BEHIND THE CAMERA

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Hey just wanted to share with you guys a television show called, Behind The Camera. They featured my good friend and great photographer, Anna Keenan as she photographed my concert in Toronto. Very insightful. Anna, did majority of the photos for my album "Left" except for the cover which was shot by Jati Lindsey. Anna also shot the cover for my new UK released entitled, The Collection. Well watch and enjoy...

A SAD DAY INDEED

Now I'm a GIANT's fan but i must be honest, my heart was saddened by the news of Sean Taylor's untimely death. Unfortunately I have been around a lot of death to young men lately. I will write on that later. I havent addressed Kanye's Mom either. My thoughts and prayers go to all of them. well there's another passing that caught me off guard as well. if you know me, you know i was affected. click here to find out who i am talking about.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/features/5333218.html

JAPAN TOUR - DAY FOUR

Okay so I knew after last night’s show I would need to get some serious rest and drink a lot of fluids to be able to do 2 more shows today. Our lobby call time was 4PM. I slept all the way up to 3PM and only woke up because the phone rang. Well it was much needed sleep so I was quite happy. So the first show was like all of the first shows… Very reserved and quiet. Anthony came offstage exhausted by the lack of energy. Don’t get me wrong he still rocked it, but had to carry himself thru it. This is our last night here so we really want to make it special. Nothing really unusual during my first set. It was nice, and the crowd enjoyed it.
In between sets we went to the dressing room to eat our final dinner in Japan. The staff has been so nice and supportive towards us. Very accommodating, which in all honesty is very rare for us. So lets talk about our dear friend, Yukkyyy. She was the young lady who was friends with D Mo from Frank McComb’s board. She also is the one who brought us the majority of the Gatorade we drank. (Note. The staff also brought us two boxes as well, which we were very thankful for as well.) So of course her money is no good with us. She is on the list for each show and can have what ever cd she wants. We really enjoyed her, eventhough she barely knew any English. But she hung with us and we worked it out. Thanks Yukkyyy!
So during our dinner I was dared by a fellow band member who will go nameles (But lets say he needs sticks to play his instument. Opps that must have slipped.) to lay the microphone down during Softest Lips, then run and dive on it as if it was a woman. The dare was enough, but what he offered with it could not be refused. But I will keep that in house. Well during our second set, we enter Softest Lips. The band is tense with anticipation. Will he or won’t he, they constantly ask themselves and one another. Well I ever so slowly lay the mic to the ground as if she is the most beautiful fine round thing in the world. I walk to the other side of the stage. (Mind you I have on a white jacket. Okay lets continue.) I get in a football stance. After a slight pause I take off, and then dive to the ground next to my beautiful Shure 58 Microphone. The crowd is silent with surprise, and so is the band. You hear a couple of gasp from the audience, and then we continue with the song. Hahahahaha.. Boy I wish that was on YouTube.
The rest of the show was great. The crowd had it popping and when we went into Rock With You, they were just as crazy as the night before. Well I thank everyone for coming and thank the staff for their support, Anthony and I take our final bows and I head straight for the bathroom. Let me tell you, that is where I am immediately after every show. Do you ever notice how much I drink onstage. Well to my surprise one of the staff member, a cool cat nickname, Yo came and got me to say the crowd was requesting an encore. Word? In Japan? Sure enough as I walked closer to the doors I could hear them chanting my name, and boy did that feel good. So we got up there and did two more songs for them, thanked them once again, and that was the night. I had a great time here and truly can’t wait to come back.
Well guess what? It’s Sunday so I have plans tonight. We are 15 hours ahead of the states, so football will be coming on around 3AM. Yes I will be staying up all night watching bootleg football on Ian’s computer. Besides we have a 14 hour flight tomorrow. Why sleep now?

