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Longtime saxophonist will play mellow jazz at Tangier in Akron
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer
Published on Thursday, Oct 08, 2009
It's going to be a funky soulful weekend in Northeast Ohio with two R&B bands and a groovin' saxophonist all playing shows in the area.
First up is a fun blast from the '80s past with Morris Day & the Time at the Stage Door at the University of Akron's E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall on Friday night.
Yeah, the band hasn't put out a record of significance since 1990's Pandemonium (forgot that one, didn't ya?), but you don't go to a MD&TT show to hear the latest sounds. You go because it's just fun.
Morris is still doing the same playa-playa schtick from the band's day in the commercial spotlight but if you're between the ages of 30 and 40 (or are just a huge fan of the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which ends with the Time performing Jungle Love) then you just want to do the Bird, the Walk and rhythmically rattle off a phone number (that would be 777-9311) while watching a crack R&B band (that's right, an R&B band!) go through its funky paces.
I've seen Day and the Time a few times in the past decade or so and it is a bit like walking through a time warp back into the '80s, but as anyone who recalls the old videos for songs such as The Walk knows, kitschy cool was always part of their M.O.
I can pretty much guarantee you'll hear the hits Gigalos Get Lonely Too, The Bird, Jungle Love and Cool.
Since it will be at the cozy Stage Door (hopefully they'll leave a little room in front of the stage for dancing), the show should feel more like a party with a really good house band.
Also at the Stage Door on Saturday night will be the debut of the Keeper's Lounge, an offshoot of the Keepers of the Arts group that organizes the annual Hip Hop Showcase at Lock 3 Park.
Keeper's Lounge begins with neo-soul singer Dwele, who has most recently been heard in a series of television commercials for McDonald's fancy new McCafe drinks.
In an interesting bit of synergy, the Detroit native, who is a contemporary of the late beloved Detroit beatmaker J-Dilla, also recorded a duet version of the McCafe song/spots with Cleveland soul singer Conya Doss, who will be performing at Stage Door next month.
Dwele's most recent album, the self-produced Sketches of a Man — his fourth including his self-released debut Rize, was released in 2008 and mixes the smoky, simmering neo-soul grooves of his major-label debut, Subject, with the more jazzy vibe of the follow-up, Some Kinda, with a healthy dollop of mellow hip-hop grooves.
If you still want funky and soulful but perhaps a bit more mellow, saxophonist and longtime Berklee College of Music professor Walter Beasley will bring his smooth jazz sounds to the Tangier in Akron on Friday night.
Beasley, like many smooth jazz artists, makes a killing in Northeast Ohio as this area can't seem to get enough, and Tangier is apparently the de facto smooth jazz headquarters for Akron.
Beasley, who also sings, has a new album out, Free Your Mind, that is . . . well . . . smooth and ummm . . . jazzy with a distinct R&B/pop feel.
As I've said many times before, ''smooth jazz'' doesn't move me much, but Beasley has been making records for more than 20 years and is one of the top-selling saxophonists in the world not named Kenny G.
The album's lead single, the midtempo Steady As She Goes, spent 30 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart and, according to the press materials, Beasley is the ''highest selling full-time professor/recording artist.''
Details:
What: Morris Day & the Time
When: 7:30-10 p.m. Friday
Where: Stage Door at the University of Akron's E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 199 Hill St.
Tickets: $10
Information: 330-972-7570, www.uaevents.com
What: Walter Beasley
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Tangier, 532 W. Market St., Akron
Tickets: $30, $35
Information: 330-376-7171, www.walterbeasley.com
What: Dwele and DJ Krate Digga
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Stage Door at the University of Akron's E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 199 Hill St.
Tickets: $10, UA students $5
Information: 330-972-7570, www.uaevents.com, www.keepersoftheheart.com
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
It's going to be a funky soulful weekend in Northeast Ohio with two R&B bands and a groovin' saxophonist all playing shows in the area.
First up is a fun blast from the '80s past with Morris Day & the Time at the Stage Door at the University of Akron's E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall on Friday night.
Yeah, the band hasn't put out a record of significance since 1990's Pandemonium (forgot that one, didn't ya?), but you don't go to a MD&TT show to hear the latest sounds. You go because it's just fun.
Morris is still doing the same playa-playa schtick from the band's day in the commercial spotlight but if you're between the ages of 30 and 40 (or are just a huge fan of the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which ends with the Time performing Jungle Love) then you just want to do the Bird, the Walk and rhythmically rattle off a phone number (that would be 777-9311) while watching a crack R&B band (that's right, an R&B band!) go through its funky paces.
I've seen Day and the Time a few times in the past decade or so and it is a bit like walking through a time warp back into the '80s, but as anyone who recalls the old videos for songs such as The Walk knows, kitschy cool was always part of their M.O.
I can pretty much guarantee you'll hear the hits Gigalos Get Lonely Too, The Bird, Jungle Love and Cool.
Since it will be at the cozy Stage Door (hopefully they'll leave a little room in front of the stage for dancing), the show should feel more like a party with a really good house band.
Also at the Stage Door on Saturday night will be the debut of the Keeper's Lounge, an offshoot of the Keepers of the Arts group that organizes the annual Hip Hop Showcase at Lock 3 Park.
Keeper's Lounge begins with neo-soul singer Dwele, who has most recently been heard in a series of television commercials for McDonald's fancy new McCafe drinks.
In an interesting bit of synergy, the Detroit native, who is a contemporary of the late beloved Detroit beatmaker J-Dilla, also recorded a duet version of the McCafe song/spots with Cleveland soul singer Conya Doss, who will be performing at Stage Door next month.
Dwele's most recent album, the self-produced Sketches of a Man — his fourth including his self-released debut Rize, was released in 2008 and mixes the smoky, simmering neo-soul grooves of his major-label debut, Subject, with the more jazzy vibe of the follow-up, Some Kinda, with a healthy dollop of mellow hip-hop grooves.
If you still want funky and soulful but perhaps a bit more mellow, saxophonist and longtime Berklee College of Music professor Walter Beasley will bring his smooth jazz sounds to the Tangier in Akron on Friday night.
Beasley, like many smooth jazz artists, makes a killing in Northeast Ohio as this area can't seem to get enough, and Tangier is apparently the de facto smooth jazz headquarters for Akron.
Beasley, who also sings, has a new album out, Free Your Mind, that is . . . well . . . smooth and ummm . . . jazzy with a distinct R&B/pop feel.
As I've said many times before, ''smooth jazz'' doesn't move me much, but Beasley has been making records for more than 20 years and is one of the top-selling saxophonists in the world not named Kenny G.
The album's lead single, the midtempo Steady As She Goes, spent 30 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart and, according to the press materials, Beasley is the ''highest selling full-time professor/recording artist.''
Details:
What: Morris Day & the Time
When: 7:30-10 p.m. Friday
Where: Stage Door at the University of Akron's E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 199 Hill St.
Tickets: $10
Information: 330-972-7570, www.uaevents.com
What: Walter Beasley
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Tangier, 532 W. Market St., Akron
Tickets: $30, $35
Information: 330-376-7171, www.walterbeasley.com
What: Dwele and DJ Krate Digga
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Stage Door at the University of Akron's E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 199 Hill St.
Tickets: $10, UA students $5
Information: 330-972-7570, www.uaevents.com, www.keepersoftheheart.com
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
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