Brigette McWilliams

b. Chicago, Illinois, USA. An R&B singer of distinctive vocal quality and strength, Brigitte McWilliams made her debut for Virgin Records in 1994 with a lacklustre set entitled Take Advantage Of Me. Although it received generally favourable reviews in the soul/R&B papers, the artist later complained that she enjoyed ‘zero creative control’ in its conception and birth. She addressed this artistic impasse with the follow-up set, 1997’s Too Much Woman, assembling a band of old-school R&B veterans to help her. These included guitarist Al McKay and keyboard player Larry Dunn (Earth, Wind And Fire), guitarist Jimmy Macon (Gap Band), Bobby Watson (Rufus) and Billy Preston. Recorded in informal ‘jam’ sessions, the results of employing such first-rate genre performers were immediately satisfying. McWilliams herself contributed three songs to the collection, part of a shift of emphasis towards a female view of relationship issues, rather than the more hackneyed R&B stereotype outlined on her debut.
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