Newspaper Page Text
4C
MUSIC
Phil Perry
On croon control
t a time when predict
able, copycat vocals
ave become standard
fare in the musicindustry, Phil
Perry’s music is like a breath
of fresh air.
Instantly recognizable for
his straight-from-the heart,
passion-filled style, he is an
honest-to-goodness original, a
contemporary soul man who
blends the time-honored art of
interpretation with an always
tasteful selection of ballads
and smooth grooves. Never 1s
Phil more musically potent
than on My Book Of Love, his
latest offering, a masterful
showcase for this t'\t‘c'plu)n;ll
singer/songwriter’s artistry
His fourth overall album -
and second for Private Music -
finds Perry at home with an
array of great material that
allows him to display his well
honed skills. While previous
albums contained exceptional
songs, Phil admits that this
time out, he had a particular
concept in mind: “For me, it
always starts with content and
I thought, ‘why not have a CD
that could be like you could
listen tothis album. Each song
is another chapter and as
peopie who have listened to
me over the years know, I'm
only going to sing tunes that
mean something to me. If a
song doesn’t touch me, it's not
going to do that for someone
else when I sing it.”
With that as his premise,
Phil has selected songs that
express emotions, feelings and
experiences he's had, contrib
uting three of his own compo
sitions to the album. The in
fectious, upbeat title track was
co-written with producer
Barry J. Eastmond, who
worked with Phil on his first
two albums and is known for
his productions on such art
ists as Anita Baker, Michael
Bolton, Phyllis Hyman and
Will Downing among others.
“I told Barry about the con
cept I had for the album and
he played me a track and next
thing, we had the song fin
ished!” Speaking about the
other songs he wrote for the
album, Phil states, “A tune
like ‘Makin’Memories'is based
on a real-life situation,” he
explains. “I was going to the
beach with my family - my
wife and our four children -
und the kids were messing
N | . & 3 fi&% "
s PR i : R
8 ‘ B
; e
§ j 3 o 2 . R
:y' N i O
. F
i 3
'y" ll i 3
Phil Perry: “an honest-to-goodness” original.
around. Lillian and I were
having a little romantic mo
ment - and we got busted!”
Then, “F.M.L. (My Fantasy,
My Mystery, My Love’) is re
ally for my wife. We don’t al
ways let people who are im
portant to us know how pre
cious they are and how having
them in our livesmakessuch a
difference.”
As has been the case with
each of his albums, Phil adds
his own touch to an R&B clas
sic. Thistime around, he chose
the lilting “You're As Right As
Rain,” a tender ballad origi
nally recorded by The Stylistics
and later popularized by
Nancy Wilson. “l was inspired
to record the song after | met
its composer, Thom Bell. I
started my career with agroup
(The Montclairs) so my roots
are in multi-harmonic music
and this particular song takes
me back to the era in the ‘7os
when it was first recorded.”
Working with Eastmond and
producers Gary Brown and Lee
Curreri, Phil has crafted an
album that covers a range of
moods and tempos from the
gentle groove of “Closer To
Heaven,” the first single, to
the visual imagery of the poi
gnant “(A Postcard In) Win
ter,” which Phil explains, “has
that timeless quality to it.”
Keeping his music ever real,
he notes that “Keep Me In The
Dark Tonight” - with its old
MARCH 23, 2000
school vocal ‘feel’ - reflects an
experience “anyone who has
ever been in one or more rela
tionship knows about. It’s like
telling someone, ‘Don't tell me
it's over, let's just have one
more time together.’ It's an
other way to look at arelation
ship in my book of love!” |
Love has been the common
theme throughout Phil’s work
as solo recording artist which
began with his 1991 album
Heart of the Man. Prior to
launching his own career, the
East St. Louis-born singer -
whose roots in music were
firmly established through
singing in church - worked
with ‘7os soul group The
Montclairs scoring hits with
tunes like “Make Up For Lost
Time” and “Dreamin’ Out Of
Season” before teaming up
with another group member
to form the duo Perry &
Sandlin and cutting two al
bums for Capitol Records. Af
ter the duo split, Phil began
writing and quickly developed
a name for himself as a back
ground vocalist and session
singer in and around Los An
geles. |
Performances at local clubs ‘
with guitarist Lee Ritenour, a
hook up through good friend
James Ingram with Quincy
Jones, work with famed com
poser Michel Colombier, mu-
See PERRY, page 12C ‘
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Black Rob’s Life Story
True-to-the-game Life Story blazing with
hardcore, reality rap and new additional
bonus tracks.
