CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Honor: Blues, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Soul, And Beyond

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 at 8:00 PM

Ray Chew, Musical Director
Hosted by Sade Baderinwa, Wendell Pierce, and Ben Vereen
Poetry reading by Avery Brooks
Geri Allen
Ashford & Simpson
Terence Blanchard
James Carter
Ron Carter
Doug E. Fresh
Corey Glover
Anthony Hamilton
Freddie Jackson
Leela James
Kem
MC Lyte
Toshi Reagon
Vernon Reid
Ryan Shaw
James "Blood" Ulmer

Paying tribute to the great African American popular music artists of the past, the brightest lights in blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and jazz, as well as today’s daring innovators, gather for a magical evening of music. Each presentation will parallel an event in the bountiful history of performances by African American artists at Carnegie Hall.

This performance is sponsored by Bank of America, Carnegie Hall's Proud Season Sponsor.

Major funding for Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy has been provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Alice Tully Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation's New York City Cultural Innovation Fund, Howard University, and the A. L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation.

Honor! is made possible, in part, by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Program Notes:

Just imagine, if you can, the American musical landscape minus the blues. Unfathomable, you’ll agree. Now keep snipping away: From that expansive map, take away jazz, R&B, rock ’n’ roll, soul, hip-hop, and all of their myriad tributaries. Not much left, is there?

Each of these cornerstone genres of American music arose from the African American experience. From a time when slaves sang in the fields to a time when an African American can rise to the highest elected office in the land, the patchwork quilt that is black music has been one of our nation’s most cherished gifts to the world. Set foot on even the most remote spot on the globe, and you can be sure that names such as Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, Ella Fitzgerald, and Stevie Wonder will bring a knowing smile to the locals.

All of those American icons have graced the Carnegie stage. So too have Louis Armstrong, Paul Robeson, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, John Coltrane, Leontyne Price, and Beyoncé. Booker T. Washington spoke at the Hall, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed New Yorkers at the venue as well.

The history of Carnegie Hall is one of colorblindness. Since opening in the late 19th century, Carnegie Hall has embraced an open-door policy toward bookings, acknowledging the value of the African American musical contribution. The venerable venue was only a year old in 1892 when it showcased its first African American performer, the soprano Sissieretta Jones. Blues pioneer W. C. Handy, pianist Fats Waller and legendary singers Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson all performed at Carnegie in the 1920s, and the Jazz Age acquired a new validity in 1938 when a pair of interracial concerts featuring such giants as Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Joe Turner, Sidney Bechet, Big Bill Broonzy, and others wowed New York City audiences.

In the ensuing decades, virtually every black jazz giant has played Carnegie Hall, including Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Nina Simone, Charles Mingus, Sun Ra, Sonny Rollins, and Ornette Coleman. The blues has not been a stranger either: Memphis Slim, Son House, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and Big Mama Thornton are only a few of the blues artists who’ve performed in Carnegie’s hallowed rooms.

Folk (Lead Belly, Odetta, Harry Belafonte), gospel (Mahalia Jackson, the Winans), rock ’n’ roll (Chuck Berry, Fats Domino) and R&B (Ike and Tina Turner, LaBelle, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston) have all found representation at Carnegie Hall. So too have baseball groundbreaker Jackie Robinson, poet Langston Hughes, and actor Sidney Poitier at various events.

Indeed the Hall’s bookings have always mirrored the evolution of the music. It is with that in mind that Carnegie Hall, from March 4–23, presents the ambitious, wide-ranging festival Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy. Curated by legendary soprano Jessye Norman, Honor! pays tribute to the numerous genres and sub-genres of African American-originated music, and to the great artists who’ve made that music a permanent part of our collective cultural life.

For the opening night of the festival—which includes more than 20 different concerts, panel discussions, and educational events both at Carnegie Hall itself and at other prestigious venues in New York City—Miss Norman and the Carnegie team have invited an all-star cast of contemporary musicians to honor the great African American artists of the past. Honor: Blues, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Soul, and Beyond features pianist Geri Allen; trumpeter Terence Blanchard; bassist Ron Carter; saxophonist James Carter; guitarists/vocalists James “Blood” Ulmer, Vernon Reid, and Toshi Reagon; R&B singers Freddie Jackson, Leela James, Kem, and Ryan Shaw; and others whose names are being kept under wraps until showtime.

All of these artists share a deep understanding of the path that this music has taken—how the raw emotions expressed by blues pioneers Robert Johnson, Lead Belly, Bessie Smith, and Muddy Waters spoke to earlier generations just as soul, funk, and hip-hop have spoken to their children and grandchildren. These contemporary musicians have absorbed the rhythms and the thought processes at the core of jazz, the ingenious inventions of Duke, Count, Bird, Trane, Ella, Billie, Monk, and Satchmo—each so vital to our cultural makeup that they are recognizable by a single name.

