Page 2
November 01, 2000
On Portland
Focus
A
S U P P L E M E N T
OF
W
■¡Jìnrtlanì»
(©b se rv e r
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Publisher
Charles H. Washington
Editor
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
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I W Tlw Portland Observer
Focus
---------------- HJortlanh ©bseruer
Changing Faces
If W ebster’s dictionary defines
an artist as "a skilled performer;
one who professes and practices
an im aginative art” , then being a
“recording artist”
should entail
those quali
ties in re
sp e c t to
m usical
expres-
s i o n .
In an
id e a l
s c e -
nario,
su ch
a
n
adept
re -*
co rd -
i n g
a rtis t
w o u ld
su rre n -
<
der
to
th e ir true
i n s p i r a -
tio n , c r e a t
ing so u nds and
m elo d ies straig h t from the heart
and so u l, be ev e r-e v o lv in g and
a lm o s t n e v e r p r e d ic ta b le .
C h a n g in g F a c e s ’ C a s s a n d ra
L ucas and C h arisse R ose have
wom en o f today.
Consequently, Changing Faces
are taking us m any places. Not
exactly looking to have their bills
paid, they insist they can ’t be
bought to the light shufflin’
bounce o f “A in ’t G ot M e,”
w hich features the spitfire
rhymes o f Queen Pen. Fast
rising vocalist L il’ Mo
jo in s the unpredictable
pair on “ Last N ight,” su
per
s o u lfu l
D av e
H ollister checks in for
“ I T old Y ou,”
a n d
labelmate
M a lik
Pendleton’s
vocals are
f e a tu r e d
on “Out
o
f
S ig h t.”
Still, no
o n e can
d e n
C h a n g i n
F aces’ instinc
tiv e p ro w e s s
when it com es
to more rom an
tic ,
hook-
driven R&B like
“ Ladies M an.”
long assu m ed th e ir ro les as re
co rd in g a rtists, fu rth e rin g th eir
a rtistry w ith th e ir lo n g -aw aited
new A tlan tic re le a se , “ V ISIT
M E ,” a set that m anages to show
and p rove th at th e ir nam e is
m eant to be taken very literally.
A llo w in g c h a n g e to o ccu r
g ra d u a lly , C h a n g in g
Faces begin their
“ V IS IT M E ’
chapter with
a fa m ilia r
r in g , th e
d re a m y ,
c o m p e l-
1 i n g
“ T hat
O th e r
Woman”
W ritten
a n d
p r o
duced
by
R& B
s ta r Jo e ,
the female-
s p e c ific
m i d t e m p o
tr a c k
g iv e s
C a s s a n d ra
C h a r is s e a n o th e r
song with which to e x - ,
press the point o f view o f the
le v e l-h e a d e d , stro n g -m in d e d
And then there’s the title cut,
w ritten by longtim e friend, R.
K elly, who always m anages to
com e up w ith the cen terp iece
sm ash selection for C harisse and
C assandra. H aving know n K elly
since befo re his c a re e r-b re a k
ing 12 Play disc, the R & B /pop
su p e rsta r has since c o n trib
uted w hat was to be a hit
s in g le fo r th e f irs t
(“ Stroke Y ou U p” )
and
seco n d
(“G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.”)
C h a n g in g F a c e s
L P s. T h is tim e
proves no differ
e n t, as “ V IS IT
M E” revisits the
feel o f fan favor
ite s lik e “ S e n
sual.”
It’s obvious with
“ V IS IT M E ” th a t
C a s s a n d ra
and
have come
a long way since first
making each other's ac
q u ain tan ce w hile stu
dents at New York C ity’s
fam ous M usic and A rt
high school. Through post
graduation found them pursu
ing separate educational oppor
tunities (Charisse attended John
‘4
Ja y
C o lle g e ,
C a ssa n d ra
earned her BA
d e g re e from
H u n te r C o l
lege), little did
they know they
shared a fate in mu
sic.
Like fine wine, mu
sic is not only sup
p o se d to get
b e tte r w ith
time, but not
tasted a m o
ment too soon.
H ence, C han g
ing Faces can
a lw a y s
be
counted on to
ta k e
th e ir
tim e
and
come correct.
U n p re ssu re d
to
ham m er
their music out
at the rigorous
pace o f others
they choose to
concentrate on
q u a lity
an d
b ringing th e ir
b e s t.
T hat
would be “VISIT
M E.”
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