Showing posts with label Gail Jhonson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gail Jhonson. Show all posts

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Gail Jhonson - Keep The Music Playing

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:02
Size: 96,5 MB
Art: Front

(0:21)  1. Intro/Gail & Genie
(4:05)  2. Just For Kicks
(4:18)  3. Heaven
(4:12)  4. How Do You... Playing?
(3:46)  5. Soleh
(4:07)  6. I Wanna Love You
(3:40)  7. I'll Be Around
(4:55)  8. Gimme Your Groove
(4:48)  9. Goodnight
(4:02) 10. Sunrise
(3:44) 11. Take What You Need

Gail is definintely keeping the music playing in 2009!  Pearls...the new CD by Gail Jhonson is now signed by NuGroove Records, based in Moorestown NJ. This Cd follows her well-received musical tracks from her 2004 release Keep The Music Playing  ... which starts off with a lively tune called “Just For Kicks”, with Norman Brown on wah-guitar & "Big Game" James Manning on bass. Followed by the classic "Heaven" by BeBe & CeCe Winans. “How Do You Keep the Music Playing”, beautifully presented in the contemporary jazz style... with a feminine touch! "Soleh" is a duet with jazz superstar Norman Brown and bassist extraordinaire Sekou Bunch. “I Wanna Luv U” is a ballad that brings to mind the great songs of yesterday, featurning upcoming producer/songwriter Addam "Gift" Driver and the sweet voice of Charlia. And then there is “I’ll Be Around” a remake of the Spinners smash hit! Pamela Williams on sax lends her groove to “Gimme Your Groove”. Gail lays it back with “Goodnight” a slow groove, and “Sunrise” wakes you up as only Vidais Lovette can with the vocals. “Take What You Need” invites you in and leads you to a “Tropical Island” where Gail Keeps The Music Playing for you!

Born and raised in the city of Philadelphia, Gail Denise Jhonson began piano lessons in elementary school at age 10. Proving to be a gifted student she advanced quickly and played her 1st gig’s at age 14 playing organ with numerous local Funk and R&B bands. On her musical pursuit, by 18 she enrolled into Berklee College of Music and later received a B.A. in composition. Returning home, as a “jazz pianist”, Gail performed with several jazz bands, and other popular Philadelphia artists. She left Germantown in 1985, with her keyboard strapped on and landed an audition with Morris Day (of the “Time”). She eventually moved to Los Angeles to make her dream career come true!  By 2004, Keep The Music Playing, Gail Jhonson’s highly acclaimed debut contemporary jazz CD on her own (Philly The Kid Records), brought her into the international recording spotlight. Led by the hit singles Heaven and Just For Kicks the CD received strong support from the music industry ((“I have shared the stage with Gail many times, and have always found it to be musically inspiring. She has years of experience supporting countless artists but it’s so good to hear her step up, front and center and embrace the spotlight as a solo artist. She does so with grace, elegance, musical integrity and a whole lot of style!” Dave Koz).) and heavy spins on many of the nations smooth jazz stations; Gail’s solo career is now cemented in success!  Gail additionally works as the music director, keyboardist and vocalist for smooth jazz super star guitarist and vocalist Norman Brown where Gail is quite busy. In 2005 the nations highly successful and much anticipated Norman Brown’s Summer Storm Tour was launched with special guest Peabo Bryson, Everett Harp & Brenda Russell followed by the major success of the 2006 Summer Storm 2 Tour with special guest Patti Austin, Alex Bugon and Paul Taylor!!

In addition to putting the finishing touch’s on her follow up to the Keep The Music Playing CD, which is slated for a September 2007 release, Gail is currently working on the music for Summer Storm 3 with this year’s special guest Jeff Lorber and Marion Meadows!!  Gail recently competed in the Capitol Jazz Challenge, Washington DC and last year performed for four weeks in Austrailia with Rain Pryor’s Fried Chicken & Latkas. While there Gail had the extreme pleasure of performing with Abarigal jazz musicans, an experience Gail calls “exhilirating” and looks forward to recording!!  In past years, she has performed with Pink, Minako Honda, Norman Brown, Vanessa Williams, Bobby Lyle/featuring Mindi Abair, Jermaine Jackson, and Morris Day. With early influiences of Duke Ellington and Herbie Hancock and later Stevie Wonder and Joe Sample Gail has recorded with Bobby Womack, Ray Parker Jr. Vesta, Howard Hewitt, Brian Culbertson, OC Smith, Paul Jackson Jr. Pamela Williams, Phil Perry and yes Milli Vanilli. Her various television performances include: BET on Jazz, MTV, Lou Rawls/Parade of Stars, Soul Train, The Tonight Show and numerous video performances.  Gail also has a love for theatre, particularly Gospel Musicals. Her first professional experience was offered as a piano substitute for the stage play Eubie, at the Ivar Theatre, in Hollywood. She soon began playing for a Langston Hughes play, Tamborines to glory, directed by the late Lincoln Kilpatrick, at The Bradley Theatre also in Los Angeles.  Thereafter, she was scoring and was the music director for gospel performances Saving Grace and Reason for the Season, written by Dennis Rowe. In 2003, Gail produced the Saving Grace Cd, with performances by a muti-talented cast including her son, rap artist/producer VEIN and her daughter Tamina, a wonderful vocalist and budding musician.  Presently, Gail finds time to for songwriting, producing, and piano instruction. She has written, Funk Keyboards, a contemporary guide to chords, rhythms and licks and Dictionary of Keyboard Grooves published by Hal Leonard as part of Los Angeles Musician's Institute Master Class Series. Gail is a member of Musicians Union (local 47), Bmi, Naras and has a Certificate of Service, Music Education-Post-secondary/State of California. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jhonson