Music, of course, never sits still very long. It builds from where we’ve been and who we were and points us to where we are going. Out of the blues came swing and bebop and modern jazz—more uni-monikered giants like Dizzy and Miles. Then, in the post-war ’40s and ’50s, the more pronounced, deliberate, dance-happy beats of rhythm and blues, and the rock ’n’ roll and soul era: Chuck Berry and Little Richard, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, the Motown monolith. Those sounds provided a soundtrack for the journey from Jim Crow to Civil Rights, from oppression to pride. As the ’60s heated up, the outrageousness of Jimi Hendrix, the raw power of Aretha Franklin, the genius of Stevie Wonder, the sensuality of Marvin Gaye, the sizzling funk of James Brown—these were just some of the voices that told us where we stood. We look back at them now with a sense of awe—how, we ponder, did such a relatively brief span of time produce so much lasting, influential greatness?

Honor: Blues, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Soul, and Beyond has been conceived with these larger-than-life icons in mind. The show’s musical director, Ray Chew, whose recent credits include directing the music at one of January’s inaugural balls in Washington, DC, describes the program as “an arching overview of American music through the black experience.” Throughout the course of the evening, he says, “We’ll be going back through some of the jazz journeys and the transitions—for example how they took the swinging jazz beat, made it a little heavier, and it then became a rock beat.”

Chew and his musical partner Danny Melnick were brought into the project by the Carnegie staff, and together with Miss Norman they came up with what Chew calls “a gigantic wish list” of potential artists who are versatile and talented enough to understand the scope of the concert and do it justice. “The list got smaller and smaller,” Chew says, until “it wound up being the people that Jessye really wanted anyway. She has great awareness of the musical community.”

For Miss Norman, the idea of paying tribute to the entire spectrum of African American music is one that had been brewing within for some time. Once the idea began coming to fruition, then followed the difficult part: taming it. How exactly does one honor the immensity of the African American musical experience in one two-hour performance?

Needless to say, there’s no way even to offer small samplings of everything. Ultimately the task of crafting a single performance that both lives up to the title of Blues, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Soul, and Beyond and makes for a coherent entertainment package fell to the producers. “We had to make sure that we had one running stream of thought [through] the whole thing,” Chew says. “It’s not just everyone doing whatever song they feel like playing. It’s a rehearsed program with a theme to it.”

What everyone involved understands innately is that an event of this magnitude could only happen in one place: Carnegie Hall. “Everybody has an appreciation for the history of Carnegie Hall and what the building itself means,” Chew says. “In order for us to be able to put on a program that is so diverse, everyone is checking their musical egos at the door to be a part of one program.”

And, he adds, everyone is keeping close to heart and mind the word that is so central to the success of the series: honor. “We should certainly embrace the fact that this is something worth our respect and our attention, and we should pause for a moment and pay homage to it.”

—Jeff Tamarkin
Jeff Tamarkin is the Associate Editor of JazzTimes magazine.

Ray Chew, Musical Director
Revered as a true professional and beloved by countless entertainers, Ray Chew has been at the helm of award-winning musical events—live and televised—performing with genre-crossing artists that include Alicia Keys, Sting, Rihanna, Prince, Jennifer Hudson, James Taylor, Barry Manilow, Jennifer Holliday, the Four Tops, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Costello, Smokey Robinson, Shirley Caesar, Kirk Franklin, Aretha Franklin, and Quincy Jones. In addition to being a Hollywood staple for musical events, Chew’s work behind the scenes includes a long recording career with top-selling artists, as well as film and television scoring.

World renowned musician, composer, and producer, Chew has served as musical director for network television series including NBC’s The Singing Bee, Showtime at the Apollo, and BET’s Sunday Best. Chew was recently at the helm of the second annual BET Honors, preparing musical tributes to Magic Johnson, Tyler Perry, Mary J. Blige, Judith Jamison, B. Smith, and Congressman James E. Clyburn. Chew performed in tribute to these honorees with Ne-Yo, Queen Latifah, Keyshia Cole, Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, Yolanda Adams, and Anita Baker.

At an important milestone in the nation’s history, Chew was chosen to be the musical director for the Inaugural Neighborhood Ball television special, where the President and First Lady shared their first dance. Chew performed with some of the entertainment industry’s brightest stars at the celebration, including Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Sting, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, and Beyoncé. He also directed an amazing all-star tribute to the President, featuring Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Will.i.am, Faith Hill, and Jamie Foxx with Stevie Wonder performing “Sign, Sealed, Delivered.”

Chew was also at the helm as musical director for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, leading his orchestra through all four days of the convention, including the culminating events at Invesco Field.

Chew’s vast recording career includes working with timeless artists such as Diana Ross, Donny Hathaway, and Alicia Keys. His signature sound can be found on Lil’ Wayne’s chart-topping album Tha Carter III in “Comfortable,” a track produced by Kanye West, featuring Babyface. He has orchestrated for and appeared on many television specials, including the Grammy Awards, VH1’s Save the Music Concert, MTV Unplugged, the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, and the World Music Awards. Chew also appeared with Grammy Award–winner Rihanna in six countries as pianist and conductor in performances of her hit “Unfaithful.” Chew’s largest orchestrating work to date was for The Diary of Alicia Keys farewell tour performance at LA’s Hollywood Bowl, where he conducted a 63-piece orchestra for a special DVD presentation, to be released later this year.

