#TheSoulMixtape Crate Diggers Podcast Ep3 PRODUCER SPOTLIGHT

As promised, whilst we are still under lockdown in many countries around the world, we've produced another Crate Diggers Podcast. This time we are looking at 4 different writer/Producers from the 70's and 80's and showcasing some of their work.

Who are they? Tune in to find out......

We will keep these podcasts coming over the next few months so that you guys and girls have something to take your mind off things, even for a short time. So in the meantime, press play below and check out the selections from Grizz and I.

#TheSoulMixtape Spotlight on Mtume-Lucas Productions

 

  

Reggie Lucas, one half of the famed Mtume-Lucas production team, passed away recently and I decided to highlight just how many classic soul tracks he helped write and produce along with James Mtume. Truth be told, this mix could have lasted at least double its length and still had tunes to spare, but condensed this mix to some faves and rarities.

From being a leading member of both Miles Davis and Roberta Flack's band, he went on to great success with James Mtume, writing and producing great LP's for the likes of Flack, Stephanie Mills, Phyllis Hyman and more as well as being a member of the Bands Mtume and Sunfire. Reggie went solo in the 80's producing many pop hits as well as Madonna's debut LP, but his hook up with Mtume, who he worked with in Miles band, is my favorite period for me with regard to his work.

So press play below and realise just how many legitimate classics these guys rolled out back in the day. 

New shows from me on nuwaveradio.net and stick with the blog for more from Grizz and Ridym.

#TheSoulMixtape Spotlight on Jam & Lewis

 

 Spotlight on the writing and production work of the great Jam & Lewis and their Flyte Tyme productions. Focusing on the soulful side of their discography, from the early eighties through to the noughties.

From early 80's dance tracks and ballads featuring their signature sound, full of soul, orchestral build up's and 808 drum pattern's, to their slide into RnB and Neo Soul, these two members of Prince's THE TIME created a production company that ruled the 80's called Flyte Tyme (Which also featured underrated writer/producer and THE TIME member Monte Moir) who shot the likes of The SOS Band, Janet Jackson, Cherelle, Alexander O Neal, Change and others to massive heights in their early days. They went on to write and produce through to the present for the likes of Barry White, Usher, Chante Moore, Solo and so many more.

This mix features some of my faves squeezed in to an hour's Nuwaveradio.net show and therefore there are some missing tracks I just couldn't fit in. However, as a snapshot of their work, I think this fits the bill.

Stay tuned on the blog for DJ Grizz and DJ Ridym's upcoming mixes and of course there will be more to come from me.

#TheSoulMixtape The Definitive Raphael Saadiq Productions

Both DJ Ridym and I have covered this mans work on this blog before. But there's so much great music.
Just concentrating on Raphael's writing and production work for others rather than his solo stuff, this is pretty much my favorite of his work and a good base for a definitive list.

Including greats like EWF, The Isleys, Lionel Richie, D'Angelo, Erykah, Jill Scott, Angie Stone, Q Tip, Common, Chante Moore, Amp Fiddler, Whitney Houston..... the list goes on and on. 2 Hours of great music from one of the premier artists of the last 20 odd years.

Press play below, and stay tuned for more great music selected by Grizz and Ridym upcoming.

#FLASHBACK SoulNRnB's Great Producers

A series I kicked off early on in the blogs history was my picks for the best producers.

Most of these mixes have gone the way of the dodo, but here are a selection of my picks plus a flashback to a few for those that missed them.

Grizz back at the weekend, enjoy some of the masters at work below!

For the record, the full list composed of (In no particular order):

Mizell Brothers (Mixed by Grizz)

Kashif

SoulNRnB's Great Producers: Kashif by Soulnrnb on Mixcloud

Raphael Saadiq

SoulNRnB's Great Producers: Raphael Saadiq by Soulnrnb on Mixcloud

Marc Mac

Jam & Lewis

James Poysner

SoulNRnB's Great Producers: James Poyser by Soulnrnb on Mixcloud

Leon Ware

David Frank

Quincy Jones

Louie Vega

Jay Dee (J Dilla)

SoulNRnB's Great Producers: Jay Dee AKA J Dilla. For more, visit us at soulnrnb.blogspot.com by Soulnrnb on Mixcloud

The Neptunes

SoulNRnB's Great Producers: The Neptunes by Soulnrnb on Mixcloud

Rodney Jerkins

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 12 : Rodney Jerkins AKA Darkchild by Soulnrnb on Mixcloud