NEW YORK
Bad Boy Entertainment has
already received tremendous
acclaim from the media and
fans for the currently
unreleased Life Story, the
highly anticipated debut album
from the label’s hardcore rap
representative, Black Rob. Last
year, Bad Boy Entertainment
provided media representa
tives and fans with a condensed
preview edition of his gritty,
grimy rap. Overwhelming posi
tive feedback and optimistic
hype from Rob’s preliminary
releases and performances
prompted Founder & CEO,
Sean “Puffy” Combs to inten
sify the masterpiece with addi
tional original tracks. Black
Rob’s work of art was executive
produced by Puff Daddy.
The second single from the
album 1s Black Rob's street
corner ghettoanthem, “Whoa.”
The prominence and appeal of
thissingle, spawned by its mass
appeal in hip hop clubs in par
ticular, has increased the in
tensity with which fans are an
ticipating Life Story.
Hailing from Harlem, Black
Rob first amazed listeners on
Puff Daddy & The Family’s al
bum No Way Out. “I Love You
Baby,” featuring Rob, and No
torious 8.1. G. as well, received
much praise for the lyrical ge
nius and the first class produc
tion with which it was created
and performed. Black Rob fur
ther scorched the hip hop scene
with the mega smash “I Dare
You,” released on the Slam
soundtrack in 1998. He col
laborated with The Lox tomake
“Can I Live,” a contemplative
survival creed. All of these
rough and rugged singles are
featured on the upcoming al
bum.
Life Story features brilliant
collaborations with Puffy, No-
BSU’s presents
Annual Gospel Sing-Off
The Black Student Union
of Augusta State University
will present their Second
Annual Gospel Sing-Off on
Sunday, March 26, at 3:30
p.m. at the Grover C. Max
well Performing Arts The
atre. This event is open to
‘4_’ '
G O R
QR fae
_..‘ ‘ - B
R -
< n
.
v
Blckßob
torious 8.1. G., The Lox, Lil'Kim,
Jennifer Lopez, Joe Hooker,
Cee-Lo, Bad Boy's Mark Curry
& G-Dep, Cheryl Pepsi Rilev &
Racquel, as well as labelmates
Mase, Mario Winans and Carl
Thomas.
Thealbum’s co-executive pro
ducers are Deric “D-Dot”
Angelettie and Harve “Joe
Hooker” Pierre. The A-list pro
duction team includes Puffy, J
Garfield, Buckwild, Mario“ Ye
llow Man” Winans, Joe Hooker,
Robert Ross, Chris Murray and
Carlos Broady. The Hitmen,
Bad Boy’s in-house production
dream team, represent in full
force with D-Dot, Nashiem
Myrick, Ron “Amen Ra"
Lawrence, Yogi “Sugar Bear”
Graham and Charlemagne.
Rob hits the music scene at a
time when fans are fiending for
a return to what brought hip
hop its mass appeal in the first
place — gritty, grimy realism
inits most simplisticform. With
the blend of Black Rob’s narra
tive intellect and his authentic
street knowledge, there is no
doubt that Black Rob will bring
to all who listen a perspective
on life that rap has come to
overlook.
the publicand admission is
free. The Sing-Offfeatures
local choirs, church groups,
and inspirational youth
performances.
For further information,
please contact Donna
Miller at 799-9264.