Month: May 2014

I never write in all caps but I feel kinda “all caps” about this. I’ve only heard 4 of the 12 songs so far but Early Riser is a clear front-runner for my album of the year at this point and it’s a great honor that I’m going to get to sit down and talk with Taylor the day before it’s released. He’ll be coming by to record the next show with me on Monday evening and I’ll post it here on Tuesday at noon, the day that Early Riser hits stores. If you pre-order it on iTunes, you can get both of the songs below plus “The Antidote” with Nai Palm as immediate downloads.

About Taylor McFerrin:

Brooklyn-based producer, composer, pianist, DJ and live musician Taylor McFerrin is set to release his long awaited debut full length album Early Riser on June 3, 2014 via Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder Records.

Taylor’s musical style is equally influenced by the legends of 60s/70s Soul, the kings of the Modern Beat Generation, Golden Era hip hop, free form jazz and electronic music. By playing all of the instruments on his productions, while also relying heavily on sampling and chopping up his live takes, he has found a sound that seamlessly bridges myriad musical worlds and draws the listener into a constantly shifting audio soundscape.

“I spent years laying down tons of tracks,” McFerrin explains, “and I got into a really bad habit of never really finishing anything. So this last year the concept was – let me go back and find all the stuff that really felt right, the stuff that felt like an honest moment of creation for me, and just force myself to finish those tracks.”

From the opening build of “Postpartum” onwards, you know you’re in for something pretty special with Early Riser. It’s a smoldering, woozy and intensely beautiful record. Tracks like “Degrees of Light” and “Stepps” establish a sun-up mood in their opening few bars and then develop it, the organic live feel perfectly balanced by the snap of their programming.

If McFerrin’s own voice on a track like “Florasia” adds a genuine neo-soul emotion, his guests are sensational. From Nai Palm of Melbourne’s Hiatus Kaiyote on “The Antidote,” to Emily King on “Decisions” (“one of the best singers alive in my opinion” – McFerrin) and on to labelmate RYAT’s collaboration on “A Place In My Heart,” each adds a different mood and lift to the music they’re involved with. Taylor’s father, the legendary Bobby McFerrin, teams up with Brazilian master Cesar Mariano on “Invisible/Visible” for one of the jazziest moments on the record. Robert Glasper, Thundercat and Marcus Gilmore also provide their substantial jazz chops to “Already There.” But the key to the whole record is the balance—which McFerrin keeps throughout—between his guest’s individuality and his own vision, between the styles of music he loves, between a feeling of intense, sunlit joy and a deep aching sadness, which, it could be argued, is a definition of soul.

Since creating a major buzz with his first EP Broken Vibes, McFerrin has toured worldwide as a one man show and has played major festivals (Lollapalooza, Glastonbury) and legendary venues in NYC (The Apollo, The Blue Note, Radio City Music Hall and The Lincoln Jazz Center), and he’s played with artists including Erykah Badu, The Roots, Nas, Talib Kweli and Robert Glasper.

In addition to producing and performing, Taylor has served as the Head Instructor of the pioneering Beat Rockers program over the past four years, teaching beatboxing and musical self-expression to students who are blind and/or have multiple disabilities at the Lavelle School for the Blind in the Bronx.

Taylor’s ability to create and evolve musically by drawing inspiration from all corners of his life translates into music of exceptional honesty and emotional directness, deep sophistication and effortless style.

R.I.P. EVR but the Main Ingredient lives on! Pure P is in town from Stockholm and will join me Monday to play a guest DJ set and talk life, his Devotion party (that I am dying to spin at) and his latest production and remix work.

Check this and weekly future episodes of The Main Ingredient here at themainingredientradio.com/wp-content/uploads!

About Pure P:

Pure P was born in 1985 in Stockholm, Sweden and has been a music lover since a very young age. He started playing guitar at the age of 11, recorded his own rap songs at the age of 12 and evolved his musical spectrum through hip-hop to soul, funk, r&b, disco, boogie, house, afro beat, jazz, gospel and many other styles throughout the years – both as a consumer and as a producer in addition to his DJ repertoire. Today he’s an established DJ, producer and songwriter, mix and mastering engineer, but primarily a music freak that loves to make people dance. He’s deejayed across Europe and the United States and collaborated with well-renowned artists internationally. These are a few milestones:

Pure P started off his career as one half of the critically acclaimed hip-hop duo Up Hygh together with Rick Skizzo. In 2006 the group released their self-produced debut album “Venus” that featured appearances by Little Brother, Planet Asia, Eska, ADL and many more. The album created quite a buzz and received praise from the likes of Questlove, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, DJ Vadim and Gilles Peterson. Venus was nominated for “Best hip-hop/soul album” in 2007’s annual P3-Guld awards and the first single off the album, “Love Dat”, received a nomination for “best track” in the highly respected Worldwide Awards. During this time Pure P also excelled in his DJ-career, landing a residency at Stockholm’s most established (at the time) hip-hop party, Yes!, and several international DJ-gigs.

In 2007 P formed a new project together with soul/r&b-singer Melo, under the name Hygher Baby, and released the album “Let Me Play U Something U Have Never Heard” in 2008. This was also the year Pure P founded his r&b party, Devotion, together with DJ Will-Rock – one of Sweden’s most renowned DJs, which continues today. The party was an instant success among the dance community in Stockholm and gained respect in the club scene. On the production-side, Pure P focused on remixes, bootlegs and edits the following year. This resulted in a few (more) releases on GAMM records. Among other projects in 2009 Pure P released the full-length-remix-album “On My New York Shit” that created a buzz among DJs all over the world. The first track on the album “New York City (Allstar Mix)” ended up being the most-purchased song on Turntable Lab Digital in 2011.