When not on stage, Chew serves as a National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, where he is also on the education and diversity committees. But it’s at his state-of-the-art recording studio, Vision House, where Chew prepares for upcoming performances; pens one-of-a-kind scores; and produces music for film, television, and various artist recordings.

Ray Chew is a BMI recording artist represented by the William Morris Agency.

Hosted by Sade Baderinwa, Wendell Pierce, and Ben Vereen
Poetry reading by Avery Brooks

Geri Allen
Geri Allen has received international acclaim as a jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. In recent years she has appeared as both a composer and a performer at Zankel Hall, The Village Vanguard, and The Black Congressional Caucus, and at such festivals as Caramoor, San Francisco Jazz, First Jerusalem Jazz, and Capetown Jazz (South Africa). She has also toured extensively in Australia and Europe.

Allen has held recent residencies that have included master classes, community outreach, lecture-discussions, and performances at Columbia University, Spelman College (Atlanta), North Carolina Central University in Durham, and the Frederick Douglass School in Harlem. In December 2007 Allen finished a residency during “Geri Allen Week” at Harvard University, where she received the Key to the City of Cambridge from the Honorable Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves.

A recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship Award for Music Composition, Allen has received Spelman College’s African American Classical Music Award, the Danish JAZZPAR Prize (as its youngest recipient ever), the Benny Golson Award, and a Distinguished Alumna Award from Howard University. Along with Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon, she also created the HBO documentary film Beah: A Black Woman Speaks, which won a Peabody Award.

Allen’s notable collaborations and commissions include Eric Dolphy Suite, commissioned by Tom Johnson and premiered in Rotterdam, Holland; Lil, with director Joanne Akalaitis; and For the Healing of the Nations, written in memory of the victims and survivors of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and commissioned by The Walt Whitman Center (Camden, New Jersey), the Dodge Foundation, and Meet the Composer.

Allen is presently composing an original solo piano work celebrating jazz greats Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner, and Herbie Hancock. Titled Refractions, Flying Toward the Sound, it will be recorded by Motema Records with Allen as the soloist.

Born in 1957 in Pontiac, Michigan, Allen is a graduate of Howard University and the University of Pittsburgh. She is currently an Associate Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (School of Music, Theater, and Dance).

Ashford & Simpson

Terence Blanchard
From 1939 to 1975, Blue Note Records signed or recorded just about every notable jazz trumpet-player: Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Donald Byrd, Don Cherry, Blue Mitchell, and others. It’s fitting that the label is now enjoying an artistic and commercial renaissance, and it’s no mere coincidence that its current roster includes two of the most celebrated, influential and gifted trumpeter-composers to walk the planet since those halcyon days: Wynton Marsalis and Terence Blanchard.

Blanchard was born in New Orleans on March 13, 1962. Picking up the trumpet in elementary school, he was also coached at home by his opera-singing father. In high school, the young Blanchard came under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis. He went on to attend Rutger’s University on a music scholarship. One of his professors was so impressed by his talent that he brokered him a touring gig with Lionel Hampton’s band.

In 1983 Wynton Marsalis recommended his homeboy as his replacement in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Part of the Blakey legend was his ability to foster performances and individual personalities from the young malleable talents he brought into his fold. Blakey utilized and nurtured the improvisation and compositional ideas of his band members to solidify his own unique artistic vision. That legacy of the working band as jazz workshop is at the essence of the genre; Blanchard remains one of the few on the scene today who fully embrace that dynamic.

Two years later Blanchard and fellow Messenger Donald Harrison split to form their own quintet. In 1990 Blanchard departed to pursue a solo career. During his tenure at Columbia, his soundtrack to Spike Lee’s film Mo’ Better Blues and The Heart Speaks were nominated for Grammy Awards. Signed to the Sony Classical label in 1999, Blanchard gained acclaim as a bandleader and scorer of movie and television soundtracks (including the Grammy-nominated Wandering Moon and a Golden Globe nomination for his score to Lee’s 25th Hour).

Blanchard’s critically acclaimed Blue Note–debut, Bounce, was soon followed by his second label release, Flow, heralding nothing less than the brilliant second act of Blanchard’s extraordinary career. Flow is Blanchard’s rambunctiously heated answer to those unenlightened few who doubted that this chill master of the urbane film score (Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, Barbershop) could get down. It not only showcases his prodigious instrumental and composing skills, but it reveals him to be both a shrewd judge of young talent and a bandleader of Milesian dimension and magnitude.

