(November 24, 2024) There are some songs and artists that transcend the era in which the work was originally created. These tunes can rightfully be called standards or a part of the soul music canon. That’s why you will hear these songs coming from open windows during breezy spring Saturdays or at family reunions. It’s also why artists regularly cover these tunes.
This is what inspired singer Cecily’s latest project, an EP that features the songs that were radio mainstays in the 1970s and early 80s. Cecily and her collaborator Brandon Lane put some thought into this project by taking a less-is-more approach. These five songs are stripped down and feature Cecily’s vocals, Lane’s bass, and in the case of the cut featured in this First Listen, percussion in the form of snapping fingers and tightly harmonic backing vocals.
Cecily and Lane’s reimagining of Minnie Riperton’s “Baby This Love I Have” captures the sensual, intimate conversation of the original. Cecily’s phrasing is on point. The arrangement serves as a display of how disparate elements of a song can be fused together to create cohesive work of art.
Minnie Riperton would have turned 78 years old on November 8. She died in1979 at the too, too young age of 31. The quality, quantity and the variety of musical styles and genres that Riperton produced both as a member of Rotary Connection and as a solo artist continues to inspire creatives 45 years after her passing. Check out this lovely remaking of “Baby This Love We Have” here.
By Howard Dukes