JAPAN TOUR - DAY THREE

Hmmmm… How do I say this best? Sometimes it sucks being the singer. I woke up with every intention to go and see Japan today, but when I opened my blinds and saw that it was raining… Well no sightseeing for the kid. I can’t afford to get sick with 4 shows left to go. So the guys went on with out me. I was fine. I ordered room service and watch Japanese TV. Our call time was 6pm, so of course everyone comes down to the lobby sporting their new sneakers they picked up today. Chicken fat… Not like I need another pair of sneakers though, but it would have been nice to see Japan.
Well for everything I missed during the day I made up for on stage. My voice was in top condition and I was focused on showing that to everyone who came to these two shows. I actually have a cough that is bothering me but people would only notice it when I talk. I can fight it off while singing. The body is an amazing thing. Way to go God… You did a great job making us. While we are on the subject of stage coughs, most people have no idea how much I burp onstage. Sometime in the middle of verses. Hahahahaha… Yeh, I guess I drink so much before and during the show that it has to come out somehow.
So the first show goes without a hitch. We still didn’t do Rock With You, but decided to do it in the second show. The crowd for the first show is once again very reserved, but we push the energy and tempos anyway. The band’s favorite song to play now is “Right Or Wrong.” They worked on it really hard in rehearsal before the tour and its sounding incredible now. Rashid has been murdering the solo section. The band has done a great job with their solos, but Shid’s is the show stopper. So everything was routine until the second show. First thing we noticed was how crowded the second show was. When we got off the elevator you could feel it was a different energy. Anthony definitely enjoyed the crowd response. It doesn’t compare to anything we experience in London or DC, but it feels just as good to receive a response from the crowd. Also there were three black couples in the crowd. Wow didn’t expect to see that.
My set was going great. I looked at my watch during the solos to see how we were doing on time. We were fine, so I looked over at the band to see if they want to do Rock With You. They were more than ready. Would you believe we had the crowd standing and dancing? And when we went into Beat It all hell broke loose. Hahahahaha… It was a great night. Made up for any sneakers and historic sites I may have missed earlier. It was fun meeting everyone after the show. A lot of them spoke English, and the band enjoyed that. We stayed a long time, and I probably spoke to every last person, even the ones who couldn’t speak a lick of English. Met the black couples as well. One couple was there because of the military, another had I believe a construction company, and last couple was there celebrating their wedding anniversary. They were from Philly and DC, and moved out here to take a job as a school counselor if I remember correctly. After everyone left they were still sitting there enjoying drinks and each other, so I talked with them for quite some time. We shared a good and inspiring convoe and then parted ways. The world and the paths we take thru them are so amazing. There’s so much out there, and we all have individual purposes. Its always good to be reminded of that.

JAPAN TOUR - DAY 2

I didn’t expect to sleep well, but to my surprise I did. The bed was very comfortable, and the blinds were heavy and left the room pitch black. My voice feels good, and felt even better when D Mo called me with great news. His friend Yukkyyy from Frank McComb’s forum lives here and knew where Gatorade was and dropped off a gang of it. More on Yukyyy later.
We had sound check at the Cotton Club. The entire staff was standing there to greet us when we entered. That felt great. They did everything I could to make the stage as comfortable for us as possible. From the drums, to the monitors, the lighting, everything was perfect. This is gonna be a fun couple of days.
We pretty much go back to the hotel to get dressed and head right back to the club. The crazy thing is while standing there about to board our bus, who do we bump into… Chris Potter, the artist we were just talking about the other day. We shared a brief conversation sharing compliments. A band member of his had recently played him some of my music as well. I guess when he saw my name on a bill for the Cotton Club. He was headed to Korea the next day. Man, life on the road is serious…
So when we arrive to the Cotton Club we walk into the dressing room and what do I see waiting for me. A huge box of Gatorade that Rene went out and bought for us. So now we had plenty and I was happy about it. Now onto the shows.
Now I had the pleasure of touring Japan with Amel Larrieux about 3 years ago, so I already know that Japanese crowds for the most part are extremely reserved. The band has been schooled on that but I think they had to see it to believe it. They are use to trading energy with the crowd, but this audience came to watch a show and show their energy later. And it’s a beautiful energy I must say. I so appreciate them, but you almost get to a point where you think your performance is wack. Hahahahaha… The first show is 75 minutes. Anthony doing 20 minutes and me doing 55. I’m so impressed with how the band plays Anthony’s music now. It’s getting better with each show. I was able to sit back and enjoy his set and not think about what I had to do. That was great. So I jumped up there and we had fun. An artist named Crystal Kay that I use to give voice lessons to back at home came to the show with her family and label. I believe she’s a pretty successful artist here in Japan. She’s on album number 9. Guess I got some catching up to do. It was good to see her and her mother. I didn’t know they were coming so that was a pleasant surprise.
So after the show, Anthony and I go to a table to sign cds. Even though there is a language barrier between a lot of us, one thing is clear… They enjoyed the show and we appreciated them for supporting us. Once the line dissipates, the staff informs us our dinner is ready in our dressing room. Time to eat and get ready for show number 2.
The food was very good. The turn around time was quick, so before you could blink we were heading downstairs to perform again. This place had a livelier crowd than earlier, so of course the guys were happy about that. I must admit we are still fine tuning our set list here. Trying to experiment with what will work best. We chickened out on doing Rock With You today but we will see what tomorrow holds.
So we get back to the hotel and I have two things on my mind. Food and sleep. There’s not room for both, so I take my butt to bed.

