Pages tagged “john legend”

The American Pianists Association announced neo-soul star and pianist John Legend has replaced Aretha Franklin as headliner for the Kroger Indy Jazz Fest in Indianapolis planned for Father’s Day weekend, June 13-15.

Legend has come a long way since 2004 when he was known mainly as coveted studio session man turned Kanye West protégé. He spent years playing and writing for artists such as Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z and, most importantly, West, who snatched him up and signed him to his new label. The association with West surely helped spread the appeal of Legend’s debut studio album Get Lifted. By his 2006 release, Once Again, even with quality production help from will.i.am, West and others, Legend proved he has true talent.

The festival, presented by Coca-Cola, features three days of live music and food at Military Park in downtown Indianapolis. Tickets went on sale last week at all central Indianapolis Kroger locations, online, and via phone at 317-940-8198. Tickets can also be purchased at Military Park the day of the event (cash only). Children under 14 are admitted free when accompanied by a ticketed adult.

For ticket information, complete artist line-up and performance schedule, visit the festival’s website IndyJazzFest.net.

Related links:.
JohnLegend.com
AmericanPianists.org
John Legend on MySpace

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R&B crooner John Legend has released his latest album Live From Philadelphia exclusively through Target stores.

The 19-track album features live performances of some of Legend’s greatest hits, as well as covers of favorites by the Beatles and Sly and the Family Stone, and a duet performance with British soul singer and tour mate Corinne Bailey Rae.

Live From Philadelphia is available for purchase in Target stores with a bonus DVD, or as a digital download from JohnLegend.com. The deal with Legend and his label Sony BMG is a first for the Minneapolis, Minn.-based corporation. Despite strong music sales at Target stores nationwide, the retailer has been an almost non-existent presence on the digital scene.

A Target representative said the company hopes to change that with the digital release of Legend’s album and many more artist-focused digital promotions to come, reports Digital Music News. The representative said that offering exclusive downloads was the first step toward putting Target back on the same playing field with established digital music retailers iTunes, Amazon and Wal-Mart.

Of course, no one was heard to comment on helping out all the fantastic and quickly dying indie-retail stores around the world, but then again, no one ever does. Ahem...

Related links:
John Legend on MySpace
Target.com
Paste review: John Legend: Once Again

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If at first you do succeed, try, try again.

Sophomore slump? What sophomore slump? On the follow-up to Get Lifted, the Grammy-winning multi-platinum debut from John Legend, the one-time session man chucks the simple old-school nostalgia for a collection of music that’s genuinely legendary. He jumps out of Once Again with the breezy, retro-futuristic pop of the album’s first single, “Save Room,” a song so silky and seductive that when my dad heard me playing it, he assumed I was listening to some long-lost gem from the Bacharach/David catalog. (It actually does borrow the melody of the 1968 Classics IV single, “Stormy,” introduced to Legend by producer will.i.am.)

“Save Room” is followed by two more nuggets of radio-friendly sweetness, the gospelish, Kanye West-produced “Heaven” and the spare, percussive “Stereo.” But it isn’t until the fourth song, the brilliant Raphael Saadiq/Craig Street-produced “Show Me,” that Legend reaches for the real Heaven. The nearly seven-minute-long composition begins on a bed of Hendrix electric-guitar strumming, then soars to new galaxies with Legend’s voice conjuring the spirit of Jeff Buckley. Yep, it’s that ambitious.

Each track is so tasty I’m tempted to make this a song-by-song menu review, but Once Again is more than just a random collection of great tunes. Legend has grown by leaps on this disc, delivering a richer sound and more adventurous experimentation. Toward the end of “Save Room,” the organ part gets a little crazy and then abruptly vanishes. The gritty “Slow Dance” would be straight-up old-style R&B were it not skewed slightly by the flatulent sound of a tuba and more Hendrix riffage. And the jazzy piano intro to “Maxine” gives way to bright strings and papier-mâché-like percussion.

Amid all this zagging are strong melodies that would stand on their own without all the frills, and some of the tracks do just that. The piano ballad “Where Did My Baby Go,” for example, is pure Stevie Wonder loveliness. And in a rich croon that recalls Hootie & the Blowfish singer Darius Rucker (though with much more soul), Legend closes the album with “Coming Home,” the simple tale of a soldier longing for his return to U.S. soil. Legend’s own return is no less momentous.

When a record this hyped comes along, I’m instantly skeptical. But with production/songwriting team West and Legend’s overwhelmingly tasteful arrangements—priceless guitar- and-piano hooks, ethereal strings, cascading Philly-soul harp and silky, Mariana Trench-deep grooves—Get Lifted has as much in common with the classic funk and soul of Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder and The Delfonics as it does with today’s best R&B, hip-hop and neo-soul.

The only misstep—and it breaks my heart that such juvenile lyrical spew made this masterful record’s final cut—is West’s track-debasing rap on the otherwise stellar “Number One,” during which he (I’m not kidding) has a conversation with his penis. But with Legend’s subtly beautiful piano and soulful vocals breathing life into these soon-to-be standards, you’ll forgive this one cringe-worthy blunder.