James Carter
Given the plaudits that saxophone powerhouse James Carter has garnered for his role in propelling jazz into the future over the past two decades, it is surprising that he is only 39 years old, and fuels his contemporary spin on jazz with a deep respect for and an intimate knowledge of the tradition. His Emarcy debut, Present Tense, is a 10-pack of animated tunes that range from jazz standards given new rhythmic traction to three originals, including the sunny, Brazilian-tinted “Bossa J. C.” Carter enlisted a top-drawer support group for the recording, including the core quartet of trumpeter Dwight Adams, pianist D. D. Jackson, bassist James Genus, and drummer Victor Lewis, with guest appearances by guitarist Rodney Jones and percussionist Eli Fountain.

Carter launched his solo career with two superb DIW/Columbia albums. Recorded in 1993 and 1994, respectively, JC on the Set and Jurassic Classics were initially released in Japan and then issued in the US. Both were huge successes, and Carter was soon dubbed the “Motor City Madman,” based on his distinctive and oftentimes thrilling style.

Winner of several DownBeat critics and readers polls, Carter continues to tour with his organ trio and often substitutes in the World Saxophone Quartet. Carter recorded his trio in 2005 for the Half Note release Out of Nowhere, and in 2006 recorded Gold Sounds (Brown Brothers Recordings) with pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Reginald Veal, and drummer Ali Jackson in a collaborative outing of songs by the pop band Pavement.

Ron Carter
Bassist Ron Carter has garnered numerous accolades and developed a peerless reputation. In the 1960s he performed throughout the US in nightclubs and concert halls with Eric Dolphy, Jaki Byard, and Wes Montgomery, then toured Europe with Cannonball Adderley. He was a member of Miles Davis’s now classic quintet from 1963 to 1968, along with Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, and Wayne Shorter.

Carter was among the few bassists who continued to play acoustic bass when many preferred the electric bass. Among his chief traits is an ability to create harmonically and rhythmically rich bass lines that challenge soloists with whom he collaborates. When Carter formed his first group, the bass was not generally considered a lead instrument; he found a solution with the piccolo bass, turning it in a manner that makes it stand out in an ensemble. Backed by a quartet of piano, drums, percussion, and an additional bass, Carter created one of the most distinctive and unusual jazz combos.

Carter won a Grammy award in 1988 for the composition, Call Sheet Blues, heard on the film Round Midnight. He scored and arranged music for a number of other films, including The Passion of Beatrice and made-for-television movies Exit Ten and A Gathering of Old Men. Carter is also the author of jazz studies books Building Jazz Bass Lines and Comprehensive Bass Method.

With more than 2,500 albums to his credit, Carter has recorded with many of the greatest names in music: Oliver Nelson, Tommy Flanagan, Gil Scott-Heron, Gil Evans, Lena Horn, James Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Bill Evans, Carlos Santana, Aretha Franklin, Sonny Rollins, Paul Simon, Janis Ian, Bette Midler, Benny Goodman, George Benson, B. B. King, Eric Gale, Johnny Hodges, Antonio Carlos Jobim, the Kronos Quartet, Dexter Gordon, Helen Merrill, J. J. Johnson, Benny Golson, Sir Roland Hanna, Stan Getz, and Jessye Norman. Carter’s many awards include citations by the Japan All-Star Jazz Poll and the Swing Journal Readers Poll. He was voted Outstanding Bassist of the Decade by the Detroit News and Jazz Bassist of the Year by DownBeat magazine. He was also named Most Valuable Player, Acoustic Bass, by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. His solo bass recording of the Bach Cello Suites on compact disc was certified Gold in 1988.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Manhattan School of Music, Carter is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the music department of The City College of New York.

Doug E. Fresh
Dubbed the "World's Greatest Entertainer" for his unrivaled ability to rock a crowd, Harlem native Doug E. Fresh began his musical career at age 13. The originator of the human beat box (vocally simulating the sound of drums and other musical instruments), he spawned an international hip-hop trend. Best known for the two-sided, multi-platinum hits "The Show" and "La Di Da Di," his groundbreaking successes include being the first rapper to perform in Africa and in the Caribbean, heralding the global popularity of hip-hop.

Throughout his 20-year career, Fresh has collaborated with the world’s top artists. He’s performed or recorded with fellow rap legends, including Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Eminem, and Dr. Dre. He’s also worked with artists in reggae (Beenie Man, Sly & Robbie, and Poppa San); R&B (Prince, Roberta Flack, Chaka Kahn, and Stevie Wonder); jazz (George Benson, Grover Washington, and Bobbie McFerrin); and gospel (Rev. Robert Lowe & Generations).

Fresh has taken on the big screen, appearing in such films as Brown Sugar, Paid in Full, Whiteboys, and Let's Get Bizzee, while also writing songs for other movies, including Ghostbusters II, Get on the Bus, CB4, New Jack City, and The Sixth Man. He has performed on television, including The Chris Rock Show, New York Undercover, and Britain's Top of the Pops. Fresh has written music for McDonalds, Coors, Gatorade, and Tanqueray commercials. His hit "I-Ight" was selected by the NBA as the theme song for MTV's NBA Slam & Jam Wrap-Up Show.

