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Review Sun Mar 11 2007
I don't care how you get there...
What has the band Tears for Fears done for you? Besides coloring your 80s existence, they also discovered a talented singer named Oleta Adams. After taking flight on Tears for Fears' second album, The Seeds of Love, Oleta released her critically acclaimed debut, Circle of One in 1990. Casual music fans remember her single, "Get Here," which propelled the album to gold status. After that initial success, her next albums couldn't keep her in the limelight, and she has branched out in recent years to gospel and Christmas efforts.
On Saturday night, with local radio luminary Richard Steele in the audience, Oleta gave an appreciative capacity crowd her best. Accompanied by her husband playing drums and a young bass player, Oleta sang and played the upright piano and keyboard. With a voice range that eclipses quite a few of today's popular singers, she blazed through two sets, with the second being noticeably more energetic. Not coincidentally, she chose to take it back to basics, as she showcased her gospel chops with a blazing rendition of "Sing My Song," an ode to her minister father, which melted perfectly into the church standard "Since I Laid My Burden Down."
If a great talent doesn't sell, is their talent any less? Oleta Adams proves that, even with sparse commercial production (six albums in 16 years), truly great talent doesn't abandon the artist; it's just harder to find those with talent.
