Nadir Omowale Archives - Page 6 of 25

August 15, 2012

PRE-ORDER NOW: Distorted Soul Sound Pack for Producers, Beat Makers & DJs

Some artists defy classification. Detroit-based rock and soul insurgent Nadir rebels against it. So true to form, Nadir’s Distorted Soul Sound Pack for producers, beat makers and DJs, arms you with a stockpile of original rock, funk, jazz and soul kits, instruments and loops for your production arsenal.

Explore the making of the Distorted Soul Sound Pack, created by funk/rock/soul producer Nadir in collaboration with BKE Technology at legendary Submerge Studios Somewhere in Detroit.

We stuffed the Distorted Soul Sound Pack with tons of crunchy rock guitars, roaring B3 organ, percolating bass, stellar post-bop saxophone riffs, and loads of live drum fills and loops. Click below to download FREE kits and samples, and take advantage of nearly 40% pre-order savings!

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May 18, 2012

Exclusive Interview: Nadir Featured on TheDetroiter.com

Since its founding in 2002, TheDetroiter.com has covered thousands of happenings and artists, and continues to be one of Detroit’s favorite sources for art and culture.

In this exclusive interview by Chariti Joi Ntuk, Nadir talks about his forthcoming album The Book of Jonah, about why Detroit is the world’s number one music city, and about why organizing artists is like herding cats.

Nadir Omowale: Diary of a Distorted Soul

TheDetroiter.com

Somewhere in Detroit sits an anonymous building on a nondescript block. Throughout any given day, a steady stream of conspicuously awesome people carrying guitars, keyboards, etc. flow in and out of this seemingly forgettable building on a seemingly forgotten block of a city whose demise some people seem to think is a foregone conclusion.

If music is indeed the soundtrack to life, then Detroit and more specifically, this building, is very much alive thanks to its long list of strong-winded musicians who blow life into it daily. One of the musicians you can find in this building, and who is most responsible for the city’s current musical pulse is none other than 11-time Detroit Music Award winner, Nadir Omowale.

Read the full article HERE

May 17, 2012

Bob Davis of Soul-Patrol.com: This has been one heck of a week (if you are a F-U-N-K-A-T-E-E-R)

Note from Nadir: Earlier this week I posted about the passing of bass master Donald “Duck” Dunn of Booker T and the MGs. Well, wouldn’t you know it, before the virtual ink of my blog had dried, we heard that Detroit’s own, P-Funk and Brainstorm vocalist Belita Woods also left us. The very next day we got the news that Chuck Brown, the Godfather of DC Go-Go, made his transition. UPDATED: And right after I posted this, we learned that Donna Summer passed away. What a week!

Our good friend, Bob Davis of Soul-Patrol.com, by virtue of his esteemed role as connector between artists and fans in the worlds of soul and funk, sometimes holds the unenviable position as bearer of bad news. He laments that too often his weekly Soul-Patrol newsletters function as a black music obituary column. As you could expect, this has been a trying week for him in that regard. Yet, in his late night email, he comments on these deaths with his usual eloquence and poise. I can’t say it any better, so we’ll let Bob do the talking.

This has been one heck of a week (if you are a F-U-N-K-A-T-E-E-R)
Originally posted by Bob Davis of Soul-Patrol.com
May 17, 2012

There has certainly been a whole lot going on in my world and the world around me over the past week, that has absolutely nothing to do with music. I won’t bore you all with the details, but I will tell you that it has all been quite good.

All of that good stuff is somewhat tempered by all of the bad stuff that has been happening in the neighborhood of the world that Soul-Patrol lives in.

This has been one of the worst weeks that I can recall. (and the week is not yet even 1/2 over yet)

We lost 3 soldiers this week. FUNK soldiers that is:
Continue reading

May 13, 2012

Rest in the Funk – Donald “Duck” Dunn

While Motown bassist, James Jamerson, revolutionized the bass guitar by applying his jazz training to 60s pop music, the great Stax bass god Donald “Duck” Dunn melded gut bucket blues with good old-fashioned southern soul. The result was a rugged blue-collar groove that shines on dozens of timeless recordings.

On May 13, 2012 the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer passed away in his sleep after a hit at the Blue Note in Tokyo. His music, like the two classic cuts below, will live on forever. Rest in the Funk, Duck Dunn.

April 2, 2012

Yaminah Brock’s Endless Journey

Yaminah Brock is a veteran of stage and studio, and has sung every style of music from house and funk to country and Big Band and swing.

But now, she’s the boss, leading her own band, Yaminah and Jazzy Soul, and financing and marketing her solo debut, “Endless Journey,” a full-length collection of jazz-inflected soul music slated for a spring release.

While spending more than two years recording and assembling her band, Brock discovered the rewards and challenges that lie on the road to independence. Yet, she stays on course by staying true to herself—and the music.

“I have new respect for anybody who has [recorded an album] independently, because this is no joke,” Yaminah says. “It’s a whole other job! But it’s well worth it. I’ve learned a lot.”

