“I’m a strong black woman and I surely know the way I feel/ I know what I believe in and now I know the deal” Vikki Wright sings on The Other Woman, the first song of her debut Tales From The Amazon. Regarding the fact that Vikki has written and produced all the songs on her self-released debut album she surely knows the deal.
Despite the album’s title Vikki isn’t the tough, aggressive, and angry amazon you might expect (well, at least not in her music), her blend of soul and jazz is much too lyrical and mellow for this cliché.
Vikki’s own songs provide the perfect vehicle to put her rich and warm voice to maximum effect. Her lyrics focus on the ever prevailing topic of love, the longing, the disappointments and the process of growing and becoming strong-willed. Listen to the afore-mentioned midtempo soul song The Other Woman for example. Here Vikki finally realises that she’s worth more than just the chick you stick on the side.
Get Out is another soulful song this time about a love and marriage that didn’t worked out like Vikki wished and she’s eventually throwing the guy out (”Now there’s nothing left to give - but, let me give you back your name/ Pack your bags and get out“). What started with a rather sad cause at the song’s beginning turns into a silver lining and new hope (”The real me’s coming out no more reasons left to hide/ Here we are, but there’s nothing left but me/ I finally found myself and I’m setting myself free“).
Other impressive soul tracks include the slow Wait On You with a fine saxophone by Elliot Levin. Elliot also appears on the fine and mellow Think Ya Know. After All is a pleasant 80s inspired ballad reminding me of some slow cuts from Julie Dexter’s latest Conscious album.
Vikki has also a few uptempo songs on offer like Just Wonderin’ or Get Up (Get Your Party Started). While these two are no bad songs they suffer for my ears from the synthetic instrumentation, which is certainly due to a limited budget. Much better is the sound of latin influenced Bailando En El Sol with Vikki’s husband André Adams on drums and Paul Eaton on guitar. The jazzy and relaxed Jazzin’ On A Sunday Afternoon is self-explanatory.
Overall Tales From The Amazon is a very good debut album from a talented singer/songwriter making Vikki Wright an artist to watch out for.

Tracklisting of Tales From The Amazon: 1. Welcome To The Amazon (The Viktro)/ 2. The Other Woman/ 3. Get Out/ 4. Secret/ 5. Wait On You/ 6. Think Ya Know/ 7. After All/ 8. Just Wonderin’/ 9. Been There…Done That/ 10. Get Up (Get Your Party Started)/ 11. Bailando En El Sol/ 12. Jazzin’ On A Sunday Afternoon | released 2005 by Angel Baby Music/Vikki Wright

For more infos visit vikkiwright.net and cdbaby.com.

[If you want to discuss Vikki Wright’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]