samedi 5 septembre 2026
vendredi 4 septembre 2026
jeudi 3 septembre 2026
Onaje Allan Gumbs – That Special Part Of Me (1988) + Discography
Onaje Allan Gumbs (born Allan Bentley Gumbs, September 3, 1949 – April 6, 2020) was a New York–based pianist, composer, and bandleader.
Gumbs was born in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City, to parents who had immigrated to the United States from the Caribbean. Gumbs' mother was from Montserrat, while his father, a New York City police officer, was from Anguilla. He was the nephew of Hubert Harrison's daughter-in-law.[4] As a child, Gumbs was fascinated by the film and television music of Henry Mancini. Gumbs graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia, and during his years there was a member of a student-organized jazz ensemble.[5]
In 1971, Leroy Kirkland introduced Gumbs to the Detroit guitarist Kenny Burrell, to whom Onaje gave a demo tape. The following day, Gumbs received a call to play with Burrell at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit. This work led to further performances with major jazz musicians such as bassist Larry Ridley as well as The Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra. During the early 1970s, Gumbs replaced Nat Adderley, Jr. in a contemporary jazz ensemble called Natural Essence, which included during these years Buddy Williams and T. S. Monk (drums and percussion), bassist Alex Blake, and trombonist Earl McIntyre.
Gumbs adopted the name Onaje in the early 1970s; it means "the sensitive one".[6] He met his future wife, Sandra Wright, in 1971 during a short teaching engagement he took in Buffalo, New York. The two wed later in the decade and remained married until Gumbs' death in 2020.[5]
In the late 1970s, Gumbs recorded with Woody Shaw and worked as musical director for R&B singer Phyllis Hyman, Angela Bofill and Jeffrey Osborne.[7][8] Later in his career he worked extensively with Ronald Shannon Jackson, and in 2013, following Jackson's death, Gumbs recorded a solo piano album consisting of improvisations on Jackson's compositions. Later in his life, he taught at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Manhattan and the Litchfield Jazz Camp in Connecticut.[5] DownBeat stated that his "association with the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York and his work with the Litchfield Jazz Camp in New Milford, Conn., allowed him to expand his vision and shape young minds.
On January 24, 2010, Gumbs suffered a stroke and was hospitalized for two days. In December of that year, he released an album in Japan entitled Just Like Yesterday. On the album, he was accompanied by Omar Hakim, Victor Bailey, Marcus McLaurine, William S. Patterson and Chuggy Carter. Any visible signs of the stroke had since vanished.
In February 2015, he was hospitalized for two weeks, though he was able to recover and return to composing and performance.
mercredi 2 septembre 2026
Miles Jaye - Time To Move (The Discography (1987-2010)
He was born in Yonkers, New York,[2] and studied music theory and classical violin for more than a decade at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Saratoga School of Orchestral Studies, Indian Hill and Brooklyn College (now Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music). He also played flute, keyboards and bass while in the US Air Force, and launched his singing career while at Clarke Air Force Base in the Philippines.[1]
Jaye toured Europe with jazz guitarist Eric Gale and singers Phyllis Hyman and Jon Lucien before taking over as "Cop" in the Village People in 1982.[1][3] He stayed with the band for two years before launching his solo career and signing to Teddy Pendergrass' production company Top Priority Records. He released his debut album, Miles, on Island Records, and the song "Let's Start Love Over", written by Micheal Claxton was released as a single and rose to No. 5 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1987.[4] Its follow-up, "I've Been a Fool for You", a Jaye original, was also a top ten R&B hit.[4] Jaye also contributed, as musician, songwriter and co-producer, to Pendergrass' hit 1988 album, Joy.[1]
Jaye released two further albums on Island, Irresistible (1989) and Strong (1991), and continued to have hits on the R&B chart such as "Heaven" and "Objective" until 1991 before forming his own company, Black Tree Records, on which he released a string of increasingly jazz-influenced albums. He has also worked with leading jazz musicians including George Duke, Roy Ayers, Grover Washington, Jr. and Branford Marsalis.
Eric Gable Collection
Ca$hflow - Ca$hflow (Expanded Version) 1986
Meli'sa Morgan - Her Discography
Born in Queens, New York, Morgan got her start in the music industry while singing with a church gospel choir called the Starlets of Corona. Morgan cites Chaka Khan as a major influence.
