vandross

The cover of Luther Vandross’ new album Dance with My Father carries an announcement about the coming release of his first ever live album this fall. I believe that this was supposed to have been recorded during his scheduled tour of the US this summer, which would have coincided with the release of Dance with My Father last June.

The album was released to a most receptive market. It swiftly ascended the charts and is now considered one of his biggest sellers. The projected tour though, never pushed through. Vandross, one of the greatest soul artists in the history of popular music, suffered a massive stroke last April 16. He was unconscious for several hours in his home in Manhattan before he was found. He remained in coma and was only breathing through a respirator for several weeks in the intensive care unit of the Weill-Cornell Medical College.

Fortunately, the latest news about him have it that he has since shown some signs of recovery. He is out of intensive care, can breathe on his own, say a few words and even move his head. He is also undergoing light physical therapy. Hopefully, Vandross, who has suffered from diabetes and hypertension and a weight problem for most of his life, will be well enough to resume his singing soon.

A lot of people are now breathing easier because of this piece of news. It would have meant a great loss to pop music had anything worse happened to Vandross because of the stroke. The man is a genius. He writes songs, arranges music and produces great albums. He also has this extraordinarily beautiful voice. In fact, if you will listen to Luther, you will surely notice that he has been the major influence in the style of nearly every R&B balladeer of the past twenty years. Unfortunately for the copycats, the way the original grooves remains the best.

This is most evident in Dance with My Father. Listening to the album is one enchanting experience. Vandross now 52, is at the peak of his powers as a singer. He is a true repository of expressions, sweet, languorous, sexy, sentimental, very much in love, heartbroken, exultant and many more besides. There is perfection in his every word and in every note. The listener gets so caught up in his music that the album gets played again and again and unbelievably continues to sound even better.

Of course, because he is also a master producer, he has a lot of other goodies to offer in the album aside from his songs and fantastic voice. There are his guests. Foxy Brown appears in If It Ain’t One Thing, Busta Rhymes raps in Lovely Day, Queen Latifah of Chicago fame joins in with Hit It Again and then there is the sensational Beyonce Knowles in a remake of The Closer I Get to You. Those of you out there who think that Beyonce is just another pop diva with great moves and a flair for the hippest clothes this side of the universe, should listen to this. This Destiny’s Child can really sing!

Vandross popularized tunes like Here and Now, Never Too Much, Any Love, Love Power, Don’t Wanna be a Fool, Keeping My Faith in You. He has a superb version of A House is Not a Home, a hit remake of Endless Love with Mariah Carey, even Aretha Franklin’s Get It Right. The list of hits is long but the quiet charm of the contents of Dance with My Father transcends everything.

"If I could steal one final glance, one final step/ one final dance with him/ I’d play a song that would never, ever end/ cause I’d love, love, love/ to dance with my father again," he waxes nostalgic in the title track, which he co-wrote with Richard Marx, the same guy behind Right Here Waiting and There You Were. Those words and that sweet melody tell everyone that Vandross is one guy we would hate very much to lose.

The other songs in the album are If I Didn’t Know Better, Think About You, Buy Me a Rose, She Saw You, Apologize, Right in the Middle, Once We Were Lovers and They Said You Needed Me.

Don’t miss out on this one.