by bill biss
There are many, marvelous musical moments on Melissa Manchester’s new and independently produced CD aptly titled You Gotta Love the Life. The forty-plus year veteran of the music industry has never stopped en- joying and refining the musical gifts of her talent. Her newest showcase of vocals and songwriting is a tour de force of life as she knows it “right now.”
It is a testament to her longevity and also a cel-
ebration of her craft. Whether it’s blues, jazz, pop or soft rock…Manchester has the ability to bring the listener straight into her heart. She spoke with The Rage Monthlyand talked in detail about the creation of the album, the astounding array of musical artists joining her for You Gotta Love the Life and her joy and dedication as a long-standing singer and songwriter. You have such an excellent ability to tell a story through your songwriting. Congratulations on your twentieth album. Ah, thank you.
On the title track, “You Gotta Love the Life,” this song is a great anthem for your career as a singer/songwriter but it also applies to any long-lasting entertainer, in a way. I wrote that song to lay claim to my perspective on
MANCHESTER LOVING THE LIFE
MELISSA 20 RAGE monthly | APRIL 2015
show business and create something different from the short list of other songs about show business. I really wanted to articulate the grit and the joy of the walk. And, of course to have Lee Thornburg’s [former trumpeter for Supertramp and Tower of Power] incredible horns capturing that sort of landscape of my New York City upbringing… it was really thrilling. There’s a beautiful variety of types of music on this, yet it really flows together seamlessly. You have such a diversity of styles and was that your plan to span such a wide repertoire? Yeah, of course. That’s one of the joys of being an independent artist. You don’t have to have discus- sions any longer about record companies trying to categorize your work, to make it simpler for them to sell. I just wanted to reflect what I do on stage, which is a great variety of musical interests. So, when it came time to go into the studio to make my twentieth al- bum, I wanted to be able to reflect my musical heart. Because the album was such an incredible collabora- tion with great musicians, that’s what it did. So many times with any newer artist, it’s just the same thing with a different beat. Yeah, exactly. No, no, no… this album couldn’t have
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