Forever, For Always, The Power of Love
A Tribute to Luther Vandross
1951-2005
By Jonathan Widran

In 2004, 10 of smooth jazz's top instrumental stars joined vocalists Lalah Hathaway and Ledisi to lay down tracks on Forever, For Always, For Luther, a heartfelt labor-of-love tribute to Luther Vandross featuring spirited renditions of the multiple Grammy Award winning singer's best-loved songs. Although Vandross was still in a New Jersey medical facility, attempting to recover from a crippling stroke he suffered in April, 2003, the collection––whose producers included Rex Rideout, Boney James, Brian Culbertson and GRP's Bud Harner––had an optimistic vibe about it.

The CD insert invited listeners to “write a love letter to Luther” while making contributions to the American Diabetes Association. All those involved in the project––which included cuts by George Benson, Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Dave Koz, Kirk Whalum, Paul Jackson, Jr. and Mindi Abair––sincerely believed he would be back. Earlier in the year, Vandross had won four of his eight career Grammys, three centered around the hit song and album Dance with My Father, which won for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Album and Song of the Year. Just months after coming out of a coma, he was accepting these awards via videotape, promising his fans that he would be returning, using a quote from one of his hits, “Power of Love/Love Power.”

Forever participants Whalum, Culbertson, Hathaway and Jackson performed the first of several Vandross tribute shows at the Big Bear Lake JazzTrax Summer Festival on June 18. The triumphant and hopeful spirit of all of these events made it all the more devastating for Vandross' millions of fans worldwide when he passed away unexpectedly on July 1, 2005.

Many smooth jazz artists and fans have a powerful affinity for the smooth R&B he was so renowned for, and whether they knew him personally or not, it hit them like a death in their own family. Fans will talk about how they got married or conceived children to Vandross' songs “Here and Now” or “Your Secret Love,” or how “Dance with My Father” helped them embrace the deep joys of family. For the artists, the album and the concert tribute––Abair will replace Culbertson when they play the third weekend of the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival in October–– have now taken on a deeper meaning as well.

“I didn't have the privilege of working with him personally as some of the other artists have, but his music impacted me just as deeply,” Culbertson says. “I think Luther touched people because mainly the sound of his voice was just so unique and he had this cross between extremely soulful and smooth…man, he just melted everybody. Add to that his own incredible songs and the great songs he had at his disposal, including the one by Brenda Russell that Dave and I did (“If Only for One Night”), and it was a remarkable combination.”

Koz feels blessed to have more personal recollections. He remembers having lunch with Vandross for the first time at Genghis Cohen (“Luther loved Chinese,” the saxman laughs) and asking him if he'd ever sing on one of his projects. “He said of course, but in this business, that doesn't always mean something,” Koz says. “When I wrote ‘Can't Let You Go' for The Dance, I knew he'd be perfect for the backing ‘sha la' parts. This all happened within a few days. The official start time of the session at the Hit Factory in New York was 1 p.m. and I was all excited and nervous. I got there early, and he was already there, warming up his voice! He said he just wanted to be prepared. Whatever he was doing, a concert, his own CD, or jingles before he was famous, he was committed and driven by the music 100 percent.

“I was just hoping he'd do a few riffs, but he came up with all these other parts during the fade of the song,” he adds. “He was more than just a great singer, but a great musician and huge jazz fan as well. I think the reason he's popular in the smooth jazz world is that we're always looking for great melodies and harmonies and he had an incredible sense of both. And there was a unique depth to his music. Even on his happy songs, there was a touch of loneliness in his voice that was reflective of the man he was.”

Kirk Whalum had an even deeper professional relationship with Vandross, touring with the singer in the late '80s and playing sax on six hit recordings (Vandross did a total of 16 studio albums from 1981-2003), including the classics Any Love, Power of Love and Your Secret Love. “Working with Luther in the studio was a lot like going to school,” he says, “only you were learning from someone who really didn't speak in terms of B flats, or G minor chords. He was a natural, but a very persnickety kind of natural! He knew, not almost, not kind of, but exactly what he wanted. Many times he would take a phrase I had just played and change the end of it by singing the whole thing back to me, but the way he wanted it to end.

“There is something magical, not so much about the riffs and runs that Luther sang, though he could hang with the riffingest of them,” Whalum adds. “But it was the actual sound of his voice that was magical. As a saxophonist, it's important that people recognize the sound of my horn as unique to me. Once Luther paid me the highest compliment I've ever received. He told me, ‘I normally don't like saxophone, but you play like I sing.'”

Legendary music industry executive Clive Davis, who signed Vandross to his last deal at J Records, once called him the best R&B singer in the world, an opinion no doubt shared by the 30 million-plus fans who bought his albums and the thousands more who saw his dynamic live performances. One of these is beautifully chronicled in Live at Radio City Music Hall (2003), which was recorded just two months before his stroke.

Born in New York City in 1951 the youngest of four children, the future winner of numerous Soul Train, BET, NAACP Image and American Music Awards launched his career in 1972 with his song “Everybody Rejoice,” which was included in the Broadway musical “The Wiz.” He was one of the '70s most in-demand jingle singers and worked as a backup singer and arranger for pop stars like David Bowie, Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand.

Launching his solo career with Never Too Much in 1981––which was quickly followed by the equally platinum successes Forever, For Always, For Love, Busy Body and The Night I Fell in Love––Vandross ranked with Prince, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson as one of the most successful R&B singer/songwriters and producers of the '80s; he also became in demand as a producer for such female singers as Aretha Franklin.

Ironically, his success on the pop charts was spotty until 1989, when Epic released The Best of Luther Vandross... The Best of Love, a greatest-hits album containing the new track “Here and Now,” which became Vandross' first Top 10 pop hit. That proved to be his breakthrough, and Vandross' next album, Power of Love (1991), another million-seller, featured two pop hits, “Power of Love/Love Power” and “Don't Want to Be a Fool.”

During the '90's, his streak continued with hot duets with Janet Jackson (“The Best Things in Life Are Free”) and Mariah Carey (the Top 10 remake of “Endless Love”) and his first Christmas album. He recorded a self-titled CD on J Records in 2001, and in late 2002, phoned CEO Clive Davis about having written his “career song.” The bittersweet “Dance with My Father” became more than just the Grammy-winning centerpiece to his final and most personal studio CD. It became his final legacy, one that will no doubt continue to influence the R&B and smooth jazz we hear in the future.

Bud Harner, executive producer of Forever, For Always, For Luther and co-producer with longtime Vandross associate Rex Rideout of many of the tracks, remembers the recording of the album as an unbelievable experience. “Luther's family couldn't have been any more appreciative when they learned that these fantastic musicians wanted to pay homage to one of their musical heroes,” Harner says. “Eventually, Rex would travel to New Jersey to visit Luther and his family and actually play the album for them. Rex said Luther smiled and actually started singing when Rick Braun's version of ‘Dance with My Father' came on. I don't think either of us could have been more proud.”

For more information on the life and legacy of Luther Vandross, visit his website online at www.luthervandross.com.

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