DIANA ROSS - Blue Review

Before Madonna, Whitney, Mariah, Britney and Christina, there was another female artist whose first name became synonymous with fame and talent, that being Diana. Including her work with the Supremes, she is considered to be the most successful female artist in recording history, but I'm not even sure that Berry Gordy himself would have predicted stellar releases by either of his original Motown superheroes forty years past the time he signed them....full text For soul fanatics, the Motown archives are the musical equivalent to the Wonka building in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. Every twist and turn is filled with the possibility of resuscitation, preservation, and in some instances surprise discoveries....full text Like Chet Baker, Diana Ross has a curiously ingratiating way of floating ethereally above songs without quite committing to them. While the effortlessly intimate Frank Sinatra sounds like he's dictating his songs to a sympathetic bartender minutes before closing time, Ross' delivery often suggests that she's encountering lyrics for the first time, but is determined to give them a whirl all the same....full text