It's been nearly nine years since we released our first compilation Real Divas Vol.1 which marked the beginning of 7 Arts Entertainment. Through the years there have been nominations for Junos, the National Jazz Awards, a win at the Maple Blues Awards and Real Blues Magazine. 7 Arts has documented some of the finest rising jazz singers in Canada from Emile Clarie-Barlow - Sophie Milman, Molly Johnson, Chantel Chamberlain, Sophie Berkal-Sarbit, June Garber as well as blues with the Saturday Nite Fish Fry, the Rocket 88 Band and Shakura S'Aida as well as reggae sensation Dubmatix. You can find most recordings on iTunes, eMusic, Amazon as well as right here. Below is a preview of what's ahead. Both the Jazz and Blues Collections are now available here at 7 Arts - soon to be available world wide through hundreds of digital sources. You'll find the quality first rate. Have a listen and shop along the way.
 Bill King's "Summerheat" (The Jazz Piano Collection) Jazz piano in many forms from reggae to groove based rhythms. These were culled from sessions dating back to Atlanta, Georgia in 1978. Reggae masters Wayne McGhie and Everton Paul shore up the rhythm sections. Others feature drummer Mark Kelso, bassists Lionel Williams and Duncan Hopkins - guitarists Rob Piltch. One track -"Punta Roja" is getting a first listen."Summerheat" found favor on contemporary radio during the early eighties garnering ten years of consistent airplay.  The Blues Piano Collection spans seventeen years from swing jazz to grind it out blues, to New Orleans. This collection covers the years 1993 - 2008. Tracks were originally heard on Saturday Nite Fish fry, The Jazz Report All Stars, Rocket 88 band, Liberty Silver Live in Session and others.
Preview Audio & Order  John the Revelator is essentially the Best of the Saturday Nite Fish Fry (2001-2008)The tracks have been selected from three recordings and feature the sensational Shakura S'Aida's soul wrenching vocals, guitarist Neil Chapman's stellar guitar work and Bill King's authentic keyboard, arrangements and vocals. The sound is rooted in the deep South and along the highways that connect cities like Kansas City to Memphis - everything from rhythm and blues to even a bit of that Louisiana swamp magic. Recently S'Aida departed and began charting a identity away from the band. She's now a touring blues star who constantly travels the European circuit with many of the legends of blues. She's has one solo project under her name and a new release coming in 2010. Soul Jazz (Latin, Groove, Jazz)  Beat Street is my homage to the great soul jazz pioneers who have inhabited my inner sound system since I was a fifteen year old searching the keyboard for those elusive blue notes in between. Cannonball Adderley, Ramsey Lewis, the Crusaders, the Jazz Messengers, Junior Mance, The Three Sounds, Miles Davis, Eddie Palmieri, Herbie Hancock, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and all. I can’t recall the number of times I played “The In Crowd’ or “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” or “What’s Going On” on the bandstand. I do know I never tired of playing the form and soloing over the changes. It was always about the groove, mood and original intent that kept me intrigued and in the pocket.Preview audio samples and order today $12.00 per CD  It’s now forty-three years later and Bob Dylan’s music still rings true. The songs on ‘Dirt Road Blues’ for the most part come from the blues side of Dylan and those stacked against war. Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘I Just Cant’ Keep From Cryin’ is a melody that crawls about my nervous system and brings me back to my dad’s habitat. The three Eddie Hinton numbers are our connection to soul music. Hinton was a genius. The two instrumentals – ‘Memphis Ivory Jag’ and ‘KCAS Blues’ are all about the rhythm section which on its own is The Rockit 88 Band. ‘Jag’ is my definition of that beat we play – swing on top and rock underneath. Few can play this with the authority drummer Mike Sloski brings.  Real Divas - Café Society Throughout the grand history of jazz there have been few pure jazz singers. It’s always been about voices that connect which have a feel for swing with controlled emotional context. Unlike their pop counterparts jazz singers emulate the spontaneous expressions of horn players. Ella Fitzgerald can sing a well stated solo with the same intensity and purpose as the musician next to her. Jazz has it boundaries and much like other genres a set of pre-conditions that keep it within accepted standards. Enter Real Divas. Since the inception of the singing group a year and a half ago it’s been about the broader picture. It’s jazz when need be and full throated singing when demanded. It’s jazz, cabaret, pop, swing, maybe a hint of folk or the occasional blues. More than anything – it’s about the love of singing – the song, the performance – no labels attached! Kinga Victoria, Josephine Biundo, Sophie Berkal-Sarbit and Lauren Margison began singing at an early age with a fascination for opera, jazz, pop, the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan. Together they have been able to explore the most traveled territory and chart a course of their own. It all began at the Beaches Jazz Festival 2008 – on through to a special night at the Royal Ontario Museum – out west – Port Hardy, BC – Trail BC – Cranbrook – the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga -the National Jazz Awards 2009 – Beaches Jazz Festival 2009 – television: Breakfast Television twice – Canada AM - a debut recording – Café Society – great support from CBC radio – Fresh Air and beyond. A year and a half a ago it was four young women meeting each other for the first time – today it’s about a enthralling musical journey that binds four terrific singers together. |
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