A True Messenger

Heather Headley inspired millions with her performance of “Jesus Is Love,” her duet with Smokie Norful that appears on both artists’ new albums, in Washington, D.C. at the HBO live concert special during the presidential inauguration activities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d give you the moon

But you’d never know the warmth of the sunshine

I’d give you the world

But exactly what would that do

I’d promise you wings to fly

But how would you ever learn to run

So I wish you all you need

To be than I could be

This is what I wish for you

                                    –I Wish

 

            Heather Headley inspired millions with her performance of “Jesus Is Love,” her duet with Smokie Norful that appears on both artists’ new albums, in Washington, D.C. at the HBO live concert special during the presidential inauguration activities. Dubbed his “favorite singing partner” by classical star Andrea Bocelli whom she joined as a featured artist on his international tour, his “Live In Tuscany” PBS special, and his “Under The Desert Sky” live concert DVD, Headley reached millions more. The accomplished Tony-award winning Broadway star has also wowed audiences daily in her long runs in “Aida” and “Lions King.” But her performance at the Harvard Bible Chapel she attends in Chicago registered just as resoundingly when she sang from her new EMI Gospel album Audience of One. 

Joining songbird Heather Headley at the refurbished Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood where she had recently returned from a jazz cruise, I knew I was in the presence of a beautiful child of God.  BRE has interviewed the multiple Grammy nominated R&B songstress (This Is Who I Am, In My Mind) before, but this new incarnation of Headley on EMI Gospel was just another barometer of her many talents. Comfortable in any setting whether on the world stage or performing for presidents, Headley remains grounded and balanced, beautiful on both the outside and inside.  And what you hear in whatever form is really who she is.

Her performance at President Barack Obama’s inauguration weekend on the HBO special of her single “Jesus Is Love” touched many that day when so much hope was manifest. But she’s actually performed for four of our U.S. presidents. In addition to Obama, she had performed for both Bushes and Clinton. “It was probably the coldest I have ever been in a performance before,” she offered, still recovering from the effects. “The rehearsal day was 10 degrees. We had tents but they had not yet installed the heaters. After I got back to my hotel I had to jump into a hot shower to warm-up. My toes had actually turned purple. The actual day of the performance warmed up to a toasty 22 degrees, but whatever the weather, it was worth it to just be there for such a momentous occasion. It was quite uplifting for me as well.”

This uplifting song may seem a change in genre direction for Headley, but recording a gospel album is a natural transition for her. “I spent most of my life in and around the church,” she explains. “My father was a preacher at a one-room church in Trinidad, and I lived either next to the church or above it most of my life. In fact, it was there where I first began to sing. I used to go in the church when no one was there, close all of the doors and windows and sing to the empty pews,” she confided. “My mother always told me I should do a gospel album and I would say, ‘Maybe someday.’ Now I felt the time was right.”

 

 

Actually, the concept for a gospel CD became concrete after label executives heard her breathtaking performance of the spiritual “I Know The Lord Will Make A Way” from the EMI Gospel/Vector compilation album, Oh Happy Day. They were so impressed that they suggested she record an entire album of songs of faith. Her 2006 CD In My Mind also contained the inspirational song “Change,” co-written with producer Warryn Campbell and Eric Dawkins. “God is such a big part of who I am, who I want to be, and what’s in my mind,” she had declared then.

 

Joining with Grammy award-winning producer Keith Thomas (BeBe & CeCe Winans, Yolanda Adams, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, Whitney  Houston), Headley says it was time to give back some praise for all her blessings. “This is my gift to God,” she declares. “I want to make sure God is happy. This album is for Him.”

Whether it’s the song “Ordinary Me,” inspired by her pastor James MacDonald’s sermons, that starts out, “Looking for an answer, trying to turn the page/but always holding onto the past,” or when she asks “I am a Christian/do you know what that means?” on “Simply Redeemed,” Headley addresses faith concerns that are both personal and universal at the same time. And when she goes astray, she always finds solace and forgiveness in a cover of one of Commissioned’s songs “Running Back To You” or “I Know The Lord Will Make A Way.”  From traditional hymns like “Here I Am To Worship” to the orchestral heights of “Power of the Cross,” Headley gives her all.

 ”Today I still transform myself mentally back to my father’s church in Trinidad by closing the doors and windows to my bedroom and turning the lights out to recreate those conditions,” she confesses. “It makes it easier for me to go back to that little church, the place of creative comfort for me both physically and mentally.  That’s where I went to play, that’s where I learned to play the piano and would use my brush for a microphone. Today, when I record I always request they turn out all the lights.”

