Tag Archives: heston storyteller

Songbirds: Julie Dexter and Heston Concert Review

01 Wednesday Apr 2009

Posted by in Let's Rock: Concert Reviews

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I mentioned that I took a brief trip down to Atlanta in part to get away and also to see Julie Dexter and Heston in concert. Ya’ll know that I travel up and down the East Coast in a New York minute for a show. Besides, airfares have been fairly reasonable lately and I’m blessed to have people down there I could crash with.

I have been hungry for some new music from Julie every since her appearance on one of my favorite tracks of 2008, “How Sweet Life Is” with Angela Johnson. Angela appears on a track on Heston’s album. It’s one big happy musical family! I saw Julie in concert once a couple of summers ago when she was here for the African American Heritage Festival in Baltimore. That was before I became an amateur videographer. I would look at my “blog godmother” Butta of Soul Bounce like she was nuts when she would be rushing up to get video at these shows. Here I am almost 700 videos later and I actually feel slightly uncomfortable at a show if I’m unable to record. For some reason, I don’t remember much about Julie’s set that day but her music has always spoken to me and I was anxious to see her again live.

Heston is an artist that has always been on my radar since his album, Storyteller got such rave reviews over at Soul Tracks. When I mentioned on Twitter, that I was considering the show,  I got major encouragement to head on down and check him out. Doesn’t take much to convince me!

The music gods were smiling on me because I managed to get into this show for free.99. However, it was certainly a show worth paying for and I did support the artists with album purchases.

Julie, who many call the Queen of UK Soul, has now made a home in the Atlanta area and it shows. I’m not sure whether it was the comfort of performing in front of a home crowd or the fact that she was recording a live DVD (The Julie Dexter Collection out this year),  but it’s an understatement to say that from the moment she took the stage, she showed up and showed out. She performed a full set of about fifteen songs, a good blend of old material, cover tracks and a new piece from her album that will be out sometime this year. You can find the whole set over on my You Tube channel.

Julie had some heavy hitters in the Atlanta music scene sitting in on her set such as Phil Davis, Joel Powell, Russell Gunn, Kebbi Williams, and Brandon Thomas. As I learned with seeing Jazmine Sullivan in concert this summer, if the band ain’t on point, it throws the whole set off. Julie is a seasoned artist and I know she would have nothing but the best joining her on stage.

As you watch some of the videos, you may recognize Lil John Roberts, who most of us outside the Atlanta area know as the future Mr. Jill Scott. However, his musical genius is well-known in the peach state.

Julie opened her set by killing a medley of Beyonce’s “Deja Vu” and Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall.”

One of my favorite performances of the night by far, “Black Girls Rule the World”

HOT afrobeat styling of her classic “Choices”

“What Do I Do” – showcasing her background singers, Alex Lattimore and Rhonda Thomas both of whom I said need their own albums. Turns out that Rhonda does in fact have an album out and she’s opening up for Omar and Eric Roberson over the next few weeks. Check her out.

By the time Heston took the stage, the hour was growing late but the energy was still high. This was my first time hearing his music and from the first few notes, he had found a fan in me.  I immediately was drawn in by his sound and his performance style. He performed a set of about eight songs including tracks from his debut self-titled album (which I have to get my hands on) and Storyteller as well as a couple of Bob Marley covers. He flows from soul to reggae quite smoothly.

Check out a few of my favorite performances from the night.

“If” from his debut album is a definite party starter. It was all I could do not to get up and dance with the couple who were getting down in front of the stage.

The heart-wrenching “No Way, No How”

I was excited to hear that he is releasing a new album this year called Warm Human, Cold World. Take a listen to the title track.

I still have a few more videos from his set to upload. I know each and everyone of you are subscribed to the You Tube channel so you shouldn’t miss out. Julie joined him onstage for a Bob Marley cover that you will definitely want to see. They make beautiful music together.

If you’ve enjoyed the video, please support these artists’ past and future projects. They perform often in the Atlanta area so you can be sure to catch them there if you’re from around those parts.

You can find out more about Julie Dexter at her official site or on Myspace. Check out more on Heston on Myspace and at his official site.

Music Therapy at Moods Music

24 Tuesday Mar 2009

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones

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I told ya’ll long ago that I will travel up and down the East Coast on a whim for a show. Someone left  this comment on my latest column over at Urban Thought Collective,

” What a life to be able to go to tons of shows and be around people that are making music from the heart. Blessed.”

Indeed.

This past weekend, I had to take time and get away and made my way down to Atlanta for the weekend in part to see Julie Dexter and Heston in concert at Sugar Hill inside the Underground. Yet another venue that puts DC’s options to shame. Get. it. together. I’ll be reviewing the show once I get the videos up. Check back for that later this week. It was a hell of a show and I can’t wait to share it with you.

A highlight of my trip was a visit to Moods Music in Little Five Points. As we drove up, I immediately fell in love with this eclectic, artsy fartsy section of the A. Lots of creative energy there. I could totally see myself spending many a day there chatting folks up that look different than me…because you know in the South they speak. And digging deep in the crates which is what I did at Moods.

I almost had a musical orgasm when I walked in and saw shelves filled with joints from the likes of Eric Roberson, Coultrain, Alice Russell, Amp Fiddler, Bugz in the Attic, Carol Riddick, Marie Tweek, Deborah Bond, J*Davey, Yazarah, Davina, Stephanie McKay, Vikter Duplaix, Eric Lau, Sa-Ra, Sam Sparro, Omar, DJ Spinna, Russell Taylor, and Martin Luther to name a few.

To see Brittany Bosco’s uniquely packaged EP staring back at me was like a dream.

I could have spent all day browsing through entire sections devoted to rare finds in classic soul, reggae, world music, afrobeat, and real hip hop. I couldn’t even get through the stacks and stacks of compilations and “mixtapes”  of all the music I mention here and link to on other sites.

Nothing could make the experience any sweeter than Foreign Exchange’s “Take Off the Blues” and “All or Nothing” over the speakers.

I enjoyed great conversation with music aficionados, particularly the owner, Darryl “D-Nice” Harris. I majorly co-signed when he was introducing virgin ears to Eric Roberson. Later I asked whether he follows The Life of An Independent Artist, Erro’s blog. Of course he does and saw my video that was featured there. Thrilled was my middle name.

I left there with much lighter pockets but with a much bigger smile than when I came in. I pledged a long while ago not to buy any more physical CDs until I had a place to store them all. I couldn’t help it if I wanted to.

ledisi_feelingorange

I was most excited abut adding Ledisi’s second rare and hard to find release album to my collection. Ironically, this was my least expensive purchase. After listening to this collection of standards and original tracks, I would have paid twice that.

nataliewilliames

I’ve been trying to get my hands on this release every since I first discovered Natalie a couple of years ago. I’ve listened to a few songs so far and it’s definitely a must-have. I’ll feature her here soon with a couple of tracks from the album. I also need to get my hands on her debut, Yours Truly.

vikterduplaix_intaffairs

This was a great find. I only have Vikter’s latest album so I’m excited to get my hands on his earlier works.

heston_storyteller

This one was at Moods but I knew I’d be able to get it at the show. Before his set was over, I was hunting down the CD man. I was pressed. Soultracks got it right on this one.

Do you have any spots like Moods where you are? What were your last CD purchases?