Martha Reeves and The Vandellas

Géneros:

Soul

Bio:

La cantante norteamericana Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, protagonizó grandes éxitos de Motown durante los años 60. El grupo se separó en 1972 y en 2009 la cantante anunció que quería volver a la actividad musical junto a Lois y Delphine Reeves, nuevamente bajo el paraguas de Martha & The Vandellas, convirtiéndose así en una de las formaciones más destacadas de la música negra.

Hablar de Martha Reeves & The Vandellas es hablar de la história viva del sonido Motown. El trio femenino ha sido una de las principales y más populares formaciones de este prestigioso sello discográfico, consiguiendo la immortalidad musical (según la revista Rolling Stone) gracias a las interpretaciones de clásicos del Soul como Dancing in the street, Heat wave, Nowhere to run o Jimmy Mack.

Con numerosos galardones y varias nominaciones a los Grammy, forma parte en letras de oro de la Vocal Group Hall of Fame, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame y The Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame.

Una noche única para revivir y disfrutar de los grandes clásicos del Soul de la mano de una auténtica legenda viva del género.

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MARTHA REEVES & The Vandellas

When looking for the perfect presentation of the Motown sound and style, few fit the bill as well as Martha Reeves & the Vandellas. It was 1963 when they moved from being Marvin Gaye’s original backup singers (“Stubborn Kind of Fellow,” “Pride & Joy,” “Hitch Hike”) to stars in their own right with the trifecta of “Come and Get These Memories,” “Heat Wave,” and “Quicksand.” Over the next decade, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas would be a consistent presence on the music charts, as well as on television and top venues across the US and abroad.

With the unmistakable voice that helped define “the sound of young America,” Reeves reigns as one of music’s most beloved and acclaimed female singers. As one reviewer recently exclaimed, “Martha Reeves is the ultimate Motown diva with soul flowing from the tips of her toes to the last hair on her head. They don’t make ‘em like that anymore.” Reeves and her Vandellas remain in high demand, heating up clubs, casinos, concert stages, colleges and music festivals across the globe. Never satisfied with polite applause, Reeves and her cohorts deliver a fast-paced, high energy show that allows leaves audiences screaming and dancing in the aisles.

Their hits are a thing of legend: In addition to the aforementioned, they include the gospel-tinged “Nowhere to Run,” the classic soul favorite “My Baby Loves Me,” the pop anthem “Jimmy Mack,” and the signature, “Dancing In The Street.” While best known for up-tempo, hard driving tunes, Reeves’ shows are often highlighted by jazzy renderings of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?”, her driving original blues “Watch Your Back” (from her self-produced CD “Home to You”), the soulful, country-influenced “A Love Like Yours (Don’t Come Knocking Every Day),” and an original gospel stomper, “Holy Highway.”

Martha’s story is a familiar one to legions of fans.

Soon after graduating from high school, she performed in clubs as “Martha Lavaille.” One night, Motown A&R director Mickey Stevenson heard her and invited her to audition for the then-fledgling label. The highly-motivated Reeves arrived the next morning. Upon learning that auditions had to be scheduled, she made herself valuable by answering phones and taking messages. When people say she started at Motown as a secretary, Reeves corrects them, laughing, “I was never a secretary. I was a singer who could keep secrets and type.”

Reeves soon become an invaluable administrator, interacting with musicians and performers, scheduling sessions, and making sure that business was taken care of. And she waited her turn to sing. One day, when Mary Wells was unavailable for a session, Martha stepped up to the mic, got notice and a contract. She left the A/R department to become one of Motown’s most enduring and beloved stars.

As classics never fade, new and diverse audiences are constantly being introduced to the Martha Reeves songbook.

She has counted talents as diverse as James Brown and Beverly Sills among her singing partners. Robin Williams spun “Nowhere to Run” in Good Morning, Vietnam. Her version of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night” was featured on the Thelma and Louise movie soundtrack. The boys of The Boys In the Band and Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2 partied to “Heat Wave.” Everyone from Mick Jagger and David Bowie, the Mamas and the Papas, Dusty Springfield and the Grateful Dead have gone “Dancing In the Street.” Singers such as Adele, the late Amy Winehouse, Florence Welch and Jennifer Hudson sing her praises.

Moving beyond the confines of the concert stage, Reeves starred in a US tour of the Tony-winning “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, and has performed in road shows of “The Jackie Wilson Story” and “Good Black Don’t Crack.” She co-starred for three seasons in the UK stage review “Dancing in the Street,” alongside peers like the late Edwin Starr, Mary Wilson, and Freda Payne. Following Starr’s death in 2003, Reeves held the spotlight alone. That same year, she made her opera debut singing with the Motor City Lyric Opera.

Reeves is the recipient of the Dinah Washington Award, a Rhythm n’ Blues Foundation Pioneer Award, a Black Women in Publishing Legends Award, and has been inducted in the Alabama, Soul, Rock and Roll, and Vocal Group halls of fame. “Dancing in the Street” has been entered into the Library of Congress Registry of Historical Recordings and into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas are listed among Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Immortal Artists.”

Martha Reeves and the Vandellas are consistently on the road -- backed by an eight-piece all-star band -- bringing back memories, keeping live music alive, making new fans, and ensuring that you “don’t forget the Motor City.”

THE HITS

I'm Not Leaving (Collaboration with The Crystal Method)
Come and Get These Memories
(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave
A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)
Quicksand
In My Lonely Room
Live Wire
Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things
Nowhere To Run
Dancing in the Street
Wild One
Motoring
I'm Ready for Love
My Baby Loves Me
Jimmy Mack
Third Finger, Left Hand
Lovebug, Leave My Heart Alone
One Way Out
Honey Chile
In and Out of My Life
Bless You
Tear It On Down
Wild Night
Power of Love
No One There
(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
Watch Your Back
Home to You

THE HONORS
• 2011 MOJO Merit award.
• Named one of the "30 Greatest Lead Singers of All Time" by MusicRadar Online.
• Alabama Music Hall of Fame
• Dinah Washington Award
• Black Women in Publishing Legend Award
• Rhythm n' Blues Foundation Pioneer Award
• Dick Clark's Soul Award
• Vocal Group Hall of Fame
• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• The Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame
• Grammy Nomination: Heat Wave
• Grammy Hall of Fame: Dancing in the Street
• Gold Record: Dancing In The Street
• Gold Record: Heat Wave
• Named one of Rolling Stone magazine's "Immortal" Artists

Martha Reeves
Sandra Jackson (aka, Lois Reeves)
Delphine Reeves

Band:
Larry Crockett, drums/musical director (US expatriate, living in France)
Alexandre Saada,keyboards (France)
Christopher Blair, bass (Scotland)
Alex Hall, guitar (England)
The Haggis Horns (England)
Atholl Ransome, tenor sax
Tony Robertson, trombone
Malcolm Strachan, trumpet
Martyn Strange, baritone sax

Éxitos