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R&B Music, Page 15

Paulette McWilliams Concert Review – Catalina Bar & Grill | June 27th, 2012

Paulette McWilliams Re-emerges Vivacious As Ever With Hollywood Jazz Set
Concert Review by A. Scott Galloway
 
Since being formally “introduced” to the world as a guest on Quincy Jones’ R&B-era Lp Mellow Madness in 1975 and later working prominently as a background singer on records and on the road with the late, great Luther Vandross, Ms. Paulette McWilliams is often lazily categorized as a soul singer…though a mighty good one. Truth be told, jazz is her root music – with a lot of class and sass. All were in colorful abundance during a rare one night/one set show in Hollywood last Wednesday (June 27, 2012) at Catalina Bar & Grill where the lady slid in to showcase music from her long-awaited first American album in four decades, Telling Stories (not counting the 2007 Japanese import-only, Flow).
 
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(Photo: Malcolm Ali)

Eric Benét | The One

Eric Benet - The One
 
Eric Benét
The One
(Warner Bros.)
by Brent Faulknerer
 
Eric Benét’s sixth studio album The One picks up where 2010’s Lost in Time left off – with Eric continuing to play into his role of soul-revivalist and soul-preserver. The One is filled with and characterized by lush productions comprised of strings, horns, swirling electric piano, organ and harmonized vocals. That said, The One does not bring anything ‘new’ to the table that one hasn’t heard form Benét. It does, however, add another sound effort to Benét’s underrated musical output. Face it – that falsetto is ‘killer.’

K’Jon | Moving On

K'Jon - Moving On
 
K’Jon | Moving On
Up & Up Records
By Peggy Oliver
 
It is fair to say that extreme talent and intense perseverance have not always expedited opening music industry doors. Many well-deserving vocalists and musicians strive to find their niche before they strike a chord with an audience and land their first major radio exposure. Singer/songwriter K’Jon’s story is like many who dream to touch others with their music. Since he was eight years old, K’Jon figured that music was his way of life.

SWV | I Missed Us

SWV - I Missed Us II
 
SWV | I Missed Us
(Mass Appeal/eOne Music)
By Brent Faulkner
 
SWV (Sisters With Voices) was a popular 1990‘s female R&B trio comprised of Tamara “Taj” George, Cheryl “Coko” Clemons and Leann “Lelee” Lyons. SWV return with 2012’s I Missed Us, their fourth studio effort and first new album in fifteen years since 1997’s Release Some Tension (excluding 1999’s A Special Christmas). Remarkably, middle age has done nothing to curtail the trio’s magical voices.

Ryan Shaw | Real Love

Ryan Shaw - Real Love
 
Ryan Shaw | Real Love
(Dynotone)
Bu Susan Mutharia
 
When he started singing in the church choir at the age of 5, Ryan Shaw may not have understood the full potential of the seed he was sowing. The Decatur, Georgia native did not listen to secular music growing up so his influences were all deeply rooted in Gospel. In 1998 when the seed was budding, Shaw joined the cast of Tyler Perry’s stage play ‘I Know I Have Been Changed’. His journey after that is a combination of hard work and divine connections. Now the seed has blossomed into a two-time Grammy nominated singer that can undoubtedly engrave his name next to great soul singers like Raphael Saadiq, Lenny Kravitz, Anthony Hamilton and even Sam Cooke.

Esperanza Spalding | Radio Music Society

Esperanza Spalding - Radio Music Society
 
Esperanza Spalding
Radio Music Society
(Heads Up International)
by Brent Faulkner
 
Esperanza Spalding, then relatively unknown to the masses, accomplished a feat previously unaccomplished by any jazz artist in 2011; she won the Grammy award for Best New Artist. Spalding’s victory could be viewed shocking considering she defeated more visible popular artists including Justin Bieber and Drake. While the Grammy could be considered Spalding’s ‘crowning’ achievement, it logically accompanies a rich, captivating biography, highlighted in its entirety on her website (http://www.esperanzaspalding.com).

Clarence Milton Bekker | Old Soul

Clarence Milton Bekker - Old Soul
 
Clarence Milton Bekker
Old Soul
(Playing for Change/Concord)
by Brent Faulkner
 
Clarence Milton Bekker (formerly known as CB Milton) is an R&B artist who has endured career highs and notable lows. A native of Suriname, CB grew up in Netherlands loving music from an early age. In the late 1980s, Milton became a member of The Swinging Soul Machine, a band that backed The Trammps. Milton left the band to focus on a solo career. The 1990s yielded three albums beginning with It’s My Loving Thing, with each successive effort proving less notable…even lesser so in the U.S.

Incognito | Surreal

IncognitoSurreal600Sq
 
Incognito | Surreal
(Shanachie)
By Peggy Oliver
 
How does one band with a revolving door of contributors for over three different decades manage to obtain incredible longevity without missing a beat? What has kept Incognito – the multi-cultural, multi-personnel phenomenon that was highly responsible for sparking the eighties’ acid jazz movement – sounding so fresh, remaining so relevant and making it look so effortless? It all lies in the architect of Incognito, Jean-Paul Maunick a.k.a. “Bluey” – the group’s main songwriter and arranger – who refuses to change his musical stripes and feeds off of an indescribable energetic kick from his extended musical family.

Ruben Studdard | Letters from Birmingham

ruben-studdard-letters-from-birmingham
 
Ruben Studdard
Letters from Birmingham
(Shanachie)
By Peggy Oliver
 
Who might have thought that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s passionate open “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” would have generated a title for an R&B-fueled concept album? While Ruben Studdard was planning his next recording project, a thought dawned on him during a trip to Atlanta as he observed a display of King, Jr.

Boyz II Men | Twenty

Boyz II Men - Twenty
 
Boyz II Men | Twenty
by Brent Faulkner
 
Veteran male R&B group Boyz II Men celebrate twenty years in the
game with their most recent studio album appropriately titled Twenty.
Twenty is a double-disc effort, comprised of twenty three tracks; the
first disc is new material while the second disc is re-recordings of the
groups biggest hits.

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