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Carlton Street, Suite 1032, Toronto, ON
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LE
NEWSLETTER
April 26, 2007
Is it really the end of April already!? Before you know it, we'll be
talking about the May long weekend! Get those warm weather clothes out
- just to help ensure that we have great weather on our first long weekend of
the summer!
Don't forget to check out Look Good Feel Wonderful if you've ever been curious about a career, image or personal
makeover. And it's been a fun week in basketball for Toronto. Have
a peek! Go Raptors!
::HOT EVENTS::
Look Good, Feel Wonderful – Saturday,
April 28, 2007
Spring is a season of rejuvenation. It's a time when many of
us clear out the clutter in our physical spaces and prepare for the
joyful feeling that the warm weather and sunshine brings. So what
better time is there than now to tidy up your life and eliminate the
mental and emotional clutter that is keeping you from living up to your
highest potential? If you have dreams of doing more with your life, but always
seem to get deterred and if you want to freshen up your wardrobe
and get in style without going in debt, then this is your season of
change! Register today for Look Good, Feel
Wonderful, a personal development and fashion consulting seminar
sponsored by The Stepping Stone Image Consulting. Come discover what's
really holding you back and why aligning your attire with your aspirations
is an important step toward personal and professional success. If your home is
worthy of renewal, then why aren't you?
Since sharing blesses the giver and the receiver, please join us on April
28th and bring everyone who you know wants to feel, be and do
their best.
"One of the greatest feelings in life is the conviction
that you have lived the life you wanted to live - with the rough and the
smooth, the good and the bad - but yours, shaped by your own choices, and not
someone else's"
- Michael Ignatieff, author, politician
SATURDAY, APRIL 28
LOOK GOOD, FEEL WONDERFUL
Verity Centre For Better Living
28 Milford Ave. (closest major intersections are Keele & Lawrence)
12:00 NOON
$20 in advance; $30 day of
Refreshments will be served
To register call (416) 534-1069
Tickets are also available at: A Different Booklist - 746 Bathurst
Ave (south of Bloor in Toronto) and Knowledge Bookstore - 177 Queen
Street W. (east of McLaughlin in Brampton)
::TOP STORIES::
Sam Mitchell Named 2006-07 Coach of the Year
Source: www.nba.com
(April 24, 2007) Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell has been
named the winner of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA
Coach of the Year for the 2006-07 season, the
NBA announced today. In his third season as the Raptors’ head
coach, Mitchell totalled 389 points, including 49 first-place votes, from a
panel of 128 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and
Canada. Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan was second with 301 points (39
first-place votes) and the Dallas Mavericks’ Avery Johnson was third with 268
points (28 first-place votes). Coaches were awarded five points for each
first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for
each third-place vote received. Mitchell, the first coach in
Raptors history to receive the honour, led the Raptors to their first Atlantic
Division title, a franchise-record-tying 47 wins, and home court advantage in
the playoffs for the first time in team history. The sixth head coach in
franchise history, Mitchell guided the team to an NBA-best 20-game improvement
(27-55) over the 2005-06 season. The Raptors were 30-7 this season when they
scored 100 or more points and 38-4 when they had a better (or same) field goal percentage
than their opponents.
In January, Mitchell became only the second coach in Raptors history to earn
Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honours after leading the team to a 10-5
record. During the month, Toronto recorded a 7-3 mark at home and was 8-2
versus Eastern Conference opponents. January was the Raptors’ first 10-win
month since January 2002 (11-5) and the fifth double-digit win month in
franchise history. The Raptors finished January leading the Atlantic Division
by one game with a 23-23 record and then compiled a 24-12 record to close out
the rest of the season. During his 13-year playing career, Mitchell
was held in high regard around the league as a student of the game and when he
finally hung up his sneakers in 2002, he went from student to teacher in his
new role as an NBA coach. Following two seasons as an assistant coach, Mitchell
was named the Raptors’ sixth head coach on June 29, 2004. Although the Raptors
finished 33-49 in Mitchell’s first season, the campaign under his direction was
highlighted by the implementation of a more up-tempo style of play that saw the
team’s points per game average increase by 14.3 over the previous season, the
third-highest jump in NBA history. The Coach of the Year Award is
named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the
Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honoured as one of the
Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Following are the balloting results for the 2006-07 NBA Coach of the Year award
and the all-time list of winners:
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes: Gone, But Not Forgotten
By Karu F. Daniels, AOL
Black Voices
(Apr. 20, 07) The short life and fast times
of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes will
be on display when with"VH1 Rock Docs: Last Days Of Left Eye"
premiering May 19 at 9 PM ET/PT. VH1 goes behind the scenes and digs
deep in paying homage to the hip-pop artist who fronted the 1990s supergroup TLC
before her untimely death five years ago in a tragic car accident. According to
a network spokesperson, the Lauren Lazin-directed documentary
is filled with exclusive and never before seen footage captures the final month
of her life. "She documented her final days in journals and private home
movies shot at her spiritual retreat deep in the jungle of Honduras," the
rep confirmed. "During this month Lisa reflected on her triumphs and
mistakes with an eye towards the spiritual transformation she so desperately
sought." At the time of her death, Lopes, 31, was estranged from group
members Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda
"Chilli" Thomas. She was embarking on a fledgling solo
career and was professionally linked to the beleaguered Death Row Records
empire, helmed by Suge Knight.
TLC, formed in 1991 in Atlanta was signed to LaFace Records and produced by
super-hit-maker Dallas Austin. With hit singles such as 'What
About Your Friends,' 'Baby -Baby- Baby,' 'Creep,' 'Red Light Special,' and
'Waterfalls,' the trio became the biggest selling girl group of all times.
Lopes's personal life was just as much of the TLC story as their success.
From the torching of her football star boyfriend Andre Rison's
mansion and her substance abuse to her very public challenge to fellow group
members to compete with solo projects, there was never a dull moment with her
liverly and sometimes bawdy spirit.
Nas Puts Rap Through Rehab
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Ben
Rayner, Pop Music Critic
(April 19, 2007) As time goes on, it seems no musical genre is as
chronically prone to negative assessment of itself as hip hop. For a large,
vocal number of MCs, both veteran and ascendant, moaning about the state of rap
music on record and in the press has become an almost de rigueur part of
hip-hop culture – and not without reason, given the preponderance of
mush-mouthed poseurs with nothing to say who've come to dominate the North
American pop landscape. Queens, N.Y., native Nas is one of an increasingly rare breed of rapper who combines
commercial potency and mainstream recognition with the limber wordplay and
storytelling skills so venerated by his peers and more thoughtful hip-hop
heads. So when he rather boldly titled his latest album Hip Hop is Dead last
year as a public lament for the creative stagnation imposed by the corporate
control of the rap industry, the soul-searching common to the hip-hop
underground cracked wider than ever. Nas – a.k.a. 33-year-old Queensbridge
escapist Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones – hasn't given up on the genre he's been
enriching with his informed, ever-evolving and increasingly, self-consciously
mature microphone skills since he got his first break dropping verses with
Toronto outfit Main Source 16 years ago. And he did his part to rehabilitate
rap in ripping style at Kool Haus on Tuesday night, laying down a no-frills set
of catalogue standards and fightin'-trim new material for 2,200 worshipful fans
(including Toronto rapper/songwriter k-os and Broken Social Scene drummer
Justin Peroff) that proved beats, rhymes and style, not bullet-riddled biographies
and easy club hooks, are still the keys to hip-hop transcendence.
Performing solo on a white-lit stage bare but for a truncated "Hip Hop is
Dead" banner, a lone bouquet of funeral-home flowers and a DJ set-up that
resembled a casket, Nas had the room frothing in similar, boisterous
appreciation for newer cuts like "Carry On Tradition,"
"Hustlers" and "Black Republican" (during which the crowd
enthusiastically subbed in for sparring partner Jay-Z) and such never-die
classics from the Illmatic era as "Represent" and "It
Ain't Hard to Tell." Scene-stealers like the massive "Made You
Look," "Hate Me Now" and the wistful "If I Ruled the World
(Imagine That)" were deftly folded into a set list that arced thoughtfully
between the guns-blazin' cockiness of youth and more contemplative,
stock-taking material like "One Mic," which keyed up from-the-stage
wishes for racial unity and a reminder to consider that you only get one ride
through life before you commit to the "ready to die" gangsta
fantasies of commercial hip hop. It was heartening to see an MC of Nas's
stature singing the virtues of growing up while still embracing his past and
delving into it with uncommon passion. The point was made: to survive as a
creative force, hip hop cannot be one-dimensional, just as a human being must
exist in a constant state of self-examination to reach his or her full
potential. Stillmatic, indeed.
A Vancouverite Illuminates Our Continual Struggles With Life
Choices And Identity
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Jessica
Warner
U-Turn: What If You Woke Up One Morning and Realized You Were
Living the Wrong Life?
by Bruce Grierson
Raincoast, 352 pages, $24.95
(April 22, 2007) We can all name someone who has changed horses in mid-stream.
