The Womack Sisters took command of the Apollo’s Victoria Theater on Friday night, and they did it with their voices.
BG, Zeimani and Kucha Womack came to Harlem on Oct. 2 to open the Apollo’s Music Café season. Their 10 p.m. set made one thing plain: these are three of the strongest voices in soul music right now. The vocals were the show, and every song became a way to hear them. “Chauffeur” is the lead single from the self-titled debut album they released Aug. 14 on Daptone Records. On it, one voice carried the melody, full and clear, while the other two closed in around it.
That was the shape of the night. Each sister can hold a lead on her own, with nothing pushed and nothing hidden. Then the three come together and the harmonies fuse, three distinct tones folding into a single sound. “Monster” and “If You Want Me” ran on that blend, the kind that only comes from a lifetime of singing side by side. On “If I Let You,” the spotlight moved from sister to sister before the harmony locked back in. It was a showcase for all three voices at once. “Teardrops” carried something extra. The song was a hit for Womack & Womack, the duo of their parents, Cecil and Linda Womack. With three voices wrapped around that melody, it sounded less like a cover than an inheritance.
The moment that defined the night had nothing to do with a song. At one point, the sisters stopped and took charge of the room itself. “Turn these lights down,” they told the house. “We feel like the police are coming to arrest us.” It was a joke and an order in the same breath. The lights were theirs to call, and so was the stage.
The lineage is well documented. They are the granddaughters of Sam Cooke and the nieces of Bobby Womack. On Friday, they did not lean on either name. The voices made the case on their own.
