Press Clippings

Walela Swoops into Carmel with Exciting Native American Music

by Joyce McGreevy

Walela - in Cherokee it means "hummingbird." In music it means three inspired singers - Rita Coolidge, her sister Priscilla Coolidge and Priscilla's daughter Laura Satterfield.

However earthvbound you may consider yourself, everything changes when a hummingbird suddenly swoops into your garden. The air is charged, there's a quiet excitement. It's not unlike what happens when you sit in a concert hall athe voices of singers first ring out.

So it's easy to understand why Performance Carmel has generated quite a buzz with the news that Walela qwill grace the stage of the Sunset Center this Saturday night.

Like a hummingbird, a promise is a small but powerful thing. Walela began as a promise made by Rita and Priscilla to their grandmother, who asked them to be a voice honoring Native Americans.

"Cherokee Rose," a song on the newest album, "unbearable Love," tells how their grandmother, Laura Stewart, had hidden her Native American ancestry most of her life.

Then two or three years before she died, ashe had a dream that transformed her silent shame to a profound cultrural pride. This prompted the request that would change the direction of the COolidge's musical careers.

"I don't remember not knowing Mama Stewart to ever seperate anything she did in life from song," Rita noted recently on one of her web sites. "She had a song for everything and singing was an effortless natural way for her to communicate. It was just part of her body and spirit."

Stewart's voice can be heard on Walela's debut album, in a track called "I'll Turn My Radio On."

Long before "Walela," the self-titled 1997 album debuted, the two Coolidge's had made their mark in the world of pop music. Rita, a two-time Grammy Award winner launched her career in 1970. (Remember Delaney & Bonnie and Friends? If you don't, do your parents know you're still up? For the record, Rita sang vocals for is late-1960's rock-'n-soul revue that also included at one time or another, Eric Clapton, Dave Mason and George Harrison. And if you ask me who they were, you're grounded. Sheesh, kids these days.)

Instantly recognizabele by her strong but honeyed voice and that shimmering raven black hair, Rita also shared the stage with Joe Cocker, Leon Russell and many more. Her recording career included her multi-platinum disc "Rita Coolidge: Anytime... Anywhere," which featured three of her biggest hit singles. "Higher & Higher," "The Way You Do The Things You Do," and 'We're All Alone."

Even if she hadn;t recorded dozens of albums, she would be well-known for her commitment to such social issues as teen suicide, AIDS and homelessness.

Diane Brice of Suicide Prevention Service of the Central Coast reports that in the early '90's Coolidge gave a number of benefit concerts in Monterey to help fund the serice's youth outreach program. (By the way, Suicide Prevention's toll free 24 hour crisis line is (877) 663-5433.)

Coolidge's most deeply felt commitment, the singer says, is to the Native American community and her Cherokee heritage. A winner of the Native American Lifetime Acheivement Award, Coolidge also shared the NAMA awards Walela brought home when, in 1998, their debut album won Best New Group, Record of the Year and Best OSng of the Year ("Warrior" written by Satterfield.)

Priscilla Coolidge was twice named best female vocalist by Billboard magazine. The singer / songwriter has recorded with Bob Dylan and Stephen stills and written music for Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, and, not surtprisingly, her sister Rita.

If Satterfield is a new name to you, i8t's well known to the likes of forme The Band member Robbie Robertson, who described her voice as "one in five million." This was about the same time as Walela performed "Cherokee Morning song" on Robertson's landmark "Ntive Americans" album.

Shortly after Walela released its first album, Coolidge expressed concern that too many American Indian albums get pigeonholed into the new Age category.

She needn't worry. Monterey audiences have been schooled in and spoiled by, the wide-worldliness of ancient indigenous sound. Thanks to the local abundance of venues, festivals, and public radio programming, rich traditions keep coming to us and we to them.

Like many sounds that flow into Monterey's musical current. Walela's sound is a confluence, too. In it swirls the Coolidge's upbringing by a Baptist miniuster father of Cherokee descent, a music teaching mother of Scottish descent, and a childhood that began in Nashville, Tenn.

From those two streams comes ethereal voices floating above gospel, folk, traditional Cherokee, contemporary sound and other influences. Walela's version of "Amazing Grace," for instance, give home to both Cherokee lyrics and the wail of Scottish pipes.