Hearing Redd: Detroit Soul Singer Neco Redd and The Full Disclosure

“The stage is my sanctuary,” says Ebony Neco Washington, also known as Neco Redd. “I turn into a completely different monster on stage. I’ve been blessed with the gift to work backstage as well, and I don’t have a problem with it. But if you’re gonna put me out front, expect Neco to act a damn fool!”

A native of Detroit’s west side, Redd seized the solo spotlight for the first time in 2010 with “No Discipline,” an eight-song EP of raw, bluesy soul. A year later, rather than watch a collection of songwriting demos languish in the dustbin, she offered an exciting and diverse 15-track mixtape as a free download through NecoRedd.bandcamp.com. October 2011’s “The Full Disclosure” shows off Redd’s powerful pipes, her versatility and her funky attitude.

Still, Redd promises that the real heat will arrive this spring with the release of her first full-length album, “Still Trippin.” She describes it as a “bass heavy, guitar heavy,” horn-driven album with live instrumentation provided by Tony Ozier’s West Coast band The Doo-Doo Funk All-Stars.

BLAC Detroit Music Blog: Always Saxy

Efforts to promote Saxappeal’s 2009 debut album “Stay Saxy” were often rebuffed by smooth jazz radio programmers who judged it “too urban” for their stations. That was good news.

That first album by Saxappeal, also known as LaDarrel Johnson, blends hip hop and new soul sensitivities with a sultry contemporary sax sound that is meatier and more adventurous than typical smooth jazz fare. The prominence of the horn, however, ensures that Saxappeal’s music won’t be played on most R&B, urban contemporary or hip hop stations, where all songs must feature singing or rapping.

He could have bowed to the pressure and churned out a second album that conformed to the dictates of the almighty programmers. Instead, he stayed true to his art, titled his new disc “Unmarketable” and set about creating an album of music that he describes as “delicious jambalaya.”

B.L.A.C. Detroit Music Blog: D Allie

Emcee D’Allie is something of an anomaly in the often individualistic world of hip hop. He has fashioned a career based on a steady stream of compelling collaborations with producers, other artists and fans.

David Allie Strauss, otherwise known as D’Allie, grew up in a household where music was a family affair. He inherited a love for many types of music from his guitar-playing, Jewish father, Gary Strauss—who is featured extensively on his son’s albums—and his mother, Komeh Allie Strauss, who is from Sierra Leone.

“When I was maybe 6 or 7, my dad was playing at bars late night, and then waking up early to go teach,” D’Allie, now 28, remembers. “Occasionally he would bring me out for the first set, around 10 or so.”

Papa Strauss built a small, short-scale guitar for little David, but the instrument fell by the wayside when some older cousins introduced the youngster to “Yo! MTV Raps.” D’Allie began writing rhymes at age 7.

Fast forward about two decades, his hip hop duo Progress Report released the full-length album, “Eddie Logix and D’Allie Are Progress Report,” last month.

Detroit Producers Rule

For decades, Detroit has maintained arguably the most influential music scene in the country. Yes, awesome musicians, incomparable vocalists and mesmerizing performers learned everything they knew here. But this city’s influence on music is attributable not only to the iconic singers whose names we all know.

The D is also musically influential because of the people you don’t see. Detroit has contributed some of the most innovative and gifted music producers on the planet.

From early Motown staff producers like Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield, to funk maestro transplant George Clinton, to techno pioneers Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, to rock legend Don Was, to hip hop genius J Dilla—these and other local producers have set the global standard for quality, creativity, musicality and innovation.

Whether or not lovers of soul, gospel, R&B, hip hop, jazz or electronica know it, producers from Detroit consistently reshape and reinvent music. Year after year, they are leaders in the development of new sounds that resonate with music fans around the world.

Because the nature of record production is behind the scenes, producers tend to be unsung heroes. They are often more responsible for the sound of a hit song than the artist whose voice is on the record, but their contributions may go unrecognized by the general public.

Rest In The Funk – Gil Scott-Heron

“You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out. You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip out for beer during commercials, Because the revolution will not be televised.”

Gil Scott-Heron made his transition on Friday afternoon, May 27. He was 62 years old.

He is a Godfather of Hip Hop, and the father of socially, politically conscious and revolutionary minded poets, singers and musicians.

“Home is where I live inside my white powder dreams. Home was once an empty vacuum that’s filled now with my silent screams. Home is where the needle marks try to heal my broken heart, and it might not be such a bad idea if I never, if I never went home again.”

His best work challenged an often superficial, materialistic, uncaring America, while turning a light on the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of regular people.

“A rat done bit my sister, Nell, and whitey’s on the moon. Her face and arms began to swell, and whitey’s on the moon.”

Gil Scott-Heron is inspirational. His poetry, his songs are important because of his ability to frame complex political questions in simple everyday language.

Rest in the Funk, Gil Scott-Heron.

http://www.youtube.com/v/f3hCQcrfg28?fs=1&hl=en_US

Nadir Omowale

Nadir Omowale: Diary of a Distorted Soul

Read More In BLAC Detroit Magazine

Emcee D’Allie is something of an anomaly in the often individualistic world of hip hop. He has fashioned a career based on a steady stream of compelling collaborations with producers, other artists and fans.

READ MORE AT BLACDETROIT.COM