Show me an artist who enjoys doing their own thing, and who sees the journey as the real experience instead of the celebrity status, and I will follow that artist so I can listen to the areas they are exploring, and how they turn their life and musical experiences into their own original work.
Enter: SAVV
SAVV has a deep foundation in the Golden Age of Hip Hop, but since going solo, has ventured into jazz, funk, trip hop, rock, and experimental sounds - in addition to mastering the technical aspects of production in the studio.
For example, take a listen to Day$, off of the upcoming EP, Alternative Energy:
The lyrical callbacks, the vocal experimentation, and the musical layers can leave you finding something new each time you listen to this, while remaining a cohesive piece unto itself.
Second up, we have Beautiful Music, and it is:
SAVV knows how to use words - combining a laid back, romantic tone with some bare, sweat on the sheets gritty lyrics that set a perfect mood.
Lastly, I offer you Forreal:
What can I say about this? If the previous two tracks were depicting moments and moods, then Forreal is like a personal and social mission statement - SAVV is here, he's going to take things to a new level, and if the rest of you can keep up, then we'll all be better off in the long run.
Can't get enough? (I can't - I've been spinning these on a constant loop, and I know you'll do the same once you listen.) Then you can follow SAVV for show dates and behind the scenes info straight from the studio over on Facebook and Twitter.
I listen to music of all kinds, but I am an absolute sucker for a storyteller. Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen, the brothers Davies (Ray and Dave) - if the artist can tell me a good story with a guitar, I'll sit for the entire set and still want more, when it's over.
Whether it's a comedy of errors told through a blues song, a character sketch of a woman at the other end of the bar, or a moment of introspection of a person recounting experiences and figuring out where to go next - Bud Summers delivers wisdom, combined with powerful guitar licks.
Hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, Bud Summers has those southern blues-rock chops that come through in every song, and one can't help but envisioning him playing at a darkened bar, or a midnight outing with dancing in hot weather and 100% humidity. (In other words, I hope he comes over the river to New Orleans, so I can catch him live). His songs combine blues with rock and smooth jazz, with more than a smattering of folk to make for an all-around great listening experience.
I highly encourage you to check out Bud Summers' music over on SoundCloud and ReverbNation, and pick up a few of his albums. If you want to follow Bud Summers to catch the latest news on his music and where he's playing next, you can catch him on Twitter and Facebook.
Having lived in New York, and calling New Orleans my home, I've been immersed in jazz - everything from the traditional jazz on Frenchmen Street on over to the more experimental projects from the likes of John Zorn. That being said, I'm always eager to hear a new take on jazz whenever and however it pops up on my radar.
Enter: GK
GK offers up a revitalization of jazz, infusing (and this is what sold me on it after listening to a few tracks) elements from the contemporary genres that can call jazz their origin. For example, take a listen to "Paint the Town," which has that strong jazz base that I love, while showing off the branches of the tree like Motown, Soul, and Funk:
Or "Love Around," which combines jazz roots with Rock, R&B, and Rap:
With smooth, yet intricate composition, and lyrics that border on listening to a mad scientist playing with words to see what they can do when combined, I've been hooked on GK's music and have been playing the tracks over and over (and you should, too)!
You can find GK on SoundCloud as well as YouTube - and if you want to keep up on the latest news and releases, you can follow GK over on Facebook and Twitter.
*******
I had the opportunity to interview GK, and he put together come very insightful answers:
Tersichore: What moved you to music instead of, say, financial statistics?
GK: I have a very deep connection with Sound, and I think music can help people out of the darkest depths and inspire people to the highest heights. Music is just a compilation of sounds that I feel has the ability to shape our perception of reality, and I hope to showcase a new perception. I really like Jazz and I want to use it in new ways and make it relevant for today, because it's the backbone of modern rock and roll. But I didn't think I would become a singer growing up, I didn't think I was good enough until about 3 years ago when all my years of singing instruction clicked and it became easier to sing.
Tersichore: How long have you been doing this?
GK: I've been singing since as long as I could remember, both my parents love to sing even though one of them can't so I kinda grew up thinking that it was normal to sing out loud. But I was enrolled in music organizations since I was 6 from piano, guitar, sax, to bass, however I'm not a good musician the only instrument I can play is myself. Although its helped me in my music composition, I've been in choir and musical productions since I was 12. But my High School Choir teacher is who I learned from the most and helped me become the singer I am today.
Tersichore: I'm not going to ask about your influences (because everyone asks that), but who are you listening to when you're not making music?
GK: When I'm not making music I listen to quite a variety of artists, my take on music is that if its good its good. And what I mean by that is, there are certain unwritten rules when making music and as long as their not violated then your good. Except Polka.
