Space Invadas is duo from Australia: Katalyst - a Sydney-based award winning producer signed to BBE & Invada Records, and from the UK, Steve Spacek - the acclaimed voice behind the ground-breaking genre-pushing group Spacek (championed by everyone from Entertainment Weekly to Mos Def). Their award winning collaboration, "How Bout Us" was one of Gilles Peterson's top 20 tracks of 2008. Their forthcoming album is entitled "Soul-Fi".
Roy Ayers was born on September 10, 1940 in Los Angeles. Thanks to his trombone playing father and piano teaching mother, he became immersed in music from day one and the story goes that he was given his first set of vibe mallets by his hero Lionel Hampton at the age of 5. Constantly performing and recording since the 1960s, he is one of the most famous jazz vibraphonists. He has produced some of the most loved modern soul-jazz records of all time such as, "Everybody Loves The Sunshine"...
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are a funk/soul band. They are signed to Daptone Records, where the dap-kings are the house band. They are widely thought to be spearheads of a revivalist movement that aims to capture the essence of funk/soul music as it was at its height in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s. Part of the way this is achieved is to shun modern digital recording methods in favour of using traditional analogue recording equipment. The type of instruments used by the band may also be considered limited to those that would have been available up until the mid seventies.
Dru Hill is an American singing group, most popular during the late 1990s, whose repertoire includes R&B and soul music. Founded in Baltimore, Maryland and active from 1992 to 2005, Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B #1 hits "In My Bed", "Never Make a Promise", and "How Deep is Your Love". Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin was the group's founder and leader; his bandmates included main lead singer Mark "Sisqó" Andrews, Larry "Jazz" Anthony, and James "Woody" Green.
Hard hitting rhythm and blues nine-piece, Clairy Browne & the Bangin' Rackettes, released their debut album in November, 2011. With launch parties announced in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, CB/BR are never ones to shy away from a full-blown production. These very special evenings will be reminiscent of the old school dancehall party days, where the hair is high and the music is sleazy. The record has been in the making for two years and was recorded with and produced by the gifted, Steve Schram (Little Red, Little Birdy, Cat Empire, Eagle and the Worm, Ground Components).
Charles Bradley is no stranger to hard times. Born in Gainesville, Florida in 1948 and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Charles spent the better part of his childhood living on the streets. One of the more optimistic moments of his childhood came in 1962, when his sister took him to see James Brown at The Apollo. Brown’s energy formed a lasting impression on Charles. He went home and immediately began practicing microphone tricks with a broom attached to a string, imitating the Godfather’s every move.
(1) A soul/funk/groove band who covered <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Steely+Dan" class="bbcode_artist">Steely Dan</a>'s track 'Do It Again'.
(2) An unsigned band from Melbourne, Australia: <a href="http://www.myspace.com/deepdeepheat" rel="nofollow">http://www.myspace.com/deepdeepheat</a>
Sister Sledge is an American musical group formed in 1972 and consisting of four sisters: Kim Sledge (born August 21, 1958), Debbie Sledge (born July 9, 1954), Joni Sledge (born September 13, 1957) and Kathy Sledge (born January 6, 1961). Their biggest successes Stateside came in 1979 with the popular disco anthems We Are Family (#1 R&B, #2 Pop in the USA) and He's the Greatest Dancer (#1 R&B, #9 Pop in the USA), produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic.
Musiq Soulchild (born Taalib Johnson on September 16, 1977 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), is an American, neo soul and R&B artist, and was one of the most popular artists on the Def Jam/Def Soul label. Since 2001, he has gone by simply "Musiq", he dropped the "Soulchild" from his moniker, because he said he had not mastered his craft yet, and thus was not yet "music's soulchild". Since 2007's "Luvanmusiq," however, he has reclaimed the surname.
Guy Sebastian is a successful Australian singer/songwriter whose recording career was launched spectacularly when he won the inaugural Australian Idol competition in November 2003. Since then Sebastian has released 5 studio albums which have been awarded 10 platinum & 1 gold accreditation for albums, and 8 platinum and 2 gold accreditations for singles. On his 5 albums, Sebastian has collaborated with many fine musicians/artists such as John Mayer, Steve Cropper, Robin Thicke, David Ryan Harris, Brian McKnight and most recently a duet with Jordin Sparks.