Monday, November 19, 2012

The House Band



One of Southern Maryland's best kept secrets is out. That is the one and only "House Band"at The Fish Market Restaurant & Soup Co. This band boasts of the most talented musicians in the DMV. Every Wednesday through Saturday you can hear them lay down the funk. In the words of bassist Walter Cosby, "It's a 4 Day Groovalatic Funk Party at the FM". You never know who will be performing with the band. Guests have included Stoney Ellis, Sam Marshall, Marcus Johnson, Sweet Cherie, Phil Lassiter,Tony Exum Jr, Ronnie Queen, Gerry Gillespie, Tico Wellman, Milton Smith, Dion Clay and many other talented artists/musicians.  


Stanley Cooper, Eddie Baccus Jr, Walter Cosby, Edward "Junie" Henderson, Sam Marshall, & Moe Daniels
 

Rick Giovannoni
 
The House Band was formed in 1997 by Rick Giovannoni, the owner of the Fish Market and the drummer.



 
Stanley Cooper
   
         The band members include Stanley Cooper (musical director/lead guitar/vocals), Walter Cosby (bass guitar/vocals), Moe Daniels (keyboards/vocals), Edward "Junie" Henderson (lead vocals) of Experience Unlimited, Brad Collins (saxophone/vocals), Eddie Baccus Jr (saxophone) formerly of Pieces of a Dream, Art Sherrod Jr (saxophone), Kevin Levi (saxophone), Brian Lenair (saxophone), Tommy Crosby (guitar/vocals), Lonnie Lane (Chuck Brown's original percussionist), and Rick Giovannoni (drummer/vocals).

Walter Cosby

         One of the things that makes this band so unique is the fact that they don't rehearse, according to musical director Stanley Cooper. He stated, "We come in and it happens in the moment, which is part of the vibe. We’ve never had a formal rehearsal". The musicians are also well rounded, versed and experienced. The various styles of music they play include jazz, reggae, latin, rock, and funk.


 
Edward "Junie" Henderson, Eddie Baccus Jr, Sam Marshall, & Walter Cosby

 

Edward "Junie" Henderson
 
 




Rick Giovannoni & Walter Cosby



 
Eddie Baccus Jr.
 
Eddie Baccus Jr.

 
 
 

Tommy Crosby, Edward "Junie" Henderson, & Rick Giovannoni
 
 

Tommy Crosby











 
 



 
 
 
 

Walter Cosby & Stoney Ellis

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Eddie Baccus Jr.
 
 
Edward "Junie" Henderson

 
You can catch the House Band on Wednesdays and Thursdays 8:30 PM – 11:30 PM and Fridays and Saturdays 9:30 PM – 12:30 AM. The Fish Market Restaurant & Soup Co. is located at 7611 Old Branch Avenue, Clinton, Maryland 20735.
 
 

Stanley Cooper, Eddie Baccus Jr, Walter Cosby, Edward "Junie" Henderson, Sam Marshall, & Moe Daniels

 
 
Many thanks to the House Band!!!

 
 
 
This post is dedicated in memory of my mother Anna Mae Lewis (November 29, 1942 – September 21, 2012). Thank you for always being supportive of my work. I wish I could have shared this with you.


Peace & Blessings 

Friday, August 17, 2012

Secret Society






I recently caught up with Secret Society at the 21st Amendment Bar & Grill (Holiday Inn) in Washington, DC; where you can attend their live performances on Wednesdays 6 PM - 9 PM.  After sitting down for a one on one with the band's leader Bryan Mills; I now know why they are one of the hottest bands in the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland, & Virginia). Having an all star lineup of talented artists/musicians doesn't hurt either. They played renditions of old skool jams such as Black Sheep's The Choice is Yours, The Show by Doug E Fresh (who happened to be in the house), and who can forget Whodini's Freaks Come Out at Night. Check out the interview below and find out more about Secret Society!!!



