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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*?
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