Signed to Hidden Beach Recordings, Kindred emerged from the Philadelphia neo soul movement that also includes Jill Scott, who introduced them to her then label president Steve McKeever of Hidden Beach Recordings while the couple was performing at the Black Lily Showcase in Philly weekly back in 2000. Kindred would go on to sign their first recording contract with the label.
The Ashford & Simpson of neo-soul, Fatin Dantzler and Aja Graydon, aka Kindred the Family Soul, continue their ongoing autobiography in song with their second album, In This Life Together, its title borrowed from a dual memoir by the husband-and-wife acting and activist team of Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis, who is quoted and name-checked in "The Quote (Interlude)." Typical of neo-soul recordings, the music, provided by a succession of multi-instrumentalist composer/producers (Yameen, Dinky Bingham, Boy Genius, Kristin Price, Chuck Treece, Easy Mo Be, Elise Perry, Anthony Bell, etc.), is mid-tempo, synthesizer-and-drum-programming-driven approximations of 1970s soul in the manner of Marvin Gaye and Sly & the Family Stone, tricked out with contemporary hip-hop elements, including a couple of unnecessary guest raps.
Over the tracks, Dantzler and Graydon improvise singsong melodies and intone repetitive hooks, but what really matters is not the music, it's the message. The couple are unabashedly autobiographical; you can't get through the first real song, "Thru Love," without knowing how many children they have and what their sexes are (a son and two daughters), and by the final track, "Bed Time Story," you're being informed, "Aquil has started a new school, and oooh he's doing well."
Such details, however, only serve to make their material universal. In contrast to most urban music (and most pop music in general), the subjects here do not concern new love or love gone wrong, they are about the love continuing in a real, committed relationship, that of a contemporary, working-class African-American couple.
That love faces many challenges -- the word "stress" turns up in no less than four songs (post-traumatic on one occasion), and "pressure" and "struggle" are repeated, too. Even in a mutual love song like "Thru Love," the singers pause to ask, "Still, who says it's gonna last forever?" But this is more than just couples therapy set to music.
"Sneak a Freak" addresses the possibilities of intimacy sandwiched in between all of life's responsibilities; "Woman First" is Graydon's reflection on how her husband's love helps her get through daily strife ("Ever since I had the babies, I just don't feel the same"); and "Message to Marvin" is an update on Gaye's "What's Going On," with the chorus, "What the hell is going on?" There are also songs of faith ("As of Yet") and reflections on parents ("Struggle No More," which oddly contains a verse contributed and sung by India.Arie that is a complete non sequitur).
In other words, the collection presents a full-scale portrait of life for a loving, struggling, contemporary couple with three kids trying to keep things together, a life not that different from most people's.
That is actually a refreshing perspective to find expressed in popular music, and one a wide audience should be able to identify with.
Track listing
1. It's Kindred (Intro) - 1:04
Backing Vocals – Dinky Bingham
Producer, Backing Vocals, Instruments [All Other] – Yameen
Trombone – Jermaine Miles
Trumpet – Daud El-Bakara, Jarrett Miles
Written-By – A. Graydon, F. Dantzler, J. Nix
2. Thru Love - 4:03
Producer [Vocal] – Dinky Bingham
Producer, Instruments – Ahmad Godfrey, Tracy Carter
Producer, Producer [Vocal] – Kindred The Family Soul
Written-By – A. Godfrey, A. Graydon, F. Dantzler, T. Carter
3. Turn It Up - 3:12
Co-producer – Kindred The Family Soul
Featuring – Archie Eversoul
Producer, Instruments – Dinky Bingham
Written-By – A. Graydon, O. Bingham, F. Dantzler
4. Do You Remember - 4:08
Producer – Boy Genius
Producer [Vocal] – Dinky Bingham
Producer, Producer [Vocal] – Kindred The Family Soul
Written By – F. Hamilton, M. John
5. Where Would I Be (The Question) - 4:46
Guitar [Sampled] – George Benson
Producer [Vocal] – Dinky Bingham
Producer, Instruments [All Other] – Kristin Price
Producer, Producer [Vocal] – Kindred The Family Soul
Written-By – A. Graydon, F. Dantzler, G. Benson, K. Price
6. Woman First - 4:05
Bass – Charles "Cat Daddy" Johnson
Drums – Julian Brown
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Richard Tucker
Organ, Electric Piano [Rhodes] – Tracy Carter
Producer – Kindred The Family Soul
Producer, Drum Programming – Dinky Bingham
Trombone – Jermaine Miles
Trumpet – Daud El-Bakara, Jarrett Miles
Written-By – A. Graydon, F. Dantzler, J. Tacuma, J. Brown, R. Tucker
7. Let It All Go - 4:07
Co-producer – Kindred The Family Soul
Producer, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Drums – Chuck Treece
Written-By – A. Graydon, C. Treece, F. Dantzler
8. Sneak A Freak - 3:44
Backing Vocals – Radji Mateen
Co-producer, Producer [Vocal] – Kindred The Family Soul
Producer [Vocal], Keyboards – Dinky Bingham
Producer, Bass, Guitar – Conley "Tone" Whitfield
Producer, Drum Programming – Steve McKie
Saxophone – Radji Mateen
Trombone – Jermaine Miles
Trumpet – Daud El-Bakara, Jarrett Miles
Written-By – A. Graydon, C. Whitfield Jr., F. Dantzler, S. McKie
9. Message To Marvin - 3:44
Co-producer, Producer [Vocal] – Kindred The Family Soul
Featuring – The Last Donna
Producer – Noize Trip
Producer [Vocal] – Dinky Bingham
Written-By – A. Graydon, A. Mack, F. Dantzler, M. Lewis
10. The Quote (Interude) - 0:26
Written-By – Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee
11. As Of Yet - 3:19
Co-producer – Kindred The Family Soul
Drum Programming – Osten Harvey Jr.
