BEGIN:VCALENDAR METHOD:PUBLISH CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:-//EVDB//www.eventful.com//EN VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:Martha Reeves and The Vandellas in Washington DC at Carly le Club - Eventful BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART:20090828T200000 DTEND:20090829T013000 DTSTAMP:20090520T134944Z SUMMARY:Martha Reeves and The Vandellas DESCRIPTION:MARTHA REEVES\nStill Dancing\, After All These Years\n\n\n It’s hard to believe it that it was 45 years ago that Martha Reev es first hit the charts with the bluesy\, soulful “Come and Get T hese Memories.” It is especially hard to believe that four decade s have passed when “Motown’s ultimate soul diva” hits t he stage. With the unmistakable voice that helped define “the sou nd of young America\,” dancing and strutting with the energy of s omeone decades younger\, keeping the beat with her trusty tambourine a nd keeping audiences on their feet as they dance down Memory Lane\, Re eves is a live wire. Whether performing solo or with the Vandellas (h er sisters\, Lois and Delphine)\, Martha Reeves continues to heat up c lubs\, the concert stage and music festivals\, thrilling audiences acr oss the globe\, and always leaving them dancing.\n\nHer hits are the t hing of legend: the Grammy-award nominated “Heat Wave\,” the gospel-tinged “Nowhere to Run\,” the classic soul favorite “My Baby Loves Me\,” and her signature\, “Dancing In Th e Street.” While best known for up-tempo\, hard driving tunes\, R eeves’ shows are often highlighted by tender renditions of songs like Duke Ellington’s “I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Goo d)\,” Billie Holiday’s “God Bless The Child” (incl uded in her award-winning CD “Home to You”) and perennial sh owstopper\, “Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things.” \n\nWith her group\, the Vandellas\, Martha Reeves established an enviable legacy. They backed Marvin Gaye on his first three hits (“Stubborn Kinda Fellow\,” “Pride and Joy\,” and “Hitch Hike’ ) and gave Holland-Dozier-Holland their first big hit with “Come and Get These Memories.” In fact\, it was listening to Martha sin ging “Memories” that Berry Gordy came up with Motown tag lin e\, “the sound of young America.” While the roster of Vandel las changed frequently\, Reeves’ soaring soprano was the constant . \n\nMartha’s story is a familiar one to legions of fans. \n\n Soon after graduating from high school\, Martha performed in clubs as “Martha Lavaille.” One night\, Motown A&R director Mickey St evenson heard her and invited her to audition for the then-fledgling l abel. The highly-motivated Reeves arrived the next morning. Upon lear ning that auditions had to be scheduled\, she just started answering p hones and taking messages while waiting for the bus back home. When pe ople say she started at Motown as a secretary\, Reeves corrects them\, laughing\, “I was never a secretary. I was a singer who could ty pe.”\n\nReeves soon become an invaluable administrator\, interact ing with musicians and performers\, scheduling sessions\, and making s ure that business was taken care of. And she waited her turn to sing. One day\, when Mary Wells missed a session\, Martha stepped up to the mic and got notice and a contract. She left the A/R department to bec ome one of Motown’s most enduring and beloved stars. \n\nAs class ics never fade\, new and diverse audiences are constantly being introd uced to the Martha Reeves songbook. \n\nShe has counted talents as div erse as James Brown and Beverly Sills among her duet partners. Robin W illiams spun “Nowhere to Run” in Good Morning\, Vietnam. Her version of the Van Morrison rocker\, “Wild Night” was featu red on the Thelma and Louise movie soundtrack. The boys in The Boys In The Band and Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2 partied to “Heat Wa ve.” Everyone from Mick Jagger and David Bowie\, the Mamas and th e Papas\, Laura Nyro\, and the Grateful Dead have gone “Dancing I n The Street.” New British rockers The Doves borrowed heavily fro m Martha’s “Heat Wave” for their hit “Black and Wh ite Town.” In 2005\, Will Smith and the producers of the movie Hi tch mined Martha’s vault of unreleased recordings to find her sub lime “It’s Easy (To Fall In Love With a Guy Like You)\,† and in 2006\, “Dancing In The Street” was listed among the U.S. Library of Congress’ register of historic recordings. \n\n\ nMoving beyond the confines of the concert stage\, Reeves starred in a US tour of the Tony-winning “Ain’t Misbehavin’”\, and has performed in road shows of “The Jackie Wilson Story\,⠀ “Good Black Don’t Crack\,” and “Porgy & Bess.à ¢Â€Â She co-starred for three seasons in the UK stage review “Da ncing In The Street\,” alongside Motown peers like the late Edwin Starr\, Mary Wilson\, and Freda Payne. Following Starr’s death in 2003\, Reeves held the spotlight alone. That same year\, she made her opera debut singing with the Motor City Lyric Opera. \n\nReeves is the recipient of the Dinah Washington Award\, a Rhythm n’ Blues Foundation Pioneer Award\, a Black Woman in Publishing Legends Award\, and has been inducted in the Alabama\, Soul\, Rock and Roll\, and Voc al Group halls of fame. \n\nToday’s Martha Reeves is fully expose d in her self-produced and critically praised CD “Home to You\,â € named by The Asbury Park Press as one of the best blues/root musi c albums of 2004. From the blues funk of “Watch Your Back” t o the jazzy “God Bless The Child\,” to “Running For You r Love” recalling old school Motown\, this Motown classic proves that she is still a powerhouse. The disk also is the first to feature Martha with current Vandellas Delphine Reeves and Sandra Jackson (aka \, Lois Reeves\, a Motown-era Vandella from 1967 to 1972).\n\nIn the s ummer of 2005\, Martha was featured in a top-rated PBS special and wro te liner notes for the accompanying box set of Motown recordings. Tha t same year\, she added to her long and diverse list of accomplishment s with her election to the Detroit City Council. \n\nWith recent SRO performances across the US\, in the UK\, Canada\, Finland\, Tokyo\, Sl ovenia and Italy\, Martha Reeves has always been and always will be co mmitted to ensuring that you “don’t forget the Motor City.â € LOCATION:Carlyle Club @ 411 John Carlyle Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314 United States SEQUENCE:1242827384 UID:E0-001-015336273-5 URL:http://eventful.com/E0-001-015336273-5 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR