"AFTER
a series of near misses during his Arista years, 35-year-old {safm}Jeff
Lorber{/safm} has attained that elusive crossover hit first time out on
Warner
Brothers. "Facts Of Love" is the record and it not only provides Jeff
with a slab of gold, it also welcomes two exciting new vocal talents to
an unsuspecting world ? Karyn White and Michael Jeffries.
"SO,
WHAT'S in a name? Well, maybe that depends on what particular career
you happen to be pursuing. What, I wonder, would have happened to Tina
Turner had she pursued her professional career under her real name
Annie Mae Bullock or Edwin Starr who entered this mortal coil in
January 1942 under a Charles Hatcher monniker. Possibly the results
would have remained the same, but you never do know. Is it First Circle or Full Circle?.
WHILE,
as a family group, Mason have that fact in common with the likes of the
Jacksons, Pointers and Isleys, they have one further common factor with
the Wilson Brothers, a.k.a. the Gap Band. Both families hail from the
unlikely city of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
When B&S last spoke to Lanier & Co back in February of last
year (was it really that long ago?!), the group were hoping that their
third single for Willie Mitchell's Waylo label would be the one. While
"Dancing In The Night" can't really be regarded as a hit in terms of
the small U.K. market (having peaked outside of the Top 75 at No.78) it
has at least brought them to the attention of a major label in EMI.
Hopefully the single is selling sufficiently well to convince EMI to go
with a follow-up, and maybe their now-completed album as well.
You may be forgiven if you think 'Deja' has a sort of familiar ring.
The name may be new, but the duo boast a partnership spanning more than
ten years. And though the name alludes to something we've seen before,
Curt Jones and Starleanna Young are looking forward to the future, not
back to the past. Dropping the name Aurra is a positive move to
exorcise ghosts from the past, and start afresh with a whole new sound.
Master drummer/producer Norman Connors has been away from the recording scene for almost six years now but out of studio doesn't mean out work. The man who first brought the likes of Phyllis Hyman, Michael Henderson and Glenn Jones to public attention vai his mid-Seventies albums for Arista and Buddah is quick to point out that he's been performing pretty consistently throughout that time.