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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1993)
1 ♦ * ’* 4V r V ♦''. V 7v > ♦ ♦ » ♦ I * r / r < # * ’4 ' • • • • V 1 e o -V T he P ortland O bserver • O ctober 06, 1993 P age A5 • 7/Z)-rNTrDT AISjMfNT FourPlay Between The Sheets is the second a lb u m fro m F o u rp L a y , the fir s t name in co ntem pora ry ¡ng m usic advances in a career th a t spans fo u r decades G u it a r is t / p r o d u c e r / c o in - jazz. poser Lee R ite n o u r has been A n d , w h ile we are p la y in g nom inated fo r ten G ram m ys w ith num bers, it should be noted H is tw e n tie th solo a lbum , Wes th a t F o u rp la y ’ s e p onym ou sly- Bound, released th is year, was title d 1991 d e b u t a lb u m on once again a h it, la n d in g in the W a rn e r B ros. R ecords spent a num ber one p o s itio n on every r e c o r d - s e t t in g t h i r t y - t h r e e ja z z and N A C ch a rt in the coun w e e k s a t n u m b e r one on try . B illb o a rd 's co n te m p o ra ry ja z z D ru m m e r H a rv e y M a so n charts and reached num ber tw o has lik e w ise garnered an im on the R & B chart. T h a t’ s an pressive num ber o f G ram m y a ccom plishm en t as im pressive n o m ination s and a m antle fu ll as F o u rp la y ’ s R .I.A .A g o ld - o f aw ards, in c lu d in g three M ost c e r tific a tio n fo r sales in excess V a lu a b le P la vcr trophies fro m o f a h a lf m illio n u n its , a feat N A R A S . rare in ja z z c irc le s and v ir t u B assist N a th o n East has re a lly unheard o f fo r a fir s t a l corded and c o -w ritte n dozens bum fro m a new band. o f c h a rt-to p p in g h its fo r e v e ry N ew , th a t it is, b u t h a rd ly one fro m P hil C o llin s and E ric unknow n. F o u rp la y ’ s lin e -u p is C la p to n to M ic h a le Jackson and im pressive: B arbara S treisand. K e yb o a rd ist/p ro d u ce r/co m - H ere are fo u r m u s ic ia n s poser Bob James has racked up w ith n e a rly a ce n tu ry o f c o lle c an astonishin g run o f G ram m ys, tive m usical experience between g o ld album s and g ro u n d break- them , scores o f A - lis t credits ___________ and an in te rn a tio n a l fo llo w in g th a t num bers in the m illio n s . B u t, fo r F o u rp la y, w h a t's alw ays m attered most is the one th in g that can not be q u a n tifie d . It is the m usic . . .and the p ro o f can be h e a rd on B e tw e e n The Sheets. Produced by F o u r p la y ,. B e tween The Sheets fe a tu re s eleven new cuts, in c lu d ing the title tra ck, w ith a vocal duct 9 am - 11 pm Monday though Saturday ny N athan East and special guest 9 am - 9 pm Sundays Chaka K han, as Used books bought every day till 8:30 pm w e ll as s u c h On the #20 Bus line • One hour free parking s ta n d o u t s e le c tio n s as N e il 1005 West Burnside Street H e fti’ s " L i'l 228-4651 D a r 1 i n ’ , ” th e ‘ N ew & used books ,on Business, M usic, & African-Am erican Studies The "Fourplay" musicians Rave review s and sold o u t concerts convinced the g ro u p that they were do in g it rig h t and re cording began in earnest e a r lie r th is year at L A ' s Sunset and P yra m id studios. “ There was a lo t o f debate about the various m usical d e cisio n s,” re m arks James. “ The d iffe re n ce in ideas, styles and backgrounds made fo r a liv e ly d ia lo g u e and fueled o u r c r e a tiv ity . I t ’ s a dem ocratic process; each o f us has an equal v o ic e .” Y et, beyond the in e v ita b le give -a n d -ta ke , there was m u tual respect and c re a tive cam a raderie that can be c le a rly heard in the fin ish e d p ro d u c t “ We c a n ’ t w a it to get to gethe r to p e rfo rm n o w ” is how James e xp la in s it. “ The in s p ira tio n we got out o f the fir s t record re a lly made it easier. W e made sure we had the tim e to get it rig h t Bob James-penned "C h a n t” and H a r v e y M a s o n ’ s h a u n tin g "S o n g For S o m a lia .” Between T he Sheets a ls o show