There have been some stops and starts while we all waited for a new Teena album.  Two or three years ago, I got a copy of what was going to be the follow-up to "Passion Play," initially entitled "Black Rain."  The album went through several stages of change and at different times, it looked like it would be picked up by a major company, released on Teena's own imprint or issued in Europe first.  None of that happened: finally, a couple of years ago, a phone call from - of all places - successful Southern rap label Cash Money Records began the process that has led to the release this week of "La Doña," a brilliant new seventeen-track record that deserves the attention of all self-respecting soul music lovers.   

Some of the standouts on this truly satisfying set include "Baby I'm Your Friend," "A Rose By Any Other Name" featuring Gerald Levert, "High Yellow Gir" featuring Alia Rose, the brilliant "Makavelli Never Lied" which pays tribute to everyone from Chaka Khan to Marvin Gaye and "I Love Him Too" featuring De De O'Neal, a throwback to all those great ‘70s records like Shirley Brown's "Woman To Woman" and Barbara Mason's "From His Woman To You." 

Over the years, I've had the chance to interview Teena a number of times either for "Blues & Soul," "Billboard" or to update her record company bio when she was with Epic Records in the ‘80s and early ‘90s.  Each time, I'm left with realizing that this lady lives and loves music - for real. Our conversations are inevitably ‘deep,' referencing matters spiritual but always, we get back to music and on one occasion, I was fortunate to speak with Teena at her home where she has a studio.  I was literally blown away because she was rehearsing that day and watching her walk calmly over to the mike and then give a completely passionate performance in the confines of her own home was a memory I will never forget...

Thus, the opportunity to speak with Lady T., as she is affectionately know, is always very welcome.  We started out talking about what Teena was up to between the last album and this. "I was raising my daughter, I was on the road a lot and honestly, R&B was in a funk for a while.  There was resurgence of new artists like Alicia Keys, Musiq, India Arie...but I didn't want to put out a record until I was ready so I stayed on the road and took that direction with my career," Teena reveals. "Fortunately, I don't have to have a record out to work so I was recording when I felt like it. It's a wonderful life because I can still tour and perform..."

No doubt some eyebrows were raised when the news filtered out that Cash Money would be Teena's new recording home.  She is, in fact, the first artist on Cash Money Classics, the subsidiary of the company owned by brothers Ronald ‘Slim' Williams and Bryan ‘Baby' Williams.  Teena: "Well, I started getting these strange calls from Cash Money and I was asking myself, ‘what am I going to do with them?'  I went down to New Orleans to meet with them and they told me, ‘we really like what you're doing, we hear what you're doing.'  I asked them, ‘what are we going to do' and they told me they were starting a new label for classic R&B artists and they wanted me to be their first artist..."

Much of Teena's album was already completed over the years after "Passion Play" and she explains, "It seemed to be taking forever for me to get the record out, even after I signed with Cash Money.  Then I had this dream and I realized that it was the title that was holding me back!  Originally as you know, it was going to be called "Black Rain" but I felt like it had stopped raining!  If I changed the title, it felt like I could put it out.  And that's what happened.  We put out the single, "Still In Love" and the phones started ringing, it started getting radio play and the response we got was that people really loved the new record..."

The new title, "La Doña" is actually a name given to a ‘godmother' among Latino families; Teena's bio states, "La Doña [is a woman] who has paved paths, laid foundations and lead by exalted example... Up on all the history and down with all the trends, La Doña knows not only where she came from but also from where it all originated...and stays ahead of where it is all going."      

With a new name for the album, Teena completed four new tracks including "My Body's Hungry" and "A Rose By Any Other Name" in double quick time.  She produced most of the record (as has been the case with practically every record she's made since the early ‘80s), working with longtime musical associates James Allen and Doug Grigsby on specific tracks; the hit single, "Still In Love" was produced with Cash Money's MannieFresh and features a loop from soul legend Al Green's "What A Wonderful Thing Love Is."    

Teena reflects that she was happy when everything came together with Cash Money: "I got to put my music out and do what God put me here to do.  I've learned not to block the blessings, you know.  The album is really about me and my life.  I'm telling a lot of stories...like "The Mackin' Game" (which features M.C. Lyte and Medusa).  That was something that really happened to me in junior high school.  You know, we get upset when men put women out on the street...well, for this song, we flipped the script...the pimps become the whores...but we did the song without degrading anyone.  "I Love Him Too" - so many women have experienced that and lot have been in that position - and, yes, it's a throwback to those great Barbara Mason records," and when I remind Teena of Shirley Brown's classic song "Woman To Woman," she demonstrates her own knowledge of the music by immediately acknowledging that record. "Makavelli Never Lied" is, she says, "my tribute to people who have influenced me in my life - everyone from Tu-Pac to Bob Marley.  I wanted it to be edgy so young people could be feeling it without me losing the audience I've got..."

There is little chance of that: over the last decade, Teena has - as she noted - toured and worked consistently. I ask how she has been able to sustain herself that way when so many others are dependent on having product in the marketplace. "Honestly?  It's because my live show is really good!" she laughs. "it's my whole life. I've been onstage since I was eight and it's where I'm most comfortable. People ‘feel' me and they feel my spirit and I'm still really passionate about the music," Teena notes. "And black audiences really love that I do a good show.  You know I've loved black music since I was born and I feel like God put me here to unite people.  I've always sung what's in my heart and it's never been about wanting to ‘cross over'.  I never sat down and said let me write something that will be a crossover hit.  The most beautiful blessing God gave me was to have this relationship with black people and black music..."

 Teena isn't seen on television that often but when she is, she inevitably turns in an amazing performance and a tribute to Aretha Franklin that aired on BET last year was a case in point and a memorable experience for the Santa Monica-born native. "I remember growing up with her "Live At Fillmore West" album and  rather than being outside playing with the other kids, I was home wearing that album out!  Being on a show that was a tribute to her...wow.  She was out in the audience and she picked who she wanted to do the finale with. I was onstage and Alicia Keys was up there and she didn't have a mike so I gave her mine. Well, then Aretha turned to me and said, ‘here's my mike'!  That was such a beautiful full circle for me - really just soulful camaraderie..."

Mention of camaraderie naturally brings up the name of Rick James who has been a part of Teena's life from the time she signed with Motown in 1975; as music buffs will recall, after four years of working with various in-house producers, Teena was finally taken under Rick's wing and the result was her first hit album, the aforementioned "Wild And Peaceful."  Rick is featured on the track "I Got You" on Teena's new album and the pair have been touring together for a few months. " It's so exciting," Teena says. "We have one band and we come out on the song "Déjà Vu" (the classic track from "Wild & Peaceful") and we give the people two hours of non-stop music."  Teena adds that "Rick stopped working for a while because he had health problems but with every show, he gets stronger and stronger and I can see that old magical gleam in his eye..."

Teena does plan to do some more studio work, producing singer De De O'Neal and a few tracks with her own daughter.  Then, it's back on the road for her own tour and maybe a trip to Europe.  A new double CD of music from her Motown and Epic days is also due out before year's end likely incorporating tracks from "Passion Play," a much-overlooked but masterful album that we hope to have available soon at The Soul Music Store.  Meanwhile, what there is to enjoy is the magnificent "La Doña," a record that affirms that our classic soul artists are still more than capable of delivering truly great music.  As she always does, Lady T. gives us her best on what is surely one of this year's absolute finest CDs.  Take my word for it (and I know my soul music when I hear it!): treat yourself and all your friends to "La Doña." 

By David Nathan © 2004, www.soulmusic.com