The most famous is Paul of Tarsus. One day he was persecuting Christians; the
next day he was one of them. Malcolm X surprised everyone when he converted to
Islam. Stephen Harper would like us to believe that he has pulled a U-turn of
his own, finally seeing the light on global warming – while the one U-turn you
can count on is the one he will pull if he ever gets a majority. These
about-faces, most of them occurring at midlife, are the subject of Bruce Grierson's newest book. The book's
jacket promises a virtuoso performance, that the phenomenon will be examined
"from all angles." Grierson, a Vancouver-based journalist, more than
delivers. Indeed, this is quite possibly the most ecumenical book I have ever
read, for it draws on an almost bewildering range of sources – literature,
psychology, philosophy, religion, neuroscience, good movies, bad movies and an
unspecified number of interviews with people who have chucked one thing for
another.
The millions of baby boomers who find themselves in the throes of a midlife
crisis will find ready succour in this book. For make no mistake: Grierson
thinks that logic is overrated, and that the people who defy it by pulling a
U-turn are to be admired. They are more spiritual and more in touch with
themselves than the rest of us. They are braver and smarter. They are, in
short, "extravagantly alive, and often wise and deeply attuned to the
ground shifting beneath the feet of all of us." Could you or someone you
know be one of these extraordinary people? You could be if you are male,
middle-aged and have enough money and smarts to cushion your fall. One, a
former stockbroker, cashed in his chips and moved his family to Tenerife, where,
as Grierson rhapsodizes, "they found a little farmhouse with a view of the
mountains and the sea, and the kids would learn Spanish, and every vestige of
the tension-flush of trader's sunburn would leave his place." Nice work if
you can get it. But don't bother applying if you're a woman. My hopes of
chucking it all were dashed when I read that I don't have the right temperament
(not extreme enough), that "men are yang, after all, to women's yin,"
and that biology has already foreordained my U-turns, from "woman to
mother, achiever to caregiver."
What begins as a book about midlife crises ends as something much grander: a
call for each of us to undertake a spiritual renewal and let the chips fall
where they may. How sad that "No great geniuses have emerged to shepherd
the benighted masses to a new understanding of how to be in the world." A
certain defensiveness can be detected in Grierson's lament that this enterprise
is "considered just so much screwing around on the margins," the
"refuge of the ethereal, the eccentric, and the damaged." The reader
is to be forgiven for wondering whether this really is a job for the "best
and the brightest" when the "world, ideologically speaking, is a
vast, multivalent freeway system, people urgently driven toward what they're
urgently driven toward." Or when it all boils down to a few simple rules:
The way to some measure of peace and happiness is not so mysterious. Consider
the interests of others as equivalent to your own, and act accordingly. The
notion is that, in the end, it's not what you acquire, or what you learn, or
even what you believe: It's how you live your life that will save you. These
pearls come after the reader has been taken on a long and often meandering
journey, meeting William James, Nietzsche, Albert Schweitzer, Aristotle and the
Buddha along the way. The list is actually much longer than that, but the names
and sequence hardly matter, for the centuries, cultures and philosophies that
separate them are simply willed away, lost in a New Age haze of good will and
universalism.
It is perhaps just as well that the U-turns Grierson thinks so highly of are
much more common south of the border than they are here. Many have made the
world a better place. Julia Hill, the businesswoman who gave up everything to
become a radical environmentalist, is one example. Bill Wilson, the co-founder
of Alcoholics Anonymous, is another. But let's assume, on a hunch, that to
follow one's inner voice at all times and regardless of the cost is folly.
George W. Bush, whose own U-turn came upon turning 40, does that to this day,
and our world is a far more dangerous place for it. Now if you will excuse me,
I have an urgent need to reread Candide.
Jessica Warner is the author of The Incendiary: the Misadventures of John
the Painter and Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason.
::MUSIC NEWS::
Third Time Out, It's Feist In Charge
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Brad Wheeler
THE REMINDER
Feist
Arts & Craft
***˝
(April 24, 2007) The indie-girl urchin gets cleaned up and classy, her hair in
an updo on the cover of her new album, The Reminder. The
shadowed portrait presents (Leslie)
Feist as a remote chanteuse with a hint of
aloofness. Is this where she's at? Has she upped the Euro lounge of 2004's
luminous Let it Die? After all, that hit album, like this follow-up, was
recorded in Paris, chic's head office. Turns out Feist, maturing into a deft songwriter
and sublimely breathy vocalist, has made a record that is deceptively earthy,
deliberate and surprising in its arrangements. The Reminder, out May 1,
has haunting piano ballads, rock tunes, geography as metaphor, one killer
guitar solo, tweeting birds, unexpected horns and one harp. And Feist? She's
not as aloof as she is poised, calmly dissecting the ways of relationships.
"I'm sorry, two words I always think after you're gone/ when I realize I
was acting all wrong." That's her, as the bossa nova Brenda Lee on the
opening So Sorry. It's a gorgeous track -- it would be the least awkward
mingling among the cosmopolitan crowd of Let it Die. A wiser woman knows
more than she knew before on I Feel it All, which rocks, but not all out
(Chrissie Hynde trying not to wake the neighbours). First single My Moon My
Man uses the head-bopping piano rhythm of Soft Cell's Tainted Love
to get to a catchy, soft-voiced chorus where restraint is advised: "Take
it slow, take it easy on me."
A subtle obsession with geography and natural elements (oceans divide on So
Sorry; clouds part on the Dinah Ross-ready The Limit to Your Love)
is full blown on The Water. A mountain is majestic, but with rocky
sides; an ocean is a terror by its sheer size alone. Poetic and slightly lit by
vibraphone, Feist is at her nuanced emotive best on this track. For her worst,
hear the final song, How My Heart Behaves, a maudlin duet with Eirik
Glambek Boe of Kings of Convenience. We call this her third solo album, but
Feist's a happy collaborator. For The Reminder, she gathered her
road-tested band together with beat-boxing soulster Jamie Lidell, somebody
named "Mocky" and pianist/producer/long-time chum Chilly Gonzalez. It
may have been nicely communal, recording in that French manor house, but if
you've seen her perform live, you know Feist is the captain. You know she's in
charge of the rousing traditional chant Sea Lion Woman (although I'm not
sure who gets credit for the wild blues riff). And you know that she's the one
setting up the vocal loops for Honey Honey. As good as it sounds on the
living-room speakers or the iPod, The Reminder is bound to be better
live. Feist plays Victoria, May 15; Vancouver, May 16; Edmonton, May 18;
Calgary, May 19; Regina, May 22; Winnipeg, May 23; Toronto, May 25 and 26;
Ottawa, May 31; Montreal, June 1; Quebec City, June 2.
Avril Lavigne's In A Much Happier Place
Than The Lyrics On Her New Album
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Karen
Bliss, Special To The Star
(April 20, 2007) You might not know it from the light, pop-punk sound of her
smash hit single "Girlfriend," but Avril Lavigne thinks she has a
more mature sound these days. "I think now because I'm older and
I've been singing longer, I have more control over my voice and I think I'm a
better singer," says Lavigne, the 22-year-old Napanee native, who now
lives in Los Angeles with husband Deryck Whibley of Canadian rock band Sum 41.
She's just released her third album, The Best Damn Thing, and says her
singing has grown up since she hit the big time with "Complicated"
before she hit her 18th birthday. "When I listen back to my first record,
my voice is a little bit more weak, and now it's stronger. "But if I
get off a tour and go directly into the studio my voice is so strong, but I
notice taking time off and then going into the studio, at first I was like,
`Ahhh. How do I ...?' It was weird. But I'm really good with not having to warm
up. I don't cool down. I've never taken voice lessons. I do all the bad things
– I'll be hung over and I can sing great, whereas some people can't," she
says with a laugh. Whibley, whose band has just completed its fourth full-length
album, Underclass Hero (due July 24), is the opposite, she says
playfully. "Yeah, he won't eat dairy and he won't have an
air-conditioner on. He won't do all this stuff and I do everything. I don't
think about anything. I'll wake up and sing early in the morning and he
can't."
Lavigne, whose first two albums, 2001's Let Go and 2004's Under My
Skin, have sold a combined 23 million copies worldwide, got married last
July and then went into the studio in August for the next five months, working
separately with four different producers, Dr. Luke, Butch Walker, Rob Cavallo
and Whibley. "I started off with Butch," begins Lavigne. "We did
`The Best Damn Thing' and `When You're Gone' and a couple of other ones.
"I'd written a bunch of songs with Evan (Taubenfeld, her former
guitarist), but because Evan doesn't produce, I gave two of them to Deryck to
do and I gave one of them to Rob Cavallo, and then Luke and I wrote songs
together and he produced the songs we did." The result is a mix of clear,
sing-out ballads and nuanced, faster, fun attitude-laden rock. It displays her
more mature vocal range on the power ballad, "When You're Gone" and
ability to play a character as the pissed off angry lie detector in
"Everything Back But You." On the title track, Lavigne borders
not necessarily on a rap vocal, but a rhythmical spoken style. And even in
"Girlfriend," the way she says "whatever" has a snarky
tone, not that the rest of the lyric, about trying to steal another girl's man,
isn't bratty enough. And in "I Can Do Better" she spits, "I'm
sick of this shit don't Deny/You're a waste of time." "You mean
the different characters and things? Yeah, that happens because I get so into
it when I sing," says Lavigne. "I sing really quickly. I only ever do
a couple of takes and then I'm done. All my producers are like, `Oh my God, you
don't understand, this is so crazy. I've never worked with anyone like that.'
