Welcome to another edition of Artist Spotlight; within the next few weeks this series will include talented musicians that work with B.O.N.E Entertainment.

Today I’m spotlighting saxophonist extraordinaire Mr. Melvin Smith.

Melvin Smith, “soulful sax man and well musically educated award winner” (Chris Spector-Midwest Record Review), is a native of Jacksonville, Florida who began playing saxophone at the age of thirteen. During his early musical development Smith was fortunate to have great musical experiences like performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival and a European tour. Smith attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music where he received an excellent education in music. Smith later received a Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies from Queens College in New York. During the late 90′s Smith was a part of ADMAS, a New York based groundbreaking Ethiopian Jazz group. During the same time Smith, became a member of The New York Jazz Group The New Hope Ensemble, and the acid jazz group Funk Monk. Since moving to New York Melvin has had the opportunity to play with such artists as Charlie Persip, Hubert Eaves III, Ben Vereen, MIchael Henderson, and Norman Connors. Smith has also had the pleasure of opening for Ce Ce WInans and Donnie McClurkin. Smith’s critically acclaimed 2007 release “Portrait” has been compared to Donald Byrd’s
A New Perspective ( Blue Note 1962) and I’m trying to get Home (Blue Note 1964) and Smith’s approach has been compared to Hank Mobley by Micheal Gladstone at All About Jazz. Smith has also been compared to Charles Lloyd and George Coleman (John Barron- All About Jazz). Portrait mixes different styles and feels for a great project. John Barron writes: “Portrait is an honest representation of an artist willing to take chances while respecting the musical traditions of his past. Smith has the potential to reach a broad audience without compromising an ounce of artistic integrity.”

On October 12, 2010 Melvin released his latest project Evidence now available on Amazon, iTunes, Rhapsody Music and everywhere music is sold.

Be sure to download Evidence, Portrait and I Surrender TODAY!

Until next time…

Keep Jammin!

MJ was one so was Whitney, Brittney, Usher, Brandy, Justin and the list goes on.Nothing in the world compares to the innocent talent of children. It’s not taught it’s engrained and I love it! I would like to take this time to introduce you to another young talent that is taking Richmond, VA by storm.

Richard is the bandleader and bassist of  The Fire Hawks Band – an amazing children’s band; which consits of five members, all under the age of 12! Richard is a talented musician with an eclectic taste in music. He loves Gospel, Jazz — from straight ahead to smooth to Gospel Jazz, Old School R & B, Rock, Pop, Classical, Hip Hop, and Contemporary Christian. Richard is a multi-talented musician who plays electric guitar, drums and piano.

Richard’s talents aren’t reserved to instruments but he also sings and he doesn’t only play for the Fire Hawks but also for his church, currently he plays the electric bass for his the youth choir and lead guitar for the male chorus. He’s earned several awards for his original compositions, his first at the ripe old age of 5 for his composition, I Love EKS.

Richard is also a world class athlete;  when he is not in his studio you can find him on the football field, basketball court, baseball diamond, or Karate dojo mat. He has several trophies and medals. He’s a 2010 AAU Jr. Olympiad, bringing home the Gold in Kumite (sparring) and Bronze in Kata (choreographed forms).

Richard is a high achiever not only in music and sports but in academics. He is an Honor Roll student and scored perfect scores on the statewide standardized tests.

Check out this talented crew here.

Richard is the only child of BONE Entertainment Gospel Jazz  artisit Richard D’Abreu Jr

Until next time…
Keep Jammin’

The world over knows that Motown was the #1 African American owned music label; but do you know who the second in line was?

Philadelphia International Records, created by Keenth Gamble and Leon A. Huff. The dynamic duo were the hottest independent R&B producing team of the late 1960′s working with artists such as Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin & The Intruders. Once they created PIR and secured a distribution deal with Clive Davis then President of CBS; within a year PIR was home to the #1 R&B and pop chart hit makers The O’Jays with hits like Back Stabbers and Love Train.

Gamble and Huff are the creative minds behind the original long-running theme song for Soul Train with MFSB featuring The Three Degrees, and are responsible for many hits by Teddy Pendegrass, Lou Rawls and Phyllis Hyman just to name a few. Gamble and Huff were the creators of the The Sound Of Philidelphia better known as T.S.O.P.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOP0Jmz6QIQ

During the late 1970′s and early 1980′s, Gamble and Huff continued to write Top 10 hits for Teddy Pendergrass, the O’Jays and the Jones Girls. They produced million-selling hits for McFadden and Whitehead, Pattie LaBelle and Phyllis Hyman. They also saw many of their compositions become big hits for other artists. As the Hip Hop game became more and more mainstream and the use of samples was a big hit Gamble and Huff songs were sampled by artists such as; Heavy D and the Boyz’ (“Now That We’ve Found Love”), Nas (“I Remember,” using the melody from “Cowboys to Girls”)  and Big Punisher (“I’m Not A Player”) . Current R&B artists have used the T.S.O.P. to make their albums hot as well. producers like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Babyface and of course Diddy have used samples of their music.

