Hamilton Place Magazine
October, 1975
On stage, Gino Vannelli brims over with a sensual exuberance that is compelling and contagious. It is uncommon and refreshing in these keep-your-cool years to see someone so obviously in love with what he does, and so eager – and able – to instill that love in an audience.
At 23, songwriter and singer Vannelli is already the master of a unique, eclectic, and highly accessible music. Raised in Montreal – a cosmopolitan city offering a rich blend of cultures – and a working musician since the age of 11, Gino is the beneficiary of half-a-young-lifetime’s professional experience in a stimulating artistic environment. Just as importantly, he brings to his interesting background inner strengths like unswerving confidence and a dedication to music making so intense that “electric” seems too mild an adjective to describe the effect of a Vannelli performance. Vannelli’s special ability as a performer perfectly and fortuitously complements his engaging and very individual music, as heard on the albums Crazy Life, Powerful People (which contains his hit single, “People Gotta Move”), and Storm at Sunup. the new third album is Gino’s most adventurous excursion yet, encompassing a range of sound and breadth of feeling remarkable even for the emotive Vannelli. Strengths have been consolidated, enabling new areas to be explored with confidence. From the sly rhythms of “Mama Coco” to the gentleness of “Gettin’ High”; through the frenetic introspection of “Where Am I Going” to the calm of the title tune – Storm at Sunup refreshes and energizes like a benedicite tropical shower.
With the indispensable help of a spirited band led by his brother Joe, Gino creates an upbeat, driving world of sound, an aggressively rhythmic but multi faceted pace energized by synthesizers, dual keyboards, congas, and bongos united in a mesmeric whole. The fervor of Latin stylists, the pulse of rock, and the rewarding complexity of the more adventurous Motown artists are all present in this heady brew, a mixture as suitable for conveying the intensity of sorrow as for embodying the soul of joy.
Gino has received encouragement and assistance from some people powerful in their own right. It was Herb Alpert’s endorsement that brought attention to Gino to begin with, and the premier Vannelli disc was produced by Alpert himself. Two events of the past year exemplify Gino’s very real crossover potential: his concert tour with Stevie Wonder, and his first television appearance, on Soul Train. Gino’s status in his native Canada was recently affirmed when he won the 1975 Juno Award (Canada’s Grammy) for the Most Promising Male Vocalist. And Powerful People received a ’75 Grammy nomination. Clearly, Vannelli’s work is being recognized across the board, making it abundantly clear that Gino is a unique and diversified talent.
If there is any recurring theme in Gino’s music, it would seem to be one of extreme liberation, an invitation to recognize the hypertensive hustle for the dead-end that it is and to channel one’s energies into a powerful celebration of life’s essentials. “I can’t write a song unless I’m motivated by an experience of a feeling that flows from my own existence. If I have a problem, if I’m upset about something – the end of a relationship, or someone dying, or just an unproductive period in my life I can work my way through the predicament by dealing with it musically. My songs are about things that are true, and there’s a purpose to everything I write. I think my music is positive music.Gino intends eventually to apply his obvious abilities to an ever-widening sphere of interest: “There are so many other musical trips I’ve touched upon that we haven’t put on an album yet. And beyond that, there’s a whole world of things waiting for me – theatrics, movies, so much more. There are so many things I’d like to do. To have my hand in . . . to try things out. I know it seems distant now, but I’m sure it will come.
For the moment, his music is enough to keep Gino Vannelli very busy – and to keep very happy an enthusiastic following that grows larger every day.
