Hardly an oldie

SUMMER FESTIVAL

Hardly an oldie

Legendary Gladys Knight still a prolific artist

By Kevin Ransom

News Special Writer

Sometimes, when discussing artists whose careers have spanned 40-plus years, careers that date back to the 1960s, there is an unfortunate tendency to think of them as “oldies acts.”

Part of that, of course, is because the media’s celebrity-eating machine - not to mention the record companies - are always on the lookout for the hot new thing or flavor of the month - one that, typically, no one will remember two years from now. As a result, older, veteran artists are sometimes looked upon as “quaint.”

Well, Gladys Knight’s career dates back to the ’60s - but I’m here to tell you that she is no oldies act content to play the casino circuit. In fact, Knight’s last album, “Before Me,” was one of the most ambitious of her career.

On that disc, after a long career as an acclaimed soul and R&B singer, Knight - who comes to Hill Auditorium on Friday for an Ann Arbor Summer Festival show - decided to lend her famous voice to jazz ballads and standards. She, producer Phil Ramone and a crew of ace jazz musicians tackled classics such as Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child,” Lena Horne’s “Stormy Weather” and Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday” and “Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me.”

The album was actually a bit of a revelation, especially for those who expected Knight to employ the grittier vintage soul vocal style she was so well-known for. But she shifted vocal gears into something silkier and more subtle.

And in general, Knight has continued to be a prolific recording artist - she released four albums in ’05-06. On one of those, “One Voice,” she collaborated with The Saints Unified Voices - a 100-voice gospel choir that she formed herself - to raise the roof on a set of robust gospel and praise songs - and they nabbed a Grammy for their efforts.

She teamed up with that choir again in ’06 to record a

Gladys Knight plays an Ann Arbor Summer Festival date at Hill Auditorium on Friday.

PREVIEW

Gladys Knight

What: The Ann Arbor Summer Festival presents this venerable R&B singer, whose career dates back to the 1960s, and who continues to

be a prolific recording artist.

Where: Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University Ave.

When: 8 p.m. Friday.

How much: $65, $60, $55, $45, $35.

Details: 734-764-2538; www.annarborsummerfestival.org.

holiday album, “A Christmas Celebration.”

Knight is actually no stranger to the Grammy Victory Experience. She won another Grammy for her duet with Ray Charles on his ’05 “Genius Loves Company” album: They won in the Best Gospel Performance category for “Heaven Help Us All.” And she walked away with a statue for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album in '02 for her “At Last” release.

Her full plate has not been limited to recording and touring, however. A couple of years ago, she did a guest turn on NBC’s “30 Rock.” She portrayed herself in the episode that featured Edie Falco as a liberal New York senator whose favorite song was Knight’s classic, “Midnight Train to Georgia” (which Knight originally rendered with the suave assistance of the Pips, of course.) Falco’s character requested that Knight appear on a show with her, and the song soon got stuck in the heads of every member of the staff, much to Knight’s comical displeasure.

She’s also appeared in such films and TV shows as “JAG,” “American Juniors,” and “Hollywood Homicide.”

Of course, when you have a large body of work that includes iconic R&B songs such as “Midnight Train,” “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” and “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination” - all of which were Top 10 gold-certified singles (including a No. 1 hit with “Midnight Train”) - well, those tunes are obviously still going to be your “breadwinners,” as they say in the business.

“We really wanted to close this year’s festival with a true musical icon,” says Robb Woulfe, the Summer Festival’s executive director. “And who better than the Empress of Soul? Gladys Knight is definitely one of the best-loved singers of all time. She really laid the groundwork for a number of these up-and-coming singers who are now leading the soul revival. Hearing her sing ‘Midnight Train’ in a live setting - well, for me, that will definitely be one of the highlights of the season.”

Kevin Ransom can be reached at KevinRansom 10@aol.com