HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

"STONE ROLLIN'" -  RAPHAEL SAADIQ

Raphael Saadiq is a one man neo-soul movement and the world is a better place for it.

This former member of Tony! Toni! Tone! is continuing the old school r&b sound that he used on his terrific last album, "The Way I See It"  but this time he is incorporating a bit of rock & roll to the mix. Mr. Saadiq is an underrated talent and "Stone Rollin'" is the perfect blend of rock and soul and I hope people discover this.

The only downside to this project is the awful album cover but I can overlook it.

I love this song from the album:

"Good Man" - Raphael Saadiq

"LOVE?" -  JENNIFER LOPEZ

Actress and "American Idol" judge, Jennifer Lopez has returned to music with her first album since 2007's "Brave".  "Love?" is her seventh CD and  has production assistance from some of the hottest producers working today such as Tricky Stewart, Red-One and The Dream.

While the first single, "On The Floor" is a somewhat, surprising top-ten hit but I don't think there is anything else on this record that is going to get her much radio play as the songs all feel like rejects from any one of the current female pop singers out now using these same producers and have basically the same sound.

Ms Lopez has never been known as a great singer but there is an unusual lack of any inspired vocals. "Love?" comes across as a desperate attempt by Ms Lopez to try and keep up with what is hot right now instead of making a move  forward in dance music.

This is the title track which is the only other song that I kinda like:

"(What Is) Love?" - Jennifer Lopez

"WHO YOU ARE" - JESSIE J

Jessica Cornish's initial claim to fame was as a songwriter and she co-wrote the only song that I will admit that I like of Miley Cyrus: "Party In The U.S.A.".

The twenty-three year old Brit, who is now known professionally as Jessie J, has released her debut album, "Who You Are [Explicit]", where she is now singing the songs that she wrote. Already a smash in her homeland since February, with the album reaching number two on the charts and selling over a million copies, it has finally hit stateside.

It is a collection of hip-hop flavored pop that is in vogue now which is actually part of the problem. She is an interesting artist but isn't offering much that feels particularly fresh or innovative. Jessie J is probably going to have some difficulty breaking through the pack of all of the other female pop vocalists doing the same exact sound.

I do like this track from the album:

"Abracadabra" - Jessie J

This is the music video for the song, "Price Tag" which features B.o.B:




"IN YOUR DREAMS" - STEVIE NICKS

"In Your Dreams" is the first album of new music from Stevie Nicks in ten years and it's well worth the wait. With production assistance from Glen Ballard (Alanis Morrisette) and The Eurythmics', Dave Stewart, Ms Nicks enchants us with her mystical soft rock sounds.

If you are a fan, you will not be disappointed by her latest collection of songs that sticks closely to her particular (and slightly peculiar) thoughts on love

This is the first single off of the album:

"Secret Love" - Stevie Nicks

"THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION" - SADE

"The Ultimate Collection" is all of the musical highlights of Sade's amazing body of work, starting from 1984's. "Diamond Life" to her latest, "Soldier of Love". All of the songs have been remastered as well as featuring three new songs including a remake of the Thin Lizzy song, "Still In Love With You" and two remixes.

Be sure to catch Sade on the North American leg of their world tour, hopefully stopping in a town near you.



Here is one of the remixes, "The Moon And The Sky (Remix)" that features an appearance from Jay Z which is a surprise because Sade has never collaborated  much with other artists:

"The Moon & The Sky (remix featuring Jay Z)" - Sade

FOCUS ON: ARETHA FRANKLIN

Aretha Franklin has been in the news lately due to some undisclosed health issue but luckily she seems to be on the mend and ready to return to the stage. It reminded me of what an important part she is to music of the 2oth century.

Everybody was familiar with gospel music but Aretha brought it to a whole new level by combining that with elements of pop and jazz to create her version of soul music and making her the queen of that sound.

I have always loved her magnificent voice, so full of life and character that could easily go from playful to heart-broken to defiant to deep despair, sometimes all in the same song but Aretha's true gift was taking any song, whether it was remaking a Beatles classic or Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" and making it sound like nothing you had ever heard before and making it truly her own.

Aretha Louise Franklin was born in 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee. She was the third of four children born to Barbara and Clarence LaVaughn Franklin. Her father, better known as C.L., was a Baptist minister which caused additional  tension between he and his wife and the couple separated shortly after moving the family to Detroit, Michigan when Aretha was four. Barbara Franklin passed away by the time Aretha was ten, so the children were mostly raised by their grandmother

Aretha learned how to play the piano by ear and she would sing in her father's church, eventually singing solos as a teenager. Aretha was inspired by many great gospel artists who would visit her father's home including Albertina Walker and Mahalia Jackson.

At fourteen, Aretha released her first album in 1956 which was a live recording of her performing in her father's church. A few years later, she was discovered by Columbia Records producer, John H. Hammond who also helped bring gospel singer, Sam Cooke to secular music and signed her to the label.