Unbearable Love was released exactly one year ago today, so Saturday's concert will be an anniversary of sorts. If you can't wait until Saturday to celebrate, visit www.Walela.com or www.RitaCoolidge.com. Go!

by Chuy Varela

Vocal group featuring Rita Coolidge, her sister and her niece, hosted record-release party Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Native American vocal trio Walela, made up of folk-rock legend Rita Coolidge, sister Priscilla Coolidge and niece Laura Satterfield, held a record-release party Tuesday at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall.

With a performance that drew from their Cherokee heritage and upbringing in the rural South, it was a special night in the packed yet intimate hall where the group celebrated its new album Unbearable Love (RealAudio excerpt of the title track of title track) on Triloka Records.

"The Christianizing of indigenous people led to traditional hymns being sung in native tongues." — Rita Coolidge, Walela member

Dressed in comfortable clothes that ranged from Rita Coolidge's tie-dyed lace, Priscilla Coolidge's black shimmering gown and Satterfield's flowered dress worn above industrial boots, they took the stage with warm applause. Lifting their voices a capella, they opened by asking with gospel inflected harmonies "is everybody here?"

With a potent band of seasoned pros behind them, they kicked in a slow trancey groove that rocked the trio into "Cherokee River," a tune from their self-titled 1997 debut.

Walela is a cool multigenerational mix of traditional Native American roots music with a new-millennium spin. Fusing gospel and rock influences, they create emotional hooks with their gorgeous intertwining voices and a fixating magnetism.

Strong Family Ties As they glide through their melodies with intuitive ease and a bluesy articulation, Walela provide ample testimony to the special musical qualities of a family that sings together. And it was family night for sure for the group Tuesday, with the Coolidge's parents present for the evening.

As they did a song for their paternal grandmother — "Cherokee Rose" (RealAudio excerpt) — they illuminated the room with a folky ambience, highlighted by sideman John McDuffy's mandolin. The sincere, simple song was composed largely by Priscilla Coolidge — who's written for the likes of Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson, among others — and had a melancholy, down-home Carter Family feel.

Since the 1980s, a contemporary Native American music scene has emerged, fueled by poets and musicians such as John Trudell and The Band's Robbie Robertson. It has led to the Nammy (Native American Music) Awards and opportunities for indigenous musicians and bands.

Walela's music, reconnecting the spirits of the past with spirits of the present, has a healing quality and has earned accolades in recent years.

In 1998, the Nammys honored Walela — which means hummingbird in the Cherokee tongue — as the year's Best Debut Artist and source of the Song of the Year for "The Warrior" (RealAudio excerpt).

The song, featuring Satterfield, was the centerpiece of the show and made for a stunning moment with its emotional delivery and smoky sensuality. As the set unfolded, so did the personalities of the three women. Satterfield was shy, Rita Coolidge glowing and Priscilla Coolidge the sassy Southern belle.

They ran through several selections from the new album, such as "I Have No Indian Name" (RealAudio excerpt), a blues-influenced tune that had tinges of the late Jesse Ed Davis, the legendary Native American rocker who played with Eric Clapton and Delaney & Bonnie in the 1970s.

Live, "Cherokee Morning Song," a tune featured in the soundtrack of the TBS series "The Native Americans" -- an important element in the recent emergence of indigenous music -- featured superbly intoned vocal counterpoint.

Highlighting Native Music While purists might balk at this as far removed from its original root, it's this type of fusion that is enlightening a new generation to America's original inhabitants. Still, the crowd at this show appeared more to be baby boomers.

As the nearly two-hour show came to a close, Rita Coolidge spoke of the struggles of the Cherokee nation at the hands of President Andrew Jackson, who signed the order that drove them into reservations in the West on the infamous "Trail of Tears."

She explained how "the Christianizing of indigenous people led to traditional hymns being sung in native tongues." As an example, they then did a spiritually deep, Cherokee-language rendition of "Amazing Grace" that brought them a standing ovation and the call for an encore.

The band was exceptionally tight, with bassist Lynn Keller and her blazing red hair leading the quartet. Percussionist Geoffrey Gordon (who also co-produced Unbearable Love) made a guest appearance and added great traditional and world flavors on a variety of circle drums, shakers, tabla and other indigenous instruments.

McDuffy added a mean slide guitar, and John Thomas offered a diversity of keyboard sounds — including at one point what sounded like a banjo coming out of his speaker.

Rita Coolidge, who's known mainstream success thanks to hits such as "Higher and Higher," is only one member of the group in Walela. Since their critically acclaimed debut two years ago, they've appeared on television's popular "Good Morning America" and "Regis & Kathie Lee" and have worked with Robertson's Red Road Ensemble and Little Wolf.

