Vanessa Collier, Plattsburgh Blues and Jazz

The place: Naked Turtle, Plattsburgh, New York. The date: August 24, 2017. The reason: to listen to Vanessa Collier, a magnetic, 26-year-old blues saxophonist, singer, song writer and band leader. Like so many strong, professional acts, she was drawn to the North Country by Laura Carbone.

The event is held outside on a deck under a roof. The temperature dips into the mid-sixties. Ceiling heaters kick on to warm the more than-one-hundred of us gathered but when the band gets cookin’, the atmosphere is soon smokin’, make that hot, hot, hot.

A slender Vanessa, in tight, white jeans and a black camisole, is introduced to us by Laura. “Thank you for coming out to the lake,” Laura says to the crowd, “Vanessa was nominated for sax player of the year by the blues music awards and as emerging artist of the year by blues blast. Please stay tuned for Alexis P. Suter on Friday, September 15. Now, Vanessa is going to walk on water.”

We applaud to welcome the band as they launch into, “The Run Around.” Vanessa’s sassy vocals and saxophone roll together.

Her sultry then powerful voice, and great range in “I Can’t Stand the Rain Against my Window”, contrast sharply with her diminutive size.

Vanessa trades chops with her lead guitarist, Eric “Sparky” Parker, whom she met last year on a cruise, beat for beat, lick for lick, until they meld together.

“We’re going to play you a little bit of blues, a little bit of funk, and a little bit of soul,” says Vanessa.

“Tongue Tied” - tight, rockin’, rollin’, drivin’ - showcases Enoch Smith, Vanessa’s keyboardist, who also attended Berklee School of Music though not at the same time as she. They met about a year and a half ago. Vanessa’s staccato sax punches into their rhythmic weave.

“Poisoned the Well” off her new record, and out in March, is a jungle, jazzy, choreographed free-for-all – written by Vanessa “near Chateaugay Lake at Laura’s camp. It came out of pain, from a different time in my life. It’s about people in your life - you think have your back but they let you down,” Vanessa tells the crowd.

Three, thin strings of blue lights adorn the roof rafters while the band grooves to the soulful “Love Me Like a Man”. The lead guitarist addresses our pain then makes his guitar scream. Enoch adds his touches of held notes, tickled ones, and persistent ones that climb. Then the band members all come together full-throttle, jammin’, crammin’, slammin’.

The drums’ steady heartbeat slows it all down for the sax to mellowly tease us and please us. Vanessa steps off the stage, and stands four feet away from me with no one in between. She looks right into my eyes, controlling the emissions of her notes with grace and power. She then moves on mingling through the enthusiastic crowd, walking, swaying, blowing, bleating, entreating while she connects with everyone. Holding and riding her notes, it’s clear Vanessa has something to say, to show, to share.

“Here’s a new one off the record, I wrote for my Mom,” she says. “Two Parts Sugar, One Part Lime”, a funky, groovy, hopping tune pulls more dancers onto the dance floor.

Prior to the show, I interview Vanessa, learn she started playing at the age of nine while in fourth grade, and has now been touring for two and a half years.

With intense, brown eyes, no make-up, small, turquoise earrings hiding behind her dark, shoulder-length hair, Vanessa speaks earnestly, “I found my own voice through the horn. I treat it like a guitar player would, rhythmically, melodically.”

“You must be brave,” I say.

“It was a huge risk, starting my own band. There are the challenges of writing, being on the road, finding balance.”

“What do you most want?”

“I want people to connect, to feel me. I share my pain and my joy. It all should be felt. A lot in the world tears us apart.”

“What do you want people to know about you?”

“My energy.” Vanessa smiles.

“Do you use any routines or disciplines?”

Vanessa tells me she does Morning Pages recommended in “The Artists Way” by Julia Cameron. They helped her meet her shadow which she wrote about on her second record. Vanessa also does Object Writing using her five senses to tap into her creativity.

About Vanessa, “She is so bubbly, cute and talented. And she’s so personable,” says Tammy Forget, who works in a bank in Plattsburgh when not dancing at one of these Plattsburgh Blues and Jazz (PB&J) events. “I started coming a year and a half ago. I felt very timid. I’ve had a lot of struggle and loss. The first band I saw hooked me into the live music. It saved my soul,” Tammy says. “Now I’m addicted and I’ve never been disappointed. The dancing is so healing. After a while, you start forming a relationship with all the people. I call them my blues family.”

This is all part of PB&J, a not-for-profit, spearheaded by Laura Carbone. This summer she has created and produced a series of events in different venues. “Thank God for Laura for bringing these award-winning performers here. She houses these people. She puts them up and feeds them,” Tammy tells me.

“It’s Laura’s brain child,” says Larry Mousseay, on the PB&J Board of Directors, who posts flyers and sells tickets along with other volunteers. “My motto is make Plattsburgh the biggest blues capital of the Northeast,” he adds.

To start the second set, Vanessa sits and finger-picks a resonator guitar for her twangy, soulful “When It Don’t Come Easy”.

Then, she says, “A lot of men write about whiskey and women. Well, here’s my version…”

“Dig a Little Deeper” from her album – “Meeting My Shadow” follows.

Then, Vanessa’s covers of B.B. King and T-Bone Walker, along with help from local saxophonist Neil Wright as he nails two numbers, make this writer and many others dance, rock, groove, move, and shake.

The band’s penultimate song, “Bad News Bears”, with its drum solo by Nick Stevens, who has been making music with Vanessa since eighth grade, would have been a perfect finale but the crowd insists, “One more song! One more song!”

How does it feel to dance to “I Feel Good” by Vanessa, and her team, complete with Saranac Lake’s Derek La Voy doing an excellent job filling in for the regular bass player? 

It feels great.

[“Vanessa Collier” Laura Carbone Facebook page and PB&J: Plattsburgh Blues and Jazz Facebook page, August 31, 2017, Beckie O’Neill]