After writing or co-writing 3,000 songs,  Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff were inducted into National Academy of Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1995, they were awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1999 which honors Gamble and Huff for their body of work, both as producers and songwriters, and their contribution to the entire fabric of popular music.

Gamble and Huff today’s Artist Spotlight.

Until next time…

Keep Jammin!

*Excepts taken from www.gamble-huffmusic.com

On my quest to spotlight some awesome blues music I’ve decided that my first artist would be Robert Johnson.

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) is now among the most famous of Delta blues musicians. His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians. Johnson’s shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend, including a Faustian myth. 

If you are anything like me the only reason why you know about Robert Johnson is because of the Blues Brother’s — the movie that is! It’s because of their rendition of Mr. Johnson’s original Sweet Home Chicago that I even know who Robert Johnson is!

Food for thought…
According to legend, as a young black man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi, Robert Johnson was branded with a burning desire to become a great blues musician. He was “instructed” to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation at midnight. There he was met by a large black man (the Devil) who took the guitar and tuned it. The “Devil” played a few songs and then returned the guitar to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. This was, in effect, a deal with the Devil mirroring the legend of Faust. In exchange for his soul, Robert Johnson was able to create the blues for which he became famous.

Be sure to stop by and see who I spotlight next.

PEACE!

Yes, I said Animal! You know from The Muppet Show!

While watching TV this weekend I saw the Beyonce commercial for her new fragrance “Heat” in this commercial she was singing the song Fever by Peggy Lee.

On my search for an artist to spotlight today I came across this fun video featuring Animal from 1976 with Rita Moreno singing fever. That’s when it hit me that my spotlight should be on Animal!

What Rita says in Spanish? 
“Listen Buddy. All I wanna tell you is that you shouldn’t do that. It’s not nice, you understand? Look at me when I’m talking to you. This is my number, and if you bother me any more I’m gonna hit you so hard, it’s gonna leave you stupid. Cool it.

Artist Spotlight: Animal from the Muppets

Animal was the crazed drummer of Dr. Teeth and The Electric mayhem which were a part of the Muppet Show. Animal was performed by the brillant Frank Oz from his first appearance until 1999. His drumming was performed by Ronnie Verrell who was an English jazz drummer who played in two of England’s famous Big band; Ted Health Orchestra and The Syd Lawrence Orchestra.

As the drummer for Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem; Animal had the opportunity to play with Buddy Rich and Harry Belefonte.

 

Who is your favorite drummer?

Until next time…
Keep Jammin!

I was listening to “Funky Drummer” by James Brown (R.I.P.) the other day and got to wondering… exactly who is this funky drummer? So onto the net and found some goodies!

Here is my first Artist Spotlight: Mr. Clyde Stubblefield

The cat on Funky Drummer is Clyde Stubblefield from Chattanooga, TN. Mr. Stubblefield was also the drummer on James Brown’s “Cold Sweat, “I Got a Feelin”, “Say it Loud-I’m Black and I’m Proud” and countless others by the Godfather of Soul.

According to Wikipedia, Mr. Stubblefield is the most widely sampled musician in the world! As a matter of fact, “Funky Drummer” is believed to be the worlds most sampled record! Ain’t that something?

Currently Mr. Stubblefield resides in Madison, Wisconsin where he is suffering from kidney failure and undergoes dialysis treatment and is on the transplant list. Regardless of his illness Mr. Stubblefield plays a weekly gig at the Frequency in downtown Madison. He has collaborated with John “Jabo” Starks, another James Brown drummer and formed Funkmasters. As a team Stubblefield and Jabo have worked with Fred Wesley and Bootsy Collins just to name a couple. They also have appeared in instructional drumming videos.

I checked youtube and found a really cool clip of the Funky Drummer being well… funky.

So here is some trivia for you.

Comment on this post with three songs that have used the “Funky Drummer” sample for a chance to win a copy of Stix Bones “Groove Like This” after all he is our FUNKY DRUMMER! The winners and answers will be posted on next weeks Artist Spotlight.

Until next time…
Keep Jammin