In 1961, her self-titled album on Columbia, "Aretha" was released when she was only nineteen. The album featured a collection of jazz/pop songs and the record found minor success initially but not much materialized with any her subsequent albums on the label. Columbia Records was well aware of  Ms Franklin's great talent but were trying to mold her into being like other popular artists of the day, such as Dinah Washington, who Aretha was a fan, instead of allowing  her to be herself.

By 1966,  Aretha decided not to renew her contract with Columbia and signed with Atlantic Records. The first album with this label, "I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You (With Bonus Tracks)" was released in 1967 and allowed her to stay true to her musical roots. The record proved to be the breakthrough that she needed as the title single went to number one on the r&b charts and number nine on the pop charts but it would be the next single that made her a household name.

"Respect", written and originally recorded by Otis Redding, became her first number one song on the pop charts as well as second on the r&b. It has become Aretha's signature song and was added to the National Recording Registry in 2002.

Aretha Franklin immediately became an international music star and was given the title, "The Queen of Soul". She would go on to release many successful albums throughout the rest of the 1960's and 1970's that featured the now classic songs such as "Chain Of Fools", "[You Make Me Feel Like] A Natural Woman", "Day Dreaming" and her version of Dionne Warwick's hit, "I Say A Little Prayer". In 1972, she finally recorded another inspirational album, "Amazing Grace" that sold over two million copies and became the best selling gospel album of all time.

By the mid-seventies, Ms Franklin's popularity was on the decline as disco was emerging on the music scene. In 1979, she recorded "La Diva", a disco album that came out just as that movement was beginning to fade out and the record was one her worst selling ever in her career. After this album, her recording contract with Atlantic had expired and neither party was interested in renewing it.

Aretha was asked to appear along with other r&b legends Ray Charles and James Brown in the 1980 musical-comedy film, "The Blues Brothers (Collector's Edition)" and her performance garnered her rave reviews. Shortly after, Clive Davis of Arista Records became interested in trying to revive her recording career and signed her to his label.  Aretha received good reviews for her first album on Arista, "Love All the Hurt Away" in1981 with the title song, a duet with jazz/pop singer George Benson, hitting the r&b top ten but didn't do much in sales.

She was wisely paired up with one of her biggest fans, Luther Vandross to produce her next project, 1982's "Jump To It" in which the title track not only returned the Queen to the top of the r&b charts but also to the pop charts where the song went to number twenty-four. The album also became one of her best selling in years, selling over a half a million copies.

The rest of the decade was good to Aretha, most especially in 1985 with the release of the album,  "Who's Zoomin' Who?" that contained her international smash hit song, "Freeway Of Love" but also became her very first million selling album.

Aretha Franklin is one of the most successful and honored artists in musical history. During her career, she has earned eighteen Grammy Awards as well as two honorary awards, she has had 20 number one singles and 10 number one albums on the r&b charts, 45 Top Forty songs on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and 14 million selling singles, all more than any other female artist.

Ms Franklin was selected to sing at the inaugurations of President Clinton and President Obama, she was the first female artist to be inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987 and Rolling Stone magazine placed her at number one on their list of "The Greatest Singers Of All Time".

She had two sons, Clarence in 1955 and Edward in 1957 but has never disclosed their father's name. They were mostly raised by Aretha's grandmother as she pursued her career. Aretha married Ted White in 1961 who became her manager and co-writer.and the couple separated in 1969. They had a son, Ted Jr., who has been his mother's touring manager and guitarist.  She began a seven year relationship in 1969 with her musical director, Ken Cunningham and they had a son in 1970, Kecalf, who is a hip-hop rapper and producer. Aretha married actor, Glynn Turman in 1978 but they divorced in 1984.

There are so many great Aretha songs that it was very hard to just select only a few but here are some of my absolute favorites:

"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" - Aretha Franklin (1967)

"Since You Been Gone" - Aretha Franklin (1968)

"Ain't No Way" - Aretha Franklin (1968)

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" - Aretha Franklin (1971)

"Day Dreaming" - Aretha Franklin (1972)

"Angel" - Aretha Franklin (1973)

This is Aretha performing a rousing version of  "I Say A Little Prayer" live on the "The Cliff Richard Show" in 1970:



This is the music video of  "Freeway Of Love", filmed in the Motor City:

BRITNEY REMIXED

Britney Spears is sizzling hot right now, so she has decided to team-up with a few of her fellow pop darlings in a couple of remixes of two songs topping the charts right now.

The first one is Rihanna's hit song, "S&M" which is now a duet with Ms Spears.The presence of  two of pop music's current powerhouses on this song sounds much better on paper than the actual record as Britney's additional vocals really doesn't add much to make this song truly an event. They would have been better off coming together on a brand new song.