Both Gospel and Urban AC radio formats have welcomed the inspiring songs from Audience of One. “My colleagues and I agree,” says Alvin Stowe, Program Director of Radio One’s UAC WQNC-FM (92.7) and inspiration WPZS-FM (Praise 100.9) in Charlotte, NC: “This rendition of ‘Jesus Is Love’ is as good, if not better than the original.”

The accolades continue for this little girl from Trinidad with the angelic voice and full range. “I grew up in the church and that’s where my roots are,” she contends. “If the sincerity of my performance connects, then I have won a true new fan. And even though it would be an honor to be invited to perform in some of the mega churches around the country, that is not a part of my promotional campaign to sell product.”

Indeed not, this truly gifted artist finds her ministry most fulfilling when she is singing to God. When she was talking to her husband about how she used to turn the church into a sanctuary, she says he told her that she was not singing to the empty pews but to God. An audience of one.

The Wedding of Evelyn Ann Miller and Thomas Carl Randolph, II

I felt like her father when I attended BRE VP of Marketing Monique Idlett Mosley’s wedding to Timothy Mosley in Aruba last year, little realizing that Monique was really taking me through the dress rehearsal for my own daughter’s wedding. On December 27, 2008, I walked the baby girl that had graced the five-year anniversary cover of BRE Magazine when she was only two down the aisle to marry her best friend, lover and soul partner, Thomas Carl Randolph, II. Composure was all over for me when I saw her walk down the stairs to Stevie Wonder’s “Ribbon In the Sky,” and, when we danced the father-daughter dance to Luther’s “One Last Dance With My Father,” there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Fortunately waving my handkerchief and sashaying out to a New Orleans second-line parade kept my emotions in perspective as did the ladies’ spirited dance to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (You Should’ve Put A Ring On It)”—a new wedding anthem for today’s generation.

The well wishes of the many friends who gathered for this moment and the personal testimonies of the new married couple’s friends just intensified the moment. And my happiness was compounded with the official welcoming of my new son and his parents, Thomas and Jacqueline, to our family unit. My heart was full, my joy overflowed. This was my little girl, my beauty, the life that daily lifts my spirits, the love made in heaven…this time it was personal.

Photography by Allen King

Wedding Coordination by William Miller

 

51ST ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS NOMINATIONS

Artists nominated for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards reflect one of the organization’s most diverse years, with the Album Of The Year category alone representing the rap, R&B, folk and rock genres.  The musical output of Black acts is significantly represented in both the number of nominations and genres. Lil Wayne leads with eight nominations; Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West each garnered six.

J Records had a banner year with its new artists. Former BRE Cover artist Jazmine Sullivan received five nominations and is up for the prestigious Best New Artist award and her labelmates actress/singer Jennifer Hudson received four nominations (including one for collaboration with labelmate Fantasia) and British sensation Leona Lewis claimed three with label stalwart Alicia Keys receiving three.

The Recording Academy was both about breaking history and making history. This year, for the first time, it announced its nominations for the annual Grammy Awards that will take place February 8th on primetime television on CBS in a show called “Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night.” The one-hour special live broadcast from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles featured past Grammy winners and nominees performing songs that are ensconced in the Grammy Hall of Fame in the new Grammy Museum. The Academy made history with the grand opening of the new museum the day following its live telecast.

Two-time Grammy winner LL Cool J and Grammy nominee Taylor Swift co-hosted the telecast, and presenters/performers included four-time Grammy winner Christina Aguilera, five-time Grammy winners Mariah Carey and Celine Dion, the six-time Grammy-winning Foo Fighters, 14-time Grammy winner B.B. King, and five-time Grammy winner John Mayer, among others.

Rapper Lil Wayne’s eight nominations included Tha Carter III in the Album of the Year and Best Rap Album categories; Best Rap Song “Lollipop” and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration “Got Money” featuring T-Pain. Kanye West and Jay-Z each picked up six Grammy nominations. West, for Song of the Year for “American Boy” with Estelle; Best Rap Performance By A Duo or Group for “Put On” with Young Jeezy; “Swagga Like Us” with Jay-Z, T.I., and Lil Wayne; Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “American Boy” with Estelle, Best Rap Song for “Swagga Like Us” with Jay-Z, T.I., & Lil Wayne; and Album of the Year for Tha Carter III (featured artist).

