Montell Jordan

Apart from the "Shattered Scours," lol, this weekend do enjoy your freedom from the work place. 

There's a Sports and Leisure Day taking place at Handworth Park, today, also The Fusion Festival  in Cofton Park, near the Lickey Hills, South Birmingham features Ne-Yo on Sunday Evening. Jerry Dammers who was partly responsible for the release of Nelson Mandela and performed in the Coventry Band the Special AKA is appearing as a DJ at the Hare & Hounds Pub in Kings Heath also on Sunday Night. Mr. Merry will be DJ'ing at Monteague Wine Bar with Kevin J, Gilly Irie on the R&B side of things plus much more. Please check with all venues to confirm times and dates are correct before travelin!
 

Handsworth Park till 9.pm

 

The annual Official Launch of Birmingham Black History Month at The Drum in partnership with Birmingham City Council seeks to celebrate achievements, contributions and struggles of African, Asian and Caribbean people within the context of their diversity and heritage. This year’s launch programme commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. On August 28 1963 Dr King addressed over 250,000 Civil Rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”. 

The speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement and is regarded as the most iconic American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.The Drum wishes to acknowledge this epoch defining moment by taking part in a global celebration coordinated by The King Centre in Atlanta, Georgia. To help culminate the 50th

Anniversary of The March on Washington and Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech with “Let Freedom Ring” bell-ringing events at 3pm (GMT) on Wednesday August 28 2013, a half-century to the minute after Dr King delivered his historic address.

The Drum has organised this historic event in partnership with members from across thelocal community including local church leaders, mosques, University of Birmingham, Punch Records, and groups from Hall Green District Arts Champions Scheme to attend the bell ringing ceremony. The service led by the Reverend Canon Pitt will take place on Wednesday 28th August at Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Rd, Birchfield, B6 6AG and commence at 2.30pm, promptly. The event will demonstrate the enduring spirit and legacy of Dr King’s speech within the context of Birmingham’s diverse communities and the universal campaign for equality and social justice. It is also a befitting occasion at which the participating partners will highlight their programme of event and activities for Black History 2013. It will finish with a short performance by specially commissioned artists interpreting the speech and its impact on their lives.  (Thanks to Bro' Pilot for info.)

The Drum | 144 Potters Lane | Aston | Birmingham | B6 4UU Box Office: 0121 333 2400
info@the-drum.org.uk      www.the-drum.org.uk

Tracklisting for Sunday 25th. August 2013



Hour One
The Independents - Baby I'll Be Missing You

William Brothers - I'll Still Be here
The Staples - Love me, x 3
Leon - Don't Stop
Gina Foster - B-Side Of Love
K. Michelle - A Mothers Prayer
Charlie Wilson - There Goes My baby
Ms Monique - Mr. Do Right
Rosie Gaines - Good Times
Maysa [Leeke] - Pouring Rain
The Impressions - People Get ready

Hour Two
'Three-Inna-row': Montell Jordan
1 You Must have Been
2 What's On Tonight
3 Somthin' 4 Da Honeyz

Kenny Thomas - Turn It Up
The Jones Girls - Win You Back
Juicy - Sugar Free
Carrie Lucas - Hello Stanger
Teena Marie - Square Bizz
Unknown - Candy Rain On My Window Payne?
Siana - Get On The Floor
Dreg - Traitor

Montell Jordon Biography:

Born 3 December 1968, Los Angeles, California, USA. Montell Jordan made a huge impact in both the US and UK charts in 1995 with the runaway success of his Def Jam Records' single "This Is How We Do It". Utilising a sample from Slick Rick, this celebration of life in South Central, Los Angeles, struck a chord with both hip-hop fans and modern R&B audiences. Within weeks of release it entered the US R&B Top 10 and then the pop charts, preceding a debut album of the same title. This included several BornBorn King samples and a guest rap from Coolio on the excellent "Payback". The lyrics also diverged somewhat from typical Californian swing subjects - "Daddy's Home" addressing the importance of black fatherhood in the ghettos. He attributes his development in an otherwise hostile environment to the rare presence of both a father and mother as he grew up. Rather than running with the gangs in the "South Central 'hood", Jordan attended both church and school regularly, eventually graduating from Pepperdine University in Malibu with a degree in Organisational Communication. However, his growing interest in music eventually diverted him from a projected career in law. Jordan has built on the success of This Is How We Do It with a series of stylish urban R&B collections. The title track to Let's Ride, featuring No Limit Records stars Master P and Silkk The Shocker, reached US number 6 in April 1998. The follow-up, "I Can Do That", broke into the Top 20 in September. Jordan returned to the charts in November 1999 with Get It On ... Tonite, the title track of which became a Top 5 single the following March.

