Gordon Chambers is currently signed to L.A. Reid's Hitco Music publishing company where has written for over 60 recording artists, including Aretha Franklin, Queen Latifah, Brandy, Nick Lachey, Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan and Marc Anthony. The Teaneck, New Jersey native is best known for his 1994 Grammy-winning hit "I Apologize" for Anita Baker and his 1995 number one Grammy-nominated smash "If You Love Me" for the trio Brownstone. More recently, the eight-time ASCAP award winner has written for superstars Yolanda Adams, "Someone Watching Over Me;" The Isley Brothers featuring Ron Isley, "Just Came Here To Chill;" Patti Labelle and Ron Isley, "Gotta Go Solo;" Aretha Franklin, "The Only Thing Missing;" as well as Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, "My Love"; Carl Thomas, "My Valentine"; Angie Stone, "No More Rain (In This Cloud);" and Beyonce, "After All Is Said And Done". Introducing Gordon Chambers is his debut album. Produced by Chambers with Troy Taylor (B2K, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin), Barry Eastmond (Yolanda Adams, Anita Baker) and Brian Bacchus (Norah Jones), it is classic R&B with hints of jazz.
www.gordonchambers.com
Jason Eskridge was born and raised in Rockwood, TN. After graduating from Tennessee Tech University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, he accepted an engineering job in Huntsville, Alabama. Unable to shake his passion to make music, he left Huntsville, and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he currently resides with his family. Eskridge has been a studio vocalist, back-up singer, or opening act for such artists as Lyle Lovett, Randy Travis, Jonny Lang, Nicole C. Mullen, eLi, Micah Dalton, Grits, Knowdaverbs, Circadian Rhythm, Sammy Ward, DJ Maj, Toby Mac and Pigeon John. A featured vocalist on numerous projects, Eskridge has entertained youth groups and college campuses across the country as well audiences in South Africa, Amsterdam, and England. With a desire to create music that causes listeners to love God, love themselves, and love their fellow man, Eskridge is working on a solo project.
www.jasoneskridge.com
Jazzhole has changed its roster since its 1994 self-titled debut, but the band's core songwriting and production trio-Marlon Saunders, Warren Rosenstein and John Pondel-has not. Poet's Walk, Jazzhole's fifth studio recording, explores the new hybridity of modern urban soul: downtempo grooves and acoustic R&B, with hints of bossa nova. Jazzhole remains an evolving collective of many of New York's most accomplished live and studio musicians. Saunders provides much of Jazzhole's signature soulful sound. A heavily sought-after session singer, songwriter and producer, he has recorded with Bobby McFerrin, Michael Jackson, and Sting, and has penned songs for Barry White, Maysa, and Vanessa Rubin. Pondel's emotive guitar has been featured with artists Gerald Wilson, Diane Schurr and Carmen McRae. He is also half of Verve's smooth jazz duo, Kombo, and was a founding member of Uncle Festive (Mesa/Blue Moon). In additional to writing, and production, Rosenstein mixed Poet's Walk with brother, Glenn Rosenstein. He initiated Jazzhole's formation, while working on seminal acid jazz tracks "Hot Music" (Soho) and "Jazz it Up" (CFM Band) in the early 1990s.
www.jazzhole.com
Leisa Johnson is a diverse musical talent. She wrote and recorded the hit dance single "Take You Home" for the House Music Group Kadregha (Zero Meno Records), earned a role in the film Brown Sugar, co-starred in the independent film All in One, was understudy to the lead in the musical Mama I Want to Sing, and was a featured recording artist on the soundtrack for Cold Blooded by author Omar Tyree. Johnson has performed as a featured vocalist with the Terry Project Ensemble for Ushers' New Look performing arts summer camp, has done reference vocals for Mariah Carey on the Busta Rhymes album It Ain't Safe No More, opened for LaFace recording artist Donell Jones, and been a background vocalist for Sony Recording Artist Lyfe. Most recently, Johnson was cast in the international stage play "Can't Stop Lovin You" based on the life of Ray Charles. She teamed up with producers Ed Lawson and Wesley Davis of The FunkLabb on her single "The Way I Like It."
www.myspace.com/leisajohnson
LEANiN6 features vocalist Kevin Webb and guitarist Russell DeLaCour, who met and began jamming together as students at Brown University. Years later, the two crossed paths again in Brooklyn and began writing and recording together. DeLaCour and Webb have integrated their diverse musical interests to create songs with rock, funk, and soul influences. Completing the band are Don Martin on bass, Trevor Holder on drums, and Lisala on background vocals. For several years now, the band has been part of New York City's vibrant underground rock scene, playing at many of its most popular clubs. In 2003, LEANiN6 released an EP of live recordings.
www.leanin6.com
Lisala is a vocalist, songwriter, and producer who has developed a futuristic R&B sound she calls 'Grit Soul' which is reminiscent of Chaka Khan, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Clark Sisters. In 2003, Lisala released her self-produced, independent album entitled Get It; critically acclaimed in the US and abroad, it has been distributed in Japan. Her single "Last Tear" was featured on the 2004 NeoSoulUnited 2 compilation, and her rendition of the soul classic "Tell Me Something Good" garnered the notice of the legendary Chaka Kahn, who popularized the original. Lisala has sung with the improvisational ensemble Burnt Sugar, itself a recipient of the 2003 Arts International Grant and a featured group on BET on Jazz and at international festivals. She has also performed with soul musicians Angela Johnson, Alison Crockett. Brian Jackson, LEANiN6, and Tamar Kali. Lisala is currently recording her second release.
