Looking for some great live music? GFM fave Jesse Fischer & Soul Cycle is hitting the road with stops in Washington, DC, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, New York City and Philadelphia with special guests Rogiers, Saunders Sermons, DJ Apple Jac and Saltwater Grass.

Check out the schedule below:

Tue, Jan 24, 2012 // Bohemian Caverns // Washington, DC

Ledisi will perform in the MLK Day concert at the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. The museum opens its doors and offers free admission to the public on January 16. Cleveland residents and visitors will have a chance to witness in person a special acoustic show and experience her soulful, yet commanding voice and her non-stop, incredible show. Ledisi along with pop singer Kelly Clarkson will pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. with a special performance on their Main Stage for museum-goers. For more information please visit: http://rockhall.com/event/mlk-day-2012/

Source: Press Release

Connect with Ledisi

www.ledisi.com

The TV One series, “Unsung”, whose premise parallels one of our goals here at GFM, giving those artists that may not be quite as well known, their well deserved accolades and attention. One of their early episodes featured Phyllis Hyman, which gives us an excuse to share some of her classics with you.

“In a Sentimental Mood”, (Duke Ellington, Manny Kurtz, Irving Mills), Sophisticated Ladies [Original Soundtrack], (RCA/1981).

“Living All Alone” (Thom Bell, Cynthia Biggs, Kenny Gamble), Living All Alone (Philadelphia International/1987)

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Stokley Williams of Mint Condition

As a music blogger, I get the opportunity to see a number of shows. Some of them are great and others make you question is it really a “live show” if an artist lip syncs to an autotuned vocal? Like seriously…should I be applauding this because I didn’t get the memo?!?!? But regardless of the debatable things I’ve witnessed, there are others that totally create a moment. For instance, I can think back to I my freshman year in high school, listening to the radio on my Panasonic boom box – yes….I did say my Panasonic boom box . After the DJ said something I can barely remember, I recall hearing these dramatic chords began by a 6 piece band with one lead singer subtlety whispering, “Pretty…..brown…….eyes”. The moment I heard Breaking My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes) , I knew Mint Condition not only played a chord in my ear but they left an imprint in my love for music. Not that it wasn’t enough that this band was under the direction of my favorite music producers, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, but I hadn’t heard a sound like that since precociously rummaging in my mother’s  old funk band albums.  (more…)

“So Amazing”.  The title says it all. The lyrics. The melody. The delivery. Soulful perfection. I wonder how Luther Vandross felt when Erick Sermon mentioned “So Amazing” in “So Wat Cha Sayin’”? LOL! I hope he didn’t mind, cause it proved that EVERYBODY listened to Luther’s music and the shout out made me love the song even more.  A gem from the album Give Me The Reason.

Hola my GFM fam!!

It’s your girl, WestStyle Chronicles back from another music adventure. Where did my travels lead me you ask? Well, to the front row of the Authenticity Tour with The Foreign Exchange. Always bringing their familiar flair of soul, they also brought their contagious concoction of comedy. Check out some of the pictorial and video highlights from their show at The Masquerade.

By the way, I’m gonna need a “Titties & Jesus Don’t Go Together” T-shirts for Sunday morning service, Phonte. If you give me a few more, I can give them to the “Mother Board # 2″ street team too! LOL! (more…)

Lalah Hathaway

Article by: Devian Harris / Photos by: Hope West

If you were near the Atlanta metro area this past Saturday evening, I hope that you were one of the ticket holders to one of the two sold out shows for Lalah Hathaway.  Lalah confessed during the show that this was her first time in Atlanta as the sole headliner of a concert, and this will not be her last time.  After reading this review, you’ll be sure to get a ticket to her next appearance before they sell out.

At the beginning of the show I quickly realized that there would be no opening act, which meant that we would be treated to all Lalah for the entire 90 minute concert.

The set opened energetically with “If You Want To” off of Lalah’s latest release, “Where It All Begins”.  Once Lalah sang “Breathe”, it was on.  She kicked off her gorgeous leopard print stilettos and proceeded to go to work.

Lalah took us through a diverse set of her catalog which included “I’m Coming Back”, “Baby Don’t Cry”, “Small of My Back”, and “Somethin”.

There was also an amazing cover section in which the audience was treated to a jazzy, laid back remake of “Summertime”, “Forever, For Always, For Love”, Anita Baker’s “Angel”, and the classic that received a standing ovation:  a cover of her father’s iconic “A Song For You”.

The audience was also treated to a surprise appearance from singers Trina Broussard during the first show and Musiq Soulchild during the second show.

The energy flowed well throughout the concert as Lalah kept us laughing between her songs with her constant reminder that “You know that I have a cd out”.

The show was wrapped with an amazing scat session that showcased not only Lalah’s vocal and improv ability, but also the vocal ability of her amazing accompanying singers Jason Morales and Toni Scruggs.

As Lalah was mesmerizing the audience with her mastery, the thought came to me that “Lalah’s father is an icon, but Lalah’s mother gave birth to a legend”.

Here are our concert pics on and backstage along with audio footage of Lalah singing “A Song For You” in Atlanta. (more…)

Jesse Johnson: self taught guitarist, composer, producer and funky genius. The flyest brother to rock a pink suit. Ever. Johnson, a guitarist for the ’80s group The Time (now known as The Original 7ven) left the group after the Ice Cream Castles LP, and in 1985 released his first solo project: Jesse Johnson’s Revue. The album produced three top-ten singles including “Be Your Man“; which features that unforgettable bass line.  Johnson went on to release other solo projects as well as contribute to the soundtracks of well-known movies such as The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink  and 48 Hours. Johnson also wrote and produced, “Nights Like This“, a favorite from The Five Heartbeats Soundtrack. Johnson’s latest solo endeavor is Verbal Penetration, Volume I & II  and of course he’s a part of The Original 7ven’s new project, Condensate, available at Best Buy stores now.

Jesse Johnson is one bad “shutyomouth”. Check out the following video, courtesy of Dr. Funkenberry.