Music Essence

Genre: Rock
Profile: Britney Spears 

Britney was meant to be a smash-hit. This young talent was born in a small town of Kentwood in Los Angeles on December 2, 1981. She was a gifted performer and at a tender age of eight, she had already made an appearance in the nationally televised Star Search. Her next stop was a three-year stint at the Professional Performing Arts School. During that period she was seen in television commercials. Her audition at The New Mickey Mouse Club was a success, and at 11 years of age she was among the future big stars Justine Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Keri Russell. At age 15, her auditioning led her to a deal with Jive Records.

Jive Records released her debut single Baby One More Time in 1998. The video depicting Britney Spears and dancers in a Catholic school dress was a super-hit and made it to the top of the Billboard Charts. The year 1999 saw Britney’s debut album of the same title enter the charts and hold on to the number one spot for six weeks. It was a smash-hit that sold ten million copies as the year ended. Another three million copies were sold from thereon. The teen’s success saw a deluge of young stars such as Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, and others joining the party.

Britney’s year 2000 release, Oops!…I Did It Again established her as queen, selling over nine million copies. By the time her third album hit the racks, Spears was becoming a young woman, and this was what she was trying to project. The album made it to the top yet again – three in a row-, though the singles did not succeed as much. Britney’s sojourn from music to acting wasn’t successful, as her debut movie, Crossroads, was a commercial disappointment. Her next album in 2003, In the Zone, expectedly topped the charts.

Thereafter, controversies dogged her career with her two-day marriage to Jason Alexander, a childhood friend. Her courtship with Kevin Federline and her eventual marriage to him made news all over, until she was blessed with a son.

Genre: Blues
Profile: Bill Perry

Review: Don’t Know Nothing About Love

Recorded under the Blind Pig label, Don’t Know Nothing About Love has just been released on July 18, 2006. Bill Perry’s own brand of modern electric blues is on full display, besides his song writing skills that have shown an upward swing since the 1990s when he was with the Virgin’s Point Blank label. Bill is known for his dazzling guitar play, which has overshadowed the real talent in his writing. However, his diehard fans came to realize his writing potential with the release of Crazy Kind of Life and Raw Deal.

“I Don’t Know Nothin’ Bout Love” and “Waiting for My Luck to Change” demonstrate a touch of humor and sensibility in the lyrics. “Accuse Me of Lyin’” is just about the same with a rhythm & blues hint about it. Perry’s songs sound strong, and his covers in Dave Bartholomew’s and Fats Domino’s “Hello Josephine” are unique in that that Perry’s allowed his guitar to do the power talking. Barret Strong’s and Whitfield’s  “Ball of Confusion” has Perry contributing in his own inimitable style a uniqueness associated with metal. Here is a piece of work most modern blues lovers will love to own.

Genre: Latin 
Profile: Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia to a Colombian mother and father of Lebanese descent. Though born into a poor family, Shakira took keen interest in music picking up the styles and nuances of both cultures.  She was also attracted to English rock & roll music admiring the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Police, the Cure, and Nirvana.

Shakira wrote her first song when she was eight years old, and was winning competitions as a ten year old. She took guitar lessons at age 11, and by the time she was 13 years old, she relocated to Bogotá to pursue a modeling career. Fate had it otherwise, as she got to sign a record deal with Sony Colombia. Her debut album, Magia (1991), had songs written by her during a five-year period. She had a slow start, but her album had her known across the country.

After a few hiccups, Shakira recorded Pies Descalzos in 1995, which was a slow starter, but soon she became a household name with  “Estoy Aqui”, which became a hit across Latin America and Spain. Shakira then signed Emilio Estefan as her manager and producer, and her next album Donde Estan los Ladrones? (1998) became a worldwide hit. It remained at the number one spot on Billboard’s Latin album chart in the US for 11 weeks. Shakira learnt English so that she could write songs herself. In her crossover bid, she performed on MTV Unplugged. MTV unplugged was released as an album in early 2000, and won her the Best Latin Pop Album at the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards ceremony.

Shakira dyed her brown hair blonde, and worked on her almost English-language album, Laundry Service, which hit the top ten American pop charts.  Her next album Underneath Your Clothes too broke into the top ten. Within a year Laundry Service had hit the triple platinum mark. Shakira had finally arrived as Latin Pop’s biggest female crossover singing sensation after Jennifer Lopez.

Genre: World Music – African Jazz
Profile: Claude Deppa

Claude Deppa is among the top musicians of African jazz. Born in South Africa, this gifted trumpeter and composer is just as good at soul, funk, Afro-jazz, and Afro-Cuban sub-genres. His talent has seen him work with many groups, and he has performed on stage with big names such as Manu Dibango, Miriam Makabe, Andy Shepherd, and Tony Allen. Although based in Britain, he is traveling all over.

Creative as he is, Claude Deppa has worked hard and developed three of his favorite bands – Jazz Explosion, Horns Unlimited, and Five Funky Fellas. You would find these bands playing on stage at most prestigious venues. He owes the development of his talent to his family, who were music lovers. He attended music school, but soon abandoned it to take private Jazz lessons. The trumpet became his favored instrument, as he started playing in bands. Claude performed with Five Funky Fellas at the BBC Music Live festival celebrating its Golden Jubilee at Hyde Park, London.