The WIRE 4 Artists:  How and when was Secret Society formed?
Bryan Mills:  How and when?
The WIRE 4 Artists:  Yes
Bryan Mills:  Okay, well when first that’s the easier one… that was back in 2008…. I’ll say 2008 is when we had our official first performance. How is an even better question. I had my own group before this, it was called Soul Sponge…..don’t laugh at the name. It was a similar project however, we got caught up in the realm of doing all cover songs and playing other people’s music, then we started doing Go Go. We had Little Benny perform with us on a lot of our shows people just kind of got accustomed to that. Where as I felt if we didn’t do a show without certain people it wouldn’t have the same effect. Basically the band and the music got away from me from what I wanted to do so I shut it down. The drummer and I, who is Dewayne Thomas we kind of stuck together and said we’re going to something again but under different pretenses. We carefully selected the group individually by the members not necessarily by the talent level, but it’s a lot more to it than just how well you play. Any musician can tell you, any band can tell you that professionalism carries as much weight as talent. What I mean by professionalism is….Are you on time? Are you trustworthy? Do you have good work ethics? Are you going to learn the music? Those kinds of things that people sometimes surpass, they don’t think about.  So it took  a while….…it took a few months to get the band together and get everyone in line and on board to what we were doing but it’s been a blessing. Everyone is not only talented but professional and we all get along and we all understand the common goal of the band. Everyone is on the same page. I don’t want to say it’s rare but it’s not common.

The WIRE 4 Artists:  Who are the members that make up the band?
Bryan Mills:  The core members of Secret Society, my name is Bryan Mills, I play saxophone. Mike Madison who is our vocalist, David Dyson, bass player, Robbie McDonald, guitar, Patrick Cooper, keyboards, and Dewayne Thomas on drums.

 
The WIRE 4 Artists:  Who are your greatest influences?
Bryan Mills:  My favorite artist of all time is not a saxophone player at all....is Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder to me encompasses so much you know….talent, the instrumentalism that he posses, his songwriting abilities, his voice quality of course. He just has so much depth. His music is ever transforming…...you can listen to ten Stevie Wonder albums and each one is different…which I like. Without a doubt Stevie Wonder is probably the greatest influence. As far as being a saxophone player John Coltrane…. the list goes on it’s so many.  Contemporarily, newer….Kirk Whalum without a doubt. I think his sound is awesome. I totally love his playing. If I could play like him….wow…you know…. I’d be finished.

The WIRE 4 Artists:  How has your music evolved since you first began playing together?
Bryan Mills:  It’s evolved greatly. When we first started playing we kind of did a format where we’d play one song…..stop….play another song stop, song stop, song stop. Now, we’re incorporating a lot of arrangements into our music where we would play as a DJ would play, kind of fusing songs  together. We have a really great old skool hip hop set that we do that the crowd seems to enjoy. Just the choice of songs, the arrangements that we do…. I think that’s what really carries over for our fans. The most compliments that I get are “Hey I really love the song selection”. “I love what songs you did tonight”. Not necessarily how you played them but just the songs….I hope they liked the way we played it. But the song selection is a big part of what we do. If we do cover tunes we try to pick songs that are not often done. That are not used and abused, that are not ran into the ground, staying off the chitlin circuit…..trying to kind of keep it fresh.


The WIRE 4 Artists:  What can fans expect when they attend a Secret Society performance?
Bryan Mills:  We’re really trying to reach a certain demographic, I’ll be honest with you. In the DC area, that late 30’s to mid 40’s, early 50’s; that group doesn’t really get out as much as the younger folks do. But in that generation, there was so much good music at that time. We’re talking about the late 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. What they can expect is definitely that old skool feel, that old skool hip hop set….what I mean by old skool I’m going back to The Sugarhill Gang, Doug E Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, Eric B & Rakim. Like when hip hop was different then than it is now and we’re trying to take it back just to let people know that it’s not forgotten, keep it alive. De La Soul, Naz, Public Enemy that type of thing. You can expect a party, don’t come and expect to sit down…if you do than we’re doing something wrong. We definitely want people to dance and have a good time keep it up beat and partying ….as much as possible.

 The WIRE 4 Artists:  What has been your biggest challenge as a band?

Bryan Mills: It’s so many ways to answer that. Internally I have been blessed to not have a lot of problems. Everyone has been on board with what we’re doing. Everyone’s been willing to sacrifice here and there for the big picture…..the band. Everyone just seems to be on one page.  Externally….I think just dealing with club owners and promoters. People just kind of think of us as being a jukebox and all bands are the same…..that type of mentality. Well I can get this other band to do it for $500 less. But bands are like cars and like wine. Some are cheaper than others….some drive better than others….some perform better than others…..some cost more than others. So that business type of relationship with the outside world within the industry…..is difficult. The proof is in the pudding….and I’ll say well hey we charge x amount of dollars and they will say well I can get this band for $100 less. I’ll say go ahead…go ahead….I’m not that upset about that, but if you want Secret Society….it’s going to be this much. I really don’t try to get into a money thing a whole lot but…..I don’t want anybody trying to pimp me either…. you know what I mean….so those are some struggles. That’s probably one of the biggest problems that I have; trying to convince someone that we’re worth the money that we’re asking for.





