Heard Bilal on LA's "Chocolate City" last weekend. Definitely sounds like someone to check out. I notice that he's being compared with Musiq Soulchild, but I think Bilal might turn out 2 be much deeper, and he definitely has some serious jazz study under his belt (Mannes College... for 1 thing...)
In fact, could be just the ticket for those looking for sweet Philly vocals ala D'Angelo. But, Bilal is to D'Angelo what Bud Powell is to Monk... i.e., they're working in the same vein, more or less, but Bilal seems to have alot more technique at his disposal (which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your tastes...)
True, the joint "Soul Sister," produced by Rafael Saddiq, is not much, but for a nicer taste, check him out on "Funky For You" (with Jill Scott) on Common's "Like Water For Chocolate." He's responsible for the nasty half-time ending here... All right. Okay.... yeah....
Also, Napster will provide u with another James Poysner-Soulquarians produced track, "Sometimes".... serious Bilal vocal chops here, y'all, and a nice song with... drumroll please... lots of sweet chord changes!
Speaking of Napster.... The big 5 record companies just gave Napster a list of 150,000 copyrighted songs they want pulled down. That's it? Hey, there's 150,000 songs written every year! It'll probably shock the majors to see Napster alive and well without that big budget music maker stuff on there.... Might be the move that cuts the labels throat once and for all?
And finally, peep the lineup for the Coachella Valley Music Festival in Cali. You've got St. Germain, The Roots, Roni Size Reprazent, Mos Def, Black Star, etc. etc. in an all day festival of love and jamz. Might be as close as the West US gets to a European styleee jazz festival... Any AJ listers going?
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