VINTAGE SOUL DISCOVERY: MINNIE RIPERTON

When you first think of Minnie Riperton, immediately her 1974 smash single "Lovin' You" comes to mind, then if you are familiar with soul music songs such as "Inside My Love" and "Memory Lane," may come to mind. Needless to say, many people pass this genius vocalist off as a one-hit wonder, yet a one-hit wonder who influenced generations with her uncanny ability to not only hit whistle notes, but incorporate them into song in which that skill is introduced in her first solo album, "Come to My Garden."

"Come to My Garden" is almost forty years old and it sounds more innovative than anything that is on the radio today. I will admit this album is better than Minnie's "Perfect Angel" LP that feature "Lovin' You," because every song is a statement that builds off of every song on the LP. It's loud, rich, bold, boisterous, yet very sensitive all at the same time. The LP seamlessly fuses Jazz, Soul, and Pop and speaks to the work of Dionne Warwick and Burt Bachrach's 60's sound, which was Minnie's overall goal for the album.

The songs are ornately decorated with full orchestrations that show great influence from Bacharach. The songs are always jazzy with some cool big band antics, bossa-nova at times, feature multiple time changes, emphasis on certain refrains, and have transcendental lyrics that that throw story-telling out of the window. But Minnie makes this album her own by utilizing her whistle register as an instrument. She's highly skilled at sustaining notes for long periods of time while changing inflection effortlessly gliding while still singing at the top of her head voice. The long musical phrases she belts out serve as a backdrop at times while Minnie sings in her tender chest voice for all of the lead vocals. All in all, this album is just amazing, and its evident where Mariah Carey gets much of her inspiration and some vocal and recording techniques from.