Jay-Z also received nominations in the Best Rap Album category, for American Gangster and for Best Rap Song with “Swagga Like Us.” Ne-Yo’s Year of the Gentleman is up for Album of the Year.

Dangermouse, Atlanta’s T.I. and Chicago’s Lupé Fiasco followed closely with four nods each. Newcomers Estelle and FloRida claimed nods while Rihanna, T-Pain and Nas were returning nominees.

Other R&B Best Album of the Year nominees are: Eric Benet for Love & Life, Boyz II Men for Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA, Al Green for Lay It Down, and Raphael Saadiq for The Way I See It.

Soul icon Al Green received nominations for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “Stay With Me (By The Sea)” featuring John Legend, and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for “You’ve Got The Love I N

eed” featuring Anthony Hamilton. Lay It Down was also nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for the engineering work of Jimmy Douglass, Russell “The Dragon” Elevado, and Jon Smeltz.

Jordin Sparks picked up a nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for “No Air,” her duet with Chris Brown.

J. Holiday’s “My Lac” earns a nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album for his Capitol label, adding to his American Music Award and BET nominations.

Keyshia Cole’s hit single “Heaven Sent” was nominated for Best R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.

Natalie Cole was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for her Still Unforgettable.

In the Gospel categori

es, CeCe Winans was nominated for Best Gospel Performance for “Waging War” and Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album for Thy Kingdom Come. Best Traditional Gospel Album nominations went to The Blind Boys of Alabama for Down in New Orleans; The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir for I’ll Say Yes; Dorinda Clark Cole for Take It Back; Deitrich Haddon for Deitrich Haddon Presents…Together in Worship with Voices of Unity; and Bishop Charles E. Blake Presents…No Limits with the West Angeles COGIC Mass Choir.

Kirk Franklin returns to 

 

the Grammy ring again for his Zomba Gospel album The Fight of My Life. And labelmate, Grammy-winning producer/songwriter Donald Lawrence saw his latest discovery, six-member sibling group The Murills, receive both Grammy and Stellar nods for the Quiet Water/Zomba Gospel debut project, Family Prayer.

Another six-member group who has proven adept in any musical genre, Take 6, has a Grammy nod for Best Gospel Performance for “Shall We Gather At the River.”

In the blues category, John Lee Hooker, Jr., the son to his legendary bluesman father, returned home from an overseas tour in Europe, Turkey and Russia in time to receive news of his second Grammy nomination for his third CD All Odds Against Me. Nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album, the album includes the animated video crossing over into hip hop, “Blues Ain’t Nothin’ But A Pimp.”

 

Cannon Re-Loaded: All-Star Celebration of Cannonball Adderley is among the contenders for Best Contemporary Jazz Album while Best Jazz Vocal Album has Karrin Allyson, Stacey Kent, Kate McGarry, Cassandra Wilson and Norma Winstone vying for the win.

 

 

Danger Mouse and will.i.am are among the Producer of the Year nominees.

“The Grammy Awards process once again has yielded a comprehensive, diverse and eclectic group of excellent nominees across multiple genres,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. “This year’s nominations are truly reflective of the talented community of artists and creators who represent some of the highest levels of musical excellence.”

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 8, 2009, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live in high definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8 to 11:30 pm (ET/PT).

Portia out at V-103 Atlanta

mid-day d-j portia foxx exits

I AM…SASHA FIERCE

            In short, Beyoncé appeals to all her growing legion of worldwide fans with this project.  From her Destiny’s Child persona to the Foxy Cleopatra of “Austin Powers and Goldmember” to her solo songs and Jay-Z features, Beyoncé has been constantly widening her musical spectrum right before our very eyes.  The dual persona, double album approach of I Am…Sasha Fierce removes even more layers revealing a multi-faceted Beyoncé with a lot more for everyone. 

            “The double album allows me to take more risks and really step out of myself, or shall I say, step more into myself,” she confides, “and reveal a side of me that people who only know me see…  When I started the record, I knew that, artistically, I had to grow.  Even though I’ve been very successful and very fortunate, I want to still be challenged and still be nervous and still be anxious about all the things that make my career exciting.”

The double album discs are separated by personality. One side is ballads and the Sash Fierce disc is up-tempo.

”It’s about who I am underneath all the makeup, underneath the lights, and underneath all the exciting star drama.  Sasha is the fun, more sensual, more aggressive, more outspoken and more glamorous side that comes out when I’m working and when I’m on the stage.”