The WIRE 4 Artists:  Where do you envision Secret Society in 5 years?

Bryan Mills:  Well, I’ll tell you now….we’re working on an original CD. If you’re not doing original music you might as well be complacent with being a quote on quote local band. So I want to try to incorporate the live CD into what we’re doing and making Secret Society a household name…and if it doesn’t reach that status, that’s okay with me I want the music to reach people and make people feel better than they did when they first got to an event. I’m more interested in the value of the emotional affects than the financial affects. And that’s great… everyone wants to get paid everyone wants money but money’s not what motivates me as much as the other things do so….. that’s it.


The WIRE 4 Artists:  Is there anything else you want to add?
Bryan Mills:  Don’t forget our website is www.secretsocietylive.com, we’re on Facebook, on Twitter.  You can check out our website and also buy our CD. We do have a CD “Live at the Halfnote Lounge” it’s a double disc, it’s only $15.
The WIRE 4 Artists:  Where can you purchase it?
Bryan Mills:  You can purchase it on our website. If you come to a live performance we can do that too… in person get it for $10 on the website it’s $15 for shipping and handling. We have some other stuff too but it’s not really packaged. More like a PA tape where we record some of our live shows to just to let people hear something fresh, new, and different …..You can grab those at our live shows too for $5. Like I said it’s not always about the money…we’re just trying to get out there and let people hear us.
The WIRE 4 Artists:  Are the CD’s original songs?
Bryan Mills:  No they’re all covers….but like I said that’s fine for temporary but in the long term you got to do originals…..and that’s the next step.
 




















Secret Society performs @

Society Lounge 9:00 PM – 11:30 PM on Thursdays

Half Note Lounge 8:30 PM – 11:30 PM every 1st & 3rd Fridays


Many thanks to Bryan Mills and much continued success to Secret Society!!!

Special thanks to Debra Johnson!!!


Peace & Blessings


Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Soul Messengerz



On July 15th The Soul Messengerz performed at the Youth Scholarship Day event presented by New Creation in Christ Ministries. The evening commenced with songs of praise and worship by the praise team followed by an awesome heart touching performance by the dance ministry. Apostle Randy Walker and Appointed Time continued to set the atmosphere with a number of hand clapping, foot stomping tunes that had me rocking in my seat. Then came the moment everyone had been waiting for. The Soul Messengerz took center stage.......much to the delight of the congregation. They performed several soul stirring songs from their CD Grace & Mercy including Lend A Hand, Have Mercy On Me, and Been So Good To Me. We were also treated with a preview of Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come (which may possibly be in the line up to be recorded for the next release).Their harmonious blend of traditional and contemporary gospel is truly a refreshing complement to the music industry. Afterwards I had the opportunity to meet and interview The Soul Messengerz. The members are DeCarlo Coley (vocals) who is also the pastor of New Creation in Christ Ministries, James Vines Sr. (lead/background vocals), Johnny Matthews (2nd lead/background vocals), Justin Young (lead guitar/musical director), Charles Young (bass guitar), Gregory Parrish (keyboards), James Vines Jr. (drums) and Jeff Chandler (keyboards/organ).



Here are excerpts from the interview:


The WIRE 4 Artists:  When was the Gospel Messengerz formed?

The Soul Messengerz:  We started in November of 2008 as just a local group in the area (Washington, DC) singing at a lot of local concerts. From there we continued to grow and began to sing on bigger stages with a lot of well renowned groups. We won the Allstate Gospel SuperFest in 2010 and recorded our first album entitled Grace & Mercy under Malaco Records. We’ve been singing across the country…..God has blessed us in just three and a half years time and…….that’s about it. That’s The Soul Messengerz…… with a “z”.


The WIRE 4 Artists: What do you think the group’s biggest achievement is?

The Soul Messengerz:  I think our greatest achievement thus far is when we did our first live recording. Then being signed with Malaco Records was a tremendous blessing for us. All the achievements are well… but it’s just us coming together…. being able to fellowship as brothers, and being able to send a positive message for other young black men who are aspiring to sing gospel music.


The WIRE 4 Artists: Can you tell me about your CD “Grace & Mercy”?

The Soul Messengerz:  Grace & Mercy is the title of the CD. We chose that song because “grace” talks about God’s favor and “mercy” talks about God’s forgiveness. It was just really the favor of God that has brought us where we are now. We recorded this first CD after about a year and a half of singing, and in two years we were signed with a major record company. So that’s just the favor of God you know… it’s no goodness of our own, not that we’ve done anything….so great… but it’s just been God’s grace upon us and His mercy. He looked beyond our faults. Earlier we were singing that song Have Mercy It is really a testament to no matter how much of a mess you find yourself in, God can take your mess and make a message out of it and that’s what He has done for The Soul Messengerz.
