Dre & Vidal

SoulNRnB's Great Producers: Dre & Vidal by Soulnrnb on Mixcloud

Leon Sylvers

SoulNRnB's Great Producers: Leon Sylvers by Soulnrnb on Mixcloud

Nile Rogers & Bernard Edwards

SoulNRnB's Great Producers: Bernard Edwards and Nile Rogers by Soulnrnb on Mixcloud

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 15 - Bernard Edwards and Nile Rogers

 

With a sound of thier own, coming out of the "Disco" 70's era, came Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards of Chic fame. So successfull was the sound they created that every artist of the time had to have a "Chic" tune, from Blondie to Diana Ross, even forming the instrumentation to the Sugarhill Gang's "Rappers Delight" with the tune "Good Times".

Here we are concentrating on thier more soulful side, including a few tunes that didnt see the light of day at the time.

With an individual sound, these two talents (Bernard Edwards sadly no longer with us) need to be inducted into my Great Producers list, if only for the fact that they gave me one of my favorite music stories.

Back in the 70's, when they were unknown, the guys were waiting in line to enter Studio 54, the famous club of the era. When they got to the front of the queue, they were told by the bouncers that they couldn't enter. They responded by shouting "Aaaaaaaahhhhh  F**K OFF!" which later morphed into the line "Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh FREAK OUT" from the Chic tune.


SoulNRnB's Great Producers 15

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 14: Leon Sylvers

Looks like William and Kate are having a house party tonight at thier mums house and they could do worse than stick this mix of tunes produced by the great Leon Sylvers.

The musical influence behind SOLAR records (Sounds of Los Angeles Records) and member of the family group The Sylvers, Leon produced some of my favorite works of my teenage years, including one of my all time groups, Shalamar.

Leon combined funky, bass heavy tracks, with lush strings and horn sections, whilst all the time making sure the songs and melodies were strong. Didn't hurt that he worked with great vocalists (Like Howard Hewett, Gladys Knight etc) and great arrangers like Jerry Peters.

This man created a sound, like the other great producers in these mixes, but also wrote and played.He recently came back to producing for N'Dambi's "Pink Elephant" LP, and it couldnt make me happier.


It's our 2nd Birthday Next week. Time flies. Ill have a special 40th Street Sounds Mix, and Grizz will have his usual class for you earlier in the week.

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 14 - Leon Sylvers

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 13: Dre & Vidal

 

Got few of my "Great Producer" mixes coming up over the next few months, but were moving back in time for the others, so this is the last for a while from recent times.

Andre Harris and Vidal Davis came out of Jazzy Jeff's A Touch of Jazz production team in Philly, and went on to form thier own production company.

For all the pop/rnb tunes this pair have produced, they must take some credit for bringing the soul back into R&B in the early Noughties, heralding the appreciation of organic sounds that were incorporated into the Neo-Soul movement.

Evidence:

Their work on Glenn Lewis first Lp.
Their work on Musiq Soulchild's first LP.
Jill Scott.

Seminal work for Bilal, Mary J Blige, Anthony Hamilton and more.

The duo's trademark recording style - adding live instrumentation over infectious rhythm sections - has helped bring the soul back, something we lost towards the end of the decade when things got a little more programmed. Of course, it helped that they came from Philly, the home of Jazzy jeff, The Roots, Jill Scott, Jaguar Wright, and thier hero's Gamble and Huff.

They became part of the production team at A Touch Of Jazz, producing cuts on Kenny Lattimore's critically acclaimed 1998 album From the Soul of Man. Soon after they left to form their own production company and the following tunes follwed soon after.

Underestimated, In my opinion, for their contribution to bringing the soul back to popular music, they deserve thier place on my great producers list.





Tracklist in comments, Grizz back with you next week.

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 13 - Dre & Vidal

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 12: Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins

Darkchild.

So whats the producer of Lady Gaga, The Pussycat Dolls, Britany Spears and more doing on this blog?

Well, through the 90's and 00's Mr Rodney Jerkins produced some real soulful stuff. He started recording hits almost from the get go, with big names such as Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston and more.

But there was those few years at the end of the 90's and through the start of the 00's that Darkchild produced some great soulful pop/rnb. This mix focuses on that time, and has a couple of lesser known Gospel tunes the man produced.

Like others I've discussed in this series, the man had a sound. You knew a Darkchild production, and for a time there, us soul lovers liked it.
 
Grizz back with you next week, have a soulful weekend.
 
