From the soulful gravelly voice of Bettye LaVette to the vintage guitar stylings of Vilray, we’ve got a great show from the archives for you this week. Nick also interviews Rose Tourje, founder of the non-profit organization ANEW that tackles issues of recycling and trash management to better our environment.
That’s all this week on eTown!
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Bettye LaVette
Bettye LaVette was hailed by the New York Times as “one of the great soul interpreters of her generation”. She is a song stylist. Her gift is being able to take a song from any genre, whether well known or obscure, and making it completely her own. To quote the late, great George Jones, “Bettye is truly a ‘singer’s singer’.”
Her career began in 1962, at 16 years old, in Detroit, Michigan. Her first single, My Man-He’s A Lovin’ Man, was on Atlantic Records. Throughout the 60s and 70s, she recorded for several major labels. She also appeared in the Broadway Musical Bubbling Brown Sugar alongside Honi Coles and Cab Calloway.
The 2000’s started what she calls her “Fifth Career”. Since 2000, she has received the R&B Foundation’s Pioneer Award, won several Blues Music Awards, was inducted into both The Blues Hall Of Fame and The R&B Hall Of Fame, received the Legacy Award from the Americana Music Association, and has received 7 Grammy Nominations.
Her most recent release, LaVette!, consists of all songs written by Randall Bramblett, whom she considers “the best writer I have heard in the last 30 years”. The album is on Jay-Vee Records, which is co-owned by Steve Jordan and Meegan Voss.
According to Steve Jordan, who produced her last three albums: “When Bettye gets a hold of a song, it becomes her song. It’s like she wrote it. She’s a great messenger, a communicator, an interpreter. Bettye LaVette is like a combination of Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis.”
Now, at 78 years old and in her 62nd year in show business, she is one of very few of her contemporaries who were recording during the birth of soul music in the 1960s and is still creating vital recordings today.
She and her full band will be performing songs from her latest albums and some older favorites as well.
Vilray
Vilray (vill-ree) is a composer and performer from Brooklyn whose original compositions recall the jazz and theatrical songwriters of Tin Pan Alley, authors of The Great American Songbook. With the release of two singles “Even In The Evening / Put Your Hand In His Side” and the album Rachael & Vilray on Nonesuch Records, his sound has earned wider acclaim. Whether solo or in concert with legendary singer Rachael Price (of Lake Street Dive), Vilray’s music is imbued with a singular warmth and an authentic crackle.
Rose Tourje
Rose Tourje began ANEW Asset Network for Education Worldwide, Inc.) after a successful career in commercial interior design. Combining extensive experience as a leading manager and strategist with a passion for design excellence, she flourished at EPR, Sussman Prejza, ISD, IA, AECOM, and Warner Bros. As her leadership role advanced, Rose found her specific niche in procurement, taking practical cost-effective & sustainable measures by sourcing locally and regionally whenever possible. This caused her to look more closely at industry practices as a whole, noting that the surplus furniture and equipment liquidation process was antiquated and overlooked. ANEW began in 2005 with a vision and mission to improve industry practice by extending the life cycle of surplus items through reuse, repurposing and recycling. Typically, when a company moves out of its tenant space, the surplus furniture left behind is picked up by a construction demolition crew and hauled to landfill. ANEW saw the wastefulness of this, recognized the value of the surplus and reinvented the liquidation process with Surplus Stewardship™.