A Long Time Ago...

Hey Soul Mates,
and, ok, even the haters... I loved and I mean loved the new Star Wars movie. And none of you can say a thing to change my mind. Yeah, there are some plot holes and a few overdone effects scenes. But on balance the whole thing worked for me. Revenge of the Sith reminded me of why I loved the first 3 movies, and in a good way. I'm just in from my 2nd viewing (and I rarely go to see a movie more than once in the theater) and I'm ready to watch it again.
I'll say no more. Don't want to spoil the impact if you haven't checked it out yet.
Love, Power, Peace

If the Sith get Red and Sam Jackson gets purple; I'll be the one with the orange lightsaber, thank you.

Remember When RHS...

Hey Soul Mates,
remember when RHS appeared on South Park? It was the episode where Cartman and Kenny go to the school for the arts to become "sensitive" & they wind up being the New Air Supply.


Thanks, PB.
The pictures from this past weekend's recording sessions are up.

Love, Power, Peace

Spreading The Gospel

Hey Soul Mates,
tonight, Bryan and I went to the Nikka Costa show at the Roxy. It was her record release celebration, of sorts, so it was sold out. Stylistically, Nikka's a cousin of ours. Her audience would definitely appreciate Rush Hour Soul. So, we spread the good word about RHS to as many as possible. Maybe you were there? It was sweltering in the club, because Nikka insisted on turning off the A/C to help her sing. On one hand, I can appreciate that. On the other, it made many of the fans uncomfortable and the fresh air outside was exactly that. I did spy Nikka's manager, American Idol judge, Randy Jackson in the room.

Sunday's recording session went very well. We are pleased with the vocal performances so far. Everybody's voices will be heard this time around. That's right! Even Doug joins in on a couple of choruses. I made the mistake of picking the most challenging song to sing first. Whooo. Nearly disabled my voice for the rest of the day. So, we switched gears and I got warmed up well enough to tackle all 3 songs in just a few hours time.

There are quite a few pics that I'll be posting in the next day or two. They will catch you up on our work in the studio. Have a great Wednesday.

Love, Power, Peace

T.A.L.E.N.T.

Hey Soul Mates,
what a long, productive day. Yow. I flew home from Atlanta early in the day. Traffic here was sluggish and it took about an hour to get back to NoHo. Lots of traveling.

It was a lot of fun hanging out last night with Dad, Nate and my cousin Skippy, who drove in from South Carolina. We talked a lot about the Harlem of Dad's youth, the importance of passing down black American history, and, of course, music. By the way, Skippy matched my dapperness! Check us out. Yes, more musicians in the family. You go, cuzzin!

Shortly after getting home, I buzzed off to Santa Monica for our recording sessions. We are producing these tracks ourselves. A giant leap for us. When I got there, Doug was set up, mic'ed and ready to go. It's great to be back and getting down to real business with Bryan & Doug. This is us with our engineer Chris (who is da man!). Go to our website to see a larger version.

The tracks we put down are something else. I'm listening to the non-mixed roughs right now and they are fantastic. No vocals, no mix, no levels and they are cracking! Now it can be revealed which songs we are producing and which basic take we are using for each (drum roll...) :

A Talent For Loving (take 1)
Down By Love (take 2)
and the ladies' choice, Done Lost My Mind (take 4)

Oh, dinner was chicken parmigiano from Buca di Beppo across the street from the studio. I highly recommend it. It's got lots of prosciutto on top.
All right. Time for this singer to go to bed. Must get 8 hours of sleep. Minimal talking for the next 12 hours. And zero talking on the telephone. So if you call me, be prepared to leave a message. Have a great Sunday. We'll be doing our best to make records for you to enjoy.

Love, Power, Peace