Her initial chart entry was as the lead singer of the dance group, Shades of Love. They had a single entry at #26 on Billboard magazine's Hot Dance Club Play chart in 1982 with "Body to Body (Keep in Touch)." This was re-popularized in 1994 by new remixes and reached number 1 on the same chart. That same year, music entrepreneur Jacques Fred Petrus asked her to join his newly created studio group, High Fashion, that featured Morgan and two other New York vocalists, Eric McClinton and Alyson Williams. High Fashion's sole hit, "Feelin' Lucky Lately," reached #32 on the US Black Singles chart.[4] In 1983, Morgan left, and was replaced in the group by the jazz vocalist, Marcella Allen. Morgan worked as a backing singer with Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, and Melba Moore.[5]
As a solo artist, she topped the R&B chart with her cover version of Prince's "Do Me, Baby" for 3 weeks,[6] (the title track from her debut album) which also became her only Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at number 46 in 1986.[7], The album was certified gold by the RIAA in May of 2024.[8]. She also had a top 5 R&B single with "Do You Still Love Me" from her debut album.[7] She had several solo hits on the US dance chart as well, including "Still in Love with You," which hit #3 in 1992.[7]
A verse from Morgan's 1986 single "Fool's Paradise" was re-vamped, with modified lyrics, by Mary J. Blige as the chorus to the 1996 Jay-Z single "Can't Knock the Hustle."
After a lengthy hiatus, Morgan released her fifth solo album, I Remember. The first single, "Back Together Again", a song originally recorded by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, received moderate airplay on urban contemporary radio stations during early 2006 and peaked at number 46 on Billboard's R&B chart.[7] The follow-up singles included "I Remember," "Will You?," and "High Maintenance" which were released in September 2006. New material by Meli'sa Morgan can be heard on a German release by Cool Million, which features Meli'sa Morgan on lead vocals on the opening track "Sweet Baby."
In 2014, Morgan was honored with an Unsung Heroine Award by the National R&B Music Society[9] at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, NJ.
Morgan was featured on an episode of TVOne's Unsung which aired in 2015.
On May 28, 2024, Morgan scored her first gold album, for the 1986 debut album entitled, "Do Me Baby." It was certified gold by the RIAA for sales reaching over 500,000 units.[10][11][12]
On July 8, 2025, Morgan received a RIAA gold certification for her debut single, "Do Me Baby".
Jeff Lorber - The Solo Anthology
Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952)[1] is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Prototype by his band the Jeff Lorber Fusion.
Many of his songs have appeared on the Weather Channel's Local on the 8s segments and on the channel's compilation albums, The Weather Channel Presents: The Best of Smooth Jazz and The Weather Channel Presents: Smooth Jazz II. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his album He Had a Hat (Blue Note, 2007)
In 1984, Lorber released his second solo album, In the Heat of the Night, and Jeff Lorber Fusion compilation album Lift Off. Later that year, he and the production duo of David Frank and Mic Murphy, otherwise known as the System, produced Step by Step.[7] The title track, written with Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters, rose to number 31 on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart.[1] The song "Facts of Love" (featuring Karyn White) from the 1986 album Private Passion was his biggest chart hit, reaching No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100[8] and No. 17 on the R&B chart.[1] Several singles from this period also appeared on the Billboard Dance charts. However, Lorber was not satisfied that he was being overtaken by a more vocal and R&B feel on his own albums,[9] so he took a seven-year hiatus.[10] After Step by Step, he quoted Clive Davis as telling him, "We really want you to put more vocals on your records", which Lorber thought was a mistake.[11]
Lorber's keyboard work appeared in the video game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. His input can be heard during the game's closing theme song "I Am the Wind" (which also featured the saxophonist Gerald Albright).[12]
Two greatest hits compilation albums were released in 2000 and 2002. Flipside (2005) was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category.[13] At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, his 2013 album Hacienda was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album.[14] In 2018, he received a Grammy for his album Prototype in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category.
Lorber has done extensive production and session work for other musicians, including Dave Koz, Eric Benét, Herb Alpert, Carol Duboc and Laura Branigan. He hosts a show on Sirius Satellite Radio.
Fat Larry's Band - Zoom (The Albums Collection)
Fat Larry's Band was an American R&B and funk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which enjoyed some commercial success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially in the United Kingdom.
Formed by drummer and vocalist "Fat" Larry James (August 2, 1949 – December 5, 1987[1]) in 1976, the band included trumpeter/flautist Art Capehart, guitarists Ted Cohen and Tony Middleton, vocalists Freddie Campbell (1952 – January 19, 2013) and Darryl Grant, keyboardist Terry Price, vocalist Alfonso Smith, saxophonist Doug Jones, bassist Larry La Bes, trombonist/alto saxophonist Jimmy Lee, and keyboardist Erskine Williams.[2][3]
The band's biggest hits were "Act Like You Know" (which appears on the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack) and "Zoom", which peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, "Zoom" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in October 1982. The notable success of "Zoom" in the United Kingdom resulted in the song being featured on the Christmas 1982 episode of the British TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses titled "Diamonds Are for Heather".[4] Fat Larry's Band had three other hits in the UK: "Center City", "Boogie Town", and "Lookin' for Love".[5]
On December 5, 1987, James died from a heart attack at the age of 38.[6] As a result, the band folded.