As concerned with the welfare of others as he is with rockin’ the mic, Fresh has used his voice to speak out against a variety of social ills. A tireless hip-hop activist, he has fought against racism, drugs, illiteracy, police brutality, and homelessness in communities around the world. Along the way he has nurtured rising talent, including the likes of MC Ricky D, P. Diddy, Biz Markie, and numerous newcomers during his stint as host (and unofficial mentor) of It's Showtime at the Apollo.

Corey Glover

Anthony Hamilton
Some things, thankfully, never go out of style. Case in point: the bona fide soul of Anthony Hamilton. That distinctive, Grammy Award–winning voice is back on The Point of it All, Hamilton’s third official studio album. Like Ain’t Nobody Worryin’ and Comin’ From Where I’m From before it, this new album once again plays up the singer-songwriter’s natural talent: rich, soul-steeped vocals breathing sonorous life into emotion-packed lyrics.

Attracting fans right from the start, Hamilton’s unique voice draws its soulful force and storytelling inspiration from such pioneers as Bill Withers, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Johnny Guitar Watson, and Marvin Gaye. Instead of taking a cookie-cutter approach, however, Hamilton paved his own road to fame. It’s a road that stretches back to Charlotte, where a 10-year-old Hamilton began singing in the local church before hitting the local nightclub and talent show circuits in his teens.

A trek in1993 to New York City resulted in Hamilton signing with Uptown Records, the then-home to Mary J. Blige and Jodeci. Thus began a six-label odyssey that tested Hamilton’s patience and perseverance. Rather than dwell on the negative, the singer honed his chops, contributing background vocals on D’Angelo’s worldwide Voodoo tour, and making guest appearances on songs by Eve, Xzibit, and 2Pac.

Hamilton’s career-molding break arrived in 2002 when he sang the infectious hook on the Nappy Roots’ “Po’ Folks.” That performance netted the singer his first Grammy nomination in the category for “Best Rap/Sung Collaboration”—and a new label, Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def imprint. A year later his platinum debut, Comin’ From Where I’m From, was released.

Not only a fan favorite, Hamilton is also the go-to singer for other artists in a variety of genres: R&B / soul, gospel, hip-hop, pop, and country. In addition to new albums by Young Jeezy (The Recession) and the Nappy Roots (The Humdinger), Hamilton guests on upcoming projects by Dr. Dre, Nat “King” Cole, and Fonzworth Bentley.

Over the last several years, Hamilton has collaborated with a who’s who in music, including Al Green, Josh Turner, Keyshia Cole, John Rich (Big & Rich), Santana, and Mint Condition. A recent highlight was when Hamilton made a cameo appearance in the Oscar-nominated film American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington, as well as his performance on the soundtrack’s lead song, the Diane Warren–penned “Do You Feel Me.”

In addition to giving back through music, Hamilton participates in various national and local outreach initiatives, including his own TASTE Foundation (Take a Step to Elevate). And while his future plans include writing and executive producing feature films, Hamilton remains committed to music, founding Mister’s Music Recordings—an independent record label—with his wife, vocalist Tarsha McMillian.

Freddie Jackson
Freddie Jackson’s debut album Rock Me Tonight stormed the R&B charts in 1985 and achieved platinum staus, spending six weeks at number one, and making Jackson an instant sensation on urban contemporary radio. “You Are My Lady” gave him a second straight R&B chart-topper, and also proved to be his highest-charting pop single, peaking at number 13. “He'll Never Love You (Like I Do)” and “Love is Just a Touch Away” also hit the R&B Top 10.

Jackson wasted no time issuing a follow-up set. Just Like the First Time was released in 1986 on the heels of a number one R&B duet with Melba Moore, “A Little Bit More” (from her album A Lot of Love). Another platinum-seller, Just Like the First Time continued Jackson's incredible dominance of the R&B singles charts: “Tasty Love,” “Have You Ever Loved Somebody,” and “Jam Tonight” all hit number one, while “I Don't Want to Lose Your Love” peaked at number two.

His legions of fans are rejoicing once again with his new CD Transitions. His single “Until the End of Time” was charted as the topped-added new single during its first week of airplay, showing the same muscle as his other chart-topping ballads.

Jackson recently returned from sold-out concerts in Johannesburg, Kingston, and London, and continues to play to standing-room-only crowds throughout the US. In addition to performing, he is the author of a cookbook titled Tasty Love and continues to lend his voice to support numerous charitable organizations.

Leela James
When Leela James decided to title her upcoming album Let’s Do It Again, it wasn't necessarily because she happened to record a profoundly soulful version of that Staples Singers classic. There was a deeper meaning involved for her as one of the most acclaimed soul singers of the new generation. It was all about pursuing her vision of music, the kind she sang about on the aptly titled song “Music” from her best-selling debut CD, during which she name-checked Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, and Chaka Khan and wondered “where’s the music gone?” For Let’s Do It Again, James was determined to make music the old-school way—just like they did at Stax, Motown, and Muscle Shoals—recording live in the studio to capture the spontaneous magic and raw emotion that is only achieved through an in-the-moment performance where the singer feeds off the energy of the other musicians. It was a courageous move, but James was up for the challenge, translating classic soul into her own contemporary style with unique interpretation.

