As the world prepares to celebrate what would have been the Grammy-winning crooner’s 68th birthday, the family and friends of Luther Vandross are preparing to bring a lot more Luther to a lot more people.
Enter Fandross. It’s the brain baby of Vandross’ niece, Seveda Williams, and it’s officially official.
“We are celebrating and continuing [his] musical legacy,” says Seveda Williams, whose April 20, 2019 New York City “Fandross Bad Boy/ Having a Party Birthday Celebration 2019” event was hosted by fellow R&B legends Ashford & Simpson at their much-lauded Sugar Bar. “We’re doing it with quality events. They’re authentic and beautiful because I am surrounded by the actual singers and musicians who played and worked with him.”
Fandross officially launched in 2018 with a two-day music festival and memorial designed to both comfort and energize long-time fans of the crooner's signature hits. But 2019 will see a lot more action from the group, which is backed by Sony music, says Williams, who is the CEO of Fandross, Vice President of Development and Marketing for Vandross LLC, and is the family’s official liaison with Sony Music/Legacy Recordings.
After over a year of planning, the NYC Fandross event will, eventually, travel to Chicago and Philadelphia, among other cities. It’s an official remembrance tour for Vandross, who was the sort of performer whose music transcends ages and time. With songs like “Dance With My Father,” “Never Too Much” and “A House Is Not A Home,” the R&B legend’s catalog generates tribute concerts seemingly every other weekend in a number of cities, but the difference with Fandross is that it includes the band and is sanctioned.
Williams hopes that Fandross will eventually teach a new generation about the wide reach of her uncle’s talents. Not only did he sing, but he wrote music that has been sampled by others. She also hopes that fans stick with Fandross rather than other outfits that use his name. That said, she reminds diehard fans that her organization won’t be doing anything disrespectful with his legacy.
“We’re not trying to be him,” she says. “Please understand that. But I will be creating situations that are always respectful to the man and his art and I want to introduce people. I want people to see how you can have a great career without compromising your dignity and I want to remind people who have been to good performances what quality singers are all about.”
On top of having five Grammys, five American Music Awards, and seven NAACP Image Awards, Vandross also built his career singing and working with other greats, including Barbra Streisand. This year he will be inducted into the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture’s “Musical Crossroads” section, says Williams, where the museum will display one of his meticulously-created performance suits. The singer died in July 2005 from complications due to a heart attack. Meanwhile, his 2003 hit, “Dance With My Father,” is one of many modern classics still in heavy rotation for Father’s Day, memorial services and weddings – something that prompted Williams to work with Sony music to solidify the next steps of this official fan and memorial club.
When asked why Fandross didn’t get organized until the past year, Williams says she just needed time to sort things out. As she mentally prepared for the logical next steps, she got together with the band annually and they sang and celebrated. Who knew they eventually would work on the same team?
“Time helps you get along. This is a lot later than 2005 and 2007 but I wasn’t ready,” she says. “I’m ready now. He’s prepared me. Over the years, there’s a reason why I kept gathering the band and everybody together.”
Now with the help of core members including Alfa Anderson (from Chic) and Vandross’ frequent co-writer and music director Nat Adderley Jr. (nephew of jazz legend Cannonball Adderley) the show will go on.
“Not all of the members are involved but core members like Alfa and Nat? You’re not going to get that anywhere else," says Williams. "There will always be tribute shows by other people, and I think those are beautiful that people are still very much in love with him. But here we are, the Luther team. This has been inside of me for years; developing. That’s my energy behind this. I’m about moving forward. He taught me to move forward. I’m doing it with all the love and respect I have. Get on board this good train right here. This is what I’m doing and it’s good.”