 

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 12 - Darkchild

Update

To those who it may concern:

1) I have Re-upped a deleted mix by popular demand. See Here: SoulNRnB's Great Producers 2: Raphael Saadiq

2) Grizz and I have got something special coming up for Xmas..........

3) Check out Dreamchilde's Blog here: Free Friday Music

Phillip has recommended a number of our mixes, and is doing a roundup of his faves from 2010. Mans got good taste :)

Grizz up shortly!

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 10: Jay Dee aka J Dilla

For the past 6 months our header has been of a man crate digging for rarities in some vinyl emporium. On the day that we change the look of the blog and remove that header, it only seems fitting to have a look at that man, the late J Dilla.

Dilla became famous as producer/member of the hip hop group Slum Village and producer for A tribe called Quest. He produced what I believe to be the best Hip Hop LP of all time, Fantastic Volume 2.

As with all the producers weve visited in these mixes, the man created a trademark "boom bap" sound that changed the way Hip hop would sound over the next few years.

As for soul music, Jay Dee hooked up with the Soulquarians. The collective formed during the late 1990s, continuing into the early 2000s, and produced several well-received albums including The Roots' Things Fall Apart (1999), D'Angelo's Voodoo (2000), Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun (2000), and Common's Like Water for Chocolate (2000). 

The founding members of the collective — Ahmir Thompson a.k.a. Questlove from The Roots, D'Angelo, James Poyser, and J Dilla came together after discovering they had a common interest for the unconventional — offbeat rhythms, irregular chords, and other traits often exhibited by the underground urban music scene.

Being a collective, they included a rotating list of members, including Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, Erykah Badu, Bilal, and Raphael Saadiq.

In an interview, Common discussed the production of those albums, stating "It was one of those time period that you don't even realize when you're going through it that it's powerful".

Just as his music was becoming increasingly popular, Dilla died in 2006 of the blood disease TTP. Following his death, the hip hop community became centered upon his music and image. Many of the artists with whom Dilla worked performed or recorded tributes, and a large group of followers voiced their support for the late musician. Dilla's music experienced a rebirth as the producer gained many times more listeners than he had during his life.

He became a legend, but was always a great producer. This mix encompases all the styles he worked in, wether hip hop, Soul or Jazz.

Grizz back next week with some Lovers for you all, meanwhile tracklist in comments.

SoulNRnB's Great Producers TEN - Jay Dee aka J Dilla

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 9 - Louie Vega

One half of the masterful Masters at Work with partner Kenny Dope, Louie Vega helped shape the soulful house blueprint.From the mid Nineties until the present day, hes a prominent force on the house scene.


So why seperate him from Kenny when he too is an excellent producer, arranger and remixer?

Well, Its Louie's work away from MAW and Nu Yorican Soul that grabs me just as much. His remixing and production arranging work for other artists, his work with Elements of Life, the promotion of the latin sound (Thats obviously in his blood) that we just dont hear that often nowadays.

So this is a little showcase of Louie's talents, both with and without Kenny (Who may get his one of these too!).

Not only a great DJ (Check out his sets which blend old and new, as well as some of the best soulful house out there), but a great producer/arranger/writer. He deserves his place on my list!
 
SoulNRnB's Great Producers NINE - Louie Vega

SoulNRnB's Great Producers EIGHT: Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones.

Highly regarded in both Jazz and Soul circles, a producer and arranger who has also produced the biggest pop record of all time, Thriller.

I'm concentrating on some of his soul leaning productions of the 70's and 80's where his sound was instantly recognisable and where he utilised some of the greatest vocalists (Chaka Khan, Patti Austin) and writers (Stevie Wonder, Rod Temperton) of the time.

Quincy wrote arrangements for many musicians, including Ray Anthony, Count Basie (who became his mentor) and Tommy Dorsey and the Dizzy Gillespie Band. He worked with several singers, including Frank Sinatra, Billy Eckstine, Brook Benton, Dinah Washington (an association that included the 1956 album The Swingin' Miss' D), Johnny Mathis and Ray Charles (whom he had known since an early age).

In 1964, Quincy was promoted to vice-president of Mercury, thus becoming the first African American to hold such a position and in addition to playing music, he was busy writing and arranging, and was increasingly active as a record producer.

In the 70's and 80's, where I'm concentrating, he produced successful albums for Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Michael Jackson, the Brothers Johnson, Rufus and other popular artists. He worked through the 90's to a lesser extent with solo lp's, but productions have taken a back seat.

A great arranger, a great producer. Theres so much I have not touched from his Jazz and Funk work here thats remiss (Maybe Mr Grizz could oblige one day!) but these are some of his productions from back in the day that really made me love Soul Music as a young man.

A great extended version of  the Stevie Wonder written "Betcha wouldnt hurt me" included here, one of my all time favourites! Enjoy until Grizz is back with you next week, tracklist in comments.

SoulNRnB's Great Producers EIGHT - Quincy Jones

SoulNRnB's Great Producers SEVEN: David Frank

"The founding father of Electronic R&B"


Thats David Frank, one half of way before their time group THE SYSTEM (Together with Mic Murphy whose influence and contribution should not be underestimated).

The keyboardist found work playing in bands around New York, affording him the opportunity to invest in the emerging MIDI music technology. He bought an Oberheim OBXa keyboard synthesizer, sequencer, and drum machine. Oberheim later released a three-piece MIDI (synthesizer, sequencer, and drum machine) combination called "The System".

David got a break when Atlantic Records soul/funk band Kleer enlisted him as their tour keyboardist. The band's road manager, Mic Murphy, asked Frank to play on some sessions he was recording with friends which led to a track called "It's Passion" in which a pre-stardom Madonna was slated to do the vocals, but because of creative differences, she bowed out, Thank the lord! Murphy re-vamped the lyrics and melody and the two went into the studio, recorded the song in one day, and stayed up all night mixing the record. Soon after, Murphy called to tell Frank that the duo had a record deal; in two days, Murphy came up with the name the System, and within three weeks, "It's Passion" was receiving massive radio airplay in New York.

For me, the rest is Soul History. I hadn't heared anything like this before that could remotely be called soulful. David worked soon after with the likes of Chaka Khan (Whose Prince written Eternity features in this mix), Jeff Lorber, Scritti Politti, Angela Bofill and more. To this day, David still produces, but to me, he and Mic will always be The System, and David one of my great producer picks, writer of some of the greatest 2 part synth baselines, and founding father of Electronic R&B!!!
 
SoulNRnB's Great Producers SEVEN : David Frank
 
Tracklist in comments

SoulNRnB's Great Producers SIX: Leon Ware

As promised, another delve into the crates for more great production, composing and arranging from a seventies Icon thats still working to this day.

Leon Ware was a prolific writer producer for Al Wilson, Syreeta, Jerry Butler back in the day, but he really hit the heights with his writing and production work on Marvin Gaye's seminal "I want you" LP.

Classic song writing and production followed, and Leon still works to this day as proved on his collaboration with Steve Spacek as shown on this mix.

If I was to say that this man has been in some way involved with the following songs, you may understand my gushing:

Minnie Ripperton - Inside My Love

Michael Wycoff - Looking Up To You

Leon Ware - Rockin you Eternally..................to name but three.

This mix explores just a few of his tunes from the 70's, to the 80's, to the 90's (For Maxwell) to the present day.

Tracklist in Comments

SoulNRnB's Great Producers SIX: Leon Ware

James Poyser - SoulNRnB's Great Producers FIVE

In my last post I mentioned that James Poyser had produced Erykah Badu's new single. Thought I would put a mix together to show off the talent of one of Neo Souls inventors...and probably somebody people have been unaware of?

James Poyser's name first got bandied around for his work with The Roots and Common, Hip Hop acts with more soulful credibility than most RnB acts of today. His soulful productions for them were simbiotic - His Soul productions carried that Hip Hop flavour or aesthetic.

Productions on Erykah Badu and D'angelo LP's followed, and his part in the Neo Soul movement (A very un-hip tag nowadays it seems) is now part of History.

James has worked with some of the great Soul artists of our day: this mix includes Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, Will Downing, Eric Benet to name a few. I couldnt run a series on great producers without adding him to the list as number 5.

So, thats James Poyser, Marc Mac, Raphael Saadiq, Kashif and Jam and Lewis. Looks like I need to go back in time to the 70's for the next one.......Grizz - Get the DeLorean Ready!

Tracklist in comments.

SoulNRnB's Great Producers FIVE - James Poyser

SoulNRnB's Great Producers 4: Jam & Lewis

So Kashif had BT Express, Mr Saadiq had Tony Toni Tone, Marc Mac has 4Hero, and Messers Jam and Lewis started off as part of Prince Rogers Nelson's Minneapolis side project, The Time.

After a couple of great purple funk LP's, Jam & Lewis decided to branch out to writing and production for the girl band Klymaxx on Solar. Soon after they wrote and produced the 80's anthem "Just be good to me" for the SOS Band and the rest is history.