James’s deep connection with soul music tradition comes naturally. Born in Los Angeles, gospel music was a natural part of her churchgoing childhood, as was the blues, funk, and R&B that she heard thanks to her father’s vast record collection. With production by Kanye West, Raphael Saadiq, Wyclef Jean, James Poyser, and Chucky Thompson, James’s debut release—A Change is Gonna Come—boasted a striking slate of original songs co-written by the singer as well as impressive interpretations of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” and No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak.” Dubbing the raw, soulful sound of her music “back porch soul,” James was immediately compared to such luminaries as Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, and Mahalia Jackson.

Critics, fans, and musicians alike have recognized James’s extraordinary gifts as a vocalist, storyteller, and keeper of the great soul tradition. She had the distinction of being selected to duet with Ray Charles on a version of Les McCann's “Compared to What” on the posthumously-released Ray Charles album Genius and Friends, and was a guest vocalist on Robert Randolph & the Family Band’s 2006 album Colorblind, proving that James’s talent ranges across many musical genres.

Let’s Do It Again is at once a celebration of the enduring power of soul music and assertion of its contemporary relevance for a new generation. It reveals new aspects of Leela James’s artistry and range as a singer. “There’s a lot of music in me—a lot of variety,” she muses. “I can’t really be pigeonholed. I’m a singer. I just happen to be soulful. I don’t limit myself because whatever I do is going to be me. It could be a pop song, but once I get through with it, there’s gonna be some ‘stank’ on it!”

Kem
Rhythm and Blues singer-songwriter-producer KEM’s love of music began as a child. Music saw him through the darkest moments in his life, took him to the top of the industry’s record charts, and earned him a record deal with Universal Motown Records. A self-taught musician, KEM was born in Nashville and raised in Detroit, the birthplace of Motown Records.

Several years after high school, his life took a downward turn. He soon found himself in-and-out of drug rehab and homeless shelters. He hit rock bottom when he awoke one night sleeping outside after breaking shelter rules, and he became determined to clean up his act.

While waiting tables, and singing at weddings and other gigs around town, KEM continued to write and record his music. In March of 2002, he independently released his first CD, KEMISTRY, selling more than 10,000 CDs before piquing the interest of Universal Motown. KEMISTRY is a testament that soul has found new life in his music. The buzz behind KEMISTRY positioned the artist as a fan-driven phenomenon. His first album grabbed the attention of a multigenerational, multiethnic audience to the tune of over 500,000 CDs sold. The first single on KEMISTRY, “Love Calls,” garnered over 50,000 spins on Urban Adult Radio stations, making it the second most played record in 2003 and the most played record of 2004.

Fans anxiously awaited his next recording, ALBUM II. The CD was certified gold after only two weeks of release in May 2005. His popularity continued, resulting in his debut at number five on the pop albums charts. The hit single, “I Can't Stop Loving You” was designated as Radio & Records’ and Billboard’s number one Adult R&B Record of 2005. He was also named Radio & Records’ number two R&B artist that same year. Motown re-released the CD as a dual disc with a DVD featuring KEM's video and second hit single, “Find Your Way (Back in My Life).” He also received two NAACP Image Award nominations for Outstanding Male Artist and Outstanding Song, “I Can't Stop Loving You.”

In addition to headlining national and international tours, KEM has shared the stage with Fantasia, Rahsaan Patterson, Ruben Studdard, Vivian Green, Goapele, Rachelle Farrell, Chaka Khan, and Kindred Family Soul. He performed during Super Bowl XL events in Detroit. He has also performed on the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise, at Stevie Wonder’s House Full of Toys Benefit Concert, at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, and during Black Music Month at the White House.

KEM's musical talent has been solicited by many artists and filmmakers. He wrote and performed “Tonight,” included on the soundtrack of the Tyler Perry movie Madea’s Family Reunion, and his remake of Nat King Cole’s ‘Fascination’ is featured in the Antonio Banderas movie Take the Lead.

Today KEM takes the opportunity to minister through music, sharing his life’s journey with his audience at every concert. He testifies openly about overcoming alcohol addiction and drug use, and touts his sobriety since 1990. He never neglects to give honor and glory to God for his achievements.

MC Lyte
MC Lyte is one of the first rap pioneers to ever perform at Carnegie Hall. She was also the first female rapper to ever earn a gold single. Her inspiring 1993 anthem, the classic “Ruffneck” was nominated for a Grammy in the “Best Rap Single” category, making her the first female solo rapper to ever be nominated. Her latest album, Undaground Heat, Vol. 1, Hosted by Jamie Foxx, garnered this rap legend her second Grammy nomination 10 years later on her own label, SGI / CMM. The single “Ride Wit Me” also received a BET Award nomination for “Best Female Rap Performance.” To date, Lyte has released 10 albums, and has co-written and performed the television theme songs for Fox’s Dark Angel and BET’s Holla.