Discography:
This Is How We Do It (Def Jam 1995)***, More (Def Jam 1996)**, Let's Ride (Def Jam 1998)***, Get It On ... Tonite (Def Soul 1999)***, Montell Jordan (Def Soul 2002)***.

Maxwell

K Mchelle's first Abum

 In the news this week...K. Michelle is set to make a big splash on the coveted Billboard charts, including the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip Hop Album charts. Based on first day sales totals, the "V.S.O.P" singer and "Love & Hip Hop" star's debut album is projected to move between 65,000 and 70,000 copies, giving her a solid and impressive debut. Led by the single "V.S.O.P.," K. Michelle's "Rebellious Soul" comes after years of mixtape and single releases, a failed record deal and a visible come up of sorts via her appearance and affiliation with the hit VH1 reality series "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta."  The album has been well promoted as well, with K. Michelle making very good use of her platform on "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta" and connection with VH1, utilizing VH1.com to talk about the album and perform songs in a series of videos. Official sales figures and chart positions will be revealed next week."Rebellious Soul" is available in stores and digital retailers now. (singersroom)

Will Preston has formed quite a following over the years with his smooth brand of soul, but it's been a few years since we've heard new music from him on record. He has ended that drought with his new album #reacquainted, and he's coming out of the box with a romantic, soulful ballad called "Candy Coated Raindrops" that's climbing charts around the world. It's our newest First Listen and a nice way to get reacquainted with this talented singer. Check out "Candy Coated Raindrops" below and tell us what you think! (soultracks)

The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Robin Thicke, whose #1 hit "Blurred Lines" bears more than a passing resemblance to Marvin Gaye's 1977 smash "Got To Give It Up," is per-emptively suing the deceased singer's estate, as Thicke attempts to avoid claims of copyright violation with regard to the song, apparently being leveled by the Gaye camp. The lawsuit states:

"Plaintiffs, who have the utmost respect for and admiration of Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic and their musical legacies, reluctantly file this action in the face of multiple adverse claims from alleged successors in interest to those artists. Defendants continue to insist that plaintiffs' massively successful composition, 'Blurred Lines,' copies 'their' compositions."

The case should be an interesting discussion of where "inspiration" by a previous song may cross over into misappropriation without attribution. There is no doubt that "Blurred Lines," including the party sounds and the beat, is heavily influenced by "Got to Give It Up," but is it enough that Gaye should be credited as a co-writer?

This weeks playlist for Sunday 18th. August 2013


Hour One
Gene Dunlap - Before You Break My Heart
Anita Baker - Angel
Gabor Szabo - Breazin'
Shirley Brown -I Caught You With Your Pants Down
Jon B - Isn't It Scary
Joe - More & More
Charlie Wilson - I Still Have You
Al Green - What A Wonderful Thing Love Is
Margi Coleman - I Need
Tim Owens - Smile
Sylvia Striplin - You Can't Turn Away
Gweneth Paltrow/Babyface - Just My Imagination

Hour Two
'Three-Inna-Row': Maxwell
1 Ever-wanting You, To Want You To Want
2 Pretty Wings
3 Dance With Me

Curtis Hairston - Chilin' Out
Winans/Phase 2 - It's Alright (Send Me)
Leroy Hutson - Lovers Holiday
Candy Brown - Since I Found You
Plush - We Got The Love
Gary Bartz - Music Is My Sanctuary
Coke Escovedo - Runaway
Zhane - Request Line

Maxwell's Biography:

Born 23 May 1973, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Of mixed West Indian and Puerto Rican parentage, soul singer Maxwell (his middle name) had to suffer the ignominy of his record company sitting on his debut album for a year, ignoring his traditional soul style in favour of the hip-hop-influenced singers dominating the R&B charts. Finally released in April 1996, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was a concept album about monogamy that eschewed male braggadocio to explore old-fashioned, romantic love. Featuring a collaboration with Leon Ware, co-writer of Marvin Gaye's I Want You, the album proved to be an unexpected critical and commercial success. Maxwell was voted Best R&B Artist by Rolling Stone magazine, and Urban Hang Suite was nominated for a Grammy. At the 11th Annual Soul Train Awards in March 1997, Maxwell won both Best Male R&B/Soul Album and Single (for "Ascension"), and Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist. The same month, Urban Hang Suite went platinum. Maxwell collaborated with guitarist Stuart Matthewman again for the 1998 follow-up, Embrya, slowing the pace down to create a wonderfully sensual and dreamlike record. The album debuted at US number 3 in July. The following year Maxwell enjoyed a huge US hit single with "Fortunate", taken from the soundtrack of Life. His third album, Now, provided the singer with his first US chart-topper in August 2001.

Discography:
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (Columbia 1996)****, Embrya (Columbia 1998)****, Now (Columbia 2001)***.

Next

First off, sorry that there was no Show last Sunday, or all week for that matter on Newstyle radio. It was due to equipment theft from the Station. The police are looking into the matter. Although the FM signal is now back the power and frequency is effectively low.

In the R&B news this week... superstar Chris Brown suffered from a seizure in the studio early Friday morning. According to their rep the L.A. City Fire Dept. rushed to a Hollywood recording studio early this morning, after getting a 911 call that Chris Brown had a seizure.

Chris Brown

UPDATE: Brown’s rep confirms he suffered a non-epileptic seizure. According to a statement the seizure was caused from intense fatigue and emotional stress… According to their source the call came from Record Plant recording studios in Hollywood at 1:09 AM. When EMTs arrived, they were told Chris refused treatment and also refused to be transported to the hospital. They have not received official confirmation if it was indeed a seizure, but they’ve learnt Chris did suffer from seizures as a child.

UPDATE: Chris Brown’s rep confirms that he suffered a non-epileptic (NES) seizure. “His doctor tended to him this afternoon and attributes the NES to intense fatigue and extreme emotional stress, both due to the continued onslaught of unfounded legal matters and the non-stop negativity,” Nicole Perna said in statement.
His girlfriend Karrueche Tran alluded to his health scare, tweeting, “Prayers all day … a lot on my mind today .. I need a hug.” Brown returned to Twitter on Saturday morning. “They won’t love u until u r a memory…” he wrote. His fans also wished for a speedy recovery, making “Pray for Chris Brown” a trending topic on Twitter. (R&B News)

George Duke dies a just few days after he releases a new album!  'Dreamweaver', we received the devastating news that George had died on Monday 5th August at St John's Hospital, California. No cause of death was given. George Duke, who was born in San Rafael, California in January 1946, enjoyed a long, varied, distinguished and garlanded career. Like many jazz and soul artists, Duke began his musical odyssey in the local Baptist church though he also underwent a formal musical education too – graduating from the San Francisco Conservatory in 1967.  From then on he worked with a litany of jazz greats – Al Jarreau, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Jean-Luc Ponty, Cannonball Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie and Stanley Clarke amongst them. Working with people like Billy Cobham he also pioneered experimental jazz fusion and he even worked with Frank Zappa.

Our good friend Bill Randle has announced that he has made an interview with Curtis Mayfield's Son, Curtis III at Mickey Nold's Studio 37, here in Birmingham and will be running it exclusivly on his radio Blog site: www.thescienceofscoul.com from Midnight on Tuesday 13th. August, already Curtis is saying it was one of the best interviews he has ever done! Many celebrities and former musicians of Mayfield have left tribute messages to be included with the Blog. Curtis or C3 as he is known, released an EP album in 2007, can found at cdBaby.com