The opening drum break from "Down on the Avenue", from the band's first album, Feel It (WMOT Records, 1976), has been sampled by many musicians, including N.W.A, Ice-T, Jungle Brothers, Depeche Mode, and Run-D.M.C.
mardi 1 septembre 2026
lundi 31 août 2026
Con Funk Shun - Take It To The Max (The Studio Anthology)
The band began in 1969 as Project Soul, formed by Louis A. McCall Sr. (drums/percussion/vocals) and Michael Cooper (rhythm guitar/lead vocals), both of whom were high school students in Vallejo, California.[1] By 1971, the band also included bassist Cedric Martin, keyboardist Danny "Sweet Man" Thomas, trumpeter Karl Fuller, and woodwinds player Paul "Maceo" Harrell. Soon thereafter, this fledgling group's classic lineup became complete when lead vocals/multi-instrumentalist Felton Pilate came on board. Project Soul released a lone single in 1972.
In the mid-1970s, the seven musicians formed a new band, calling themselves "Con-Funk-Shun", after a song by the instrumental ensemble the Nite-Liters. They relocated to Memphis, Tennessee in 1973 when they were hired to back up Stax Records artists the Soul Children. There, they came to the attention of Estelle Axton who signed them to her Fretone Records label, where they released 2 singles.[2] Their début album, Organized Con Funk Shun, was recorded in 1973 but remained unreleased until 1978. (More Memphis Sessions from this era remained unreleased until 1980.) In 1975 the band’s name was altered from "Confunkshun" to "Con Funk Shun" by Louis’ wife Linda Lou McCall who also handled the marketing and public relations. They went to Japan for performance in 1975.
In 1976, Con Funk Shun signed to Mercury Records, and then went on to release eleven albums over a span of ten years. The band's 1977 album, Secrets, was certified gold in the United States, as were the 1978 album Loveshine, the 1979 album Candy, and the 1980 album Spirit of Love.[3] They scored a string of top ten hit songs on the U.S. Billboard black singles chart, including "Ffun" (No. 1 in 1978), "Shake and Dance with Me" (No. 5 in 1978), "Chase Me" (No. 4 in 1979), "Got to Be Enough" (No. 8 in 1980), "Too Tight" (No. 8 in 1981), "Baby, I'm Hooked (Right into Your Love)" (No. 5 in 1983), and "Electric Lady" (No. 4 in 1985).[4] "Ffun" (#23) and "Too Tight" (#40) were the group's only songs that crossed over onto the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100; 2 others did make the chart, while 4 of their songs hit the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.
Tensions from within the group built over the 1980s, and the band's final album, Burning Love, was recorded without multi instrument-vocalist and songwriter Felton Pilate.[1] After disappointing album sales, Mercury invoked its "key member clause" and dropped the band from the label. Michael Cooper then moved on to a solo run[1] with Warner Bros. Cooper had an R&B hit with "To Prove My Love" in 1987. The remaining original members tried to continue, but repeated efforts with new lead singers fell short, and they ceased performing and recording as Con Funk Shun in 1987.
Pilate became the in-house record producer and songwriter for M.C. Hammer and his record label Bust It Records.[5] He worked on several albums for the company, including Hammer's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em album, as well as the bulk of Special Generation's 1990 début album, Take It to the Floor. Lead singer Michael Cooper embarked on a successful career as a solo artist, releasing his solo début album Love Is Such a Funny Game on Warner Bros. Records in 1987, and releasing the 1989 album Just What I Like and the 1992 album Get Closer on Warner Bros.' sister label Reprise Records.
In 1997 Louis McCall was shot and killed in a home invasion robbery.[6] Age 45. As recently as 2013, their eleven Mercury Records albums, along with their Greatest Hits and Best of Con Funk Shun albums, continue to be remastered and released digitally.
In 2015, the More Than Love album was released. Three of the original band members, Michael Cooper, Felton Pilate and Karl Fuller, currently tour as Con Funk Shun.[7] In March 2017, they celebrated their 45th anniversary as a band with four sold-out shows at Yoshi's in Oakland, California.
Dynasty - Check It Out (The Studio Albums & More...
