‘Nicki’ is the latest album from soulful vocalist Nicki Richards and its seventeen choice tracks are way more than just an expression of quantity. In fact they recognize Nicki’s return to the recording studio fully seventeen years after the release of her 1991 debut CD ‘Naked (To The World)’. Given the seventy six mind blowing minutes that this stellar collection of edgy R & B provides one can be excused for wondering what took her so long. Not only has Nicki written, produced and arranged every song she has also gathered around her a wonderful array of guest performers that include the Tower Of Power horns, Lenny White, Marcus Miller, Will Lee and Joe Sample. The result is a genre blurring tour de force that often surprises and invariably delights.
Though Nicki’s debut album was received to critical acclaim she became a victim of the turmoil that beset the then transitioning Atlantic Records. It dealt a blow to her beckoning solo career but paradoxically created the time for her to carve out an outstanding living as an in-demand session and tour singer. The intervening years have found her gracing the stage with the likes of Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Lenny Kravitz, LL Cool J, Al Green and Madonna with whom she will be performing in 2009 as part of the European leg of the record breaking Sticky & Sweet tour. Indeed it was while on the road with Madonna that Nicki realized she was missing being center stage more than she dared admit. Donna Delory, who was singing backup with her, had recently recorded a CD of her own and this really got Nicki thinking. In fact it convinced her to ‘go for it’ and now the hours spent in her home studio that she dedicated to writing an intensely personal body of work have truly paid off. Not only does her music reflect the sounds of her most lasting influences but also how their timeless masterpieces have assisted Nicki in creating her own signature statements.
A case in point is the opening track, the feisty ‘Lets Dance’, where she is joined by Marcus Miller on bass for an experience that in part is reminiscent of Tom Browne’s ‘Funkin For Jamaica’ but with a little Gap Band and George Duke mixed in for good measure. It really sets the scene for what is to follow and with ‘Bring The Love’ she crafts an old school dance floor filler in the style of Chaka Khan. It is made vividly more so by Chaka’s friend Will Lee who lays down the bass line he originally created for the seminal ‘I’m Every Woman’. When Lee returns to lend a hand on ‘I Have Always Loved You’ he affords the platform from which Nicki generates a distinctly Stevie Wonder like vibe and although the urban mid tempo lilt of ‘Why You Wanna Hurt Me So Bad’ is a total joy she retains that same soulful quality for the heartfelt ‘That Ain’t Right’. It’s a tune that feels distinctly autobiographical and this is also true of the bluesy and uplifting ‘Lawdy’ that was inspired by painful losses sustained from Hurricane Katrina. Blending a churchy choir and organ with her own soulful tones the number, which she dedicates to the spirit of the people of New Orleans, takes Nicki back to her roots and then some.
Nicki uses the latter half of the album to include a suite of songs that express the poignant complexities of loneliness, longing and love. By far the most mesmerizing of these is the sensual ‘Parallel Universe’ that is blessed by impassioned drumming by Lenny White and delicate piano strokes from Joe Sample. With all that is good in sophisticated contemporary jazz vocals it shows off a more delicate side to Nicki’s persona and she stays in turned down mode both for the tender ‘Say The Words’ and the spacey ‘Alpha Centauri’ which is driven to a whole new dimension by the fretless bass of Victor Bailey.
‘Happening To Me Again’ is a big pop tinged ballad that Nicki sings with a swagger of which Madonna would be proud and she shows her versatility for the sultrily funky ‘I’m Gon’ Be With You’ where her down and dirty approach contrasts nicely with flashes of cool harmonica from Gregoire Maret. In an album generously populated with standouts favorite tunes become matters of opinion and although the streetwise ‘Things Are Different Now’ is funky urgent and totally irresistible much the same can be said of ‘Check Yourself’ which is bolstered by the magnificent Tower of Power horn section. However, in the final analysis, the Smooth Jazz Therapy top track is ‘Say What’. Claustrophobic and beat driven this is perhaps the most infectious cut you will hear all year.
‘Nicki’ is a joyous experience that fuses powerful songwriting with fresh vision and timeless R&B. It comes highly recommended.
For more and to get the latest on Nicki Richards go to www.nickirichards.com.