Everyone tells me that it's very rare, which is cool. "A lot of it is that
I'm so prepared because I actually write the song and I create the song, so
when I do go in the studio, when I do sing it, I know exactly what I'm doing.
It's not like I have to learn the song and figure it out." Lavigne dealt
with a break-up during the making of Under My Skin and also mourned the
death of her grandfather on the song "Slipped Away," but now she's in
a much happier place, so the sometimes crazy lyrics of hurt, betrayal and
arrogance are just made-up stories for the fun of it. "A lot of the stuff
on this record's not literal," says Lavigne. "That's kind of what I
like about this record, too. It's not like a diary, like my last records,
especially my last one had all these feelings and emotions I was going through.
This one mostly is just stuff. It's just fun topics. It's not serious at all."
A PhD in DJing
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - John
Terauds, Classical Music Critic
(April 19, 2007) Mix ivory tower and speaker tower and you might get DJ
Amita, a.k.a. Amita Handa. That's Doctor Amita Handa. Drop the
typical DJ image as little more than hard-partying, groove-generating butt
busters. Handa has a PhD in sociology, and she is not shy about linking
cultural insight and a dance-floor high. Handa is one of the city's musical
pioneers. She and DJ Zara – a lawyer by day – breathed fresh beats
into Toronto's predictable gay club scene when they launched their Funkasia
nights a few years ago. It was out with Madonna and in with a Bollywood, bhangra,
calypso, house and techno blend. England long ago discovered the
pleasures of hearing Indian-fusion music on the dance floor. Toronto, with
nearly half a million people with cultural roots in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
and Sri Lanka, is catching on. Handa was bitten by the bug in the early '90s,
when a family friend from England introduced her to South Asian dance music.
"She took me to Gerrard St. (Little India) and bought me four tapes of the
`in' music."
The budding DJ then went to alternative FM radio station CKLN to pitch a
monthly show on which to showcase these sounds. "They gave me two hours
every Saturday (Masala Mixx, from 4 to 6 p.m.), and I only had four
tapes to start," says Handa. "People started coming out of the
woodwork after that." Handa says her main influences included Birmingham,
England's Apache Indian, who mixed reggae and dancehall with bhangra and
Bollywood. The DJ mainly uses other people's remixes. "But I do throw in
traditional songs, upbeat ones. I do it more than other DJs." Handa, who
published the book Of Silk Saris and Mini-Skirts: South Asian Girls Walk the
Tightrope of Culture in 2003, based on her doctoral thesis, is happy to see
Indian fusion making the mainstream. She plays a lot of Indian weddings. In the
beginning, there was a gap between younger people and their parents, who were
reluctant to accept the new music. "Now, everyone will dance on the dance
floor." Handa says much of the acceptance come from movies: "It's mostly
due to Bollywood mixing in dance/techno beats." The DJ is part of an
all-dance night to close the South Asian Music Festival on May 18 at Dragonfly
on Queen St. W. The headline spinner is Karsh Kale, from New York City. Handa
had a chance to interview him for Masala Mixx when he visited
Harbourfront a couple of years ago. "We talked a lot about sense of
identity and how that plays out in music," she says. That doesn't sound
like your run-of-the-mill DJ dialogue.
Out Of The Rock Arena And Into The Jazz
Bar
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- J.D. Considine
(April 25, 2007) Look over the nominees
for the 2007
Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, and a
couple names are likely to ring bells with an unlikely audience: rock fans. Up
for best female vocalist, album of the year and best composition is Molly
Johnson, the Toronto-based singer who originally made her name singing with the
rock bands Alta Moda and Infidels. The other rock-friendly name is guitarist
and singer Rik Emmett, who, although best remembered as one third of Triumph,
is vying Friday for honours in the categories guitarist of the year and album
of the year (he shares the latter nod with guitarist Dave Dunlop for their
collaboration Strung-Out Troubadours). Nor are Emmett and Johnson the
only former rockers who have taken up a new career in jazz. Guitarist Randy
Bachman, of Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive fame, just released his
second jazz album, Jazz Thing II, while slide guitar prodigy Jeff Healey
left rock for trad jazz years ago, releasing three jazz albums and broadening
his instrumental arsenal to include trumpet and clarinet. What's curious about
this move from rock to jazz is that it seems a largely Canadian trend. Singers
ranging from Linda Ronstadt to Rod Stewart have recorded albums of pre-rock
standards. But such efforts have no more marked a change in career than Michael
Bolton's opera album did. But the Canadian rockers who have taken the jazz tack
really seem committed to the change, which raises the question: Why?
"Well, there are guys that are players, and I've been lucky in my life
that I've had the sort of reputation that allowed me to be in that camp,"
Emmett says over the phone from his Toronto-area studio. "But by the same
token, I've always thought of myself as a singer/songwriter, and that may be
more of a Canadian kind of thing. "We're the culture that have the Joni
Mitchells and the Bruce Cockburns and the Gordie Lightfoots and the Neil
Youngs. And no matter what style it ends up being, at core it's a
singer/songwriter kind of culture. Maybe Americans don't even get that as much,
which may be why some things don't export as well as they should." He
cites Bachman as an example of "one of the first role-model kind of guys
from the Canadian rock scene," and points out that even in his pop
material, there was enough in the way of "jazz chords" to make a
change of genre seem more natural. "This is way over-generalizing, but as
you get older you do tend to gravitate toward jazz, because it is a more
sophisticated form," he adds. "So from the artist's point of view -
and I think that artists are the kind of people who are constantly kicking their
own ass and saying, I have to push myself to do something fresh and to
challenge myself - they're bound to end up moving into different styles."
For Emmett, the trick hasn't been moving into a different style so much as
maintaining parallel careers in several kinds of music. A gifted and versatile
guitarist, he's as at home playing jazz chords on acoustic guitar as he is
blasting rock with an electric (indeed, he's probably the only smooth jazz
guitarist in the world with his own signature model Dean Flying V guitar).
"I'm still active, with one foot in one camp, another foot in another, my
elbow in another, my ear in another." He laughs. "I'm playing Twister
here."
But as Emmett points out, he's hardly alone in following the path from stadium
rock to smooth jazz, for a number of his old fans have done the same thing.
"People that were smoking dope and having fun and being young - now
they've got kids and mortgages and are driving Volvos," he says.
"They want a soundtrack for their own life, and what suits that life? So
[smooth jazz] is lifestyle music, as opposed to the music that you worship when
you're a kid and you join whatever club it is that you're joining by the shoes
that you buy and the haircut you get. "What's funny to see is, as the
boomers get older now and their kids are moving out, this whole thing of
lifestyle and culture does become important to them again," he adds.
"It's like they do come back to the music in a real, strong, branding kind
of way, and this smooth jazz stuff really suits that to a huge extent. It's
like, we're going to go out, we'll have a really nice dinner, a couple of
bottles of wine, and then we're going to go to the show. And we're going to see
this kind of music, because this is the kind of music that makes us feel good.
"It kind of makes me chuckle that there are all these things like the
Smooth Jazz Cruise. But it's about lifestyle - about taking cruises and wearing
nice clothes and drinking nice booze." The 2007 Canadian Smooth Jazz
Awards take place Friday in Hammerson Hall at the Living Arts Centre in
Mississauga (905-306-6000).
Fresh Face For Jazz Fest
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Ashante Infantry, Pop & Jazz Critic
(April 25, 2007) The TD
Canada Trust Toronto Jazz
Festival is sporting a fresh new face for its 21st
season. Organizers of the event, which runs June 22 to July 1, unveiled
the full lineup yesterday, as well as the signature motif to appear on the
cover of the festival's program, along with posters and T-shirts. The sleek,
monochromatic image by 26-year-old, in-house designer Dragan Grubesic replaces
the funky caricatures commissioned since the late '90s from veteran Toronto
artist Barbara Klunder. "We're always looking for a younger audience
and we want to give the next generation an opportunity," explained
executive producer Patrick Taylor, noting that the average age of attendees at
the 10-day bash is now 38, down from 56 five years ago. That desire seems to be
reflected in the schedule, which ranks up and comers such as 13-year-old
Montreal sensation Nikki Yanofsky and critically acclaimed 31-year-old Sean
Lennon (son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono) alongside over-65 masters such as
Mavis Staples, Dick Hyman, Freddy Cole and Jean-Luc Ponty.
(Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck also appear, performing in the previously
announced piano series.) The festival is primarily comprised of relatively
youthful, experienced players such as Chris Botti, Joshua Redman, Roy Hargrove,
Holly Cole, Mike Stern, Louise Pitre, Derek Trucks, Vijay Iyer, Don Byron and
Delfeayo Marsalis. However, neither individual age nor name matters in the
festival's exciting slate of ensembles. Among them, the kick-off of the reunion
tour of jazz fusion band Manteca; the first Toronto appearances by Trio Beyond
and Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood; and the only Canadian date for the
United Trombone Summit featuring Fred Wesley, Slide Hampton, Steve Turre and
Wycliffe Gordon. In addition to a free outdoor stage at Nathan Phillips Square,
the festival is utilizing several new venues: Opal Jazz Lounge, Live@Courthouse
and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. It's returning to old
favourite the Savoy (formerly the Top O' the Senator jazz club) for a cabaret
series. It is also welcoming its first performer from China: Coco Zhao, dubbed
a "male Billie Holiday." Tickets are available at 416-870-8000 or www.ticketmaster.com.