Dynasty was essentially the brainchild of Griffey and producer Sylvers, a former member of the Sylvers family group,[1] who had achieved much popularity in the early to mid-1970s. A principal architect of the SOLAR sound, Sylvers had become the in-house producer in 1978 for the label (whose name stood for "Sound of Los Angeles Records"), and it was in this capacity that he brought the members of Dynasty together. The group consisted of three young performers: vocalists Nidra Beard and Linda Carriere and vocalist-keyboardist Kevin Spencer.[2]
After graduating from college in New Orleans, Carriere became friends with Beard in Los Angeles during the winter of 1972.[2] Both were frequent visitors to Maverick's Flat, a popular soul/pop nightclub. The owner of Maverick's Flat, John Daniels, was in the process of putting together a new group, DeBlanc, and both young singers became members.[2] For two years they toured with DeBlanc throughout the major cities of Europe, Japan, Canada, and the United States. When DeBlanc broke up in 1975, some of the original members (including Beard and Carriere) formed a new group called Starfire.[2] For one successful year, Starfire performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, with a few key dates in Finland and Iran in 1976. After the tour the group decided to disband. Around this time Beard developed a strong relationship with Leon Sylvers. She was, at that time, performing with the Sylvers as a fill-in on live dates for the female family members of the group who were minors.[2] This new association proved beneficial to both Beard and Carriere, as Sylvers introduced each to Griffey.[2] Spencer first met Leon Sylvers when he appeared at the Sylvers' Palos Verdes home, unannounced, to audition as the bass player for the group. It was that introduction, coupled with Spencer's performance dates with the Sylvers, that cemented what both Sylvers and Griffey wanted for their new group.[2] Work then began on Dynasty's first album.
Dynasty's debut album, Your Piece of the Rock, released in 1979, yielded the band's first R&B hit, "I Don't Want to Be a Freak (But I Can't Help Myself)". The track peaked at No. 20 in the UK Singles Chart in late '79.[3] Adventures in the Land of Music, released in 1980, was Dynasty's second album. The set contained their biggest hit, "I've Just Begun to Love You" (which peaked at No. 6 on the US Billboard R&B chart; No. 87 on the US Billboard Hot 100; and No. 51 in the UK),[3][4] as well as the songs "Do Me Right" and "Groove Control." The three songs combined to reach number five on the US Dance chart.[5] The album's title track would eventually provide the key samples for Camp Lo's "Luchini, AKA This Is It," Angie Stone's "Lovers' Ghetto," Terri Walker's "This Is My Time," Tha' Rayne's "Kiss Me," Brooke Valentine's "Long as You Come Home," Rashad's "Sweet Misery," Antiloop's "Catch Me," Jadakiss's "How I Feel," HaLo's "Follow Me," Rushden & Diamonds' "Lil' Bits," DSP's "Tisztelet a Kivételnek," and Wiz Khalifa's "Won't Land."
Sylvers joined the group in 1981, but his presence did not elevate their success. That year they released their third album, The Second Adventure.[2] Although it did produce two top 40 R&B hits, "Here I Am" and "Love in the Fast Lane," the album was largely overlooked. Sylvers and Beard were briefly married during the early 1980s.
Right Back at Cha! (1982) generated two U.S. singles, "Check It Out" and "Strokin'." Only "Check It Out" saw chart action, though, and the album peaked halfway up the Billboard 200. SOLAR released two separate singles in the UK, "The Only One" and "Does That Ring a Bell"; the latter reached No. 53 on the UK Singles Chart.[3] The band returned again in 1986 with the album Daydreamin' , but by this time Carriere was no longer part of the group and Nidra Beard was using her Sylvers surname. Dynasty's final studio release was 1988's Out of Control, but the hit singles had dried up.[2] Out of Control has the same cover as Daydreamin' and includes several of the same tracks. Even though new SOLAR producers L.A. Reid and Babyface were brought in for Out of Control, the group could not revive their earlier glory and disbanded soon afterwards.[2] However, they would later appear as backing vocalists on gospel artist and labelmate Juanita G. Hines's 1994 album Jesus, My Wonderful Friend.
Beard, who had cowritten much of Dynasty's material, continued as a songwriter. Her songs appear on albums by Shalamar, the Whispers, 7th Wonder, 911, and LaRue. Carriere continued as a background vocalist, while keyboardist-singer Spencer returned to studio work and can be heard on recordings by Carrie Lucas, Shalamar, the Whispers, Tin Harris, and Gladys Knight & the Pips. Sylvers went on to have a successful career as a producer and songwriter for such artists as Howard Hewett, Ahmad Jamal, the Brothers Johnson, Glenn Jones, and Blackstreet.
Canadian independent record label Unidisc Music Inc. has reissued most of Dynasty's albums on CD.
Vocalist Nidra Beard died from cancer in December 2023, at the age of 71.
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