Talk about Live Shows

There aren't many better ways to shed the end-of-winter, mud-season blues than to groove out with Detroit's Thornetta Davis. Her voice, generous and strong, flowed over the River City Blues Festival crowd, warming, satisfying, and uplifting listeners during her Saturday matinee show. Fans surrendered to Davis' seductive allure in the hazy dark of the ballroom of the Lafayette Hotel, a historic landmark that stands at the edge of the wide, rolling Ohio River.

Davis and her band, guitarist Paul Carey, keyboardist Phil Hale, and drummer Dave Marcaccio, created an irresistible energy that swept the audience to its feet. Keeping her promise that "our mission is to make you feel good," she regaled the crowd with favorites such as "Muddy Water," blues prayer "Someone To Love," and a funky reggae cover of "Piece of My Heart." One especially satisfying original song from her latest album had the audience responding to Davis' "What do you need?" query with a resounding chorus of "a whole lotta love!"

Her charming smile, expansive voice, and gifted backing musicians proved a righteous combination. Her trio of guitar, organ, and drums embodied the notion that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts: The band came together to play with complete ease, rolling out a tight gospel-blues sound highlighted by a cover of "Damn Your Eyes," a late-Eighties Etta James obscurity that peaked with all hands and glasses raised in the air. Closing the set with "Black Drawers," Davis and her musicians delivered a crashing wave of sound so genuine and full that festival attendees wished they did have their black drawers on. Regardless of their choice of attire, the crowd accepted Davis' infectious invitation to let go of its daily drags, to get swept up in sound, and to float away on the buoy that is the blues.

by Za Connor - Blues Revue Magazine - June/July 2008 edition

Talk about "Covered Live at the Music Menu"

Thornetta Davis can sing R&B, soul, rock & alternative, but it is the blues Thornetta deals with in this her first live CD.  Covered Live is a musical snapshot of the usual high-energy show at the Music Menu Cafe in downtown Detroit.  This is lady T's gift to her many fans, a slice of a live performance with all the favorites like Black Drawers, Muddy Water, & Damn Your Eyes.  After over twenty Motor City Music Awards, there is no doubt Thornetta stands today as Detroit's most loved and respected female vocalist.  No one can match the smooth power of her voice or her over all soul.  Detroiter's know that on Wednesday nights there is only one place to be, at the Music Menu with Thornetta.  This CD is musical proof.

RJ Spangler  -  Big City Blues Magazine

... Covered Live At The Music Menu succeeds in every way.   It's eleven tracks reveal such Thornetta favorites as cut two, "That's A Pretty Good Love," cut 8, "I Just Wanna Make Love To You," and cut 10, "Damn Your Eyes."  This fine new disc re-creates to a T, the easy, awe-inspiring magnificence that Thornetta puts across every Wednesday night at Detroit's best music bar.  Thornetta is smooth, melodic, graceful and spectacular.  I guess that's why she's Detroit's reigning diva.  ...

George Seedorff  -  Big City Blues Magazine  -  June - July 2001

    Covered Live At The Music Menu - Sweet Mama Music - ***1/2

   If you know about Thornetta, then, well, you know.  Right?  There really isn't much else that can be said about her voice that your ears won't tell you.  Although capable of singing in a fairly wide variety of musical styles, there's no doubting that the blues (and its close musical cousin, gospel) is where Thornetta's voice is most at home and most able to demonstrate her full range of musical emotions, colors and tones.

   Recorded live at the Music Menu in Greektown - which currently serves as Thornetta's musical home - this CD gives the uninitiated listener a good idea of what all the fuss is about.  Although it's hard to imagine that there are any blues lovers left in the Detroit area who don't already know and haven't already heard, it's still good for this live performance to be on record as proof that she is one of Detroit's finest vocalists.

   But it wouldn't be fair to wrap this up without giving the band its propers.  In a nutshell, this is a tight and extremely talented crew.  Individually and as a unit these cats deliver the kind of thick, funky blues rhythm that best complements Thornetta's strong, clear, penetrating voice.  Both organist Phil Hale and guitarist Brett Lucas could easily cut loose and burn the house down on their own any time they wanted.  But their professionalism and maturity shows through in their willingness and ability to rein themselves in where necessary and focus their skills on helping the lady shine, and that's more than commendable.  The drummer, Todd Glass, and bassman Gary Jibilian have the rhythm held down under lock and key.  If you haven't  heard, then hear this. 

Keith A. Owens  -  Metrotimes - metro detroit's news, arts & culture weekly  -  July 11 - 17, 2001

Talk about "Sunday Morning Music"

The Rocket  12/96 - 1/97

If you are a fan of Sub Pop and are unfamiliar with the sounds of Thornetta Davis, you may be in for a little suprise.  Her combined R&B, rock, and almost gospel-like style adds a touch of class to the house of grunge.  Sunday Morning Music is a true tour de force with a definite '70's feel throughout; starting with the heavy driven "Cry", through an incredible rendition of Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothin", and closing with the playful "Come Go With Me".  Her backing musicians, including members of Big Chief and The Black Crowes, are no slouches, making this CD a refreshing change for Sub Pop and restoring my faith that there is still real music being made. 

Entertainment Weekly - Issue #351 - 11/1/96

An unlikely offering from the flannel fliers at Sub Pop, blues diva Davis introduces herself with a knockout compendium of the sounds of her Detroit hometown.  Backed by thrashy funk-hoppers Big Chief and propelled by her powerful, sinewy vocals, Davis takes on gospel, soul, R&B, and of course Motown (Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothin"), making them all her own.  A-               --MF

RAYGUN - Issue 42 - 12/96 - 1/97

A cooler crooner than Detroit City diva Thornetta Davis you shan't find in a month of Sundays, and appropriately enough, this blues singer now proudly sits her pedestal and effectively stakes her claim on that "Lord's day" with her Sup Pop Records debut full length, Sunday Morning Music - a record which not only defies the siren-song singer, but creates a fully religious experience for the listener as well.  No news to Detroit - from the Jackson 5 to the MC 5, the time-tested discs of Motown to the perpetually refreshing wax of Westbound, the artistic menu of this once "bombed-out" city reads like a platter of musical delights.  With this well chronicled history of cooking up delicious fare for folks with taste in other places than their mouths, it makes sense that the next tasty course in the feast should originate in the kitchen of the Moter City's Blues Laureate, Thornetta Davis...

FLAGGERT

Mr Showbiz News Reviews - December 11, 1996

Overlooked Albums of the Year  -  The handsome photo of Thornetta Davis on the cover of Sunday Morning Music -- a portrait of a black woman with strong features and a prominent nose ring -- proactically guarantees a filing in the R&B section of the CD store.  But that would be hasty.  For starters, check out the label -- Seattle's Sub Pop isn't likely to put out something by a Toni Braxton - wannabe.  Then check out the players -- Davis's band is composed of former members of the tough'n'funky Detroit rock ensemble Big Chief, and guests like Black Crowes keyboardist Eddie Harsch.  She defies easy categorization, but that's not to say Davis isn't capable of delivering the ample soul we might expect, as she does on the gorgeously restrained "Only One" and the rootsy title track.  Her voice could make Barbra Streisand originals sound like vintage Stax, and on Sunday Morning Music, she applies her vocal gift to a wide range of material, from the slinky rock-funk groove of "Cry", "The Deal", and "Try to Remember", to the textured swirl of "Sunset", and a knockout cover of Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothin".  This is special stuff, the kind of album that can too easily fall between genre cracks when it deserves to be embraced as one of the finest debuts of the year.  --  Gary Graff