|
 Over the span of her life and her career, Vaneese Thomas has been many things, a singer, a songwriter, a producer, and an actor. Those roles have taken on many forms and have taken Thomas to many places.
But what makes Vaneese (pronounced Van-EESE) Thomas so special is the class and professionalism she brings to every role she plays and to every performance she gives. She’s a much-sought-after solo performer, who worked with legendary producer Phil Ramone, sang with internationally acclaimed artists like Luciano Pavarotti, Stevie Wonder, and Sting, wrote songs for Patti Austin and Diana Ross, produced records, and, as a voice actor, appeared in Disney’s Hercules (as Clio the Muse) and as Grace the Bass in PBS’s Shining Time Station series.
Thomas’s artistic journey has taken her far and wide. But her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee is always there, playing either a prominent or subtle role in her accomplishments. Her latest album, Stories In Blue, described as Thomas’s musical odyssey that “tracks the essence of her music,” according to the album’s press release.
Thomas is as honest as she is unassuming. She tells the story of applying to Swarthmore College, a private liberal arts school in eastern Pennsylvania and considered one of the “Little Ivies,” knowing virtually nothing about the school.
“I was oblivious to the status of Swarthmore at the time…not knowing that it was one of the best schools in the nation. I first saw them on GE College Bowl. It was a television show (where) different colleges would compete against each other. I said, ‘Oh, those folks are really smart.’ That was my first exposure to them. Then, I went into my guidance counselor’s office and pulled the bulletin off the shelf and kind of looked through it. It looked beautiful. The campus was beautiful, and I decided I would apply. I was too stupid to apply anywhere else.”
Thomas laughed and then continued telling the story.
“I applied to one school (Swarthmore). People can’t believe that, but it’s so true. Not knowing the reputation of the school…but I was fortunate enough to get in, and it became the basis of most of my lifetime friendships.”
She added, “it (her time at Swarthmore) was very instrumental in helping form me musically.”
Friendships, family, and community are important components of Vaneese Thomas’s world. As Thomas might put it, she has been blessed with family and friends, all of whom have given her the strength to endure and to succeed. That strength from her community has indeed shaped Thomas personally and professionally.
To learn more about Vaneese Thomas it’s important to know about how her life started…growing up in Memphis, the youngest daughter of Rufus Thomas, the iconic heart of Stax Records and Soulsville, musically best known for his R&B/Soul hits “Do The Funky Chicken” and “Walkin’ the Dog.”
Thomas talked about what it was like growing up with a famous father.
“It was normal for me. That’s what I tell people all the time. I didn’t know anything different. So, it was just, that was Daddy, and he was the disciplinarian and the jokester, but he could be very serious when he was at home.”
 “People also forget that he was very well-educated, a well-spoken announcer, which is what they called him on WDIA. He wasn’t just a DJ playing music. In those days, when he first got hired, he was a representative of the African American community in Memphis, because that’s what WDIA played and what they represented. (Again,) he was very well spoken and, as a result, I had a great role model to listen to and to emulate.”
Thomas felt that some of her late father’s legacy has been overlooked.
“They think of his novelty stuff as his main forte, but I see the blues as his main forte. He was an excellent songwriter, too. If you look back over his history, you’ll see the stuff that he did on Sun. You’ll see the Stax stuff. He was always such a wonderful songwriter, and I’m grateful that I inherited that.”
She went on to include both her older sister, Carla, a hit recording artist for Stax Records and known as the “Queen of Memphis Soul” and her late brother, Marvell, a respected keyboardist, as major influences on her musical development and her songwriting prowess. “They’re also great songwriters,” Thomas added.
“(Carla’s) one of my greatest influences. She and my brother were such good musicians. They both played and wrote songs, and (both had) a great sense of harmony. So, she (Carla) was very instrumental in my singing and my pitch and knowing (about) ears ringing and stuff like that. She’s pretty amazing.”
Thomas recently helped celebrate Carla’s birthday back home in Memphis, where Carla still lives. That holiday season visit, along with her Blues Blast interview, allowed Thomas to reflect on her home life and other influences that would eventually shape Thomas as a singer and musician.
“Every genre (was) present in my household when I was growing up. Daddy got all these records from record companies because he (worked at WDIA). So, I heard jazz and gospel and blues, and R&B, every possible genre, including classical music. We listened to everything. I know that that influenced me, and I’m able to sing most styles of music as a result of that.”
Another major influence on Thomas came from outside the family home and directly impacted her as a musician.
“A lot of people don’t know until they read the credits on my albums that I play (piano). My greatest influence in that regard was my piano teacher for 10 years—Professor John W. Whitaker. He taught (music) at LeMoyne-Owen College (a private historically black college located in the Soulsville district of Memphis).
“He also influenced me in the speaking of French because he was one of the few African-American infantrymen in World War I. He wound up living in France for a while and spoke fluent French. I got my love of classical music and of speaking the (French) language from him. He was a brilliant guy.”