In 2010 Pure P started working with the +FE Music team including Foreign Exchange, Yahzarah, Darien Brockington and Median. He produced two tracks on Yahzarah’s album “The Ballad of Purple St James” that both became singles with videos. The first one, “Cry Over You” (feat. Phonte), was released in 2010 and the second, “Love Come Save the Day”, in 2011. During the same period he also produced a remix for Foreign Exchange’s single “Maybe She’ll Dream of Me” that featured Darien Brockington and Median. That, and a Pure P Remix of “All or Nothing”, were featured on the +FE Reworks album in 2013 alongside well known names like
?uestlove, James Poyser, 4Hero & Focus….

In 2012 Pure P became a resident DJ/co-host for swedish hip-hop radio show “En kärleksattack på svensk hip hop” on Swedish public radio station SR Metropol. He also started a mastering service for record labels such as the much-hyped house label Local Talk. As a producer he released a track on swedish rapper Nimo’s debut album called “Mitten av min hand”. Meanwhile, he maintained a high frequency of DJ-gigs in Stockholm and abroad. In 2013 Pure P got nominated for the “DJ of the year” award by Kingsize Magazine, Scandinavia’s biggest hip hop magazine.

Today Pure P is working in the studio on beats, songs, mixing and mastering, as well as holding down the Devotion party at Fasching in Stockholm every Friday.

East Village Radio announced today that it is ceasing operations next Friday May 23rd. Much respect to the past and present DJs and staff as it was a labor of love for all involved. Many thanks to Jason Charles for putting me on in 2008. I will absolutely miss the weekly ritual of heading down to the studio monday night as well all of the great times had there while interviewing 80+ guests.

I am honored to be joined for my last show at EVR by Emily King as she prepares to head out on tour with Sara Bareilles. She’s an outstanding singer and songwriter and, as I’ve noticed over the last few years, is more universally revered by her peers than any other artist I’ve encountered.

Although this will be my last show in the EVR studio, the show will continue uninterrupted and will appear here weekly on themainingredientradio.com/wp-content/uploads. The station is also turning over the archives to the DJs so I will figure out the best way to make those available as well. Please spread the word about finding new episodes here each week starting 5/26. Thanks!

About Emily King:

Emily King’s a Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter born and raised in Manhattan’s Lower-East Side. King recently released the critically acclaimed EP ‘Seven’, touring and playing live with the likes of Maroon 5, John Legend, Emeli Sande, Alicia Keys, Aloe Blacc, Sara Bareilles and countless others along the way. King celebrates her roots, pop, soul, and indie influences by carefully crafting compositions that serve as the perfect vehicle for her polished, lush vocals.

James Tillman self-released his excellent debut EP last week and he’ll come by Monday to talk about it and share of what he’s listening to as well. Listen live during my new time slot – 10:00pm to midnight.

About James Tillman:

Hailing from Washington, DC, singer-songwriter and musician James Tillman fell in love with the sound of music at an early age. Exposure to his parents’ extensive album collection, which included everything from Afrika Bambaataa to Joni Mitchell, and solo karaoke concerts with a Fisher Price toy cassette player planted musical seeds within him. A knock out church performance of ‘This Little Light of Mine” at age 9 and learning to play Mozart’s Clarinet concerto by 16 helped those musical seeds to take root and flourish. James’ unwavering desire to become a singer was ignited by iconic artists such as Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye and D’Angelo. After discovering that Marvin Gaye was a native Washingtonian, James became further driven to forge his own musical path. Drenched in the tradition of these greats yet also inspired by contemporary producers, James’ sound is rooted in soulful R&B with a modern twist.

In 2010, James realized that a career in accounting was not for him, so he made the decision to leave the University of Virginia and become a voice major at The New School in New York City. His family members were disappointed and some of his friends and advisers thought he was crazy to leave such a great school, but James knew his artistic ability would only flourish if he immersed himself in the hustle and bustle of New York City.

Sacrifice and struggle were recurring themes over the next few years, but through discipline, perseverance, and sheer passion James steadily pursued his craft and began to find his way and mold his sound. In the midst of keeping up with a demanding school load and working multiple jobs to pay rent, James taught himself to play guitar and held music sessions with his friends from school. He received the opportunity to go on tour as a back-up vocalist for NBC’s America’s Got Talent popular contestant, Alice Tan Ridley. Steadily creating a fan base, James has performed all around New York City at venues such as: Rockwood Music Hall B. B. King’s Blues Club, Shrine World Music Venue, Drom, Pianos and more.

James released his debut EP, Shangri La, on April 29, 2014, and his begun to catch the ear of music industry. He has been written about by various blogs and publications including Okayplayer.com and Essence Magazine. His music has been played on various radio stations, including KCRW and Gilles Peterson’s BBC 6 radio program. James’ goal with the Shangri La EP is to reacquaint the world with meaningful lyrics and soul music that makes you feel good. This project focuses on the unique elements of love that stir the soul. Based in earnest artistry and love, James is destined to create timeless music. There is no limit for this young talent.