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video: 'hey laura' - gregory porter

12/31/2013

'Liquid Spirit' - Gregory Porter

As we come to a close of 2013 I reflect back on the last 12 months and without doubt one of the major highlights for me musically was the album 'Liquid Spirit' by the American jazz singer Gregory Porter. This, his first release for Blue Notes, is quite simply a magnificent, largely self-penned set which showcases this marvellous singer's smooth, pure and easy going style to perfection. To say this music is the ideal antidote to the pressures of a stressful day is no understatement.

It is refreshing to see Mr Porter's work is not going unnoticed. A huge buzz now surrounds him with titles such as "America's newest jazz superstar" being heard in many quarters. Just recently 'Liquid Spirit' received two Grammy Award nominations, one of each was for the hauntingly beautiful 'Hey Laura'. Straight ahead, yet subtle in its tone, the song just slips under your skin and stays there. A fine example of this gorgeous and sublime album.

Check out the video for 'Hey Laura' right here.

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lauryn hill rocks new york gig!

12/28/2013

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Lauryn Hill

Since leaving prison last October, after servng 3 months for tax evasion, Grammy Award winning artist Lauryn Hill looks to be surging forward on a 'comeback trail' which is picking up steam. She has begun a small-ish US tour of live dates which have proved so popular that Ms Hill has had to reschedule and add more dates.

At the end of November she appeared at The Bowery Ballroom in New York, where I have been told she gave an electric performance with huge audience approval. You can get a small dose of the magic right here where you can see Lauryn Hill deliver from her acclaimed 'The Mis-Education Of Lauryn Hill' album, a pumping reggae-fied version of 'Ex-Factor'.

Here are her live dates:
Jan 26 Huntington, NY (The Paramount)
Jan 31 Port Chester, NY (The Capitol Theater)
Feb 7 Red Bank, NJ (Count Basie Theater)
Feb 11 Charlotte, NC (The Filmore)
Feb 13 Atlanta, GA (The Tabernacle)
Feb 15 Miami, FL (9 Mile Music Festival)

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get ready for the 'dawn of the planet of the apes'

12/19/2013

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Actor Andy Serkis

Prepare for the return of Caesar! After the huge success (both critical and financial) of the reboot of 'The Planet Of The Apes' movie series with the 2011 released 'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes', which starred James Franco and Andy Serkis as Caesar, the ape who led the revolt against the humans, the story is set to continue with 'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes'. Again Andy Serkis (through his mastery at motion caption) reprises his role as Caesar. We arrive at a time when humans are now the minority on the Earth, due to a deadly virus released decades earlier, and there is an uneasy truce between them and the intelligent apes, which begs the question, who will eventually rule the planet?!!

'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes' is due for release July 2014 and stars Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman and Keri Russell. The very first teaser trailer, full of menace and tension, has just hit the Net and has already got my mouth watering for what may well be a terrific ride. See for yourself.....

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Busta rhymes & q-tip rock da real hip hop on 'the abstract & the dragon' mixtape!

12/17/2013

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Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes

A few weeks ago celebrated rapper Busta Rhymes released a track which got the streets talking in a big way, giving him the biggest buzz he has had for quite some time. The song in question,'Thank You' featured current big names Kanye West and Lil Wayne, alongside another old school hip hop hero, Q-Tip, who first made his name as a member of the legendary group, A Tribe Called Quest. Busta and Tip 's contribution to the track displayed a strong flavour that nowadays brings to mind how rappers used to sound, maintaining a pulsating flow with the underlining foundation of rocking the dancefloor coupled with lyrical dexterity. In many quarters this has now become known as 'da real hip hop', which essentially references or captures the feel of the classic rap records from the 'back in the day' era of the 1980's and 90's.

With the release of 'Thank You', in essence Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip were just preparing us for their combined effort of a straight up funky and definitely rocking 'old-skool' flavoured free mixtape (unleashed to the public only a few days ago) entitled 'The Abstract & The Dragon'. Fans of these two iconic MCs will already be aware that Q-Tip also goes by the name Kamaal The Abstract and Busta Rhymes' style of vocal delivery incorporates his Jamaican heritage with a Dragon style fiery roughness that originated in the dancehalls. Together they have produced a blazing selection of 28 tracks which runs in at a non-stop 76 minutes, with guest appearances from such hip hop heavyweights as Big Daddy Kane, Talib Kweli, Kanye West, Raekwon, Lil Wayne and Missy Elliott. This hot mixtape contains remixes of classic cuts ('Scenario', 'Vivrant Thing' 'God Lives Through' among them), hot collaborations and even an exclusive track from Busta Rhymes called 'Pardon My Ways', produced by Q-Tip, to be featured on Busta's new album (due in 2014), 'E.L.E. Extinction Level Event 2'. Q-Tip fans will not have to wait long for a new album as he is currently working on it right now with the working title of 'The Last Zulu' as well as producing Kanye West's next album.

Above I have included the music video for 'Thank You' by Busta Rhymes, featuring Q-Tip, Kanye West & Lil Wayne.

'The Abstract & The Dragon' mixtape is available to listen right here:
http://www.theabstractandthedragon.com/

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as classic 'tribe' album hits 20 years old, q-tip talks the past & the future

12/9/2013

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'Tribe' members Tip, Phife & Ali

American fans of the legendary hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest (made up of MC's Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad) have been expressing their joy at the fact the band have reformed to play the support slot on Kanye West's current major 'Yeezus' tour. The word reaching my ears has been the old-school favourites have been wowing audiences coast to coast.