Walela also are featured on several Native music compilations and have paid their dues on Borders bookstore tours.

WALELA turns to its roots on Triloka Debut by Steve Mirkin
LOS ANGELES - World music has carved out a comfortable niche for itself in the marketplace by highlighting various musics from all over the globe, but will U.S. fans of the genre take an interest in the music of American Indians? With the July 24th self titles album by Walela, a vocal trio featuring Rita Coolidge, Triloka Records will see if this is the case.

Mitchell Markus, Triloka's president, thinks the time is right for American Indian music to receive a bigger audience. He backs up his assertions by refering to the sales of Robbie Robertson & the Red Road Ensemble's "Music for the Native Americans" album, as well as ratings of such documentaries as PBS' "The West," which Markus says reflects an interest in American Indian history and culture.

Markus also points out that the Sante Fe, N.M.-based label, which is marketed and distributed through Mercury, has had some success with its previous American Indian releases, such as the multi-artist "Songs of the Spirit." Walela's prospects for crossover success are improved, however, by Coolidge's name recognition among mainstream consumers.

Coolidge, best known for her 1977 cover of "Higher And Higher," is half-cherokee and describes her participation in Walela in mystical terms. "This is an album for the heavens," she says, adding that she is especially pleased to be working with her sister Priscilla Coolidge (an accomplished singer/songwriter who has performed with Bob Dylan and written songs for Wille Nelson and Emmylou Harris) and with her neice Laura Satterfield.

The trio first appeared on Robertson's "Native Americans" album on which they performed "Cherokee Morning Song" (which they reprise on "Walela"). The Coolidges and Satterfield were so taken with the results that they began to perform as Walela (Cherokee for "hummingbird"). Triloka's Markus heard them play in Sante Fe and saw the crossover potential.

"Walela," he says, is a unique mix of songs reflecting American Indian concerns, the music encompassing the Coolidges' upbringing by a Baptist minister father of Cherokee descent and a music-teaching mother of Scottish descent. The result is a mixture of ethereal voice floating above music that has elements of gospel, new-age, and folk; the blend is heard to best effect on the groups version of "Amazing Grace." The hymn is translated into Cherokee and arranged with bagpipes wailing in the background. Rita Coolidge, who feels that too many American Indian albums get pigeonholed into the new-age category, says that Walela wants to be "regarded as indigineous music"; Markus calls the act's music "contemporary Native American."

David Silver; VP of A&R at Mercury, who oversees Triloka's releases, thinks that Walela "is perfect for Triloka." Mercury, he says, will be able to give the album a profile in the mainstream market - which includes, in addition to radio and retail, a presence in the international market and a chance to do soundtrack work.

Markus and Silver agree that before any of the above can take place, Walela has to perform well in the American Indian market. "You have to saturate your base before you cross over," Silver says.

The label has hired Soar; a firm that specializes in marketing to American Indians, to maximize its efforts. Most American Indian albums, Markus explains, fall into either the "powwow" or new-age categories, but Markus does not think the polyglot nature of Walela's music will be a problem. "The market is so diffuse," he says, citing tribal and language differences. Soar will help place the album into such non-traditional outlets as trading posts, reservation gift shops, and new age bookstores.

Walela has already started to attract attention in the American Indian community. Triloka sent advance copies to American Indian publications and reservation newspapers, and the response, he says, has been universally positive. "This is the album that Rita's contemporaries have been waiting for her to make," he says. "the approval of the Native Americans is also important to the Coolisges."

Rita Coolidge says, "A lot of Native American culture gets lost... It's very important that Native Americans hear this album."

Since many of the targeted outlets fall outside of the traditional music retail community, sales are very hard to guage, and Silver has to rely more on instinct and orders in deciding when to make his move into the mainstream. In the meantime he had been laying the groundwork for the group at Mercury. "Part of my job," Silver says, "is to make sure that when it is time for Walela to crossover, we are ready." Copies of the album will be serviced to triple-A radio, with Satterfield's solo showcase, "The Warrior," expected to be the emphasis track (Markus is also considering signing Sattterfield to a solo deal).

TV will also play a part in the promotional campaign. Walela appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman" along with Robertson two years ago, and Markus expects the act to be booked as a solo act. In addition, he says, shows like "Good Morning America" and "Regis and Kathi Lee" have expressed an interest in the group. But more important to Walela is its appearance July 24 at the opening ceremonies for the Smithsonian Institution's Native American Museum, which will be followed by a tour that will find the act performing at Nature Company outlets and Borders bookstores.