Whitney Wolanin – Funkology XIII / 2005 TopNotch / 13 Tracks / http://www.whitneywolanin.com / Reviewed 16 March 2006

“Good” starts off “Funkology XIII” is a very soulful, almost gospel vein. What is most interesting to hear here is not Wolanin’s vocals but the arrangements that take a strong role in the vbackground. The use of the synthesizer in the background sounds pulled directly from a period in which Wolanin was not even born (think mid-eighties, with bands like Survivor or Europe). This backing style is modified considerably during “Superstar”. Instead of being in the mid-eighties for the backdrop, Wolanin moves back to the funky days of the seventies to create something that could be mistaken for an opening to a period movie.

The use of horns during the track really work well with Wolanin’s soulful set of vocals; while one can go and compare Wolanin to Anastasia, there does not seem to be much room for comparison. “Wake Up Everybody” is the one track that really stands on the shoulders of giants. Where the opening tracks were fun and interesting, “Wake Up Everything” is a perfect dance track for both the seventies and today. What Wolanin does on the track is make it salient for the current period, make it interesting for those individuals that ey is contemporaneous with. The only minor stumbling block that is put on Wolanin’s path in the first half of the disc is when ey gives the reins of control over to Jimi Jamison during eir cover of “It Takes Two”. Aside from being overly-played in both the original and other cover versions, the track just feels flat in regards to the performances present. I have to challenge the clustering of more-known covers all together by Wolanin; after “It Takes Two”, “Heat Wave” comes in short notice.

While the instrumentation is as robust as the original, Wolanin’s vocals really fail to completely capture the intensity of the original. The first cover that really seems to be a drastic improvement on the original has to be “This Old Heart of Mine”; the energy of the original is bolstered by the power of Wolanin’s vocals. What needs to happen with the next Wolanin album is a considerable reduction in the amount of covers and an increase in the number of originals that Wolanin tackles. Still, this first effort is impressive and really shows that Wolanin has a voice to put up against some of the best known soul and funk classics of the last forty years.

Top Tracks: Good, Superstar

Rating: 5.5/10

[JMcQ]