I really like dub-step, but I will say its hard to find good songs and artist usually their out of the UK, borgore comes to mind. Other than that Florence and the Machine, Kendrick Lamar, Queen, Ludacris, Nat King Cole, Micheal Jackson are the artists on my phone at the moment. But I listen to a lot more hip hop than I do pop music even though you can argue that they're the same now.
Tersichore: Plans for the future?
GK: I'm going to be start doing some shows in southern California once I've released my new song, Dark spot, hopefully by the end of the month. I'm in the process of creating an indie music video for Love Around at the moment, release date TBA. But My lyric videos can be found on my YouTube channel for those who are interested in singing along.
Tersichore: If you wanted to impress something on your listeners (or the readers of this article) what would it be?
GK: My music is an attempt to revitalize a style that has had a profound impact on the music world. Its not because I think its important for music culture, but because that's who I am. I look back to the older ways of making music as inspiration but I still try to blend apart of the culture today cause I live it. I could sing pop songs, or join an indie rock band but I make music to make people think and rock out a bit at the same time, 'cause that's what I like to do. I made these songs all on my own, no one told me what to do one step of the way, this is the unabridged me and I hope they enjoy.
Irma Seleman has a hot new single, Don't Be Messin' :
This song has the groove and lyrics to give classics like Paula Abdul's Cold Hearted and Mary J Blige's No More Drama a run for their money.
A recent graduate from Berklee College of Music, Irma Seleman range runs from pop/rock and R&B all the way to disco, gospel, jazz, and so much more! Recently, Irma was featured in WWS Magazine and was announced as the RAW Boston Artist of the Day. She has performed in numerous venues in the US, including the Utica Music Festival in NY.
Among her influences, Irma Seleman lists such noteworthy greats as Etta James, Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and jazz immortals like Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald.
Don't Be Messin' is available on iTunes, and if you enjoy songs that will make your body move and lyrics that you can't help but want to sing along with, then you should get her music now!
About Irma Seleman:
The funky songbird from the East, Irma puts together grooves, melodies, and harmonies that reflects her journey in live, love and music. With the ability of arranging and producing music organically and electronically, Irma brought her traditional Malaysian root sound into the music of Soul and R&B and make it her own distinct blend. Finding her ground in the “Big Apple” NYC after touring in the US, Europe and South East Asia, Irma is constantly spreading her wings reaching out to new souls with one mission; bringing people together through music.
Born in Penang, Malaysia, Irma Seleman was raised up in a small town in Bangi, Selangor, MY. An active sports woman who sings malay traditional music throughout her middle school life. As a daughter of a musician, her dad gave a lot of exposure in every kind of music from traditional, to contemporary.
In 2008, Irma enrolled in the Berklee Transfer Program in a BIN school, International College of Music (ICOM) and did the foundation in Music and first year of Degree in Music for 2 and a half years. She has achieved so much while she was in ICOM. She was known as the risk taker and would try every kind of music from pop, malay traditional, funk, R&B, Hip Hop, Rock, Disco and many more. She was the background vocalist in a huge national show, KL Foundation. She was also the lead vocalist for the ICOM Celebration Series Tribute to The Eagles, Michael Jackson, U2, Queen and ABBA.!Besides being the lead vocalist, she was also the vocal arranger and vocal leader for most of the tributes.
Out of ICOM, in Malaysia, Irma was featured in many of the TV shows such as Mentor (Talent Show) which she worked as a background vocalist for the show. She was also featured in an interview in Hitz.TV as the artist of the month. She also performed at the Michael Buble Crazy Love Tour’s pocket stage before the show went on. She was also featured at the Indie Youth Festival and Borneo Jazz Festival Preview. Other than that she sang in private functions, wedding, pub and jazz club.
In 2011, she started to promote her original music out and performed it in a lot of Indie venues and music or Jazz festival before she further her education in Music in Berklee College of Music. In Fall 2011, she enrolled in the Berklee College of Music and was awarded with a scholarship from Berklee. Being part of the Berklee Reverence Gospel Choir has also strengthen her knowledge in the Black music. She is also the music arranger in a huge show produced by Berklee,Singer Showcase. She was recently featured in the WWS Magazine and was announced as the RAWBoston Artist of The Day. She has performed in numerous venues in the US and one of it was Utica Music Festival New York.
Her recent appearance in Marie Claire January Issue (Malaysia) was her breakthrough. Irma was also featured in Malaysian Airlines Music on Demand on Jazz section and she just finished her Euro Tour supported by Berklee and Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory. She was featured in the Close Encounters festival and Cultural Festival by the US Embassy in Helsinki that took place in Helsinki, Tampere, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia. Influenced by Funk and R&B musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Mary J. Blige, Heather Headley, Rachelle Farrell, Etta James. Also by the bigtime neo-soul Erykah Badu, Jill Scott. Not to forget the Jazz queens like Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald.
Irma has written a bunch of songs that can be found in her Reverbnation page and also her new upcoming EP produced recently.