The next phase of Thomas’s musical odyssey took place at that Little Ivy college located about 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia. Thomas majored in French with a concentration in Black Studies. She was also one of the founders of the Swarthmore College Gospel Choir, which is still in existence today. The founding of the choir was not without controversy and Thomas learned an important lesson about how “sometimes negativity can lead to something positive.”
In 2014, forty years after she graduated from Swarthmore, Thomas returned to the school to give a commencement address and to receive an honorary doctorate degree. During her speech, Thomas told the story of being shy and insecure…a young woman far away from home and her family. She would play the piano—hidden behind a partition—in the old arts and music building. At some point, she’d come from behind the screen and, to her surprise, realize that other Swarthmore students were listening to her performances.
“I really had no idea of the impact of my singing, probably until then. That was a help in thrusting me forward.”
As Thomas said in her commencement address, she learned that her musical gifts were powerful and that they were also appreciated.
 As Thomas established her career, she became a “first-call” vocalists for a variety of projects by other top-name artists (according to her bio). She has lived in the New York City area for many years. Thomas and her husband, fellow songwriter and producer Wayne Warnecke, now live in Westchester County, New York, which, according to Thomas, is an “hour north of the city.”
The close proximity to New York City led to more opportunities for Thomas in various aspects of the music and entertainment worlds. As Thomas put it, she immersed herself in the “jingle scene.”
“I found that once I got into the session scene in New York, people know you, (and your) name gets around. There are so many different avenues you can take in session singing: you can do commercials, you can sing on different people’s albums, you can write songs for people. Of course, (write and perform) your own. You can do television, which I’ve done a lot of that.”
Thomas has appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and, more recently, on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“It’s just a group, a community, that knows you and knows all of your strengths…you’re not just the chick singer. They appreciate your talent for writing, for producing, for all of that. So, I feel so blessed to have been able to do all of that and (to have) been appreciated for the (being) the ‘full circle artist’ that I am.”
Connections in the jingle industry led Thomas to voice-over work for Disney’s 1997 hit animated film, Hercules.
Thomas would go on to work with many music industry icons, including (as mentioned earlier) legendary engineer/producer Phil Ramone (born Philip Rabinowitz).
“I wound up working (with) Phil Ramone. Phil was a great support to me. I sang on many, many, many of the projects he worked on, and one that I love, maybe most, is Genius Loves Company, the Ray Charles duets album. That one, of course, won multiple Grammys (in 2005).
“Phil could produce any style. He produced Billy Joel (for example). If you just look at the list (of artists), I’ve probably sung on (many of) them because he was such a dear friend and a loyal, loyal musician. He knew greatness when he saw it, and he was very loyal to those people. So, I feel grateful for having worked with Phil Ramone.”
Another music industry great that Thomas worked with was none other than the “Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin. Like Thomas, Franklin was born in Memphis, and the two women share another Bluff City connection.
“Her father (the Reverend C.L. Franklin) married my parents. The Reverend Franklin was my mother’s pastor. So, our families had a connection…from the beginning.”
Thomas sang with Franklin for ten years. Working with Franklin was both “a great experience and an honor” Thomas stated.
“There’s never been a finer voice in popular music. When they call her (Franklin) ‘the Queen,’ that’s no joke.”
Another Memphis connection serving as a subtle backdrop on an incredible journey.
In 1987, Thomas released her first major record. The self-titled album featured a Top Ten R&B hit, “Let’s Talk It Over.” According to her bio, in 1999 Thomas “used her own Peaceful Waters Music label to release When My Back’s Against The Wall,” a gospel crossover album that Billboard magazine called “a small label masterpiece that begs for attention” from the major labels.
Thomas recalled how that attention from Billboard for her gospel work reminded her of those musical influences as a child.
“All of that is in me, from my childhood. I used to listen to WDIA, and they (also) held the (annual) Goodwill and Starlight Revues. There was both a gospel portion and an R&B portion. I saw all of the greats, (like) Sam Cooke or Wilson Pickett, even when they were singing gospel before they crossed over. So, I can’t help but have all of those styles and genres (inside me). I (literally) absorbed them.”
 Her latest album, Stories in Blue, was released on September 27, 2024 and is the debut record for Memphis-based Overton Music, a brand-new label affiliated with Blind Raccoon, a well-regarded (and Memphis-based) support, promotion, and publicity firm.
Thomas co-produced Stories in Blue with Warnecke (her husband), who also edited and mixed the seven-track album. Working with her husband is special to Thomas.
“It was an act of great love because my husband and I produced it, and he recorded it—he’s a sound engineer—and we’ve been partners in that for many, many years. He played a large part in getting this album to market. So, I love that we’re partners (on the album).”
