In addition to Robinson, LaVette's musician lineup includes Gregory Cooke on bass, Gary Barker on guitar and David Brandon and Milton Hale on drums. The talent, ability, desire and effort were there. She's always had good material. It paid off when she landed a role in the musical Bubbling Brown Sugar in the late 1970s, performing with legends Cab Calloway and dancer Honi Coles. She traveled with the company for seven years.
Theater is so much broader, bigger, exaggerated and dramatic.
It made me do things that I never thought about doing. Noted Detroit singer Ortheia Barnes applauds LaVette's zeal. Very few can do that, especially when it comes to being recognized wherever you go and not have had the million-seller. I greatly admire her as an anchor of the music business. Rita Griffin is a Highland Park free-lance writer.