For the full schedule visit www.torontojazz.com.
Russell Simmons And Hsan Issue Rap
Guidelines
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(April 23, 2007) *EUR has received a statement from the Hip-Hop
Summit Action Network (HSAN)
that outlines its recommendations to the recording and broadcast industries in
light of the recent discussion of derogatory words in rap lyrics. The
statement comes from Russell
Simmons and Ben Chavis on behalf of the Hip-Hop
Summit Action Network: The theme of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) is
"Taking Back Responsibility." We are consistent in our strong
affirmation, defence, and protection of the First Amendment right of free
speech and artistic expression. We have recently been involved in a process of
dialogue with recording and broadcast industry executives about issues
concerning corporate social responsibility. It is important to
re-emphasize that our internal discussions with industry leaders are not about
censorship. Our discussions are about the corporate social responsibility of
the industry to voluntarily show respect to African Americans and other people
of color, African American women and to all women in lyrics and images. HSAN
reaffirms, therefore, that there should not be any government regulation or
public policy that should ever violate the First Amendment. With freedom of
expression, however, comes responsibility. With that said, HSAN is concerned
about the growing public outrage concerning the use of the words
"bitch," "ho," and "nigger." We recommend that
the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the
misogynistic words "bitch" and "ho" and the racially
offensive word "nigger."
Going forward, these three words should be considered with the same objections
to obscenity as "extreme curse words." The words "bitch"
and "ho" are utterly derogatory and disrespectful of the painful,
hurtful, misogyny that, in particular, African American women have experienced
in the United States as part of the history of oppression, inequality, and suffering
of women. The word "nigger" is a racially derogatory term that
disrespects the pain, suffering, history of racial oppression, and multiple
forms of racism against African Americans and other people of color. In
addition, we recommend the formation of a music industry Coalition on Broadcast
Standards, consisting of leading executives from music, radio and television
industries. The Coalition would recommend guidelines for lyrical and visual
standards within the industries. We also recommend that the recording industry
establish artist mentoring programs and forums to stimulate effective dialogue
between artists, hip-hop fans, industry leaders and others to promote better
understanding and positive change. HSAN will help to coordinate these forums.
These issues are complex, but require creative voluntary actions exemplifying
good corporate social responsibility.
Dr. Cornel West Is Black At It Again!
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
-
April 25, 2007) *The
phenomenon of Hip-Hop music has
been the proverbial scapegoat for all things despicable within urban centers
across the nation since at least the late 70s. At the time, block parties
were all the rage in cities up and down the east coast from New York City to
Philadelphia to Baltimore and all stops in between. Even then community
activists felt this form of music was detrimental because its only discernable
attribute was the celebration of the party atmosphere. But the foundation
of Hip-Hop was more than just that. It was about peace, unity, love and having
fun. Back then there was no talk of guns and drugs. No one can say for certain
why, but perhaps it was because Hip-Hop is another form of poor people music
like jazz and rock and roll before it. Fast forward to the 21st century
and we find Hip-Hop and R&B are under fire more so than ever.
To the uneducated outsider it appears to be only about celebrating our most
deplorable and vial instincts. In communities where brotherhood should be
celebrated, we have rappers telling the youth to get ahead by stepping on and
destroying anyone in their way and R&B artists celebrating sex without
consequence. When a rapper is cornered on the question of celebrating death, he
whines and cops out with the 'oh, I'm just trying to make a living.' When the
label is approached they speak of Constitutional Rights and not wanting to
stifle creativity. The video music channels react in the very same manner.
Thinking the consumer to be stupid and myopic, the two latter entities want us
to believe there is no one out there that is both positive, creative and, dare
we say it, dope enough to be played on the radio and video stations to even
things out. The sad truth is that sex sells and has sold since the time
of guy whose work you may have read, William Shakespeare. Talk about violent!
But unlike some record labels, Hidden Beach Recordings is always ahead of the
curve. The label's top artist Jill Scott is successful and is plenty positive
and creative in an R&B genre where "take off ya draws" is
considered poetic. But can Hidden Beach's Steve McKeever inject the same amount
of energy into Hip-Hop?
If Princeton University intellectual Cornel West and his brother Clifton have anything to say about
it, yes! The West brothers, along with Nas, Prince, dead prez, the late Gerald
Levert, Krs-One, Talib Kweli and others, are trying to plant a seed. A seed of
positive creativity that has long been choked by the weeds of big business.
Titled "Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations," the work, scheduled
to be released this June (Black Music Month), actually delves into R&B as
well as Hip-Hop. Since one of the CD's major contributors named his recent
album "Hip-Hop Is Dead," we asked Dr. West what he felt the state of
the often maligned genre is. "I believe he (Nas) wanted to spark a
substantive discussion about which way Hip-Hop was going." said Dr. West.
"It is such a complicated genre with so many tendencies and I think he was
saying the dominant stream is betraying the origins of Hip-Hop. So, in a sense,
it's dead, but he (Nas) is not part of the worst of Hip-Hop. In fact he
represents the very best of Hip-Hop in his mind and in my mind. So, to the
degree that he is still going and to the extent that KRS-One and many others
are still going it is still alive. But there is a dulling and deadening that
has set in and he's very much right about that. Because in the end it's not
just about the music. It has always been a way of life for young folks. So if
you're talking about Hip-Hop is dead then you're really talking about the dead
souls of Black folks. Hopelessness, self-violation, self-destruction,
self-flagellation. Is that what we're saying? That's a much stronger claim.
Much more is at stake here." Unlike so many other Black intellectuals, Dr.
West refuses to let lazy artists off the hook. He told EUR's Lee Bailey that he
is doing this because Black music, the very salt and pepper of American culture,
is too important. He feels this work may be just the elixir needed for Black
music. "It is a significant awakening with a number of Black voices
across the generations coming together and saying that Black music is too
important for us to allow it to be bastardized in this way. I hope that
awakening will then generate a whole host of CDs. What I would like to see is
like 50 CDs coming out in the next year that are wrestling with these same
issues. Taking it to higher levels in their own way. I think this music has a
chance of being quite historic." Within the halls of academia Dr. Cornel
West is a somewhat of a polarizing figure. Either people like him, or they
simply do not. But in the entertainment industry Dr. West has been getting love
from some of the top artists in music for quite some time.
"Prince invited me out to Paisley Park about 4 years ago to give a
lecture," said West. "and also he called me when he received a
Lifetime Achievement Award (NAACP Image Awards) told me he wanted me to introduce
him. I told him I didn't know him very well but I love and respect him, and he
said 'no, you're a wonderful person and you have to introduce me'. So, I was in
Germany with my little girl and had to fly out here (Los Angeles) and introduce
him, then fly back to Princeton to teach my class the next day. Like so many of
our great artists, he had a depth to him. He reminds me of Coltrane and
Marsalis who were all shaped by not only suffering but creative response to
that suffering." The importance of a musical note, tone or voice placed
together to bring joy is what music can be. Dr. West says it can also be used
to build bridges between cultures as was the case with Jazz so many years ago.
But does modern Hip-Hop build bridges or feed in to predetermined stereotypes?
"I think any time a people is honest enough to examine themselves and
there by reaffirm their humanity it serves as a bridge between that group and
other people. Brown, Red, Jewish and what have you. And if you're viewing
yourself in a White supremacist way, then you're not a good candidate for
coalition. But if you're affirming yourself in a deeper way then you're ready
for substantive coalition. So I think that it is no accident that Talib Kweli,
KRS-One and others are most open to building bridges with Brown on this album
rather than taking a mainstream way which often engages in White supremacist
stereotypes of Brown and others. We don't have any Brown voices (on this
album), but a number of White brothers that have come forward," West
added.
Dr. West continued by stating one must love oneself in order to love others
fully. So, is that the true reason why the poorest people are often the most
bigoted? Dr. West expanded on that idea by stating: "Part of it is about
that old Christian view 'Love thy neighbour as thyself' You see, if you miss
out on that part then you end up loving things about your neighbour that
reflect your own self hatred. When you love yourself you are then a candidate
for embracing another group of humanity on the deepest level." Will
"Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations" go platinum? You never know,
but hopefully the offering with spark that ethereal flame that lies in wait
deep inside some aspiring artist. Perhaps it can set in motion the idea that it
is cool to love humanity or perhaps it can be a great addition to an expansive
album collection. Popular Black music in general, Hip-Hop in particular, is not
dead, but it is on life support. The West brothers and their incredible list of
musical collaborators hope to begin the healing. How does one do that?
"The healing is all about remembering. When you're dismembered the
body is broken apart and shattered. Remembering means simply to put it all back
together to proceed. It is a very concrete aspect, people believe it is
abstract but it's not," said Dr. West. "Never give up because you
never know who is watching you. You never know where your purpose will lead you
if you stay true to your purpose." You can listen to cuts from "Never
Forget: A Journey of Revelations" at Dr. West's MySpace site: www.myspace.com/drcornelwest4bmwmb.
Be sure and check out the sensational, funkafied cut from the late Gerald
Levert.