Keep The Music Playing

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Gail Jhonson - New Beginnings

Styles: Piano Jazz, Smooth Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:21
Size: 110,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:10)  1. New Beginnings
(4:08)  2. Uptown Philly
(4:12)  3. Soulful Strut
(4:33)  4. To Tamina
(3:38)  5. Here We Go Again
(4:40)  6. Gail's Groove
(4:20)  7. Magical Mystery
(4:45)  8. Hands Up
(4:33)  9. Vibe
(4:18) 10. And I Love Her
(3:58) 11. Mr. Calloway

Philadelphia native Gail Jhonson is the heart of the all star female ensemble, Jazz in Pink, and produced their debut CD, 1st Collection in 2014. She started her solo career with the album Keep The Music Playing (2004), followed by Pearls (2008) on nuGroove Records, HerStory on 111 East Music (2011) and this year New Beginnings on Philly the Kid Records. After the loss of her son, her daughter off to Berklee College of Music, an unexpected surgery the recordings of her new album were like a deeply liberating breath. Gail is supported by prolific musicians like multi­instrumentalist Hamilton Hardin, saxophonists  Marion Meadows and Mike Parlett, bassist Jimmy Haslip and many more. The album introduces into Gail's new creation with the title song. Tailored to win, this elegant tune is the ideal platform for Gail's keyboard talent extraordinaire. Uptown Philly is the first single of the album and Gail's tribute to her birth town. She touches our ears easily and fluffy with her divine style.

Soulful Strut is certainly the secret hymn of smooth jazz. Covered by a legion of musicians like George Benson (1977), Nick Colionne (1994), Grover Washington Jr. (1996), Paul Jackson Jr. (1996) or Rocco Ventrella (2006) the song hasn't lost its magic in Gail's hands. To Tamina is dedicated to Gail's lovely daughter Tamina, who is meanwhile 21 years old. The mellow peaceful ballad Here We Go Again is really soothing to the soul. This catchy song showcases Gail's vocal talent. Gail's Groove is tagged as tribute to Lonnie Liston Smith, the legendary funk, soul and jazz musician. Gail discreetly incorporates jazz elements into her piano playing. Magical Mystery takes us on a journey into the land of dreams with gentle sounds of vocals, sax and piano. The funky Hands Up is a critical contribution to the current tense situation of police violence.

Bassist Jimmy Haslip is shining on Vibe with the well­intoned sound of his fretless bass. Most of the elders will know the song by the Beatles And I Love Her, written mainly by Paul McCartney. Falsetto singer Rob MacDonald and pianist Jhonson have filtered out of this simple song its substantial essence and rebuilt it to a meaningful love ballad full of emotions. Mr. Calloway is inspired by Cabell "Cab" Calloway III, the late American jazz singer and bandleader. Best known by his appearance and his song Minnie the Moocher in the movie Blues Brothers. Gail comments: “If Big Band music would be Pop music now....it might sound like this! I like all the instruments and I see dancers swingin' away!!? Now imagine Fred Astaire dancing to funk music and you can follow her idea! With New Beginnings we experience Gail Jhonson 2.0. Composer and keyboardist in the best form of her life. http://www.smooth-jazz.de/firstview/Jhonson/NewBeginnings.htm

New Beginnings

Friday, December 27, 2013

Gail Jhonson - Pearls

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:47
Size: 107,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:44)  1. Pacific Breeze
(4:21)  2. My Soldier
(4:09)  3. Silky Slide
(3:18)  4. Moments Of Love
(4:33)  5. Runnin' Around
(3:50)  6. Feel Good Groove
(4:06)  7. Miles Away
(3:48)  8. Whisper Yours
(3:44)  9. Let's Do This
(4:12) 10. Sisters
(3:13) 11. Pearls
(3:43) 12. Soleh

There is both good news and bad news where Gail Jhonson's Pearls is concerned. The good news: Jhonson is a talented pianist, keyboardist and composer who gets a lot of direct or indirect inspiration from artists like Joe Sample, George Duke, Lonnie Liston Smith, Herbie Hancock and Rodney Franklin -- 1970s pianists/keyboardists who had serious jazz chops but also liked to get funky. The bad news: Pearls, like a lot of smooth jazz releases, is usually too produced for its own good. Going for a lot of production is fine if your focus is electronica, hip-hop or dance music, but Jhonson's focus is a mixture of jazz, R&B and pop. 