Thomas says it was also special to work on the album with “dear friends,” who are part of her professional family. “We’ve been together a long time,” she said about those musicians. “We get along really, really great. They help me relax into my sound.
“Also, my music director, Al Orlo, who’s also my writing partner…he and I have written a lot of the material together, and he just really gets it. He plays all styles of guitar, but I think the blues is his main act, he loves that.”
Following the album’s late September drop, Thomas held a CD-release party on October 26th at the Green Room, an intimate performance venue located inside the historic Crosstown Concourse in Memphis.
“I love that venue. It really is a listening room, and when you invite (people) to listen, they do, and I tend to do that for all my records.
“This record, in particular, is a lot of great storytelling…about people’s lives, about the blues itself, (and) about my family legacy. So, I like to tell stories along with the music.”
Thomas talked about the many styles of blues music and how that provided her with inspiration for the songs on Stories In Blue.
“If I want to go in a certain direction, like with the blues, there are so many ways to go. Because the blues has many facets. So, I have a lot to draw from all of those (variations) and from history. I use a lot of influences in my writing, but they’re drawn from life stories.”
The new album’s opening track, “Do Y’all,” asks an all important question for current blues fans and music fans alike, Do y’all know where the blues comes from, do y’all? Thomas goes on to sing about the hurt and the pain that make up the origins of American blues. And the memory of those origins, unfortunately, may have been lost to time.
“I think people don’t think about it a lot, especially if the artist is not African American, they may not give a lot of thought to the origins and the legacy. So, I wanted to clarify that and to say it to people in a historical way.”
Thomas does think, however, that contemporary blues artists, regardless of their style, are doing a good job of honoring those early traditions and the blues legacy.
“I do think they’re, first of all, keeping it (the blues) alive, which is a blessing, and (secondly) it’s evolving. That’s what I’d like to think that my variations on the blues are. It’s like the blues is evolving as every other style evolves. So, you don’t have to sound like Robert Johnson to be playing the blues. I’m really pleased when I see a variety of styles within the genre.”
In September (2024), Thomas had an opportunity to honor those legacies when she appeared at the Big Blues Bender in Las Vegas, Nevada. The annual event is four days of blues performances and events held inside a Vegas hotel-casino.
 “It was wonderful. I really felt, for the first time, a part of the blues community because when you go to the award shows and that’s just chit chat. You don’t get to know people. But, being there (Las Vegas) a week and (interacting with) Annika Chambers, Terrie Odabi, Sugar Ray Rayford, and (blues saxophonist) Jimmy Carpenter—I was in blues heaven. And those people were very kind to me. We had a great time.”
That blues community spirit extended to the Bender crowds, as well, that Thomas described as “receptive and supportive.”
“The people who come there, they buy four-day passes because they love the blues so much. They’re at every show (and) they’re getting your autograph, but they’re (also) learning about you as an artist. It was a great feeling.”
Thomas went on the say that she enjoys the up-close and personal nature of events like the Big Blues Bender and that blues fans enjoy that, too. “Yeah, I think people appreciate it.”
She then talked about European music fans, especially blues fans, and their love of American music forms.
“I find that blues artists are, I won’t say more appreciated but appreciated in a different way in Europe and are always able to get work there…festivals, etc. They love, love, love R&B, and I think it got in their souls back in the fifties—the pirate radio and all that stuff. So, they’re very appreciative when artists are there (in Europe) singing their original music. I have been very fortunate to perform over there.”
Thomas went on to list some of the countries in which she has performed: Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland.
“I love performing in Switzerland…I’ve performed in several different cities there and Italy, of course, performing at Porretta Terme.”
The small north-central Italian town is the home of the Rufus Thomas Park and the annual Porretta Soul Festival. Thomas sums it up nicely when she says, “they’ve been very kind to R&B artists over there.”
From a small town in Italy, to New York City, to a brief stay in France, Thomas has been just about everywhere in her professional odyssey. Memphis has always been there with her…right out front when Thomas sings the blues or subtly hidden in the details of her songwriting and storytelling.
“Yep, Memphis is still in me and influences all of my music. Everything that influence(d) my youth…songs and artists, but also my family. And the Memphis environment…it was a mecca for so much music. So, that’s inside me, and I travel with it wherever I go. I take Memphis with me.”
Writer Ken Billett is a freelance writer based in Memphis. He is a Blues Foundation member and former docent/tour guide at the Blues Hall of Fame. Originally from Tampa, Florida, Ken writes about travel, music, and the Mississippi Delta.
|
Blues from Maxwell Street – Historic Recording from Maxwell Street, Chicago 1960 and 1965
Alfie Smith – Every Rome Needs A Nero
Tomislav Goluban with Crooked Eye Tommy – Nashville Road
Ollee Owens – Nowhere To Hide
Mondo Cortez and The Chicago Blues Angels – Call On Me
CW Ayon – Bounce, Boogie & Bump
