T he P ortland O bserver • S eptember
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2 8 , 1994
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Expectations (treat For Jad e’s New Release
Gladys Knight
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One Of Contemporary Music’s Most Prodigious Talents
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With a highly contem porary
edge, Just For You is indeed classic
Gladys Knight, thanks to the partici
pation of super hit makers Jimmy
Jam and Terry Lewis, and Kenny
“Babyface” Edmonds among others.
It’s a collection of truly great tunes,
the perfect mix of soul-filled, heart
felt ballads and infectious grooves,
each one imbued with that special
feeling that Gladys invests into each
and every song she sings.
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Tonya Kelly, Joi Marshall and Di Reed of the group Jade.
A record shattering debut al
bum can happen if the
harmonies are tight, the
production top notch, the
look fight and fate smiles.
Jade’s first album was a mas
terpiece of timing as the public
embraced the trio’s matchless har
monies, stylish look and powerful
delivery.
It can be tougher the second
time around - expectations are
greater, com parisons inevitable.
Ja d e ’s M ind, Body and Song
quickly dismisses any doubts and
easily withstands tim e’s acid test
by delivering dazzling new music
that captures all the talent glimpsed
in their debut and delivers even
more.
T his new collectio n of
songs is proof positive these three
young women have grown in depth,
dimension and dedication int he year
and a half since their knockout gold
debut album, Jade to the Max.
Success came so quickly, they
crisscrossed the world, touring and
doing TV spots (everything from The
Tonight Show and Soul Train to
multiple Arsenio appearances and
six shots on England's wildly popu
lar Top of the Pops).
As th e ir hit sin g les, I W annna
L ove Y ou, D o n 't W alk A w ay and
— R KclllJ
Fora guy who once perform ed
on Chicago's elevated train p la t
form s to display his m usical talents
?. Kelly has com e in a long way.
His career has advanced so far
vith his second album 12 Play that it
iroke the record by holding the num-
>cr-one spot on the Billboard’s R&B
;hart, topping The Bodyguard
ioundtrack which held the
¡pot for eight weeks.
<elly's double platinum
llbum held the number-
?ne spot 12 consecutive
veeks and didn’t seem to
ie losing appeal. It also
-»caked at number one on
Billboard’s pop charts. It has
¡old more than two million copies in
its first 10 weeks.
“Sex Me" is the first single on
his album, released on the Jive
Records label. Other popular tunes
include “Y our B ody’s C a llin ’,"
Bump N ’ Grind,” and “I like the
Crotch On You.”
It also includes an old Spinners
tunc, “Sadie,” dedicated to his later
mother. "1 go back very for with
Sadie.' My mama used to always ask
me to sing it around the house. She
just loved to hear me sing that song. It
reminds me of every mom around the
world.”
Robert Kelly is no stranger to
success. His previous album. Born
Into the ‘90’s established him as a
force to be reckoned with in the in
dustry. It sold one million copies with
such tunes as “Honey Love" and
"Show Dance (Hey Mr. DJ).’
And what makes all of this so
amazing is Kelly wrote, produced
and performed all the tunes himself.
A self-taught musician, Kelly plays
all the music for each tune.
That's amazing for a guy who
f
performed for free on Chicago's el
evated train platforms. He says some
one placed a hat nearby one day and
people started dropping money in it
while waiting for their trains.
Kelly and his former group,
Robert Kelly and MGM, were regu
lars at one of Chicago’s popular
nightclubs, singing for free to
get exposure.
And it worked.
The group was
disco v ered
by a tal-
e n t
O n e W o m a n , r a c e d up th e
c h a rts and m ade them a
fa m ilia r nam e on ra d io ,
they grew c lo se r. N ew
frie n d s w hen th is w h irl
w ind b e g a n , T o n y a , Joi
and Di began to d isc o v e r m ore
a b o u t each o th e r. T hey o ften
stra y e d up all n ig h t, sh arin g
e v e ry th in g from th e ir fa v o rite
g o sp e l, ja z z and R&B so n g s;
w ho lik es spicy food, w ho c a n 't
re sist a new pu p p y ; w ho c a lls
hom e the m ost; w ho can c a tc h a
cab the q u ic k e st in th e ra in ;
w ho stays up all n ight to w rite;
to w hat s a tis fie s the h e a r t’s
d e sire in each one o f th e se s is
te rs linked by fate and by m u
sic.
