Spinozablue: An Eclectic Journal of the Arts

[Guest blog­ging today, Robert Mueller]

Vanessa Boyd

In high-​​temperature mel­low Vanessa Boyd sings and quizzes and spells, coax­ing a super-​​planing fris­son and still more touchy thrill for her audi­ences in local New York City estab­lish­ments. I recently heard a dyna­mite (truly!) per­for­mance at a box of a Ben­galese food counter way down­town. There was no high­light­ing, no shad­ow­ing, just good acousti­cal and a capella reac­tion. Offer­ing song, spo­ken word and an intrigu­ing assertive­ness drama (bor­der­ing on the unique), her per­form­ing had every bit of that true and unac­count­able mag­nif­i­cence that you might not believe com­ing from her all-​​at-​​once sleek and pur­ple and daz­zling ukulele accom­pa­ni­ment. These are tonal­i­ties to behold, splen­dors even in their undo­ing of their “des­per­ate sexuality.”

In the two years or so since her arrival from a Ten­nessee home-​​ground, Vanessa Boyd has brought more than her inter­twined delights; she has brought an expe­di­ency of won­der. She has grown a fol­low­ing and a style, and a com­mit­ted and strangely com­fort­able appeal, with plenty of regional motion power, and plenty of tough talk. You are invited to try the exper­i­ment. Her web­site www​.vaness​aboyd​.com lists no less than three albums and offers a beautifully-​​produced selec­tion for your listening.

Ms. Boyd shows her com­pli­cated tal­ents in the selec­tion “Non-​​Existing Girl­friend” as she thrills at the higher, slith­ery range of her glo­ri­ous voice and paints a fetch­ing pic­ture of emo­tional neglect. It might not be the right take to note the catchy bravado and joy­ous self-​​proclaiming, but the singer seems to find fresh wind in con­fronting a bad deal. And so dis­re­spect is now respectably rich, and abne­ga­tion turns to pos­i­tive nega­tion in a lovely clash of sen­si­ble song-​​writing.

“Kid­ney Punch,” also on the web­site, presents art­ful nar­rat­ing; it’s a bit of a shock and you won’t miss it. A favorite vocal, “Friends of Mine,” is in Ms. Boyd’s main reg­is­ter with its more deeply robust and incen­di­ary sounds. Here fine and tricky urg­ing sets the tone, tonal ambiance sets the release.

Vanessa Boyd is on tour this month and has engage­ments in Shreve­port, and then on to points in Ari­zona and Ten­nessee and a final stop in Philadelphia.

– Robert Mueller

Related Posts

1. Just Like a Muddy Rolling Stone
2. Paco De Lucia
3. House of the Rising Sun
4. Joy­ous Ode to Rock N Roll
5. Missy Hig­gins