Through the 80's they wrote and produced some of the greatest RnB tunes for the likes of Alexander O Neal, Janet Jackson, Patti Austin, Thelma Houston. Through the 90's there was Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant, the Sound of Blackness. Through the Noughties there was Usher, Chaka Khan, Earth Wind and Fire.

I can't scrape the surface of their extensive writing and production credits with a mix, so save to say these are just a FEW of my favourite tunes from them.

To me, they were groundbreaking. They invented a "sound" of their own. They influence the pop/RnB charts to this day with their use of the legendary 808 drum machine, their writing always included great hooks and melody, and they have lasted the test of time.

So, for these reasons, I add FLYTE TYME productions to my great producers list!!

http://rapidshare.com/files/332650428/SoulNRnB_s_great_producers_FOUR.rar


Tracklist in comments.

Marc Mac - SoulNnB's Great Producers 3

Marc Mac, one half of the great 4 Hero with partner in crime Dego, is in my opinion one of the best producers the UK has produced.

Musician, Remixer, producer and DJ (The man can select a tune let me tell you...) Marc famously helped start the Broken Beat sound in the Early 90's with 4 hero, but really caught my attention with thier LP Two Pages which was a soul/jazz lovers dream.

4 Hero have been very successful with subsequent LP's and have always suprised. Thier new LP for example, are versions of thier songs performed by current Jazz/Soul artists. Never a cheap remix LP for them.

Marc has produced and remixed some absolute gems too, as well as releasing some LP's under his own name and producing a great LP by the Visioneers.

This mix is a showcase for this man's talents, lite on the 4 Hero (As you should have those LP's already!) but will hopefully get you investigating the man and his output.

Even though young in age, Marc has already become one of my greatest producers.

http://rapidshare.com/files/294127678/Marc_Mac_-_SoulNnB_s_Great_Producers_3.rar

Tracklist in Comments.

Mr Grizz will chime in with the next update, but Im hoping to have something special next week. SoulNRnB's Soul Show LIVE.

Raphael Saadiq - SoulNRnB's Great Producers 2

Artist, Writer, Producer. Raphael Saadiq. Member of Two great bands, Toni Tone Tony and the short lived Lucy Pearl. Look through the tracklist of this mix and youll see a who's who of modern soul artists as well as Classic Veterans.
What is amazing when you look at the tracklist is the fact that there are still missing artists like Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, the aforementioned Lucy Pearl, The Roots etc etc etc that hes written and produced and sung with.
And what a great writer and producer he is. Classy songs with great hooks, that manage to sound old and modern at the same time, mixing all styles of Black music from Soul to Blues to Hip Hop to straight up pop/RnB.
He's one of the best out there. Thank you Mr Saadiq!


Tracklist in Comments. Over to the UK for my third Producer mix in a couple of weeks from another man who is in a Group but is also a producer/Remixer in his own right.................

****UPDATE 7/6/10****

The mix has been removed by rapidshare. Hope you all got a copy before it went the way of rocking horse turds.......!


****UPDATE 29/1/12****

Re-Up!  The mans too good to leave on the shelf ;)

Raphael Saadiq - SoulNRnB's Great Producers

Kashif - SoulNRnB's Great Producers

As promised, first in a long series of producers/songwriters/artists that deserve a spotlight on thier work and much recognition. Ill be going back to the 70's right up to the present day. DJ Grizz selected the Mizell Brothers a while back, so I'm moving on to the 80's.

This ones close to my heart, as it really opened my eyes to the fact there was good music out there that didnt reside in the pop charts, or in this case, wasnt even released in the UK at the time.

I had heared some of Kashif's work on the Melba Moore LP's and when I found out he had released an LP of his own I was ecstatic. Only problem was, the LP wasnt for sale in any local record shops. In the end I travelled to Dalston Junction, to a specialist store, and paid top dollar for the LP that started my real obsession with black music. Yes there was Stevie and Michael and Marvin etc etc....but without me hunting down the Kashif LP, I wouldnt have discovered all those wonderful artists in the years after that didnt get a wide release.

As for Kashif, there was a period in the early 80's that I believe he was the Don. he helped pioneer the use of the Moog and Synclavier, wrote great songs, and had a distinctive sound of his own. This LP, along with the Howard Johnson LP that he worked on, were staples of my youth. Have to mention Paul Laurence Jones too, as he worked together with kashif on some tunes and was a great producer himself. Who knows, maybe Ill dig out a selection for him too!

Great Producers Kashif - LINK UPDATED

Tracklist in Comments