“I called this album Just For
You because it’s music for the people,
the people who have always been
with me as well as for the new fans we
have. Because of the feedback I get
from most of the fans who attend my
concerts, I know there’s a market out
there for people who want the kind of
music that’s on this record,” said
Gladys.
Her second solo album for MC A ,
Gladys’ latest work is a lyrical testa
ment to love, strength and truth; from
the upbeat “Next Tim e” to her so-so-
soulful, show-stopping “End of the
Road” medley.
The co-producer of three cuts
and the executive producer of the
scout. The members later appeared
on Natalie Cole’s Big Break televi
sion talent show and won the
$100,0(X) grand prize. Kelly split
with the group afterward
Since then Kelly, 25. has pro
duced for Gladys Knight. David
Pcaston and High Five He also pro
duced three singles for the Winans
on their album All Out, singing a
duet with Ronald Winans on the tunc
“That Extra Mile."
We wonder if anyone would
recognize him today it he visited one
of those elevated train platforms
where he used to perform enthusias
tically Perhaps they will
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T reach
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“Black History Month pro
vides us with an opportunity to
applaud African American’s ac
complishments: The commission
felt that this exhibit would be
worthwhile and educational for
Oregon’s residents,” Stoudamire
said.
O r e g o n ’s C o m m is s io n on
B la c k A ffa irs is d e d ic a te d to
a c h ie v in g so c ia l, p o litic a l, e c o
n o m ic , and le g a l e q u a lity for
O re g o n ’s A frican A m erican s.
S to u d a m ire feels th at an e x
h ib it w ith an e m p h a sis on A fri
can A m erican a rtists and their
w ork in the S tate C ap ito l is a
sig n ific a n t a c c o m p lish m e n t. He
hopes that a rtists at all levels
w ill re sp o n d to the c o m m is s io n 's
search for w ork.
"W e w ant to c e le b ra te d u r
ing B lack H istory M onth w hile
le a rn in g and g ro w in g . T h e re is
m uch we can learn from the m es
sages in o u r a r tis ts ’ w o rk .”
A nyone n eedin g a d d itio n a l
in f o r m a tio n
s h o u ld
c a ll
S tou dam ire, at (5 0 3 ) 725-4646.
A c a re e r m ile sto n e , Ju st F o r
You is an album fille d from sta rt
to finish w ith sta n d o u ts. T h e r e ’s
“ I D o n ’t W anna K n o w ,” a su p e r
ballad p ro d u ced and w ritte n for
G la d y s by G ra m m y w in n e r
B abyface w ho she notes, “ is one
o f my fav o rite so n g w rite rs. I ’ve
been doing his m usic in my live
show for a long tim e and our
sc h e d u le s ju s t d id n ’ t p e rm it us to
get to g e th e r until now . I ’m glad
it w orked out b ecau se w o rk in g
w ith him was m ore than a dream !"
*
Art Sought For
Black History
Month Exhibit
O regon’s Commission on Black
Affairs is seeking afrocentric art of
any medium to exhibit in the State
Capitol Building during Black His
tory Month, February 1995. Inter
ested artists should submit 35-mm
slides no later than N ovem ber 30,
1994, to Oregon Com m ission on
Black Affairs, P.O. Box 751, Port
land, OR 97207. M aximum per art
ist is four entries.
A c c o rd in g
to
C h a rle s
Stoudamire, the com m ission's ex
ecutive director, the group hopes to
in c re a se a w a re n e ss o f A frican
American artists’ contributions, so
cial issues and concerns.
album with manager (and son) Jimmy
Newman, Gladys says Just For You
is adeparture from previous projects:
“I got to be m e. It wasn’t about trying
to compete with w hat’s happening
today. I didn’t experience any kind
o f pressure, spoken or unspoken, to
do that. There have been times in the
past when I felt that to be accepted,
we had to come with dance-oriented
music. I didn’t want that to be the
motivating factor this time. We took
our time and making this was a very
peaceful process for me.”
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