Ashford & Simpson: As 'Solid' As
Ever
By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices
(Apr. 23, 2007) Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson have still got
"it." Seeing the dynamic duo shake their shimmy and serenade a
captive audience to a string of hit songs they wrote, produced or sang in the
1960s, 1970s and 1980s was sheer joy. That was the scene at the world's famous
Apollo Theater over the weekend as the Harlem landmark kicked off its eagerly
anticipated Apollo Legends Series. Ashford & Simpson
headlined the bill that also featured R&B diva Melba Moore
as the opener. The crowd, as can be expected, was just as lively as the show --
and kept this chronicler in stitches during and in between a timeline of
classic R&B songs. Moore, at 61, is looking better than ever and is a
delight to watch on the stage.
The Tony Award winning star of hit Broadway shows such as 'Hair,' 'Timbuktu,'
and 'Purlie,' ran through a string of her most beloved tunes including 'Loves
Comin' at Ya,' 'You Stepped Into My Life,' and the R&B hit 'Falling.'
At one point -- in between her campy display of gut-busting octaves --
she reached down to drink an elixir (of some sort) out of a peculiarly packaged
container. One orchestra section patron yelled out, "Put the beer can
down, Melba," sending that section of the audience into a frenzy. As
she ran through the numbers, she offered up anecdotes of years of yore --
providing a nostalgic context to her musical legacy. She also let the audience
in on a relatively unknown fact of how her and Ashford & Simpson met
decades before -- all three sang jingles in New York City before making it big
as music acts. Ashford & Simpson went on to write Ray Charles'
chart topping hit 'Let's Get Stoned' and Moore went on to make her theatre
debut. This show, their first performance together, represented a reunion of
sorts. Before closing the show with her searing rendition of her 1970s ballad
'Lean on Me,' Moore -- whose life story reads like a soap opera script (living
the high life, rising to fame, a messy divorce, destitution, etc.) -- paid
homage to R&B hits of the early 80s, popularized by Evelyn
"Champagne" King, Kashif, Me'Lisa Morgan, McFadden & Whitehead
and Freddie Jackson. Back in the 1980's, Moore played a hand
in the success of the aforementioned artists -- by either c0-managing them, or
the producers/writers of their songs. It's a fact she shared with her audience.
And the main attraction was just that: The Main Attraction. Ashford &
Simpson proved through and through that they've stood the test of time, just as
their treasure trove of classic R&B staples suggest. From the dreamy 'It
Seems to Hang On,' to a gutsy version of the Diana Ross 1979
hit 'The Boss,' the twosome kept their audience engaged throughout an hour-plus
long, non-stop set. Ashford, who is reportedly turning 65 next month, wasn't in
his best voice -- he fought a cold -- but he pulled out all the stops like a
true pro. The way he introduces songs and recall poignant memories makes
for masterful storytelling. Case in point: After shimmying through a few
mid-tempo numbers with his better half, the Fairfield, South Carolina native
stripped down into what looked like a criss-crossed layered tank-top,
accentuated by gaucho/genie pants. He wanted to offer the fellas in the
audience the secret to keeping a good woman like Simpson (they've been together
for over 40 years). He broke out into a version of Screamin' Jay
Hawkins' signature track 'I Put A Spell On You,' that would resurrect Nina
Simone. Simpson, who possesses the vocal dexterity of Cissy
Houston in her prime, is a marvel to watch in her own right. She not
only matched her longtime partner in rhyme note- for-note, but also in costume:
a frilly, two piece, with a slit that left little to the imagination (watch out
Beyonce) and accentuating the hips. It was done up in three
shades of green. She wore it well, too. With legs of steel like Tina
Turner, Simpson, at 61, put some of those other broads to shame.
The Bronx native, who took over the piano duties from musical conductor Nathaniel
Adderly, Jr. for their Motown medley, also did a rousing version of
'I'm Every Woman' --written by Ashford for Chaka Khan.
'Send It,' 'Found A Cure,' 'Street Corner' and 'Is it Still Good to You' were
some of their other favourites that had the near-capacity audience moving and
grooving -- like if they were out at a free summer concert in Brooklyn. Their
final number, 'Solid,' was a throw down tour-de-force with Ashford encouraging
audience participation during the ad-libbed verses 'Brick by brick. We're gonna
make it stick." The song is symbolic of their life-long legacy, and best
sums up the show. Overall, the first night of Apollo Legends turned out to be a
memorable evening of sophisticated R&B, done up by two of the most talented
acts of their respective era.
The Clark Sisters: Back On Top
By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices
(Apr. 24, 07) Legendary gospel quarter The Clark Sisters have a
reason to be happy this week: They're not only sitting atop of the
'Billboard' gospel chart with their new reunion project, but they have also
been announced as recipients of a prestigious industry honour. Recorded at
Houston's eminent George Brown Convention Center last year, 'Live ... One Last
Time' features production by gospel visionary Donald Lawrence. Released on the EMI
Gospel label, the critically acclaimed opus debuted in the No. 1 spot on the
"Top Gospel Albums" chart. And to add to the glory, the well-known
Detroit siblings -- comprised of Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark
Terrell, Jacky Clark Chisholm, Dorinda Clark Cole and Karen Clark Sheard-- will receive the
President's Merit Award at the 2007 GRAMMY Salute To Gospel event on June 8 in
that nation's capital.
In keeping with its tradition of honouring artistic excellence, The Recording
Academy will spotlight the genre by celebrating the most respected members of
the gospel community during the event to be held at the historic Lincoln
Theatre in Washington, D.C. Grammy Award winning artists Dr.
Bobby Jones and Michael W. Smith will join the Gospel
Music Hall of Fame members (who helped crossover the genre to the mainstream
with their 1983 char-topper 'You Brought the Sunshine') as this year's
honourees. According to a rep, the event will include performances from gospel,
contemporary Christian and contemporary artists under the leadership of
Lawrence. The GRAMMY Salute To Gospel Music event began in 2004 to honour those
who have made significant contributions to gospel music, while supporting the
history and importance of the genre. Past honourees include Shirley
Caesar, Andraé Crouch, Richard Smallwood and Albertina Walker.
Understated, Mayer Not Bad After All
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
Brad Wheeler
John Mayer
At the Air Canada Centre
In Toronto on Tuesday
(Apr. 19, 07) 'This isn't as bad as I thought it would be." The seats were
full at the Air Canada Centre, but not everyone in the arena was a fan of John Mayer. He's a performer who dabbles in blues guitar and
majors in adorability, and his charisma is noticed more by young women than the
ball cap-wearing coat-holders who accompany them. One such gentleman, who came
prepared to roll his eyes upward at the first precious singer-songwriter
moment, seemed won over halfway through the show. The chagrined chap, sitting
directly behind a reporter who shared his reservations, let his lady friend
know that the pretty man on stage wasn't so bad after all, and that something
like the graceful falsetto funk of Vultures was okay by him.
Young Mayer, who earned the first of five Grammy awards in 2004 for the single Your
Body is a Wonderland, has always courted skepticism, mostly for his
unoriginality. Making his debut as a boy next door (to the house of Dave
Matthews), Mayer has crafted images along the way. He rather unabashedly
sponges off his influences -- in his songwriting, singing and guitar playing.
If he borrows politely from Daryl Hall or Sting, he picks the pocket of
Journeyman-era Eric Clapton and outright grave-robs the late-career soul blues
of Stevie Ray Vaughan (particularly the scrunched-face vocals). It would be a nice
thing to say that Mayer incorporates the heroes to develop his own style.
Appearing with a five-piece band and occasional horns, the New Yorker was
greeted by a concert of screams and camera flashes. The first thing noticeable
was good bone structure; he is prettier than Jessica Simpson, the blond singer
and reality-television star who currently runs her fingers through Mayer's
healthy mop of brown hair. Simpson, who accompanied Mayer on his recent tour of
Australia, reportedly did not arrive with him at Pearson International on
Monday.
The spotlight was literally on Mayer as he introduced himself with a bluesy
electric solo before sliding into Belief, a soulful pop number from last
year's Continuum that discourages the idea that any one group's devotion
would defeat another's -- "We're never gonna win the world . . . if belief
is what we're fighting for." The hit song Waiting on the World to
Change was in the same vein. The set list stuck to melodic rock and a few
cuddle-croon tunes. The riffy and optimistic Good Love is on the Way,
with its catchy chorus and psychedelic guitar break, was one of the best of the
former. On the calm arena-rock of This Will All Make Perfect Sense Someday
and others, the young, female portion of the audience sang right along with
Mayer, who more than once praised the amateur choir for its work. Mayer
displayed little of his notorious ego. Prior to the slow-soul restraint of Gravity,
he thanked the crowd, noting that being able to make music for a career was
"amazing in the first place," but to have such fans was "just
getting silly." For a performer who is known to be a bit much, Mayer was
understated. The encore version of Your Body is a Wonderland was
undersized, and his Vaughan-aping shenanigans over all were missing. Last song I'm
Gonna Find Another You ended in a scene-sharing guitar jam. Dude in the
stands was right -- it wasn't that bad at all. John Mayer plays Ottawa
tonight; London, Ont., on Saturday; Winnipeg, April 26, Edmonton, April 28;
Calgary, April 29; and Vancouver, May 1.