JAPAN TOUR - DAY 1

Okay I promise that I will finish posting all about the UK tour, but let me tell you about what is going on now. The band, Anthony, his woman, Lisa, and I took the 13 hour flight to Tokyo Japan. There’s not much to say about the flight. It’s tough anyway you look at it. We landed on Thursday, and that was pretty much a rest day. Nothing you can really do. Your body and your inner time clock is all twisted up. We were greeted by a cool cat named Rene. It was good to be met with such good energy to start the trip but he soon gave me horrible news. Though I was told Japan had Gatorade, Rene said he’s never seen it there. I didn’t bring Honey Loquat or anything, so doing 6 shows in 3 days was gonna be tough with out my dear Gatorade. Well we had a long bus ride to downtown Tokyo that I got some good sleep on. I put on my ipod and zoned out to a jazz album Ian gave me the other day by this brother named, John Potter. Ian and I shared a brief convoe about this album right before I dozed off. Well I woke up to good and bad news. One the guys spotted Gatorade in a vendor machine, but the bad news was we didn’t stop and buy them all up. All good though. That was the glimmer of hope I was hoping for. So we get to the hotel, and once again are greeted by great smiles and beautiful energies. One thing about Japan I must say is they are the best when it comes to costumer service.
We thought about going to the Cotton Club to see this Japanese pianist perform, but realized we couldn’t handle traveling another second. Plus our rooms were lovely and inviting. And had internet. Hahahahaha… So the Smoke Signals and I left to find some food and the eluding Gatorade. We passed a McDonalds. That may come in handy at some point. Well after walking around for quite sometime we abandoned the Gator hunt and focused on food. We food this sushi spot in the cut. Most of the guys have never tried sushi before. Where better to try sushi than Japan. They couldn’t speak a lick of English but they had pictures so we were straight. I ordered for mostly everyone, but Rashid who I turned onto sushi sometime ago. Took some convincing before the guys accepted the idea of eating an eel roll. “It’s the best tasting thing here”, I said. So raw and boiled shrimp, crab and eel was what we mainly stuck with, until Rashid order the sea orchid thinking it was fried. Clearly it was not, but like the trooper he is that guy took it down. It looked shaky at first but he took it down. So then they ordered me something that I refuse to say what it resembles. I ate it though. Wasn’t that bad. So we left there happy but not exactly full. Told you that McDonalds was gonna come in handy.

DAY 7 – GATORADE ARRIVES

Well there’s work to be done. I am recording some songs for Mica Paris’s radio show. It’s not the earliest we have to leave, but I could have used some more sleep. I am still feeling horrible. I’m bringing D Mo, Ian and Rashid to play. So my Gatorade showed up thank you JESUS… Didn’t know it would cost 250 dollars to ship, but all is good.
Well the taping went really well. Mica was a sweet heart, and quite funny. The producer was really cool as well. We enjoyed talking with him. Especially when he showed us this new D’Angelo album that was released in the U.K.. Wow talking about getting your juices running. So we did the songs, (Just A Dream, and Pretty Girl) and went back to the hotel.
Peter and Santosh, owners of Dome Records took the band and I out for dinner. The food was good and we had fun. Santosh had us playing games, like if you were on an island and could have a movie, a book, and a cd, which would you chose. Well I picked Purple Rain, so I could have all my palettes filled with one movie. I picked the Koran, cause someone already picked the Bible, and we couldn’t repeat answer. I would need some inspiration if I’m on a deserted island. And for my album I picked Radiohead’s “OK Computer.” If I did it all over I possibly would pick Commissioned’s “Go Tell Somebody.” I would be straight with either one.
I’m noticing that band members are nitpicking with each other, which comes with being on the road together for so long. It was very obvious tonight, so at some point I will have to address it in order to keep everything neutral.