Sunday's playlist for August 11th. 2013



Hour One
Johnny Gill - There You Go
Norman Connors - I Am Your Melody
Kim Waters - Step In The Name Of Love
Marvin Gaye - Come Live With me Angel
[Re:Jazz] - Tears
Ann Nesby - - Pressure Makes Diamonds
Jon B - They Don' Know
Soul II Soul - Missing You
Phil Perry - Say Yes
Stephanie Mills - Keep Away Girls

Hour Two
'Three-Inna-Row'  Next
1 I Still Love You
2 When We Kiss
3 Cozy

Don-E - Unbreakable
Jr. Giscombe - Morning Will Come
The Jones Girls - Nights Over Egypt
Betty Wright - Share My Love
Shirley Jones - Do You Ge Enough Love
The Gap Band - Keep Holding On
Sunfire - Young, Free & Single

Next Biography:

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA-based hip-hop/R&B fusioneers Next were formed in 1992 by brothers T-Low (Born Terrance Brown, 7 June 1974, USA) and Tweety (Born Raphael Brown, 28 January 1976, USA) alongside friend R.L. (Born Robert Lavelle Huggar, 2 April 1977, USA). T-Low's godmother Ann Nesby took the outfit in hand, training and managing them during their first years. They secured their first breakthrough in 1994 when a home-town show was watched by Prof. T and Lance of Low Key? They brought the group to Jimmy Jam And Terry Lewis' Flyte Tyme Studio in Minneapolis. The resulting demo tape caught the attention of Kay Gee (Naughty By Nature), who saw Next as the perfect act to spearhead his new Arista Records-financed label, Divine Mill. The completed album featured collaborations with Naughty By Nature and Adina Howard, among others. A degree of critical carping ensued over the innuendo-saturated lyrics on display. Despite this, the trio saw the first single to be taken from the album, "Butta Love", become a million-seller, peaking at number 16 in December 1997. The trio subsequently appeared on television shows including Soul Train, Ricki Lake and Vibe as their popularity soared. The follow-up, "Too Close", topped the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1998 as they joined Mary J. Blige and Usher on tour and gained rave reviews for their polished live performances (particularly their dancing talents). "I Still Love You" climbed to US number 14 in October. The success was unexpected, and the band took their time over the follow-up.

Discography:
Rated Next (Divine Mill/Arista 1997)****, Welcome II Nextasy (Arista 2000)***, The Next Episode (J 2002)***.

Off Air

We've been following Nigerian born, Los Angeles based singer-songwriter Douye for a few years as she's been winning fans around the world with her brand of smoky, jazzy soul. And one of crowning moments from her upcoming sophomore album, So Much Love, comes in the form of her jubilant title track tribute to the late Nigerian Afrobeat legend and international icon Fela Kuti, “So Much Love.” After reflecting on bearing witness to Fela’s rousing live performances at his legendary venue The Shrine throughout her childhood, Douyé decided that a tribute to Fela was in order for her new project. On the track she uses Baba Ken Okulolo, a bassist who played in Fela’s band back in Nigeria. (soultracks)



We first discovered Carolyn Malachi back in 2010 when she issued the cool disc, Lions, Tigers & Squares, and we've been waiting every since for more. Well, we're pleased to say the wait is over. Carolyn has a new album called Gold and a new song and video that shows what she's got going - and it's all good. Here's what Carolyn has to say about it:
ALL RIGHT" was inspired by my grandparents. Their unconditional love is the stuff of legends. Also, this strong a nod to strong women who make everything "ALL RIGHT," each day, in spite of the odds. Life is a balancing act, and love is a strategic partnership. Both require balance to thrive. "ALL RIGHT" restores balance to both forces." - Carolyn Malachi

We couldn't have said it better. Check out "All Right" below! This track is free at Amazon.co.uk (soutracks)

Our good friend Bill Randle has announced that he has made an interview with Curtis Mayfield's Son, Curtis III at Mickey Nold's Studio 37, here in Birmingham and will be running it soon on his Blog site: www.thescienceofscoul.com more information for you when it is ready to be published, but it is sure to be interesting to here the Curtis story from the inside as it was. Curtis has an album out at CDBaby.com

This weeks playlist for Sunday 4th August 2013
Sorry - Off Air this week

Catch Mr Merry & Friends on 25th August at the above venue - click to enlarge