Meet Laura Izibor: Soulful Sister Hails
From Ireland
Source: edison@vibemusicmanagement.com | lucy@elemental-consulting.com
(April 20, 2007) 19-year-old Laura Izibor is already making waves that extend
far beyond her native city Dublin, Ireland. Only two years after taking
up the piano at age 13, she entered Ireland's prestigious 2FM Song Contest,
where she stunned observers by walking away with the main prize. She's
the winner of the 2006 Irish Meteor Awards (Ireland's Grammy Awards) "New
Hope" category, making her the first unreleased artist to ever win or be
nominated. The songstress has drawn ecstatic comparisons from Lauryn
Hill, Aretha Franklin and Alicia Keys to Sade. The acclaim has led to her being
invited to share the stage with a variety of artists including Angie Stone,
Jamie Cullum, The Roots and the late, great James Brown. STREAMING AUDIO:
Promo track "From My Heart To Yours" available and is already No.1 on
the UK Urban Chart Galaxy FM - CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Now known as "The Soul of Ireland," Izibor is readying the release of
her first Atlantic Records USA album, Let The Truth Be Told, which she also
co-produced. Recorded in Dublin, New York, Atlanta and Philadelphia, the
eagerly anticipated album is set for a 2007 release. Izibor will perform
her first industry showcase post-signing in N. America at MUSEXPO on Monday 30,
April at 9:10PM at The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Learn more here: www.myspace.com/lauraizibor
Jazz-Funksters Back After Two Years And Yes, They'll Play
Spadina Bus
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Ashante
Infantry, Pop & Jazz Critic
(April 19, 2007) Count on the Shuffle Demons to
keep it interesting.
When the quirky jazz-funk quintet play their first Toronto gig in two years at
Lula Lounge next Tuesday they'll be amassing footage for a DVD about their
20-year journey from street musicians to purveyors of popular offbeat anthems
such as "Spadina Bus" and "Cheese on Bread" to Guinness
world record holders. The band is setting up a Shuffle Demons speaker's
corner onsite for fans to tell their personal stories of the group, which has
spent the last couple of years touring China, India and Europe. In that
spirit we lobbed a few questions at members of the current ensemble, made up of
saxists Richard Underhill, Kelly Jefferson and Perry White, drummer Stitch
Wynston and bassist George Koller.
Q: What was your most memorable
Shuffle Demons show?
A: Koller:
I can think of three among so many great gigs: the (1992) Havana Jazz fest ...
the joy of being around my musical heroes in a tropical setting, jamming all
night long; breaking the Guinness world record in 2004 for the most saxes
together at one time; all of the many European dates, especially the
soft-seater tour of Holland with jugglers and comedians.
Q: How can you spot a Demons
groupie?
A: Underhill:
They often wear outlandish sunglasses, a beret or a crazy flowery shirt and
dance at the front of the stage for the whole show. They'll have a made-up
name: Demon CrazyLegs, Demon ShuffleDog, Demon Squigglebottom. They love the
"Spadina Bus," walk around and leap out of their seats to follow us
out of the door of the club into the streets where we play and dance, block
traffic and create a ruckus. Most of them are 20-year card-carrying members of
the Society of Streetniks. Long before the Internet, I used to put forms on
tables and collect addresses to send info and membership cards to fans.
Q: What is the most challenging SD
song to play?
A: Jefferson:
"Spadina Bus," because we usually walk out into the audience, playing
the entire time. Depending on the size of the crowd, it can take quite a long
time to make it back to the stage. The highlight is Stitch doing his Demon
Dance in the middle of a circle of audience members. It's usually quite festive
and full of surprises. The challenge comes from laughing and playing saxophone
at the same time!"
Wynston: "Gabi's Gimi Suit." It is very challenging
rhythmically with its 6/8 groove and cross rhythms that are inherent in the
groove as well as in the melody. It is also always a challenge to stretch out
in the solos on the tune.
Q: What do you remember about your
first SD gig?
A: Wynston:
We started out as a street band entertaining passers-by at the corners of
Yonge-Bloor and Yonge-Dundas Sts. One night (in 1984) we were busking in front
of the Eaton Centre when a club owner in the crowd heard us and dug the band so
much that he invited us to play at his venue, which was called Earl's Tin
Palace, a now-defunct (thank heavens) pickup joint in the Eglinton/Mt. Pleasant
corridor. Because of the nature of its clientele we not-so-affectionately
referred to it as Earl's Skin Palace.
Needless to say, this turned out to be the mismatch of the century as the
cougars did not find our atonal melodies, harmonies and rhythmic concepts to be
conducive to their mating practices.
Q: Who could play you in an SD
biopic?
A: Wynston:
I have had some people tell me that I have a slight resemblance to Nicolas
Cage.
Jefferson: A tie between John Cusack and Barney Rubble.
Koller: Jack Nicholson.
Underhill: William Shatner! Our Bill fits the bill perfectly: he's
Canadian, devilishly handsome, has a great sense of humour, is accustomed to
commanding a ragtag bunch of individuals that go on great adventures and always
make it out alive, sings (sort of, see sense of humour) and even raps (see the
movie Free Enterprise). The main thing about Bill is that he's
serious about not taking himself too seriously, and that sums me up perfectly.
Who: The Shuffle Demons
Where: Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W.
When: Tuesday @ 8 p.m.
Tickets: $10 @ the door
Meet Sterling Simms: A New R&B
Artist Worth Listening To
Source: Amina Elshahawi, ThinkTank
Marketing, amina@thinktankmktg.com,
www.thinktankmktg.com
(April 23, 2007) Choosing classic soul auteurs Teddy Riley, New Edition
and Brian McKnight as musical inspiration could have been imposing for some,
but in the case of newcomer Sterling
Simms the truth is in the grooves. Like
the missing link between new jack swing and the current R&B scene,
Sterling's debut disc is a welcome detour from the usual scenarios laid down by
his contemporaries. "My main goal while constructing my album was to
create a different kind of soul album," the Philadelphia native explains.
"I wanted to capture diverse sounds that I once jammed to on the radio
when I was a kid." The first single, "Jump Off" is the
perfect introduction to Sterling's skills. Be it the bedroom or the club,
"Jump Off" can provide the soundtrack. "Me and one of my
writing partners Steve-O were in the studio one night, and "Jump Off"
just flowed out of our pens," Sterling explains. "After he had penned
the hook, all it took was forty-five minutes for us to complete the song."
On songwriting, Sterling commented, "I think the best songs are those many
people can relate. In all of my songs, whether written by me or others, I want
to convey truthful experiences that will connect with the public." Perhaps
the most stellar club track on Sterling's debut is the addictive "Worth
Your While." Produced by the Cornerboys, the song became a Sterling
favourite on first listen. "We had been in the studio for two days, but
when I heard that beat, I knew I had to make it mine." Like the best of
new jack swing, "Worth Your While" balances soul and hip-hop.
"As soon as I heard it, I knew that record was the one."
Growing-up in Philadelphia, Sterling reflects, "There were times when I
felt a little rebellious and just wanted to run away from it all."
"Between my mom and grandfather, who also wrote and composed music, I
realized that this was to be my life." After his
grand-pa took a six-year-old Sterling to a recording studio for the first time,
his future was sealed. "To this day, whenever I write a song I
dedicate it to my grand-pa. I feel like I'm living his dream." In addition
to his childhood lessons, Sterling also performed in local theatre productions
as well as scribbling song lyrics in his notebook. Moving from the city of
brotherly love to Atlanta when he was fifteen proved to be a culture shock in
more ways than one. "I went from hanging in front of the corner
store to eating chicken cheese steaks to eating fish and grits," Sterling
jokes. "But, living in Atlanta was one of the best things for my music. I
always tell people, Philly made me into a man, but Atlanta made me into an
artist." The diversity of Sterling's artistry can be heard on track
"Single." Opening with supple simplicity of an acoustic guitar before
layering on keyboards and vocals, "Single" is the perfect anthem for
those who feel those who feel tied down in a relationship. Reminding one of the
balladry of Babyface, "Single" is not a break-up joint, but it's
still far from a love song. Produced and written with his creative team
known as The Knightwritaz ("Because some of our best work is done after
dark"), Sterling says, "The idea for that song came to me when I was
dating a girl who just stressed me out. I would be in the studio working a
session and she would be on the phone working my nerves. We're no longer
together, so I suppose that song had something to do with it."
Back when Sterling was nineteen, before he had made any real contacts in the
music business, Sterling was trying to perfect his craft as a singer/songwriter
while slaving the day away at an ATL carwash. "There were these producers
who worked at the shop named Mr. Fist and Diggie Don who were working with Lil
Zane," Sterling says. "They were the first guys who took me seriously
as an artist and gave me my first break." Sterling penned a deal
with Sony Records that later fell through. "Personally, I got tired of the
ups and downs of trying to be an artist and decided to concentrate on just songwriting.
For me, writing is the greatest therapy in the world. If I'm feeling tense, I
can always sit down and pen a song. I know that'll make me feel
better." Forming the creative clique The Knightwritaz with six other
writers, Sterling wrote songs for Mario and Tyrese. Sounding like an R&B
version of the X-Men, Sterling explains, "With the Nightwriters, we feed
off of each others energy as well as help each other out. We're all friends,
but we also get the job done." As luck would have it, one of Sterling's
demos fell into the ears of another production company,” One
Recordings." Coincidentally, Ray Romulous, an up and coming Island
Def Jam A&R executive, heard of Sterling and delivered his demo to
"Antonio "L.A." Reid, Chairman of Island Def Jam Music
Group. "After all those years, the hard work had finally paid
off," he laughs. After presenting Mr. Reid with fourteen songs, Sterling
was signed to the label. "Working with "L.A." was a dream come
true," says Sterling. "His track record as both an artist and
executive speaks for itself." Laying it down hard with a voice soft as
silk, Sterling's debut definitely shines.
