Musical Massage: Leon Ware

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if certain music had never been released. If certain soul singers hadn't met their maker when they did. I also wonder what would have happened if certain individuals that created classic music material had actually had light shown on their greatness. I'll never know. But what I can do is spread the word about them. I can let all that read this become aware of their existance and proceed to enjoy the outstanding creations that they were responsible for.

Here's a little history of the album that can be found on AMG.

Review

by Thom Jurek

Leon Ware's classic Motown offering from 1976 came about as the result of another classic recording done by Marvin Gaye. Ware had written the single "I Want You" for a demo recording to score T-Boy Ross a recording contract with Motown. Berry Gordy heard it and told Ware he had to have the song for Marvin Gaye's next single. He took it to Gaye, who also loved it. Later, as Ware finished the tracks and orchestrations for his own album, he was playing it back for friends at Gaye's home when Marvin came out of a bedroom to inquire about what it was. He asked for -- and received -- all the tracks from Ware for the legendary I Want You album. This left Ware no choice but to compose an entirely new set of songs for his own record; the result is Musical Massage. (It should be noted that, according to Ware, Gordy, Gaye, and others felt he should also give this album away as a follow-up to I Want You, but Ware refused.) Musical Massage is the perfect mix of soul, light funk, jazz, and what was about to become the rhythmic foundation for disco. Picture the Motown song orchestrations with arrangements by Barry White for the Salsoul Orchestra and you get a bit of the picture. The disc opens with two smooth soul wonders in "Learning How to Love You" and "Instant Love." Strings dominate the melodic arrangement and Ware croons directly to them as Ray Parker, Jr. fills the lines with a silky but chunky guitar. Ware's mellifluous tenor is deep in the swell of strings and guitars as the rest of the band provides a shimmering backbeat for his soul crooning. On a re-recording of the track "Body Heat" -- which Ware had recorded as a duet with Minnie Riperton for Quincy Jones' album of the same name a year earlier -- Parker and bassist Chuck Rainey set a groove for Bongo Brown, Gary Coleman, and Bobbye Hall's percussion orgy. Ware's vocals, augmented by a three-piece female choir, cover the tune with dripping, seductive, sexual energy. Bobby Womack guests on the title track and "Holiday," while Gaye also lends a hand on the latter. Both tracks are spurious soul-funk workouts with fat, smooth grooves underlying Ware's gorgeous voice that melts the heart strings like butter, sounding like the whispering of satin sheets. Produced by Ware with Hal Davis and engineer Cal Harris, the disc has the same sweet, swaying feel as Gaye's I Want You but is a bit tougher, a little funkier in the breaks. The string arrangements by Dave Blumbery and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson are among the best the Motown studios issued to date. Ultimately, Musical Massage is a little-known classic from the supposedly twilight years of Motown. This record reveals Ware as a talented but undercelebrated visionary; he envisioned the evolution of soul and went about to bring it to fruition. Musical Massage is a watermark not only for Ware, but for Motown as well. [Motown's 2003 CD reissue features excellent sound and balance, and includes five bonus tracks from the I Want You sessions, including "I Wanna Be Where You Are" and "Comfort (AKA Come Live With Me, Angel)."]

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A Tribute To Jay-Z

A lil search through E Music's digital download site, while attempting to locate Jay Dee's V.3 I stumbled upon the funniest things I've seen all week.

A Tribute To Jay-Z

Artist: Various Artists
Label: Cleopatra Records / The Orchard

Nuff said, you just check it out and get yahself a laugh!

The Basics EP

Bisc 1: The Basics EP

New York’s known for quite a few things; great food, drink and sometimes crime. The overwhelming amount of artists that either originate in the rotten-apple, or somehow make their way there in order to pursue their artistic careers is astounding. Sometimes, there’s just too much music; too much bad music. But there are some artists making their way up through the muck and shining rather brightly in the dark shadows of independent music, cast by a mainstream that seems to just not get it. The Basics EP is brought to you by Bisc 1, Mr. laid-back underground-circuit character, known in some circles more so for his talent in the visual arts.

The introduction track entitled ‘The Basics’ sounds like, an entrance into a dream that makes gradual well balanced changes from beginning to end, sprinkles of a black and white psychedelic backdrop, with raspy vocals poured into mold. The end result of what the chorus describes. One is for the work / 2 is for the love / 3 is for the life… I can’t get enough.

The less personal ‘Crumbs’ is meant to amp an audience behind stage barriers or beneath oversized earphone-Hiphop-tune sound providers. The track plays like an anthem challenging the listener to enjoy life despite the naysayers and negative vibes often tossed in the direction of those that go after their dreams. Livin life given a lil more the a f*$%. That’s what’s up!

‘2^nd Hands’ addresses the countless individuals that just can’t seem to focus on their own affairs. It’s obvious that Bisc 1 has issues with this, so much so it warranted a full length track on a 6 track EP. Hmm…

‘Pieces’ sounds like a journal entry after a long day of questions pondered. Answers that came through writing that could only be channeled through self, not through the experiences of another being. Part of life is actually living it through experiences.

A past of looking for love in all the wrong places, and admittedly, realizing that maybe his approach might not have been the best one, instead of complaining that a fair companion doesn’t exist is what ‘Lights Out’ reveals about this artist. He describes finding the ‘One’ and proceeds to deliver a story that men from all walks of life have shared at some point, lookin a good woman right in the face and not acknowledging her until it’s too late.

The final track in this culmination of thoughts deemed basic by it’s creator is funky- electronic I guess when it come down to the ‘Decompression’ of things this is the result. The cool airy chorus will stick with you. Bisc has a more forceful tone on this one. It may be one of my favorites.

The say all be all is that The Basics EP is not only worthy of coin but deserves your undivided attention. It’s like a cool conversation you might have with Bisc 1 outside of one of New York’s many music venues where this artist my be found delivering his tale of life through mics on any given night.

Raekwon: "State of Grace"

I salute the chef. Nuff respect for this one. "State of Grace" It's a realplayer file. So sue me!

Tzo: tha skitzofranic bandit

Who wants to live forever, go beyond the reality which we all know and make our own reality? It is possible, and this Bronx natives aim is to take the world on a journey to search for the truth and to influence these new ways of thinking that are actually as natural and as old as breathing. Loving Christian Jamaican parents set the strong foundation of love which he lives by and the streets helped him become the soldier that he is today. Despite his background he knows hip-hop has always been his religion, study, and practice, and he intends to balance the scales by bringing back versatility and originality whether it be mainstream or underground.. He says “Music is ours and we have the power. The world is yours to explore.”

Roots & Culture download song. Check out Blue Collar LLC for more music by Tzo.