With her signature style and recognizable voice, it only makes sense that Lyte would be tapped for voiceover projects. She has been the voice behind national campaigns for the VH1 Hip Hop Honors, Wherehouse Music, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Nike. Lyte has also represented Mattel, giving her voice to the overwhelmingly popular Diva Starz doll named “Tia.”

Lyte has been very active in many social projects, involving herself in antiviolence campaigns, Rock the Vote, and contributing her time and expertise to several nonprofit organizations. Lyte is also an acclaimed author with her self-published book Just My Take, offering words poetry and words of inspiration for today’s hip-hop generation.

Reared in Brooklyn, MC Lyte (Lana Moorer) keeps her finger on the pulse of hip-hop while also pursuing an acting career. Lyte starred on UPN’s primetime hit sitcom Half & Half in addition to serving as a celebrity judge on CBS’s Star Search with Arsenio Hall. She was also a familiar face on the WB’s long-running comedy For Your Love.

Lyte can dish up the drama, evidenced in her roles on such series as The District, New York Undercover, and Get Real. Lyte’s other television credits include UPN’s Platinum, In the House, and Moesha; and Nickelodeon’s Cousin Skeeter. In the world of film, Lyte co-starred in Playa’s Ball; landed roles in such feature films as Train Ride, Burn Hollywood Burn, and Fly By Night; and appeared in independent features Luv Tails and Short Handed.

Toshi Reagon
The genre-bending Toshi Reagon has gained the respect of musicians, critics, and fans worldwide, evoking the sounds of artists as diverse as Stevie Wonder, Prince, and Led Zeppelin. She has performed at Central Park’s SummerStage in a Joni Mitchell tribute and benefit with Vernon Reid and Chaka Kahn; at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in a tribute to Prince; and in a concert celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks in New York City.

Reagon has also shared the stage with Nona Hendryx, Pete Seeger, Chocolate Genius, Dar Williams, and Ani DiFranco, among many others, playing solo or with her band, BIG Lovely. She and BIG Lovely were also invited by Elvis Costello to perform with him on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Born in Atlanta and raised in Washington, DC, Reagon is daughter of Sweet Honey In The Rock’s founding member, Bernice Johnson Reagon. Both her mother and father belonged to SNCC’s (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) The Freedom Singers—a folk group that sprung out of the Civil Rights Movement, touring the US and teaching people about civil rights through song. Reagon and her mother have collaborated on many projects, including the production of many Sweet Honey recordings. Their latest project is The Temptation of St. Anthony, a musical theater work based on a tale by Gustave Flaubert, directed by Robert Wilson with music and a libretto by Bernice Johnson Reagon. Toshi wrote its instrumental arrangements and currently serves as the production’s musical director. She and BIG Lovely have been touring with this show since 2003.

Toshi Reagon is a recipient of the 2004 NYFA award for Music Composition.

Vernon Reid
Guitarist and composer Vernon Reid is a true artist, one whose art is a work forever in progress, from his formative years on the downtown New York jazz-funk-punk scene with Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Decoding Society, to his leadership of the pioneering multi-platinum rock band Living Colour, to his collaborations with creative spirits that range from musicians to choreographers and filmmakers.

Reid founded Living Colour in New York City circa 1985 and piloted the band through a remarkable career. Among the highlights: a double platinum-selling debut album Vivid; its gold-certified successor, Time's Up; two consecutive Grammy Awards in the category “Best Hard Rock Performance”; opening for the Rolling Stones’ 1989 Steel Wheels tour; and appearing on the first Lollapalooza tour in the summer of 1991. Living Colour reunited in 2000, released a new album, CollideØscope, and continues to tour around the world.

In addition to Living Colour, Reid has been engaged with his usual panoply of activities, including recording solo and collaborative albums, organizing varied concert events, performing as a featured guitarist, and composing for dance and film. In 1996 he released Mistaken Identity, his first solo album, and collaborated with choreographers Bill T. Jones on Still/Here and Donald Byrd on Jazztrain. He performed “Party ‘Til the End of Time” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with The Roots, ending the millennium tribute that featured music from Prince’s album 1999. Reid has also produced two Grammy nominated albums: Papa by African singer Salif Keita and Memphis Blood: The Sun Studio Sessions by James “Blood” Ulmer.

Reid, along with DJ Logic under the moniker “The Yohimbe Brothers,” released Front End Lifter in 2002, and a second album, The Tao of Yo in 2004. Reid’s first album with his quartet, Masque (Leon Gruenbaum, keyboards; Hank Schroy, bass; and Don McKenzie, drums), titled Known Unknown, was released in 2004 on Favored Nations. Their newest album, Other True Self, was released in 2006.