cases F o u rp la y ’ s consum m ate c ra fts m anship and seamless ensemble p la y in g . F o llo w in g the 1991 release o f F o u rp la y , the q u a rte r to o k to the road fo r an in te rn a tio n a l to u rin g slate scheduled around th e ir a sso rte d s o lo careers. W r itin g fo r the new a lb u m co n tin u e d apace, w ith each m em ber c o n trib m ng o rig in a l co m po sitio n s In D ecem ber o f last year, Fourplay em barked on a three- week s w y ig th ro u g h Japan to e xperim ent w ith th e ir new m a te ria l. “ R ather than create m u sic in the studio, as we had done w ith o u r firs t album , we w anted to test it out on liv e audiences,” e xp la in s Boh James. POWELL’S CITY OF BOOKS Madrona Hill Tavern W e had a c o m b in a tio n th a t proved very successful com m er c ia lly , but beyond th a t, on a personal level, it exceeded o u r expectations about how m uch fun it w o u ld b e .” C o n sp icu o u sly absent was the pressure to fo llo w - u p a smash debut album . “ T he firs t tim e we w ere fe e lin g each other o u t,” co n tin u e s James “ We w ere seeing how o u r s ty le s w o u ld m ix . N o w w e ’ ve had the b e n e fit o f the p u b lic ’ s p o s itiv e reaction W e went in the stu d io w ith more confidence and em phasized o u r strengths S till, we a ll feel se have a lot le ft ,0 do m usica lly W e love the p ro cess and 1 th in k we arc setting in to o u r g ro u p id e n tity .” I t ’ s an id e n tity that has re sulted in some o f the most o r ig i nal and in trig u in g new m usic in recent m einorv. A lo n g w ith such M IS T The Owner: Shawneen Betha. “The Dancing girls are out!" We're singing the Blues on the hill. Open jam sessions are scheduled for Wed, Thurs, and Sundays. The jam sessions will be hosted by some of Portland's finest musicians. Music will continue on Fridays and Saturdays, but with a high impact showtime attitude. The community is invited to come in and join in the party. s te lla r s u p p o rtin g singers as P h ilip B a ile y , Dee F r e d r ix , C hante M oore and P h il P erry, F o u r p la y , on B e tw e e n T h e Sheets, has fashioned an a lb u m that deftly delineates new d i re ctio n , not ju s t fo r ja z z , b u t fo r progressive m usic o f every de scrip tio n . For best results A dvertise I n T he O bserver B E H AV I N ’ Schedule for October 1993 LIGHT, SMOOTH, MELLOW... Sundays, 10,17, 24, and 31. Open Jam Session, Kita Host, 5 to 9pm Wednesdays, 13, 20 and 27. Open Jam Session, Mel Solomon Host, 8pm to 12am Thrusdays, 14, 21 and 28. Open Jam Session, Staples Host 9:30pm to 1:30am: Friday, 8th,Staple Brothers 15th, Kita & Soul 22nd, Mel Solomon 29th, Staple Brothers Saturday, 2nd 9th, Staple Brothers 16th Kita & Soul 23rd, Mel Solomon 30th, Staple Brothers i*? THE CANADIAN MISI TM é *»4 AM * 1 ; , A B o o tie CAT Product io 4 I M P O R T E D CANADIAN MIST JIANN11S DRY CLEANING T < LAVNDRX SERVICE, O ld Fashioned D ry Cleaning el-A FREE PICK-UP & DELIVERY “four Business Counts" Imported and bottled by Brown-Forman Beverage Co . Canadian Whisky. A Blend 40<W, Ale by Volume i ouisville KV I I I I I f 1.4 90.7 FM P O R T L A N D I 1968 V I I 25% Off All Dry Cleaning DRAPES • WEDOING DRESSES (503) 287-0008 WMi coupen • Noi vaM with other öfters 9 9 9 ? 3 2 n d & E . B U R N S ID E 2 3 1 -8 9 2 6 2 3 rd & N W 5403 NE 42nd Exp res 9 30 93 25 YEARS OF COMMUNITY RADIO 1993 CHECK OUT THE MOST ECLECTIC PROGRAMS ON YOUR DIAL: M U S IC M IL L E N N IU M FINE CLOTHING Please present ooupon with order • K B O O -F M d JO HNSO N 2 4 8 -G 1 6 3 Folk’ Blues’ Ja2Z’ Bluegrass’ Soul’ Reggae’ Latin»Public AHairs’ Women's Programming’ Local Music’ Classical’ World Music’ AttemativeRock’ Spintual’ Alrican’ Spoken Arts’ Live Even, Coverage’ Live Music’ New Music’ Interviews’ And much, much more-Tune In! For a FREE Program Guide o f listin g s and in fo rm a tio n Call: (503) 231 8 0 3 2 l/V//VA/Ef?~Portland Music Association Crystal Award 1992 - OUTSTANDING RADIO STATION
