There are two important stories here. Unless you live in the L.A. area, you’re likely familiar with soul singer Billy Valentine’s stirring voice only through television shows. Yet, Valentine’s been singing, performing, and recording for over five decades, most notably in the ‘80s with his brother as The Valentine Brothers who had some fairly successful R&B chart hits, including the “Money’s Too Tight (To Mention),” and “Lonely Nights.” Arguably though Billy Valentine &The Universal Truth may be Valentine’s breakout moment as Bob Thiele, Jr., son of jazz recording (John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington) and label icon Bob Thiele, relaunches his father’s equally iconic label, the forty-year dormant Flying Dutchman, with Billy Valentine as the inaugural artist. This first release, Billy Valentine & The Universal Truth, is in keeping with the label’s vaunted legacy.
Producer Thiele, Jr. picked his friend and longtime collaborator Valentine and left nothing to chance by recruiting a top-tier group of contemporary musicians to support him with pianist/organist Larry Goldings, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Pino Paladino, drummer James Gadson, bassist Linda May Oh, percussionist Alex Acuña, trumpeter Theo Croker, flutist, and vocalist Amber Navram from Moonchild as well as Blue Note’s vibraphonist Joel Ross and saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins.
Wilkins’ alto saxophone introduces Curtis Mayfield’s “We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue,” our introduction to Valentine’s expressive falsetto Mayfield-like vocal with emotive solos from Wilkins, May Oh, and drummer Round, putting a contemporary jazz spin on the original. Yet, it’s Valentine’s commanding vocal, clearly articulating Mayfield’s lyrics that remains the powerful focus of the track. Valentine gets even more poignant on Gil Scott-Heron’s tune, enveloped in Goldings’ Fender Rhodes and strings arranged by Rob Moose. As Valentine sings “watch you die,” the ache in his voice is palpable. He transforms Eddie Kendricks’ “My People…Hold On” into a funk and gospel anthem with the help form a chorale of voices with Parker delivering a piercing, feedback-drenched guitar solo, smoothed out by Ross’ shimmering vibes.
Prince’s “Sign Of the Times” carries a bit of a hip-hop vibe with Rhodes, synth, and clavinet pushing Valentine along. On the other hand, Valentine and the band slow the blistering funk tempo of Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothing” into a jazzy piano trio rendering it with a doo-wop tinge, allowing the lyrics to shine through even more directly. They take another mega-hit from that era, War’s “The World Is A Ghetto” as the closer, giving it a late-night Roy Ayers-like R&B aura, colored by Ross’ vibes, Goldings’ Rhodes, and a host of background vocals. These treatments are inventive departures from the originals and arguably give the songs even more impact.
Messages of love and peace, so prevalent during the late sixties and early seventies come through stellar arrangements of “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” originally associated with Leon Thomas and Pharaoh Sanders as well as the traditional gospel chestnut, “Wade in the Water.” They transform the former into a ballad, Valentine on the smooth side in contrast to Thomas’ eviscerating power on the original. Parker’s sublime bluesy solo fits beautifully here followed by a chaotic passage driven by Thiele Jr.’s Marxophone and Daley’s bari sax. “Wade In the Water,” delivered with Valentine’s Trio and sharp turns from Parker and Goldings, is aptly one of the most rousing tunes.
Whether these recycled messages that partly built the label’s reputation will have much impact in these times is debatable, if not doubtful, but this recording will likely still emerge as one of the year’s most important. Yet, if the resurrected Flying Dutchman is to carry on its branded legacy, Thiele Jr. will need to feature current socially and politically motivated writers as well.
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