Many thanks to The Soul Messengerz!!! It was a great pleasure meeting you and I wish youmuch success as you continue to spread the “Good News”.  I would also like to extend congratulations to James Vines Jr. and the youth of New Creation in Christ Ministries for their scholastic achievements!!! You can get the Grace & Mercy CD in stores and online at Walmart, Best Buy, Kemp Mill Records, Sears, Amazon and iTunes. It is definitely a worthy addition to any music collection.









Peace & Blessings









Wednesday, July 4, 2012

The Victor Wooten Experience

There was much anticipation before the June 5th performance of world renowned, five-time Grammy winner Victor Wooten and his band at Ram’s Head On Stage in Annapolis. I had not yet experienced the man and his music and was not quite sure what to expect. There was a sense of excitement in the air as the lights went down. Then the epic journey began. The Victor Wooten Band performed tunes from “Words and Tones” & “Sword and Stone” Mr. Wooten’s upcoming projects which will be available in September. They played renditions from his previous releases and one of my favorites, U Can’t Hold No Groove. There was also a delightful trip down memory lane with a melody of songs that included Tell Me Something Good  by Rufus & Chaka Khan, The Jackson Five’s I Want You Back, Stevie Wonder’s Overjoyed and several other classic hits. The band was comprised of four accomplished bassists, Wooten, Anthony Wellington, Steve Bailey, and Dave Welsch, all of which played other instruments as well at various times; two drummers, JD Blair and Derico Watson, and vocalist/keyboardist Krystal Peterson. When the show ended I was in a state of musical bliss. Words could not adequately describe the spectacular performance that evening. I never imagined that the Victor Wooten experience could get any better…..but it certainly did. Meeting Mr. Wooten was definitely the highlight of the evening. I was so mesmerized by his calm and peaceful demeanor that I became practically speechless. I was also astonished at how patient he was while taking pictures with fans and signing CD’s after performing for nearly two hours. Not only is he a musical innovator and virtuoso but he is one of the nicest people I have had the privilege and honor of meeting. I have truly been enlightened and inspired by Victor Wooten…..the “man” and his “music”.


Dave Welsch, Krystal Peterson,& Victor Wooten
Victor Wooten
 

 Victor Wooten & Anthony Wellington (my bass instructor and one of the BEST)
Photo by Irving Ransome


    

JD Blair, "The Groove Regulator"
Photo by Irving Ransome 
Bassist Irving Ransome & JD Blair, "The Groove Regulator"



Sensational vocalist Krystal Peterson




Victor Wooten & Anthony Wellington
Photo by Irving Ransome


 Peace & Blessings

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Women in Music


Wendi Cherry, Carolyn Malachi, Chelsey Green


On March 29th, Prince George's Community College hosted the Women in Music event in honor of Women's History month. I had the pleasure of meeting several remarkably talented and lovely women, Carolyn Malachi, Chelsey Green, and Wendi Cherry. Washington, DC native Carolyn Malachi is a songstress, Grammy Nominated recording artist, and social philanthropist. She released her debut album 'Revenge of the Smart Chicks" in 2008, followed by "Revenge of the Smart Chicks II" in 2009. The single "Orion" from Ms. Malachai's  EP "Lions, Fires, & Squares" released in 2010; received a 2011 Grammy Nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance. Chelsey Green (The Green Violinist) is not only a classically trained violinist but an educator and arranger as well. She has performed with artists such as Roberta Flack, Denyce Graves, and Tye Tribbett to name a few. Ms. Green performs in the Washington, DC metro area and nationally with her ensemble, The Green Project. Their debut CD "Still Green: The EP" will officially be released on April 10th. You can also check out Chelsey Green and The Green Project's CD release party and concert at the Strathmore Mansion on April 13th. Wendi Cherry currently serves as the Executive Director of the Washington, DC chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (The Recording Academy). Ms. Cherry addressed the importance and benefits of becoming a member.  Some of the benefits include opportunities for professional development and networking. So to all of you singers, musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers, managers, and other industry professionals; please visit GRAMMY365 for more information. I applaud and appreciate these phenomenal women for sharing  their experiences in the music industry and offering a wealth of advice to those in attendance. I wish you much continued success!!!


Peace & Blessings