(December 13, 2024) Terisa Griffin is one of those people that prompt observers to ask, “how does she do it.” Griffin spent the dog days of summer embarking on an initiative that has been a passion of hers since 2006. Griffin hosted the 18th annual Better Love Yourself Trunk Party at Malcolm X college in Chicago where she resides.
The event is a sendoff to hundreds of college students and their parents that involves workshops and other kinds of fun and inspirational events. Each student receives a trunk filled with the items that will need for their dormitory rooms. Better Love Yourself is a collaborative effort that works with and coordinates with a host of civic organizations.
This is a passion project that takes nothing away from her music, as evidenced by “When You’re Around Me,” the latest single from her excellent More Than A Woman album. “When You’re Around Me” is the type of sensual, open and jazzy ballad that made Anita Baker a Quiet Storm mainstay back in the 1980s and 90s.
This song is perfectly suited for a vocalist with Griffin’s ability to shift from jazzy to soulful to sensual on the same song, as she does on “When You’re Around Me.” The arrangement, propelled by a softly propulsive bass line and jazz touches on the piano and drums, is open and provides ample space for Griffin to display her vocal talents.
“When You’re Around Me” is nice complement to Griffin’s equally good single release “Underneath It All.” That song possessed midtempo percussive Latin swing, and Griffin’s vocal recalled the late, great Phyllis Hyman.
Making original music that puts an artist in the room with those two legends. That’s doing something. Check out “When You’re Around Me” here.
By Howard Dukes