Producer – Easy Mo Be
Written-By – A. Graydon, C. Biggs, D. Wansel, F. Dantzler, O. Harvey
12. Aja's Mom (Interlude) - 0:33
Producer – Binny Da Kid, Dinky Bingham, Kindred The Family Soul
Written By – S. Graydon
13. Struggle No More - 3:33
Co-producer – Kindred The Family Soul
Featuring – India.Arie
Guitar, Drums – Benjamin Rogers
Producer – Binny Da Kid
Producer, Drums, Bass, Keyboards – Dinky Bingham
Written-By – A. Graydon, B. Rogers, O. Bingham, F. Dantzler, I. Simpson
14. Who's Gonna Comfort You (Definition) - 3:32
Co-producer – Kindred The Family Soul
Producer, Instruments – Easy Mo Be
Written-By – A. Graydon, F. Dantzler, O. Harvey
15. My Time - 5:09
Bass – Charles "Cat Daddy" Johnson
Co-producer – Kindred The Family Soul
Drums – Chuck Treece
Guitar – Grecco Buratto
Keyboards, Flute – Damon Bennett
Producer, Keyboards, Instruments [All Other] – Elise Perry
Vocals [At The End] – Aquil Dantzler, Diya Dantzler
Written-By – A. Graydon, E. Perry, F. Dantzler
16. In This Life Together - 3:41
Bass – Adam Blackstone
Drums – Darrell Robinson
Guitar – Dave Manley
Piano – James Poyser
Producer, Instruments [All Other] – Anthony Bell
Written-By – A. Graydon, A. Bell, F. Dantzler
17. Husband My Daddy (Interlude) - 0:16
Written-By – A. Graydon, D. Dantzler, F. Dantzler
18. Bed Time Story - 4:18
Instruments – Ronnie "Big Ron" Tyson
Producer – Kindred The Family Soul, R. Tyson
Written-By – A. Graydon, F. Dantzler, R. Tyson
Track 1 contains "It's Kindred" Jill Scott piece taken from Kindred the Family Soul Release Party, used with permission from Reel Black Films
Track 5 contains a sample of "Ode To A Kudu" (George Benson) courtesy of Warner Bros. Records
Track 10 taken from "With Ossie & Ruby: In This Life Together"
Track 5 contains a sample of "Ode To A Kudu" (George Benson) courtesy of Warner Bros. Records
Track 10 taken from "With Ossie & Ruby: In This Life Together"
Credits
- A&R [Administrator] – Leterance Thatch
- A&R [Coordinator, Administrator] – Derrick Mays
- A&R [Representative, Coordinator] – Jerrold Thompson
- Arranged By [Live Strings] – Larry Gold
- Design [Cover] – Charnelle Anderson
- Edited By [Pro-Tools, Additional] – Richard Furch
- Executive-Producer – Aja Graydon, Fatin Dantzler, Steve McKeever
- Management – Calvin Hubbard, Derrick Mays
- Mastered By – Eddie Schreyer
- Mixed By – Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado, Dinky Bingham (tracks: 5), Dylan Dresdow (tracks: 6)
- Photography By – Whitney Thomas
- Recorded By – Dinky Bingham (tracks: 2 to 9, 11, 13 to 16, 18)
Notes
Release Date: September 20, 2005
Recording Location: A To Z Studios, Philadelphia, PA / Go Town Studios, Atlanta, GA / Rich Boy Studios, Philadelphia, PA / The Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Genre: Neo Soul
Styles: Adult Contemporary R&B, Contemporary R&B
Duration: 57:41
Label - Hidden Beach Recordings
No comments:
Post a Comment