If you're wondering what Sterling Simms sounds like, check out "Nasty
Girl":
WM
Hi:
WM
L
Real:
Hear MORE of Sterling Simms' music at his MySpace
page
Drummer/Composer Harris Eisenstadt's
10-Year Immersion In Music Is Nothing If Not Eclectic
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Michael Posner
(April 24, 2007) When Toronto's Harris
Eisenstadt went off to Maine's
Colby College to start university in 1994, his focus was hockey and baseball,
sports at which he had excelled. "Those were my passions," the
31-year-old drummer, percussionist, composer and educator recalled in a recent
interview. "But when I got there, I did a total about-face. I realized
these were not the kind of guys I could spend four years with."
Eager to pursue more intellectual challenges, Eisenstadt quit both teams in his
first year, studied music and world literature, and picked up an old hobby,
drums, which he had learned to play in various high-school bands and teenage
rock groups. It was the start of an intense, 10-year immersion in music that
has taken him from New York and Los Angeles, to London and Amsterdam, to Gambia
and Senegal. In a mere decade, he has released five albums of his own and
played sideman on 35 others, working with such artists as trombonist Connie
Bauer, saxophonist John Butcher, guitarist Nels Cline, saxophonist Lol Coxhill,
trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and the late jazz musician Elton Dean (famous, among
other things, for giving his first name to Reginald Dwight, the keyboardist in
John Baldry's Bluesology band, now better known as Elton John).
Eisenstadt's work is nothing if not eclectic. He has written pieces for African
horn and drum ensembles, medium and large-size chamber orchestras, Javanese
dance troupes, experimental animation and theatre (he provided musical
accompaniment for Tony award winner Stephen Dillane's touring production of a one-man Macbeth). He
also played drums in the film Wedding Crashers and contributed to its
score and several others. He has appeared on albums with guitarist Noah
Phillips and clarinettist David
Rothbaum and on several records with Adam Rudolph's Organic Orchestra, a
world-music group with a dozen percussionists and a dozen woodwinds. This year
alone, he'll be part of four new albums, including The Convergence Quartet,
with Alex Hawkins, Taylor Ho Bynum and Dominic Lash; Build An Ark, with
Big Black, Adam Rudolph, Nate Morgan and Dwight Tribble; Tin/Bag Quartet
with Kris Tiner, Mike Baggetta and Brian Walsh; and his own composition, Harris
Eisenstadt: The All Seeing Eye + Octets, with Chris Dingman, Marc
Lowenstein, Andrew Pask, Daniel Rosenboom and bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck, who
is Eisenstadt's wife. Reviewing one of Eisenstadt's early CDs, Last Minute
of Play in This Period -- a title inspired by his memories of Toronto's
Maple Leaf Gardens -- Cadence Magazine's Michael Rosenstein wrote: "The
drummer knows how to propel the music while keeping a flexible sense of time
that floats across the pulse. Eisenstadt is worth keeping an eye out for."
A graduate of Upper Canada College, Eisenstadt played his first drum there at
the age of 10, in the school basement. Later, he took private lessons, but was
not, by his own confession, "the greatest student. I didn't really take it
seriously."
Until college, his musical tastes were largely mainstream, but when he
re-encountered Elvin Jones, John Coltrane and Tony Williams, he told one
interviewer, "It just completely floored me ... there seemed to be this
kind of transcendence going on there that went beyond what I knew. The power of
Elvin Jones, man, just completely overtook me." Eisenstadt had heard their
music before, but until then, "it hadn't made much of an impression. All
of a sudden, I found myself devouring their records. It turned me on more than
any rock record, John Bonham or Led Zeppelin, ever had." One summer in
Toronto, he studied improv with Toronto composer and saxophonist David Mott.
"He impressed me a lot," Mott recalls. "There's a unique and
delicate beauty to his way of playing, although he can certainly play
forcefully too. This allowed for lots of detail and nuance, which I really
appreciate in a musician. I'm reminded of both Gerry Hemingway and Jesse Stewart,
although Harris has his own sound ... He's immensely talented ... His potential
will only be limited by the vagaries of life." After college, Eisenstadt
moved to New York, studied with percussionist Barry Altschul and started
playing gigs. A friend referred him to a new program at the California
Institute of Fine Arts and he spent two years there, on scholarship, studying
everything from West African music to the works of John Cage. "I remember
walking through the hall the first day at CalArts and hearing a Ghanaian
ensemble and the drumming is reverberating and it completely blew me away. It
changed my life."
Indeed, Eisenstadt later spent several months living in a small village in
Gambia, studying with a local drum master. "The whole idea of putting
music on stage is such a Western concept," he says. "Over there, it's
more integrated into communal life -- it's recreational or ceremonial or it's
part of the ritual of secret societies, in those countries that have
them." His teacher spoke no English and Eisenstadt at first spoke no
Mandinka. "but it was amazing how much communication we were able to
get." He credits Wadada Leo Smith with teaching him the importance of
20th-century composers and of seeing music as part of an art tradition, "part
of a larger continuum." After graduating, Eisenstadt stayed in Los Angeles
for five more years, working with the likes of Smith, Adam Rudolph, Vinny Golia
and Steuart Liebig. Because the city's jazz community is small, there were, he
says, many opportunities to write music and have it played. At the same time,
Eisenstadt felt the need to travel, both to continue to learn and to earn
money. Last fall, he moved back to the East Coast. He lives in Jersey City
across the Hudson from New York. "There is a jazz scene in L.A., but
for new, more adventurous jazz, it wasn't the place. For better or worse, New
York is still thought of as the centre of the jazz universe and with that comes
increased exposure for Europe." His parents, who run a boutique
public-relations agency in Toronto, welcomed his unusual career decision, but
asked, "How are you going to make a living?" That, Eisenstadt
concedes, is still "a work in progress. Things are month to month. I have
great months and so-so months. But each year is better and I find more
opportunities." The challenge, he recognizes, is to reach the next level.
It requires "a combination of aggressiveness and patience. I hope I'm not
a hustler in the worst sense of the word, but I'm always looking for work. So I
think you have to be beating on the door and be receptive when your own door is
being beaten down."
Playing with the Bill Horvitz band, Eisenstadt appears in Toronto May 1 at
the Now Lounge, and in Buffalo May 3 at Hallwalls Contemporary Art Centre.
Yahoo Launches Online Lyric Library
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Michael Liedtke, Associated Press
(April 24, 2007) SAN FRANCISCO – Yahoo
Inc. is expanding its online
music section to include the lyrics of 400,000 songs, hoping to strike a chord
with Web surfers looking for a more reliable alternative to Internet sites that
publish the words without the permission of the copyright owners. The Sunnyvale-based
company is touting the free service to be unveiled Tuesday as the Web's largest
legally licensed database of lyrics. "It fills a huge, gaping hole out
there," said Ian Rogers, general manager of Yahoo music. Song lyrics have
been available through scores of other Web sites for years, but most of those
destinations are technically breaking the law by posting the words without the
approval of the publishers and writers that own the rights. What's more, many
of these unauthorized lyric sites rely on contributions from outsiders, a
communal approach that increases the chances for inaccuracies.
Yahoo's song lyrics, in contrast, are supposed to be the official versions.
Under the licensing agreement, Yahoo will share with copyright holders the
revenue from the ads that will be displayed alongside the lyrics. The database
and licensing deals were cobbled together over the past two years by Gracenote,
a digital media management specialist. The Emeryville-based company, formerly
known as CDDB, is best known for developing technology that automatically
recognizes the tracks on compact discs – a feature that is included in Apple
Inc.'s widely used iTunes software. The 400,000 song lyrics included in Yahoo's
database span about 9,000 different artists, ranging from old standbys such as
The Beatles and Bob Dylan to more recent stars like Radiohead and Beyonce.
Nearly 100 music publishers are contributing song lyrics, including industry
heavyweights BMG Music Publishing, EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing,
Universal Music Publishing Group and Warner/Chappell Music.
Other lyrics sites boast that they have even more songs than Yahoo's database.
But Yahoo believes its lyrics library is destined to become a hit because it
won't be bogged down with the pop-up ads and other intrusive
"spyware" that clutters many of the sites that share lyrics without
permission. "Those sites generally aren't healthy places for your computer
to be," said music analyst Phil Leigh of Inside Digital Media. Leigh
trumpeted Yahoo's lyric database as a "long overdue'' breakthrough that
will boost the music industry by creating a new revenue stream for artists and
song publishers by making it easier for people to identify a tune they might
hear on the radio or on the Web. "I also suspect this might cause the
music industry to step up its efforts to take legal action against these
unauthorized (lyric) sites with Yahoo cheering them on in the background,"
Leigh said. The National Music Publishers Association, a trade group, didn't
respond to requests for an interview about Yahoo's database. Yahoo is hoping
its database stimulates even more traffic on its music service, which is
already the most popular on the Web. Yahoo music attracted 22 million U.S.
visitors last month to rank it ahead of AOL music (17.5 million visitors) and
MySpace music (14.8 million visitors), according to comScore Media Metrix.
