Colie Williams - Light Up the Darkness (2011)

Collette "Colie" Williams starts her debut CD Light Up The Darkness by calling on her musical ancestors - Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald. That song, "Ol Soul For A New Day," allows Williams' listeners to know where she's coming from spiritually, musically and stylistically. Williams' vocals have a mature, confident sound that recalls many of those jazz greats as well as R&B and soul singers like Roberta Flack and vocalists such as Nancy Wilson and Patti Austin who sing jazz and pop music. It's instructive that Williams makes the connection to jazz vocalists because she admits jazz is not her primary musical style. There are no jazz songs on Light Up The Darkness, but the refined, precise phrasing, clear intonation and the sass, vulnerability and wisdom that marked someone like Ella Fitzgerald as a great also emerge as a strong point on this solid album of seven originals and one cover.

Williams' primary theme is love in it's many manifestations. Songs like "Passing Day" and "Black Love" are about love of self and love of her people. "Passing Day" finds Williams engaging in a conversation with someone. That someone could be a child, a friend or a lover who may wonder whether Williams loves them, or even if the person is worth of love. Williams uses this song to assure the person that he or she is worthy or love, and that the love grows stronger daily. "Black Love" serves as Williams' way giving honor and respect to her parents and grandparents who played a key role in her musical, intellectual and spiritual development. The song also serves as a counter to the prevailing view that the black family is dysfunctional.

Affairs of the heart make up the balance of the tunes on Light Up The Darkness. Williams and her co-writers prove to be adept storytellers on songs such as "Reggae Love," a song that tells the story of losing touch with and then reconnecting with a high school flame. During the time she lived in Washington, DC doing musical theater . Williams clearly immersed herself into DC's local music scene, and that becomes evident on the song  "Angel," which is a dance song that features DC's signature sound - Go-Go. A true music geek,

Williams leaves the well-trod path when choosing the albums' one cover - Patti Austin's "In And Out Of Love." Williams often has to remind listeners that this is Austin's song during live performances because the song is not as well known as Austin's duets with James Ingram. If this studio version is indicative of Williams' live work, listeners may think this is her song because the singer inhabits the record.

Williams' performance on "In And Out of Love" is filled with passion and it's clear that she enjoys singing this song. Of course, that can be said of her performance on every song on Light Up The Darkness. Sometimes I wonder what motivated an artist to select the title for an album. In Williams' case, the decision to name this album Light Up The Darkness is pretty obvious. The musical landscape often appears pretty bleak for soul music lovers. However, the world brightens considerably whenever soul music fans hear artists who understand and respect the rich musical history, and know how to give that classic sound relevance in contemporary music. In short, soul music fans want old souls for a new day. Williams proves that she fits that description on Light Up The Darkness. Highly Recommended.

By Howard Dukes