His living in London has provided Claude with many opportunities he otherwise might have missed. His experience saw him developing and building on his Jazz skills while in Europe. His strong base of vocals and harmonies developed from the times in South Africa has helped him grow into an all round performer. Not a guy to rest on his laurels, this South African dynamite went headlong into another project and has been part of the Grand Union Orchestra. They have been producing some great cross-cultural shows and projects such as “Where the Rivers Meet” and The Call of Paradise”.

Another of his funky CD “Toi Toi” brought out in 2003 was a big success. His love for Jazz saw him participate in the African Music festival in London in May 2004. A lot more is expected of this versatile African Jazz musician in the coming times.

Genre: World Music
The term “World Music” is used to refer to music that does not fall in the pop or folk traditions of North American and British music, or hybrids involving indigenous music forms. Latin Pop and Reggae music were earlier part of the World music genre, but got so popular that now they are a genre of their own. All other music from around the world is classified as World Music.

Review - The Young Flamencos
The neuvo flamenco movement that spread in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s in Spain, created quite a stir during that period. Older flamenco musicians, purists to the core, were devastated by the changes that were being introduced by the young generation nuevo flamenco artists. The flamenco purists from Spain found merging flamenco guitar with salsa, rock, and pop to form neuvo flamenco music an act of musical sacrilege. 

However, the younger generation and other supporters of neuvo flamenco opined that to keep the flamenco fresh and alive, certain newer elements needed to be introduced. The experimentations carried out during the period kept flamenco fresh, which lead to the creation of exciting music that kept Spain at the forefront of Latin music. It is generally agreed that had it not been for the contributions from the younger flamenco artists, flamenco may have lost its charm over the years.

An album – “The Young Flamencos” – was compiled taking musical contributions from the 1983 – 1990 period. Numbers from top neuvo flamenco artists were considered including Ketama’s “La Barbaria Del Sur,”and “Me Llama”, Jorge Pardo’s “Que de Flauta!”,  Auroras salsa influenced “Besos De Caramelo”, and Pata Negra’s “Yo Me Que quedro En Sevilla” and Blues De La Frontera”. The CD also includes some memorable numbers such as “Que Seria de Mi Suerte” (La Macanita), and many more adding up to 18 numbers in all.

Genre: Blues

The Development of Blues
Blues is all about personal expression. Blues started as simple lyrical compositions rendered in soulful tunes. The Africans settled in America began the tradition as work songs. Blues also had an element of spiritualism. These normally feature three-chord progressions, with simple structures that can be further worked upon and improvised to any limits. These songs passed from one generation to another orally in the late 1800s. Gradually, local influences like folk and country started creeping in, and each region had their own version of the blues. In early 1900s, recordings started taking place, and songs of that era depict the use of simple, rural acoustic guitars and pianos.

The period after World War-II saw some major changes being introduced. While some musicians held on to the traditional ways, some others keen on experimentation started mixing it up with jazz. Electric guitars and other musical instruments followed suit.

The Album  Big Joe Williams was a name to reckon with, and most of his invaluable collections have been brought out in the Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1935 – 1941). Recordings of most of the best performances spanning the late 1930s and early 1940s of Williams’ career have been captured in the album. Some of his greatest numbers include: “Little Leg Woman”, Somebody’s Been Borrowing That Stuff”, “My Grey Pony”, “Baby Please Don’t Go”, “Stepfather Blues”, “Wild Cow Blues”, and many others comprising 24 songs in all.

Genre: Rock

Biography
Young People, consisting of the trio vocalist Katie Eastburn, guitarist Jeff Rosenburg, and drummer Jarret Silberman, formed a band in early 2001. Known for their enthralling blend of rock, country and avant-garde, the band came together to form a country band, but it was traditional American music with deep feeling underground rock that they were destined to do. Eastburn and Rosenburg came together in the late 1990s and remained in Berlin until 2000 before relocating to Los Angeles. Silberman came in touch with the duo and the band. Their first release, a self-titled album, earned them glowing reviews. Their second album, War Prayers, was released in fall 2003.

Review - War Prayers

War Prayers is an album as stunningly fascinating as their debut album. Regarded as tension-filled and beautiful, the album features the track “El Paso”, which begins on a warmer and brighter note. “Dutch Oven” in stark contrast presents Young People at their brooding best, with guitars fuming all over and Eastburn wailing on the vocals. Katie Eastburn is regarded indie’s rock most expressive vocalist. She enthralls and flows on the “flapping on the feathers” and “Lord”. “Ne’er Do Well” may give a hint of disorderliness in a mild way, while “Stagecoach” represents sensuality.  Eastburn’s vocals are noticeably clear and almost flawless in rendition.

Drums take over ominously in “Tammy Faye”, while in “Rhumba” the drums play a different rhythmic beat. “ Ask About the Dust” begins on a hushed up note to blossom to a cacophony of sounds so enthralling. You could almost sense the spookiness in “Night of the Hunter”, which begins on a simple note progressing to a degree of rebellion. Young People’s War Prayer has music you would love, though it might put you off at certain points, only to recover. The songs provide the listener with the thrill that comes from adventure, and excitement that comes from good music.