Whatever people might have known before, some of the content on the new album could surprise them. There are hints of “folk songs and alternative songs and acoustic guitar stuff that’s different from what I sing.”

For her I Am… collection, Beyoncé collaborated with some “writers and producers that I normally hadn’t worked with,” including producer Toby Gad on “If I Were A Boy” and UK songwriter Amanda Ghost on “Disappear,” which reminds Beyoncé “of the Beatles a tad bit.”  On “Satellites” and “Ave Maria,” she re-imagines a classic aria in a new and original musical setting.  “When I knew that certain things I wanted to say, I couldn’t say myself, I invited other writers to come in,” she explains.  “Lyrically, it’s the best album I’ve ever had.  If a song didn’t say anything or mean anything to me, I didn’t put it on the record.”

According to Beyoncé, “Sasha is kind of the opposite, she’s more the other side because sometimes you don’t want to think; sometimes you just want to feel good.  She’s the party girl, she’s Bootylicious.  She is, but I’m not.  She’s my alter ego.  I’m finally revealing who I am.”

It’s her first new studio collection since her Grammy-winning multi-platinum-selling B’Day debuted at #1 on charts around the world shortly after its international release on September 4, 2006.

            Music World CEO Mathew Knowles, who has carefully shepherded the career of his oldest daughter, predicts this album will do more than 750,000 in the first week.  Embracing the broader approach of the album artistically, Knowles plans a global launch that expands the B Brand into even further corners of the universe. 

            First, he made sure there was a price spread for everyone.  In addition to the normal digital methods of distribution, which include a massive presale iTune’s push, the hard copies of the album will come with two different price points.  There is a standard disc with 11 songs to be priced at $9.99 along with a deluxe edition for somewhere between $12.99 and $14.99 that will have 16 songs, as well as videos for the first two singles. 

            Both versions are split between the alter egos of Sasha Fierce and Beyoncé.  In addition to the deluxe editions, additional bonus songs that weren’t used on the album will be featured as exclusive bonus content on each major brick and mortar retailer’s version of the album.  From Best Buy to Wal-Mart, each will have its own exclusive version of the album. 

            Knowles also wanted to ramp up the release time of the album to encourage less people to download the single and more people to buy the whole album. “Most releases have a 90-day marketing period from the release of the first single to the release of the album,” he explains.  “We felt that was one of the reasons single downloads were up and album sales were down and that is why we wanted to shorten our schedule to 30 days.”

            Since the first two singles, “if I Were A Boy” and “Put A Ring On It,” were leaked to radio the second week of October, the whole mysterious marketing push of the Sasha Fierce alter ego has begun.  With a website at www.whoissashafierce.com enticing visitors to guess who Sasha Fierce is to win a phone call from the real Sasha Fierce, there has a been a mysterious, viral, internet buzz around Beyoncé’s soon to famous alter ego.  Music World/Columbia has also retooled the Beyoncé international website with the intent of linking the campaign for this album with multiple corporate tie-ins from L’Oreal to Armani.  

            In short, look for a tsunami effect.

            The recording schedule was on a similar pace and scale. Recording three songs a day, Beyoncé brought in the biggest names in the industry and recorded 75 songs before narrowing down to the final 16.  The selection process was so stringent that songs from established hitmakers like The Neptunes and Danjahandz did not make the cut.  In the end the I Am… side features more ballad like pop-friendly production and songwriting from Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, C. “Tricky” Stewart and Terius “The Dream” Nash, Toby Gad and Ryan Tedder (One Republic), just to name a few. 

            Sasha Fierce, on the other hand, features very modern, often sexy, hip hop leaning, urban R&B that utilizes production and songwriting from Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Sean “The Pen” Garrett, Solange, Rico Love and Jim Jonsin.  The fresh modern sound of the alter ego is typified by Shondrae “Bangladesh” Crawford’s production.  Known for doing hardcore rap songs like Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli,” which is one of the biggest club songs of the year, Bangladesh brings that same edgy sound to tracks like “Diva” and “Video Phone.” 

            The only producer/songwriter duo to make both sides of the album is Tricky Stewart and Dream.  They did “Smash Into You” from the I Am… side and the lead-in track on the Sasha Fierce disc, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).”

“That song is all about: ‘I’ve been with you all this time, you’re taking too long and now I’m looking hot and you see it and you gotta suffer because you shoulda put a ring on it,’” explains Beyoncé.

