Phenomenal voice, phenomenal woman

You know, I’m not sure where I came across Ruthie Foster, but she’s got one of those go-to voices, warm and sweet as honey on a sore throat. I’ve been hitting her rather heavily, lately, because—well, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

And one of my favorites is her take on Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman”. When Angelou has recited it, she’s been high-energy and very close to attitudinal.

(As an aside, one of my colleagues at the Monolithic Enterprise Software Company once remarked to me, “We gotta get you some attitude.” I replied, “I’d have thought that attitude was the one thing with which I was singularly well supplied.” She shot back, “We gonna get you some sistah-attitude.” That’s what Angelou expresses.)

In Foster’s hands, though, it’s languid and inviting. She absolutely knocks it out of the park.

Damn.