[舊聞] Kevon Edmonds

看板RnB_Soul作者Brien (B-jam)時間19年前 (2005/12/06 18:17)推噓0(0推 0噓 1→)

留言1則, 1人參與討論串1/1

VH1有一些關於Kevon的「軼事」，覺得蠻有趣的，謹提供給沒看過的朋友們： (來源：http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/971737/06072000/edmonds_kevon.jhtml) Kevon Edmonds Emulates Nat 'King' Cole's Elegance Stylish R&B singer refuses to cut corners in music or business. by Contributing Editor Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen A lot of R&B singers talk about their love for the old school, but Kevon Edmonds digs really old-school music. "I love Nat 'King' Cole," Edmonds said when asked to name his favorite singers. "Just the smooth elegance of his voice." It's an elegance Edmonds himself emulates, both vocally and musically, on his debut solo album, 24/7. Ask the singer to describe his musical sensibility, and the first words you'll hear are "melody conscious." He's not about production tricks or sledgehammer hooks, he says. His latest single, "No Love (I'm Not Used to)," reflects his love for melody lines that draw listeners in slowly, until they're caught up in a lovely chorus or seductive bridge. It's at #32 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. Even though he's focused on melody and vocal technique, Edmonds sees those things as merely a vehicle for delivering a song's emotional punch. "I become less conscious of how high the note is and more in tune lyrically to what the message is," he said. "It's not a technical thing. It's a feeling." Kevon (pronounced Keh-VAHN) got his start singing with his brother Melvin and Keith Mitchell as the group After 7, who scored hit singles with "Ready or Not" and "Can't Stop" from its platinum-selling, self-titled 1989 debut. They released two more albums before 1996, when Mitchell decided to pursue his own business interests, leaving the trio a duo wondering where to go from there. Trying to find someone to replace Mitchell turned out to be harder than the Edmonds brothers thought it would be, and soon they decided just to dissolve After 7. That gave Kevon the chance to pursue a solo career, something he had been considering for some time. "Shortly after the inception of After 7, I was approached by some of the staff at the record label who would whisper in my ear about going solo," Edmonds said. "But we had just gotten started. That would have been bailing out on my brother and Keith, and I was not prepared to do a solo record yet." Out On His Own His solo musings got sidetracked when his other brother, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, began looking for singers to make up a fictional vocal group for the movie "Soul Food." Kevon and Melvin joined K-Ci & JoJo (born Gedric and Joel Hailey) — who had just left the group Jodeci — to form Milestone, who performed in the movie and released the hit ballad "I Care About You" in 1997. Edmonds said the group considered making a whole album as Milestone, but the logistics of picking a producer and label were too complicated. So he began selecting songs for the album that became 24/7. That allowed him to work with some old friends, including former After 7 drummer Angelo Ray, who wrote the title track (RealAudio excerpt). "That song is just sweet with melody," Edmonds said. "You don't have to think when you sing it, you don't have to remember what the lyrics are. It just comes to you." Not so for "Baby Come to Me" (RealAudio excerpt), which Babyface co-wrote. The song's soaring bridge presented Edmonds with a challenge. "Kenny wrote the melody to the bridge, and my brain wouldn't accept at first that I could sing it," Edmonds said. "It took several shower rehearsals for me to be able to sing the notes. They're just so high." Fight For The Right He points to "Love Will Be Waiting" as another favorite. "It's like a throwback to some of the 1970s, Marvin Gaye kind of feel," he said. He loved the song so much that even though another artist was slated to sing it, Edmonds fought to make the song his own. "This guy wouldn't even leave the tape alone with me, he knew how badly I wanted it," Edmonds said, laughing. "But I wanted to go about getting it the right way. A lot of people in this business just cut corners and don't have any real regard for ethics." Edmonds and the other artist, whom he wouldn't name, sat down with the writer and came to the conclusion that his voice — a sweet but strong high tenor — was better suited to the track. "It's just the simple melody that grabbed me," he said. Edmonds is branching out to acting, and will appear on a June 19 episode of the soap opera "All My Children." He'll also sing on the show, though a spokesperson for him said she did not know what song he'll perform. 感想 1. 原來"Kevon"的發音重音在後面，我都把它當Kevin唸…。 2. Kevon極限音在high E！也就是文中所說，Babyface幫他寫的"Baby Come to Me"中， bridge的最後一個音"from here to eternity~~~"(聽的出來真的很難唱)。一直以為他可以再唱高一點的說，哈哈。 3. 一個團中總是那幾個常被忽略的人先出走…Keith Mitchell、Mike McCary…。 4. Kevon看來是個羞怯而優柔寡斷的人。如果沒有Babyface帶著他，他的好聲音可能永遠不會被發現。就如他所說，他在中學前因害羞而不敢加入教堂詩班，都只是唱給自己爽(to my own satisfaction)。然而也是因為Babyface的緣故吧！他處處都會被標上"Babyface的兄弟"，除了專輯發行還會因為Babyface太忙而被擱著，歌曲也須依賴 Babyface製作寫曲。或許，After 7留給我們一些值得回味的好歌，但我想，若在一開始Kevon就有勇氣以單飛姿態出輯，不知會是什麼樣呢？(當然，他必須有除了唱情歌之外更多的才華) -- 歡迎光臨 WesternMusic 音樂 ◎西洋音樂板 RnB_Soul 音樂 ◎節奏藍調與靈魂 Brien "B-jam" John -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 61.229.183.170