"S&M (Remix)" - Rihanna & Britney Spears (2011)

The next is Britney's own hit song, "Till The World Ends" that has been remixed with not only Ke$ha but hip-hop's new sensation, Nicki Minaj, who has just been announced as Britney's opening act for her upcoming tour. Ms Minaj adds her trademark clever rap to the song and as for Ke$ha's appearance . .  well, let's just say that three is an unnesscary crowd.

"Till The World Ends" - Britney Spears featuring Nicki Minaj & Ke$ha (2011)

And as a bonus, here are the music videos for the original versions of these songs:

PRINCE: WELCOME 2 AMERICA CONCERT

As he did at Madison Square Garden in New York last December, Prince is now in Los Angeles performing a multi-night run at The Forum with his "Welcome 2 America" tour which I saw April 22nd..

On a large, lighted stage that was in the shape of the symbol when he was known as "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince", The Purple One made his entrance rising from the middle of the structure, wearing one of his over-the-top, trademark suits, where he performed the first song with all of the lights up.

I was not familiar with this song, (it might have been "Welcome 2 America", the song that he opened the New York shows with) in fact, I didn't recognize the next three songs he performed as they were probably newer material but it could have also been because The Forum's sound system is so awful that it made the music sound muddy and unrecognizable. If this venue wants to continue booking music events, they really need to invest in an updated sound system.



Photo: Dean Decent

The song that I finally knew was, "She's Always In My Hair [12" Version]", an unusual choice since this was the b-side of the single to his hit song, "Raspberry Beret" (which he played later) but since he had no new record to promote, it was clear that Prince was going to be adventurous and play whatever interested him. He continued on with some interesting and inspired musical choices that included his version of  Kool & The Gang's "Hollywood Swinging" and The Time's "Cool" where Prince brought on stage actor, Cuba Gooding, Jr and I think, Nicole Schertzinger of  The Pussycat Dolls to dance with the band during the number.

Prince soon arrived with a collection of his own hit songs; "When Doves Cry", "Cream", "Controversy (LP Version)" and "U Got The Look". He began playing on the piano, singing "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore (LP Version)" when he is joined on stage by Alicia Keys where they perform a sizzling duet.

Since Prince has become a Jehovah's Witness, he has stated that he will no longer perform any of sexually-oriented material but that didn't stop him from teasing the audience by playing musical snippets of  "Darling Nikki" and Vanity 6's "Nasty Girl" but he just shook his head.

After his third encore of a soaring version of "Purple Rain", the lights of the theater came up, so we chose to leave after having a hot, sweaty funky good time. It is entirely possible that Prince may have returned to the stage to play some more as people were staying put, screaming for more.

Here are some of the nastier stuff I wish he had played:

Dirty Mind - Prince (1980)

Lady Cab Driver - Prince (1983)

Erotic City - Prince (1983)

Gett Off - Prince (1991)

JANET JACKSON: NUMBER ONES- UPCLOSE AND PERSONAL TOUR

Janet Jackson is in the middle of her world tour to support her recent collection of  her hit songs, "Number Ones" as well as her memoir, "True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself" and the current stop was in Los Angeles which I saw April 16th at the Gibson Amphitheater.

After keeping the audience waiting for an hour and fifteen minutes after show time, (and without an opening act), the lights finally go down and a message displays on the screen dedicating her songs, "All For You" and "Together Again" to the people of L.A. but then proceeds to show the music videos for both of them in their entirety. WTF??

I was briefly concerned that this was going to be the show but Janet finally emerged, looking toned, sexy and ready for action in a white tank top, tight black jeans, combat boots and close-cropped hair.

She kicked things off with "The Pleasure Principle" and the rest of the hits followed fast and furious. After a few songs, she took a lengthy break and in-between we were treated to a few clips from her acting career including the television show, "Good Times" and the film,"Poetic Justice" before returning to the stage, without a costume change, to slow things down with a series of her ballads like "Let's Wait Awhile" and "Again". This appears to be the only true time when Ms Jackson actually sang "live" while throughout the rest of the show, she seemed to be "vocally enhanced".

After that was over, she took another long break which we saw various photos of Ms Jackson from throughout her career while we waited for her to come back. She came back raring to go but still wearing the same outfit. Ms Jackson wound up taking four lengthy breaks throughout the ninety minute show which seemed a little excessive but perhaps she was getting some needed extra oxygen backstage because at the age of  44, Janet definitely managed to effortlessly keep up with her younger back-up dancers.

Despite the numerous breaks, lack of costume changes and a much more scaled back production than what she usually puts on, Janet Jackson still delivered a fast-paced, high-energy and just plain fun concert full of all of her great dance hits

Here are a few of the songs she performed:

"If" - Janet Jackson  (1993)

"Got 'Til It's Gone" - Janet Jackson (1997)

"All For You" - Janet Jackson (2001)