Vivian Sessoms Returns to Feinstein’s to Give You Her “Heart”

(New York, NY — April 3, 2012) — Vivian Sessoms, the critically-acclaimed songstress known for her rich, melodic and captivatingly soulful vocals, returns to Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street, for another highly-anticipated performance entitled “Heart” on April 22, 2012 at 8:30pm (dining begins at 6pm) [$25 cover, $25 minimum food & beverage]

“Heart” will showcase various song renditions that Vivian considers “some of the most beautiful love songs ever written, old and new.” It will include covers by Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello, The Weepies, Badly Drawn Boy, Barry Manilow, Grace Jones, and Tammi Terrell, as well as a few original songs and Vivian‘s personal arrangement of Rob Thomas‘ “Unwell” with Matchbox 20 . (see video clip below)

Sessoms’ 2011 debut performance at Feinstein’s received rave reviews:

“It is always such a fantastic surprise when a new artist comes to Feinstein’s and just blows the roof off with their talent. Vivian was one of those artists and we were thrilled to have her here.” –Feinstein’s Management

“When Vivian Sessoms erupts onto the stage with a robust, funky arrangement of “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby?” (Louis Jordan), my pen abandons words for exclamation points…This is a formidably talented performer with a fierce band.” — Cabaret Scenes

Sessoms will again be accompanied by an all-star band for “Heart”. In the band: Chris Parks – acoustic & electric bass, acoustic guitar (Amel Larrieux, Roberta Flack, Sheila E.); Michael Mancini — piano & keyboards (Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Mary J. Blige, Bruce Springsteen, Phoebe Snow); Eric Brown — drums & percussion (Rachelle Ferrell, Lala Hathaway, Deborah Cox); and Noam Dworman — acoustic & electric guitar, mandolin (owner of The Village Underground, former owner of The Cafe Wha/Cafe Feenjon, NYC).

PERFORMANCE CLIPS

Feinstein’s 2011 = Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby
Rob Thomas’ homage to Vivian’s rendition of Unwell
Feinstein’s 2011 = Cherchez La Femme

ABOUT VIVIAN SESSOMS

Born and raised in Harlem, Vivian learned the wonder of music at an early age. Her mother was a session/jingle-singer, her father a flautist/percussionist (who’s played with the likes of James Brown), and she is the niece of jazz legend Nancy Wilson. Surrounded by nightclubs, churches and regular jam sessions at her family’s home, she was already singing by the time she could talk. “Growing up, there was always music to express the way I was feeling. I was so immersed in it, that I kind of viewed music as a backdrop to my life”, she recalls. As a teen, she was approached by Melba Moore, Teddy Riley and Stevie Wonder to perform alongside them. She then went on to work with Joe Cocker, Rob Thomas, P!nk, Patti Austin, Patti Labelle, Sinead O’Connor and most recently Cher to name a few. She has been a featured vocalist for jazz artist Chris Botti, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (Yellow Magic Orchestra, High Heels, Little Buddha)and Towa Tei (international DJ and former member of music group Dee-Lite). Not content to stop there however, Vivian soon began to write and produce for Lalah Hathaway, Amel Larrieux, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jeff Kashiwa, David Morales, Towa Tei and Junior Vazquez among others and had a feature song in the film “Moonlight Serenade” starring Amy Adams & Alec Newman.  In 2007, Vivian along with writing partner Chris Parks released a debut CD “Sunny One Day” (under the moniker of Albright for Vivian’s maternal grandmother) to very impressive reviews. Vivian is now putting the finishing touches on the follow up CD “Heart”, a jazz record that will feature some folk and soul, and a third CD “Radiant” that will feature pop and soul music. Both records are scheduled for release summer of 2012.

For additional information on Vivian Sessoms, visit: www.VivianSessoms.com . For ticket information visit: Feinstein’s ticket purchase info

For press inquiries, please contact: Katrina Boswell — Katrina@katwalkmedia.com.

Ahh… a dope ’90s slow jam based on a dope ’80s slow jam. “Don’t Leave Me” by Blackstreet went to #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. The song was an instant favorite because it sampled another favorite– “A Dream” by DeBarge. “Don’t Leave Me”, from the 1996 Blackstreet album Another Level.

Hi-top fades, polka dots, shorts with socks, video girls fully clothed, and Heavy D and The Boyz dancin’ up a storm to that New Jack Swing beat equals ’80s feel-good perfection. “We Got Our Own Thang” went to #3 on the rap chart and #10 on the R&B chart. “We Got Our Own Thang”, from the platinum album Big Tyme.

“Rump Shaker” by Wreckx-N-Effect went to #2 on Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.  Produced and written by Teddy Riley with a writing assist from a young Pharrell Williams, the song features samples from the Lafayette Afro Rock Band, The Emotions, Manzel and Teddy Riley alludes to the DeBarge song “I Like It” in his verse– “I like the way you comb your hair. I like the stylish clothes you wear. It’s just the little things you do…”

“Remember The Time” by Michael Jackson was released as a single exactly 20 years ago today. Produced by Teddy Riley, the song was hugely successful. It peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 chart, at #1 on the R&B chart and internationally it hit the top ten in nine countries. It also hit the top 20 in all the major territories. Perhaps just as popular as the song is the nine-minute music video produced by John Singleton starring Eddie Murphy and Iman. And more popular still (and unforgettable) was that jaw-dropping kiss between MJ and Iman. Iman told Oprah he was a good kisser… “Remember The Time”… from the album Dangerous.

Check out the bonus video below of Teddy Riley talking about creating “Remember The Time” with Michael Jackson.

Hi-Five had a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B chart with “I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)” an upbeat, radio-friendly song about young love from the group’s debut album Hi-Five produced by Teddy Riley. Unfortunately lead singer Tony Thompson died in 2007 at just 31 years of age.

Every type of music it has its own type of “Swing”, which ultimately refers to the feel of the music. Even music that is considered “straight” has its own particular type of swing. The reason that I have Go-Go in parentheses is because it is the type of swing that I wanted to talk about today but not in the manner you may think.

Every now and then I’ll get in a place where I want to hear some Go-Go. The music is near a dear to me because it was through that music that I got my start playing “professionally” whatever that means. I mean we did have paying gigs but trying to split however much money between 7 or 8 folks it usually ended up being that we were subsidizing a meal moreso than making a profit. But I digress…

But really the purpose of this post is to show how the “swing” of Go-Go was co-opted into song that you may not immediately think of as being related to Go-Go. But as the title implies it’s all about that swing! Another impetus for writing this is for all the “I can’t stand that music, it all sounds the same to me people” that I’ve encountered for decades. It’s not that everyone has to like every type of music but it makes me laugh when people can’t connect the dots between something they “despise” and something they love.

First let’s get something out of the way… the initial swing, the pocket of classic Go-Go comes from this song:

Listen to the pattern of the drums: Boom bap boom boom bap boom : That’s the basis for the Go-Go swing. (more…)

You know how we do here on GFM with our “Cover Me” series… today we bring another homage to our Artist of the Month: The Original 7ven (The Band Formerly Known As The Time) from none other than Snoop. This track was produced by Teddy Riley and comes from Snoop’s 2008 project Ego Trippin’. Another testament to how great music has longevity and the other kind may last only a season, or sometimes a day or two.