While Pearls isn't meant to be straight-ahead hard bop by any means, jazz is still an important part of the picture and if you are trying to bring together jazz, R&B and pop the way that, say, Sample did on Carmel, the soloist shouldn't be smothered by the production. The soloist should have some breathing room, which is something that Jhonson doesn't have nearly enough of on Pearls. That said, there are some attractive grooves on this 46-minute CD  and when Jhonson has enough room to stretch out and improvise, one catches some glimpses of what she is capable of as a soloist. Take "Whisper Yours" and "Let's Do This," for example. On those tracks, Jhonson is not suffocated by an excess of production and programming; as a result, she achieves a healthy balance of melodic accessibility and jazz spontaneity. Unfortunately, too many of the other selections downplay her skills as a soloist. Pearls has its moments, but Jhonson is capable of a lot more.  ~ Alex Henderson  http://www.allmusic.com/album/pearls-mw0000784297             

Monday, December 23, 2013

Gail Jhonson - Her Story

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:45
Size: 100,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:42)  1. Make It Happen
(4:32)  2. Electric Lady
(4:11)  3. Crusin After Dark
(4:13)  4. Dear Aaron
(4:12)  5. Still Care About Me
(4:06)  6. This One
(5:44)  7. For You Mom
(5:26)  8. HerStory
(3:29)  9. Do Something Else
(4:04) 10. Dee's

Growing up in one of music’s historical hotbeds, Gail Jhonson was one of many hard working dreamers who truly loved to play the piano.  She was thoroughly awed in how nearly everyone in Philadelphia seemed to take music seriously; even the one who were strictly ‘basement’ musicians.   But between her teachers and funk heroes she heard on the radio like Sly (Stone) and Stevie (Wonder), there were constant conflicts of interest. While the teachers demanded training her in the classical genre, Jhonson highly desired otherwise. In those frustrations, she took a year off from achieving her goals. Thankfully, Jhonston's passion was rejuvanated after witnessing an electrifying concert from Stevie in her hometown’s Uptown Theatre.  She was especially drawn to his Farfisa keyboard; an organ which reminded her of Sly’s rock flavored organ breaks on many of his hits including “Dance to the Music.” Despite persisting on obtaining a Farfisa, she settled for another keyboard.  Jhonson found plenty of work during her high school years (actually as flute player); proving herself worthy of a trip to the top-notch Berklee School of Music.

As she experienced the Berklee life, she slowly changed her direction toward jazz; admiring legends like Ramsey Lewis and John Coltrane. In the meantime to keep paying the bills, Jhonson worked on a smaller scale; mostly in the R&B and soul world. But the seal breaker for Jhonson was an audition for the vivacious entertainer Morris Day. Needless to say after ‘getting the job,’ the doors opened towards her own platform, including a long term musical directing gig for master smooth jazz guitarist, Norman Brown. Her impressive resume crosses over various urban genres performing with Bobby Womack and Sheila E.; and touring with Brown on the Summer Storm Series with Patti Austin, Marion Meadows and many more. As a musical educator; Jhonson produced several instructional books and CD’s including Funk Keyboards, heading full circle to her days of soaking in the dynamics of the Sly’s and Stevie’s of the world.

Known affectionately as ‘The First Lady of Smooth Jazz’, Jhonson dubbed her nickname of “Philly the Kid’ as her music company and record label. Now signed to the 111 East Music family, Jhonson returns with a funky good supporting cast on HerStory. The title was inspired by her hard working mother who fully invested in Jhonson’s musical vision. Much like her previous work: It’s About Time, Keep the Music Playing and Pearls, HerStory aims to please those that crave the pure elements of smooth jazz with a heap of funk frosting. . “Do Something Else,” released as a 2010 sneak preview of HerStory, mixes Latin spiced saxophone from Tom Braxton. Dwayne ‘Smitty’ Smith supplies some tasty bass guitar licks for “Dear Aaron.” The head nodding “Crusin’ After Dark” featuring trumpeter Lin Rountree demonstrates Jhonson’s clever spacing leading into the one-two ‘funky horn break’ punch. “Electric Lady” is a showcase for the keytar; a synthesized keyboard which produces deep, melodic acoustic bass lines. The solemn “For You Mom” steers away from the grooves for a short period, yet Jhonson still manages to ooze poignancy without the schmaltzy effect. HerStory may be pretty much the smooth jazz prototype for many. 

But what puts the icing on the cake is the passion and expressions Jhonson puts into every note and chord plus the guest musicians she surrounds herself with. And of course, there is the undeniable funk factor that Jhonson is passing; as a teacher and musician; onto future generations of jazz groove architects. ~ Peggy Oliver 
http://reviews.theurbanmusicscene.com/2011/06/19/gail-jhonson--her-story.aspx