Reid has recently been collaborating with Jamaaladeen Tacuma and G. Calvin Weston in a free improvisation trio grounded in funk and rock called Free Form Funky Freqs; their album, Urban Mythology Vol. One, was released in 2007. Reid has also contributed to various film projects, including Paid In Full (directed by Charles Stone III) and Dr. Hugo (a short film by Kasi Lemmons), as well as the documentaries Ghosts of Attica and That’s My Face. Reid served as music supervisor for the film Mr. 3000, starring Bernie Mac, and has recently completed scores for Five Fingers, produced by and starring Laurence Fishburne; Shadow: Dead Riot; and the PBS documentary Almost Home.

Ryan Shaw
Born in Decatur, Georgia, singer-songwriter Ryan Shaw began singing in church at age five and later formed a vocal group, Shaw Boys, with his four brothers. Among his early influences were gospel artists Darryl Coley, Keith Brooks, James Moore, and the Pace Sisters.

Shaw briefly attended Georgia State University and successfully auditioned for the gospel musical A Good Man is Hard to Find (Part II). In 1998 he joined the cast of I Know I've Been Changed, written and directed by Tyler Perry (Diary of a Mad Black Woman). Shaw later traveled to New York City with this production and performed to sold-out crowds at the Beacon Theater.

After the closing of I Know I've Been Changed, Shaw joined the resident cast of the Motown Café in Manhattan where he performed Detroit soul favorites by the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye. Later he found another steady gig with a group that played “just about anything from the 1950s and ‘60s that you could dance to—Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, Stax and Motown, Dion and the Belmonts—you name it,” he recalls. “With my church background, a lot of this material was new to me. But when I saw how those songs affected people, I began to understand how their own memories and emotions were invested in the music.”

As Shaw’s exposure to the music of 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s broadened, he became increasingly aware of certain harmonic complexities lacking in music of more recent decades. “I'm into chords, melodies, lyrics, arrangements—I’m into [all aspects of] music,” he says. “It seems like the late 1980s were the last time we really had all these elements in black music with artists like Anita Baker and Luther Vandross. By the 1990s we were down to two chords and a drum loop.”

In 2004 Ryan was recruited into the Fabulous Soul Shakers, a vocal group specializing in classic soul and doo-wop. Johnny Gale, the group’s guitarist, and percussionist Jimmy Bralower were both deeply impressed by Shaw’s talent, inviting him to record a pair of songs, “Do the 45” and “I Found a Love.” Shaw’s collaboration with Bralower and Gale also resulted in dozens of original arrangements and his new song “Nobody,” appearing as the first single on his album, This Is Ryan Shaw. Another track, “We Got Love,” was featured prominently in January 2007 on-air promotions for the ABC television series Brothers and Sisters.

James "Blood" Ulmer
As a guitarist, vocalist, and composer, James “Blood” Ulmer hovers atop the pantheon of American music mavericks. Born in 1942 in rural St. Matthews, South Carolina, to God-fearing parents, his first guitar was given to him at the age of four by his father, a preacher at the local ministry, in order to prepare him for the gospel life. While gospel may have sparked Blood’s passion for music, the flames quickly spread as he discovered new sounds and styles. On the radio, rock ‘n’ roll, country and western, and blues reigned. The blues was alternately alluring and frightening. Viewed as “the devil’s music” by his parents, he “broke every law in the book to listen to some blues.”
Some years later, after a stint in the juke joint scene, he dove headlong into jazz. While still struggling to develop his own unique voice, Blood wound up a sideman on a handful of Blue Note recordings. In New York City, 1971, he met the legendary avant-garde jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman, which led to a stint in Coleman’s revolutionary group, as well as collaborations with groundbreaking experimental musicians such as Larry Young and Joe Henderson.

His solo debut Tales of Captain Black (1978) saw him finally beginning to stake his claim to the American music tapestry. Critics touted him as the hottest new thing on the scene and fans packed his NYC performances. He recorded Are You Glad To Be In America? for Rough Trade, a frenetic concoction of free funk and jazz that pushed the concept of “harmolodic” guitar towards previously unimagined frontiers. On the back of ecstatic reviews of his album and live show, CBS bought out his contract with Rough Trade and released three landmark records: Free Lancing (1981), Black Rock (1982), and Odyssey (1983). Blending blues, jazz, funk, country, and freeform noise in dense musical themes and sonic structures, Odyssey was considered by many to be a peak moment in American music—if not altogether daring. Ironically, it was also the calling card by which CBS ultimately dropped Ulmer from his contract. Disillusioned at failing to reach a wider audience, Blood recorded sparingly through the remainder of the ‘80s.

Flash forward to the present. Ulmer is in the unique position of being hailed as an American music icon. Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions re-awoke fans and critics alike to his power and electricity, earning him a Grammy nomination for “Best Traditional Blues Album.” Birthright was Blood’s first-ever completely solo recording, digging into deep, haunted blues. His latest effort is Bad Blood in the City, a cycle of songs that focus on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.