Ray hopes audience finds sunshine in Vandross tribute
Returns tribute show to downtown Fairfield
It’s been less than two years, but when you’re a performer, it can feel like an eternity. Just ask Ray McCoy.
It was a Valentine’s Day show, 2020, when the longtime El Sobrante resident hit the Downtown Theatre stage in Fairfield to present his Luther Vandross tribute show. And 20 months later, McCoy returns to the same venue for his holiday show salute to the late soul singer who died in 2005.
“We’ve had several offers, but I’ve been reluctant because of what’s happening” with COVID-19, said McCoy. “I wasn’t ready and I didn’t want to expose the band.”
McCoy has 11 musicians, including two female support singers, and six-foot social distancing would put a few performers in a different area code. Fortunately, the Downtown Theatre’s stage is expansive. When you want to deliver a topnotch Vandross presentation, it’s not as though you can hit the road as a quartet. It’s not a jazz ensemble, says McCoy, eager for a Dec. 4 return to the Downtown Theater.
“Because of the complexity of Luther’s music, there are a lot of parts,” McCoy said.
It’s been 18 years since the veteran vocalist debuted his Vandross tribute, hoping to keep the legend’s music in the public ear and eye.
“I go back to his origins,” McCoy said, recalling Vandross’ work with David Bowie when “he didn’t get the recognition.”
Still, the talent emerged and McCoy didn’t miss it.
“God blesses us all in a different way, including the genius in him, the tenacity that he had toward improving and getting better,” McCoy said. “One of the keys was the arrangements of his songs. A lot of people don’t understand that — how to take a song and arrange it to comply with your vocal ability. He had a magnificent voice, but the arrangements are how he can take others’ songs and make them his own.”
McCoy caught Vandross in concert twice, recalling one concert at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre and the massive trucks containing sound equipment outside of the venue.
“Every venue has its own sound system but he would override their sound system with his own so the songs sounded like his records,” McCoy said. “It was costly, but perfection has no expense. If you’re going to seek perfection, you not only have to put in the time but the money.”
McCoy actually started this Vandross tribute for The Legends of Motown, which, he said, was a bit odd since Vandross never recorded for Motown. McCoy also did his take on Bobby Smith, the lead singer of The Spinners, for the Legends of Motown.
McCoy emphasized that his Vandross tribute performance changes every concert.
“I’ve always told the audience that if I do the same show, they should be able
to get in with the same ticket” at future shows, McCoy said, figuring he could do somewhere between 50 and 100 Vandross tunes and presenting a marathon of all that is Vandross “would take a while.”
McCoy said his presentation is a tribute. He’s not up there trying to impersonate Vandross. Mostly because “I don’t look like him,” McCoy said. “So it would be hard to pull off. Some people say ‘if you close your eyes, you think he (Vandross) is in the room.’ I’m not the author of that. I just try and give some honor to his work. I want to expose the genius that was in him.”
Though McCoy “was always comfortable” singing the tunes of Luther Vandross, “I was not comfortable early on being on stage. I’ve always sung in the shower at home and they would shut the door and say, ‘Go somewhere else with that racket.’”
Singing, however, “was always something I wanted to do,” McCoy says, offering sage advice to younger people: “I would say if you have a desire and a level of commitment to do something,
march on.”
And McCoy said there shouldn’t be a problem as he marches onto the Downtown Theatre stage on Dec. 4, expecting mostly an “over 60” audience.
“Most of the people there, I consider family,” he said. “I’m not trying to impress youngsters. The point is, most of the people that are there have been there before. It’ll be like old home week. It’s sort of a reunion.”
While he’s doing the 13 or 14 songs in Fairfield, he keeps an eye on the first two rows — bright lights often limit the visibility — and watches to see if everyone is on the same page.
“My job is to make them move, depending on the song, or make them sit back and listen,” McCoy said. “Being a paying customer, they can do what they want outside of tearing the place down. But I expect a peaceful bunch will come and see me. “
Ray McCoy and the Luther Vandross Holiday Tribute Show is Saturday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m., Downtown Theatre, Fairfield. Tickets $36$46. For more, visit downtowntheatre.com.