www.lisala.com
Vernon Reid is perhaps best known as leader of the pioneering multi-platinum rock band Living Colour, with its double platinum 1988 debut album, Vivid, its gold-certified successor, Time's Up (1990), and two consecutive Grammy Awards. Living Colour opened for the Rolling Stones' 1989 "Steel Wheels" tour, appeared on the first Lollapalooza tour in the summer of 1991, and reunited to tour internationally and release the 2003 album CollideOscope. He released Mistaken Identity, his first solo album, in 1996, and collaborated with the choreographers Bill T. Jones on "Still/Here" and Donald Byrd on "Jazztrain" He performed "Party 'Til The End of Time" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with The Roots, an end of the millennium tribute featuring the music of Prince's album 1999. Reid has produced records for the Mexican hard rock group Resort and two Grammy nominated albums: Papa by the great African singer Salif Keita and Memphis Blood: The Sun Studio Sessions by James "Blood" Ulmer. Reid composed the score for the 2002 film "Paid In Full," directed by Charles Stone III, and the documentary "Ghosts of Attica." Along with DJ Logic, Reid formed the group The Yohimbe Brothers, releasing Front End Lifter in 2002. He was music supervisor for the film "Mr. 3000," starring Bernie Mac and directed by Stone. Reid released the 2004 album Known Unknown with his band Masque (Leon Gruenbaum: keyboards, Hank Schroy: bass, and Marlon Browden: drums) and Other True Self in April 2006.
www.vernon-reid.com
Marlon Saunders has been creating music since the age of five. After graduating from Boston's Berklee College of Music, the Maryland native moved to New York to follow his dream of becoming a session singer. Over the years, he has worked with a wide range of artists, including Sting, Martha Wash, Nine Inch Nails, Donald Brown, Lauryn Hill, Shania Twain, and Bobby McFerrin, and has penned songs for Barry White, Maysa, and Vanessa Rubin. Saunders continues to write, sing and produce with the acid-jazz band, Jazzhole, and is a professor of voice at his alma mater, Berklee. With his band, Mood Control, Saunders has released two solo recordings. His latest album, A Groove So Deep: The Live Sessions, features different approaches to favorites from his critically acclaimed debut release, Enter My Mind, along with songs written especially for the new project. Additionally, Saunders has developed the commissioned documentary project, Workin' on a Building, a musical and cinematic journey through slavery and post-slavery on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
www.marlonsaunders.com
M'Balia Singley is a singer/songwriter whose talent has been featured on the stage, in recordings, and in live performance. The Philadelphia native sang the role of Marian Anderson in the city's premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's First Lady Suite and performed in noted Philadelphia venues Painted Bride, NXNW, and the Kimmel Center as well as the Nuyorican Poets' Cafe, and Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City, and Sprague Hall, along with the Mitchell-Ruff Duo, in New Haven, Connecticut. Singley has also done jingle work for such diverse clients as HBO, sports station WIP in Philadelphia, Sony Bravia, and the Yale British Art Center. Singley has shared the stage with Bilal, Sandra St. Victor, and Donald Harrison, and was part of a duo with Thom Loubet. She was also a background singer on acoustic pianist Orrin Evans' LuvPark debut album as well as John Legend's Grammy-nominated single, "Stay With You" from his debut album, Get Lifted.
www.myspace.com/mbalia
Soulfège blends highlife, reggae, funk, and hip-hop. The critically acclaimed Pan-African fusion band has electrified audiences from Boston to Ghana and beyond. The band has been featured in such major media as BBC Worldservice, National Public Radio, the Boston Herald, MNET Africa, and MTV Africa. Their latest track from the album Heavy Structured (Plus), "Sweet 3 Mix," features Grammy-winning Dancehall star Bounty Killer. The band has also garnered nominations for a Boston Music Award (Best World Music Act of 2005), an Independent Music Award (Best World Fusion Song 2006), and a Boston Urban Music Award, as well as a finalist slot in the 2005 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. With a vision to "fight for Mama Afrika" using the power of popular culture through their Sweet Mother Tour (SMT) project, Soulfège is redefining the sound and image of Pan-African music in the 21st century.
www.soulfege.com
Kevin Webb is Executive Producer of A LOVE NOIRE/HUNGER: The Soundtrack. A singer/songwriter, his versatility as a vocalist has enabled him to work with such diverse artists as Vernon Reid (Living Colour), James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & The Gang), Colonel Abrams, Robyn, Yohimbe Brothers, Lisala, and Angela Johnson. He has been a featured vocalist on releases from New Jersey-based gospel record label OFMB and took part in their 2004 tour of China (reported to be China's first ever gospel music tour). Webb has also worked with acclaimed music production house The Lodge on music for television and radio, and appeared on The Apprentice. In addition to his band LEANiN6, Webb is a vocalist and co-producer with Jack Walker's Fort Greene Collective, which combines artists from various musical genres with some of the most respected names in jazz, including Gary Bartz, Andy Bey, Renee McLean, Greg Bandy and Judy Bady. Webb has written, arranged, and performed music for the stage and recently made his foray into film music as assistant music supervisor for "Mr. 3000," directed by Charles Stone III. Through his newly formed company, Outerboro Music, Webb will continue creating music for film, television, advertising, theatre, and dance, as well as produce additional album projects.
www.myspace.com/kevinwebbmusic