Now as they come close to the end of their shows, quite timely as last month (9th November to be precise) marked the 20th anniversary of the release of their most celebrated work, the 'Midnight Marauders' record, generally seen by many as one of the best rap abums of all time, Q-Tip sat down with Elliott Wilson (from Rap Radar) for Jay Z's 'Life+Times' website for a very interesting 11 minute interview. The two talked backstage at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York before Tribe were due to hit the stage. In it Tip reveals this may well be the very last ever A Tribe Called Quest show. Anyone who has followed this talented crew closely over the years will know they have experienced several dramatic episodes, as has been highlighted in the excellent 2011 Michael Rapaport documentary 'Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest'. If you have not seen this film, I strongly suggest you seek it out. Without doubt you get a definite feeling from Tip's sentiment that this may well be the finale for the group.

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nba superstar lebron james to make acting debut with comic kevin hart

12/5/2013

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Miami Heat team mates Dwayne Wade (L) and LeBron James (R) flank funnyman Kevin Hart (centre)

James in action on the basketball court

Following in the footsteps of such revered NBA superstars as Michael Jordan ('Space Jam'), Shaquille O'Neal ('Kazaam') and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar ('Airplane'), the hottest guy in American basketball right now, the leader of the champion Miami Heat, Mr MVP himself, LeBron James is to grace the silver screen as it has just been announced he is to make his debut in a film called 'Ballers' (from Universal Pictures), alongside actor Kevin Hart. James has been waiting patiently for the last 2 years to appear in this movie, but only now with the finance secured has it been given the green light.

Kevin Hart will co-write the comedy and production is due to begin next summer. The story itself sounds like a variation on the 1988 Arnold Schwarzenegger/Danny DeVito mga-hit 'Twins'. LeBron James will play a version of himself, but also will play brother to Kevin Hart. This alone should raise laughs as Hart only stands 5'3" while James towers over him at 6'8". Hart's character will play a man who is forever living in the shadow of his NBA superstar brother, but finally gets a chance to prove himself when he and some of his buddies attend a weekend fantasy basketball camp in Miami. All the ingredients seem to be in place for what could very well be a hilarious ride. I cannot wait to see the end result.

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'nebraska' review

12/4/2013

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Bruce Dern and Will Forte in 'Nebraska'

Film director Alexander Payne won the first of his two Adapted Screenplay Oscars for his 2004 road movie 'Sideways', looking at two men dealing with their mid life crisis while travelling around California's wine country. (Incidentially he picked up his second statuette last year for the George Clooney drama, 'The Descendants'). The saying goes good things comes in threes, and this may well be the case for Payne as he returns with yet another superior road movie, 'Nebraska', which arrives with the hint that Oscar glory may not be far behind.

This time around the writing is handled by Bob Nelson, who has delivered a word perfect script, but there is no denying Payne's majestic directors touch throughout this touching story of Woody Grant (played by veteran Hollywood actor Bruce Dern in probably the finest performance of his career), a bad tempered old man who receives a sweepstake letter informing him he has won a million dollars and decides to walk the 850 miles to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect it. He refuses to listen to reason when told by his long suffering family this is just a standard letter sent to everybody and the hook is you must have the lucky numbers to actually get the cash. Instead he plods on regardless by foot, leading his son David (US funnyman Will Forte), whose own life seems to be on a fast track to nowehre, offering to drive him to the company's head office, obviously hoping the trip will lead to some father-son bonding.

The journey gets underway and although the story line is quite simple, the execution and delivery is quite magical as we delve into the lives of Woody and his family, including his no nonsense wife Kate (June Squibb) and his other son Ross (another comic, Bob Odenkirk). Dern brings Woody's pain and boredom to the screen with a realism, allowing us to see him as a real person with flaws, but also vunerabilities that bring us closer to him. His character is no fool, he just believes in what he has been told......he has won a million dollars and he want to collect. You get the feeling he views getting this vast amount of money as a victory of sort, an achievement that his life has not been totally wasted. He revels in his new found celebrity status amongst his community as a rich man, although he has yet to receive a penny.

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toni braxton & babyface duet hits no. 1 in us adult r&b radio chart

12/4/2013

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Babyface & Toni Braxton

R&B singing superstar Toni Braxton had the majority of her worldwide hits on LaFace Records, the label co-owned by L.A. Reid and his successful song writing and production partner Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds, a man who in his own right stands out as a major solo artist. In fact this dynamic duo played quite an active role in creating several of her biggest smashes. However, this was some time ago and the last time Braxton topped the Billboard US Adult R&B Radio Chart was back in 2000 with 'Just Be A Man About It', while for Babyface it has been even longer, when he got to the top of the chart in 1997 with 'Every Time I Close My Eyes'.

Well it now looks af if the situation has come full circle as the news, happily received from soul music fans far and wide, has filtered through that the two stars have joined forces to record a duet album (think 1973's classic pairing of Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye with 'Diana & Marvin') called 'Love, Marriage & Divorce' on Motown/Def Jam. The set was originally slated to be released on 25th November, but it was decided to move it to 4th February instead so it would sit quite nicely with Valentine's Day. A shrew move, methinks. The first single from this special collaboration is the moving powerhouse ballad 'Hurt You' which has just hit number one on the Adult R&B Radio Chart. This fact pleases me as it reinforces the belief I hold that there still is a spot in the marketplace for 'grown up' music to be heard and appreciated by 'grown up' folk. The future bodes favourably for the album.

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video: 'hey laura' - gregory porter

lauryn hill rocks new york gig!

get ready for the 'dawn of the planet of the apes'

Busta rhymes & q-tip rock da real hip hop on 'the abstract & the dragon' mixtape!

as classic 'tribe' album hits 20 years old, q-tip talks the past & the future

nba superstar lebron james to make acting debut with comic kevin hart

'nebraska' review

toni braxton & babyface duet hits no. 1 in us adult r&b radio chart

EON IRVING

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