“Sasha Fierce is fun,” she continues.  “There’s an up-tempo song called ‘Radio’ that basically talks about my childhood. It just seems like a feel-good record but when you really listen to the lyrics, it’s about me growing up.  In my household, I didn’t go to all of the parties and I didn’t do all the things that a lot of the other teenage girls did because I was so in love with my radio and my music.  I was so in love with this radio and my parents were happy that I was into something positive.  I try to make up-tempo records that feel good but underneath they’re still saying something.  Sasha Fierce is a collection of the kinds of songs that I’m usually known for and I love just as much as the more intimate side of me.”

The first release from the album, “If I Were A Boy,” presents a video that is both compelling and reflective of the independent woman stance that Beyoncé has exhibited throughout most of her career. The tantalizing theme of the song’s video is role reversal and at the end, you realize the husband is a cop and what her male character has been doing throughout the video is what her female character has had done to her all along. She wonders perhaps what women would do if they ‘were a boy.’ “It’s not a traditional R&B song,” she offers.  “It’s difficult to grow and to break out and do new things because people have strong expectations. I feel like at this point, I wanted people to hear songs with stronger lyrics and songs that made you feel.  I love singing ballads because I feel like the music and the emotion in the story is told so much better.  It’s a better connection because you can hear it and it’s not all these other distractions.  I really wanted people to hear my voice and hear what I had to say.”

            It’s the kind of bold, strong-minded feminine message that has become a Beyoncé signature and typifies the character of this album. From “Bills, Bills, Bills” to “Irreplacable,” she has always spoken from an empowered female perspective that did not take any B.S. from anyone.  Her third album only builds upon that lyrical reputation.

            Beyoncé, currently in Japan, also recorded a cover of Billy Joel’s “Honesty” which was included on a Matthew Knowles/Music World CD released only in Japan towards the end of June 2008 to celebrate the tenth-year anniversary of Destiny’s Child.

                        The performer/writer/actress is on a non-stop career whirlwind. She has completed two films, which will be released within the next six to eight months.  In “Cadillac Records,” she plays R&B legend Etta James, and she also has just wrapped a starring role opposite Ali Larter and Idris Elba in a thriller film called “Obsessed.” This film is due to be released in the U.S. during January 2009, with an international release slated for March 2009. 

According to Beyoncé, becoming Etta James on-screen, “was a challenge for me emotionally because Etta had a lot of challenges in her life, things that I’ve never experienced. I had to really dig deep so that I could have the right performance and represent her well. One thing she taught me is her fearlessness; she was Etta all the time.  She was bold and she did not try to change who she was for anyone.  She was one of the queens. It was the best performance I think I’ve done on screen.  It gave me the strength and the confidence to step out of my comfort zone even more.”

            Reportedly, Beyoncé is ready for an Amazon-sized challenge — the pop superstar wants to be the first actress to wear Wonder Woman’s famed red, white and blue bathing suit on the silver screen.  “I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better than Wonder Woman? It would be great. And it would be a very bold choice. A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It’s time for that, right?” 

            Beyoncé says that she has met with representatives of DC Comics and Warner Bros. to express her interest in a major role in one of the many comic-book adaptations now in the pipeline following the massive success of “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man” and the “Spider-Man” and “X-Men” franchises.

             Her acting career to date has included a comedic role in “Austin Powers in Goldmember,” the lead in “Fighting Temptations,” and two notable music world roles, the singer in a ‘60s girl group in “Dreamgirls” and as the defiant and heroin-addicted Etta. 

            “After doing these roles that were so emotional I was thinking to myself, ‘OK, I need to be a superhero,” adding she would enjoy the physical challenge of the “action role.”

            Beyoncé’s third solo album comes out November 18th and it will be followed two weeks later by her portrayal of Etta James in “Cadillac Records,” with the January release in 2009 of “Obsessed.” The tsunami is on its way.

For the little girl who rose to fame in the late ‘90s as the lead singer of Destiny’s Child, with the group ultimately selling 50 million records worldwide, the Houstonian’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric.

When she released her debut single in ’03, Dangerously in Love became one of the most successful albums of the year, producing number-one singles, “Crazy in Love,” and “Baby Boy.” She earned five Grammys in a single night in ‘04.

The group disbanded in ’05 and she continued her successful solo career with the second album B’Day in ’06 with the hits “Déjà vu,” “Beautiful Love,” and “Irreplaceable.”

Over time, Beyoncé has pushed glamour up a higher notch and given a generation of little girls something to look up to without them realizing perhaps that she is also giving them something to think about. Listen to the lyrics of “If I Were A Boy,” and have your brother listen too.

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