Pronounced (cal-vin-uh-lee-bru)

Do you ever find yourself driving down the street and all of a sudden a song (out of nowhere) just pops into your head? I mean it completely comes out of left field but you can sing that song like you had it implanted into your brain. That happens to me a lot and one of the groups that seem to trot around my brain is JODECI. If you were going to school in the early 90′s you know what that means (and if you went to high school with me, you can probably picture Big Ron and myself right now singing Forever My Lady in the quad). Those were the days back then. If you read this post and you say “who the heck is that, and how do I pronounce it?” you need to seriously go to Pandora and type in JODECI. They were the group that brought a lot of the thug mannerisms to R&B. Now, it’s no big deal to walk around stage singing with no shirt on with an arm full of tattoos, but back then, R&B singers were reserved. They were usually pretty boys with nice suits but JODECI changed all that.

In 1996, right around the time I graduated from high school, the group officially broke up. Jo Jo and K-Ci went off on their own and started making hit albums. DeVante and Mr. Dalvin stayed mostly behind the scenes producing and writing. I never heard too much about them two after the group split up and it’s shame because those boys had talent. They sang and played instruments showcasing talents of real musicians. Word out on the street was that the group was going to make a comeback album but show schedules to the few they had booked were canceled. Rumor also has it that drugs had a big part to do with a lot of the instability the group encountered. I can only imagine what life is like for a group who was that good, and blew up so quick. I’d love to see a reunion though, that was my group. Check out the pictures and performances below.

What’s up folks. It appears we are back on the grind from another beautiful weekend. The Danny Ess Project had the privilege of playing at The Neighborhood Cup in Aliso Viejo this past Saturday (7.24.2010). Great time, awesome music, and excellent photos thanks to Brian Khang.

Click here to see more photos!

Good morning all, I know it’s been a long time since I’ve blessed you with something but not to fear, I haven’t completely fell from the Earth. A few months ago, I had the privilege of working on the set of the San Diego based band “Jet West” for their music video ‘Sunday’ Directed/Edited by Breesa Herrera. I think the title says it all, weekend, fun, beaches etc. I don’t know who in their right mind would watch this video and not want to hang out with this group of people. The video has already been seen on Heavy.com, a well known video based website a well as a few others. This amazing scenery and awesome footage shouldn’t go unseen. I’m definitely glad to have been a part of this, and Breesa… if you’re reading this, you better hire me again for the next shoot!

What’s happening my good people. So I know this is kind of old news but it’s something I felt worth mentioning. To me, there is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing a musician with record breaking history attempt to do a comeback, and fail miserably. Being a musician myself (not a very popular one but a musician nonetheless) it feels close to home for me. I watched this video (below) and it just broke my heart to hear one of the most angelic voices of our time sound the way it did. Houston hasn’t toured since the late 90′s and “rumor has it” she’s been using those illegal substances which overtime we all know can kill a beautiful voice (illegal substances can kill a beautiful anything). She said it was her allergies and sickness responsible for the voice breakdown, but people seem to think otherwise. My question is, if you’ve been out for a while, why on EARTH would you sing the hardest song on the planet (even though we know she’s responsible for the remarkable rendition of the original). I like Whitney Houston, she can get a little wild sometimes, but I like her, so I really hope that she can clean up her act and get the show on the road (pun intended).

Good morning people. I had one heck of a grueling night. I decided to do a late workout, and right now, I’m paying the price for it. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training is some serious stuff. After coming home, I didn’t want to do anything but take a nice hot shower, put on my PJ’s, and listen to a little bit of Sade.

I probably wouldn’t go so far as to call this an album review because I already knew I was going to like it before it even came out. You can catch me any given day walking around singing her music out loud. I only do that with Sade, Maxwell, and Jay-Z. Sade has proven herself to be a true soldier, and not just of love, but through surviving the test of time. What she lacks in production, she definitely makes up in sound. I can listen to any one of her albums repeatedly and feel soothed by her mystic melodic tone. Her last album, Lovers Rock came out in 2000, which went triple platinum, and since then, we’ve been waiting for the next one. I’d say we’re in need of her timeless melody. At night, once you’ve rinsed the dirt from your hands and get your glass of wine ready, that’s when her music is the most effective.

In her Soldier of Love album, she has some reggae influenced jams that are just heart throbbing, the song Soldier of Love is obviously one of them and her Babyfather song gives me that reggae swing. I’m personally into her slower jams, I just love to hear that drawn out voice. The Moon and the Sky and Long Hard Road are my modern day equivalents to No Ordinary Love and Is it a Crime. It’s definitely an album worth buying and with all great albums come great tours, so I’ll definitely be on the lookout for when she comes to Southern California, and I’ll be sure to keep you all informed when such an event is set to occur.

I remember watching Yo MTV Raps! back in the late 80′s/early 90′s and was absolutely astounded by the beats, the lyrics, the videos these MC’s were putting out. I loved every minute of it. I was always looking forward to getting home from school to watch Dr. Dre and Ed Lover get down to business. One of the videos I remember seeing was Dead Presidents by an artist named Jay Z. I though that song was awesome. Back when I first heard it, I had no idea about half of what he was saying, but the song was so sick, it had me running back to school telling my friends about it. I remember saying I don’t know who that rapper was, but I hope he comes out with more stuff like that. Turns out, Jay Z came out with quite a few more albums after that, 11 albums to be exact, which doesn’t include his collaboration and compilation albums.

Just this past News Years Eve, I was hanging with my good friends “The Weezys” watching the ball drop and watched the premiere of his “On To The Next One” video. Once again, this man drops another video that had me running to my Facebook page asking if anyone had seen it (just like when I was youngster). I love that video. I love how random, eye catching, and attention getting it is. The cameo appearances of some of the most random elements you can think of emerge in this video. Hammers, basketballs on fire, a chick in basketball uniform just standing there (that’s not creepy at all), a close up on ink drops in water, and some interesting painted up characters. If you haven’t seen it, this video is definitely worth checking out. I’ve embedded the video below along with a few screenshots. Hope you like.