EUR Concert Review: Jamie Foxx Is
'Unpredictable'
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
-
April 25, 2007) Jamie Foxx is a quintessential man and his
current concert tour is a confirmation of that! Comedy, Acting, Singing, Music,
throw in DJing/hip-hop mixing skills and let's not forget he was voted
one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People
" (2005). Is there anything that Jamie Foxx cannot do?
That is the question I asked myself as I sat in awe at Foxx's "Unpredictable"
Concert Tour in Los Angeles. Jamie Foxx has an amazing gift of fusing
comedy, melodies, impersonations and playing the piano in one show. Any
person will freeze at the sight of this Oscar winner's incredible talents. Its
Not hard too imagine this former cast member of "In Living
Color" has had hit TV shows, makes blockbuster
movies and can navigate in out of Hollywood "It" circles with
comfort and ease. Jamie is on his first concert tour promoting his
new CD titled "Unpredictable." The CD features A-List R&B
artists like Mary J Blige, Common, Snoop Dog and Fantasia.
So let’s talk about the concert. Jamie has always had a "no holds
bar" stand-up routine. Foxx's comedic delivery in concert was just that,
powerfully humorous. His in your face jokes are about the usual-Celebs
and things black folks say and do. This concert tour is clearly for
Adults Only. From the controversial usage of the N- Word (he
supports it); right down to the nasty yet hilarious impression of Brittany Spear's
"private part," you fans are fixated on what Foxx will spill out
next. You might wonder how Foxx transitions from comedy to singing in his “all
in one” concert, quite well I must add. While tears were still in
many fans eyes from laughing so hard, the lights quickly faded to black, and a
huge screen dominated the stage with Foxx's superimposed artist talent reel.
It revealed pics of his childhood, clips of his career in TV, and movies.
You couldn’t help but think soon, the soulful and soothing voice of this
quintessential actor will permeate the stage. And with the sound of a big
bang, bestowed upon his screaming audience enters, 5'8" tall, Jamie Foxx.
His hair lined and goatee, impeccably trimmed, triple shined shoes, and
designer white suit fresh with the Hollywood dark sunglasses and with mic in
hand –“Unpredictable” began.
Taking songs from his new CD, Foxx wooed the females. The men
watched as Foxx’s sexy background dancer transformed from a corporate woman to
a gyrating sex kitten. That scene almost put Victoria secrets to shame.
Foxx's background singers gave him a boost now and then, (he was fighting a bad
cold) but not a cover up by any means. Jamie held it down and kept his
words and notes clear and in key fused with each song. Of course he is
magnificently creative and travels with a team of professionals that had every
thing together from the sound, lighting to the phenomenal voices of his LA and
Chi-town backup singers. The “Unpredictable” band was awesome as the bass
guitar solo was fierce. Foxx's performance is energized, almost too sexy
for his own good and still manages to throw in a joke n between his crooning
the women and talking crap with his male audience. Everyone was surprised when
Foxx glided out on a mini-stage sitting at the piano in his Ray Charles 60's
style tuxedo and sang "Georgia".
Let's not forget the surprise guest appearance by his boy, Snoop Dog who took
fans way back to the old school rap. Foxx loves the spot light and to tease the
ladies but surely he comes across as a caring, kind-hearted "I’m ghetto
with an Oscar" man. His concert tour is certainly the talk of
Hollywood and I would not put it past Jamie to surprise us with something else.
For more info about Jamie Foxx's, "Unpredictable" Concert Tour,
go to www.jamiefoxx.com.
Teddy Pendergrass Prepares For ‘Teddy
25’
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
April 25, 2007) *After a
near fatal car accident changed his
life dramatically nearly 25 years ago, Teddy Pendergrass, is using his voice to help improve the quality of
life for survivors of spinal cord injuries (SCI). The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance (TPA), a non-profit organization which
helps people with SCI rebuild their lives, has announced an elaborate
star-studded extravaganza - the premiere Black Music Month event, "Teddy
25 - A Celebration Of Life, Hope, and Possibilities" - to be held 4 p.m.
June 10 in Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for The Performing
Arts (260 South Broad Street on Avenue of the Arts). Hosted by
actress/comedienne, Mo'Nique, "Teddy 25" celebrates his life, music,
and legacy honouring celebrities, industry executives, medical personnel,
organizations, and personal friends & family who have contributed over the
25 years to his well-being. Patti La Belle, Ruben Studdard and Stephanie Mills
are among the performers confirmed along with Teddy himself who will premiere a
new song, written specifically for Teddy 25.
The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance will honour Whitney Houston, Arsenio Hall, Regis
Philbin, Ashford & Simpson, Cathy Hughes (CEO & founder of TV One/Radio
One), Mark P. May (CEO, Clear Channel), Donald Trump, Daniel Markus & Shep
Gordon (managers), Bob Krasnow (CEO of Elektra/Asylum Records), and his
long-time publicist Lisa Barbaris for their friendship and assistance through
the years. Along with the honourees, invited celebrity guests
include Stevie Wonder, Eddie LeVert, Kindred, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Jill Scott,
Musiq, Vivian Green, and Jaheim. Proceeds from the black tie gala will be
donated to The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance. Tickets for The Teddy 25 event
are available for sale at www.kimmelcenter.com. Pendergrass will
make a special guest appearance this week on Tavis Smiley’s syndicated radio
show “Tavis Talks” to promote the event.
Sanjaya's Idol Run Ends
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Associated
Press
(April 19, 2007) NEW YORK – In his improbable run on "American Idol,''
Sanjaya Malakar was the one to watch. The
stringbean teen with the megawatt smile worked his strange magic on the show's
stage week after week, captivating millions and horrifying Simon Cowell, his
loudest critic. Did Malakar lack talent? For sure. Was he boring? Not by a long
shot. His reign of goofy charm finally ended Wednesday night, when he was voted
off the top-rated Fox sing-off. When the result was announced, Malakar wiped
away tears and got a big hug from LaKisha Jones, the next lowest vote-getter. "I'm
fine," he told Ryan Seacrest. "It was an amazing experience.''
"I can promise you: We won't soon forget you," Seacrest
replied. Malakar then performed one last song, "Something To Talk
About." Putting his own twist on the song, the 17-year-old known for his
pretty looks and ever-changing hairstyles ad-libbed: ``Let's give them
something to talk about ... other than hair.''
On Tuesday night's show, Cowell had slammed his performance as ``utterly
horrendous." And for once, the notoriously mean judge was vindicated.
"I'm beginning to sense something here," a grinning Cowell said when
Malakar wound up in the bottom three. Six contestants are now left: Jones,
Blake Lewis, Jordin Sparks, Chris Richardson, Melinda Doolittle and Phil
Stacey. Malakar was routinely savaged by Cowell as he developed into one of the
weakest, most awkward "Idol" finalists ever. Still, the gangly teen
managed to outlast better singers by cultivating an unlikely fan base that
helped him survive round after round of viewer elimination. Though his breathy,
childlike singing voice paled in comparison with other finalists, his ability
to stand out kept him in the competition. He consistently delivered the
season's most talked-about performances, even daring to sport a ponytail mohawk
that added pizazz to an otherwise tepid rendition of No Doubt's ``Bathwater.''
That, of course, wound up fodder for watercooler discussion on G-rated morning
programs and smart-alecky Web sites, stoking suspicion that Malakar was
self-consciously manipulating the media to carve a place in "American
Idol" history. Many had predicted that he would make it all the way to May
finale. Among Malakar's supporters: radio shock jock Howard Stern and the Web
site VotefortheWorst.com, which has long promoted the show's tone-deaf
candidates. (Previous targets include surly Scott Savol and sweet-natured Kevin
Covais. Cult superstar William Hung never even made it to Hollywood.) Malakar
also had the backing of friends and family in his home state of Washington.
"He's very handsome. That's most of it,'' marveled his friend Pat Wright,
a gospel choir director in Seattle. ``He's a teenager, and young girls and guys
really like him.''
Malakar seemed buoyed by his widespread fame. "Welcome to the universe of
Sanjaya!" he proudly proclaimed on a recent telecast, following a
backhanded compliment from an exasperated Cowell. Indeed, after panning another
of Malakar's performances, Cowell threw up his arms and said there was nothing
he could say to prevent people from voting for the oddball-turned-national
phenomenon. But, in the end, Malakar could not win enough votes to join the
ranks of Taylor Hicks, Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. He will, however,
live forever on YouTube.
MUSIC TIDBITS
Joe Embarks On National Tour
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(April 19, 2007) New York, NY - Jive recording artist Joe will hit the road on a North American tour in support
of his forthcoming album Ain't
Nothing Like Me DUE IN STORES APRIL 24. Joe will be joined by Brian
McKnight and Sunshine Anderson. The 22 city tour will kick off on April 27 at
the Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA. Joe's current single "If I Was
Your Man" is Top 10 at Urban AC radio in most major markets, including New
York, Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles. The video is playing on BET and is
getting heavy rotation on BETJ. The album is a collection of great
lyrics and Joe's unique vocals over productions by an array of producers that
include Jermaine Dupri, Sean Garrett, Dre and Vidal, Tim and Bob, Cool and Dre
and more. Guest artists include Nas, Papoose and Young Joc.
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