{"id":43761,"date":"2019-09-14T09:12:18","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T13:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=43761"},"modified":"2019-09-14T09:13:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T13:13:19","slug":"on-stage-chadd-fords-collier-appears-poised-for-blues-stardom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=43761","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Chadds Ford’s Collier appears poised for blues stardom"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Vanessa Collier<\/p><\/div>\n

Kennett Square is no stranger to the blues. It\u2019s actually just the opposite.<\/p>\n

Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295,\u00a0http:\/\/www.kennettflash.org<\/a>) presents top-flight blues acts on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

Most of the time, they are established acts who have been recording and performing for years \u2013 proven stars of the genre.<\/p>\n

On September 15, Kennett Flash is hosting a show featuring a star of the future in the blues world \u2013 Vanessa Collier.<\/p>\n

Still in her mid-20s, Collier has toured all over the world numerous times and has released three solo albums. With searing saxophone solos, soulful vocals, and witty lyrics, her songwriting features a blend of blues, funk, rock, and soul.<\/p>\n

Collier\u2019s impressive vocals and stinging saxophone work saw her light up stages as part of Joe Louis Walker\u2019s band in 2012 and 2013.<\/p>\n

In 2014, her debut album \u201cHeart Soul & Saxophone\u201d won her accolades as a \u201cBest of 2014 Blues Breaker.\u201d In March 2017, she released her sophomore album \u201cMeeting My Shadow.\u201d Collier\u2019s latest album \u201cHoney Up\u201d was released on July 6, 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been touring a lot since \u2018Honey Up\u2019 came out,\u201d said Collier, during a recent phone interview from her home in Delaware County. \u201cIt\u2019s been almost non-stop. I did 115 shows in 2018 and I\u2019ve already done more than 200 in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pretty much always take the band \u2013 except when I go to Brazil to play. Fred Sunwalk, who is from the Sao Paulo area, emailed me a few years ago and asked me to come to Brazil. For the last three years, I\u2019ve gone there at least once a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunwalk, a guitarist, singer and composer, is among the top names in contemporary Brazilian blues. With 22-year career, five CDs and a DVD, he performs at the main blues and jazz festivals in Brazil and makes frequent tours in the United States and Europe accompanying international artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I tour in Brazil, I use Fred\u2019s band,\u201d said Collier. \u201cThey know the music well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been in the studio for a while. Making an album every two years seems to be a good number for me. I\u2019m writing songs now for my next album. There will be vocal tracks and instrumental tracks. I always do a mix.
\n\u201cPlaying sax, songwriting, singing \u2013 I think of them as equals,\u201d said Collier. \u201cI really enjoy the songwriting process. I\u2019ve always been a sax player. I keep the balance when I\u2019m writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collier is primarily a sax player, singer and songwriter but is also well-versed in playing clavinet, flute, electric organ, and percussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was little, I really wanted to play piano,\u201d said Collier. \u201cI don\u2019t know why. I started taking piano lessons but didn\u2019t like the teacher, so I quit after six months. I saw someone playing sax on television and fell in love with it. We rented a sax for me when I was in fourth grade. That was in school. Then, I studied with a private instructor for a few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, I took lessons with Chris Vadala, who played sax with Chuck Mangione. I studied with him for seven years \u2013 classical, jazz and funk. He started me doubling on flute and clarinet. I still play those instruments. Mainly, I play sax \u2014 tenor, some soprano and some baritone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collier\u2019s latest album \u201cHoney Up\u201d was released just over a year ago.<\/p>\n

According to Collier on her website, \u201cThis album is a snapshot in time of what I enjoy writing\/playing\/singing and brings together my diverse inspirations and ideas and, on this album especially, more of my personality.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there\u2019s always a purpose to some of my songs as they are based on things I struggle with, like why we can\u2019t listen and respect each other, why we can\u2019t work to find common ground, and why we can\u2019t find our way out of the small boxes we place (or accept) in our lives, but even those songs drive us forward and the music is upbeat and funky.<\/p>\n

\u201cSimilar to my previous records (which I also produced), the songs on \u2018Honey Up\u2019 pay respect to the traditions and roots of blues music, but branch out with my own blend of rock, funk, gospel, NOLA, and soul grooves and, of course, my love of the saxophone. Each song is different, and I hope you find a favorite (or two or three\u2026)!! Thank you for listening!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018Honey Up\u2019 album was nominated for Blues Music Award (BMA) Contemporary Blues Album of the year,\u201d said Collier. \u00a0\u201cThe album came out last July and did well right from the start. It was a Top 5 Billboard Blues Album and was well-received by radio deejays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collier was nominated in 2017 for a Blues Music Award in the \u201cInstrumental — Horn Player of the Year\u201d category. She also won first place in the \u201cLyrics Only\u201d category of the 2017 USA Songwriting Competition. In 2018, Collier was nominated in two categories at the Blues Music Awards \u2013 \u201cContemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year\u201d and \u201cInstrumental — Horn Player of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, she was again nominated in same two categories at the Blues Music Awards \u2013 \u201cContemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year\u201d and \u201cInstrumental \u2013 Horn.\u201d She claimed first place in the \u201cInstrumental \u2013 Horn\u201d category.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoney Up,\u201d which had a three-month residency on Billboard\u2019s \u201cTop Blues Albums Chart,\u201d provides a good look at Collier\u2019s influences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith jazz, the first person I was turned on to was Cannonball Adderley,\u201d said Collier. \u201cOther major influences were John Coltrane, Junior Walker, and Maceo Parker. Vocally, I started with Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan and that morphed into Norah Jones and Bonnie Raitt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collier also is a music teacher and has been involved in various \u201cBlues in Schools\u201d programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in Clarksville, Maryland and then graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston,\u201d said Collier, who earned a dual degree in performance and music production, and engineering. \u201cRight now, I\u2019m basically just playing and teaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m playing live, it\u2019s mostly sax and vocals. I do play guitar on two songs. I use three saxes \u2013 soprano, tenor and alto \u2013 with the majority on soprano. In my current show, I\u2019ve been trying to work songs from \u2018Honey Up.\u201d Generally, I play a blend from all three records.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Collier has played shows all over the world \u2013 especially Europe and South America \u2013 this weekend\u2019s show will be in her own backyard \u2013 almost.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy home is in Chadds Ford so I\u2019m very excited to be playing at the Flash,\u201d said Collier. \u201cI\u2019m living here with my family. My parents both teach at the University of Delaware and I have three younger sisters ages 12, 10 and 7.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Vanessa Collier \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/Ji0x9vkQVcQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at Kennett Flash will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Kennett Square is no stranger to the blues. It\u2019s actually just the opposite. Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295,\u00a0http:\/\/www.kennettflash.org) presents top-flight blues acts on a regular basis. Most of the time, they are established acts who have been recording and performing for years \u2013 proven stars […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8457],"tags":[39,7426,11482],"class_list":["post-43761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-chadds-ford","tag-featured","tag-vanessa-collier"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43761"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43764,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43761\/revisions\/43764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}