Oleta Adams
Saturday, May 18, 2019 at 8:00 PM at the Emelin Theatre
Since the runaway success of her 1990 debut album Circle of One (which went Platinum), and the impassioned hit single “Get Here,” Oleta Adams has inspired a growing legion of fans in the U.S. and Europe with journeys of the heart via songs that draw deeply from her roots in gospel, while crossing effortlessly into the realms of soul, R&B, urban, and popular music. Her success, nurtured by worldwide tours with Tears for Fears, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton, and Luther Vandross, has been solidified by four GRAMMY nominations and a seemingly bottomless well of creative energy.
The New York Times has described the timbre of Adams’ voice as “a hybrid of Roberta Flack, Patti Austin and Brenda Russell with a more pronounced gospel edge.” Adams first demonstrated her budding vocal gifts in the Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church where her father served as minister. By the time she was eleven, she was directing and accompanying four choirs, having already established herself as a piano prodigy.
Turning down the chance to pursue an operatic career as a lyric soprano, along with a college scholarship, Adams’ musical journey took her to Europe, then LA, and then Kansas City, where she quickly became a local sensation. Celebrities from every musical genre caught her act, including Eartha Kitt, Cab Calloway, Air Supply, Gino Vanelli, Yes and Billy Joel. Finally serendipity arrived in the form of the British band Tears for Fears, whose frontmen Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith asked her to appear on their 1989 The Seeds of Love album and video, and to join their European tour. Upon her return to the U.S., Oleta signed a record deal for her first solo album in 1991.
With nine CD releases, including secular, gospel, and a Christmas album, worldwide acclaim and over two-and-a-half million albums sold, Adams’ musical odyssey continues – spiritually and creatively. For this consummate artist, composer, producer and musician, many goals remain on the horizon. The first of which is two new songs, “Safe and Sound” & “Long and Lonely Hours,” being released on iTunes.