Michael's Page

Hey SMG

Welcome to my world.

A bit about me....I'm originally from New Orleans, LA, but I grew up mostly in the suburbs of Los Angeles. My father played sax and recorded on the Specialty label with a group called Lil Millet and His Creoles before the family moved to California. They had a hit called "Rich Woman" and you can hear my pop wailing away. So I have been surrounded and influenced by music since birth. Growing up I heard my father's jazz (Wes Montgomery, Cannonball Adderly Carmen Mc Crae), my mother's singers (Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye and Teddy), my brother's rock (Chicago, The Eagles, Steely Dan), my sisters' R&B ( The Dramatics, The Ohio Players, James Brown. The Isley Brothers). Yes there was much going on, sometimes all at once! But it all affected me and opened my ears to a variety of sounds.

When I started buying music, it was Barry White who first caught my ear. The shear majesty of his orchestration amazed me. It was through my sister's "Walking In The Rain" 45 by Love Unlimited that got me hooked on that sound.

From there I fell in love with Minnie Riperton, the "Perfect Angel". For me she embodied a once-in-a-lifetime voice that simply, to quote her lyric in "Seeing You This Way", "filled my life with magic."

When my favorite album, "Ask Rufus" came out in 1977, it really sealed my deal with Rufus and Chaka Khan. I was captivated the first time I heard "Whoever's Thrilling You, Is Killing Me" a few years earlier, but "Ask Rufus" was the record that really made me realize how great they were as a group. I went back and studied those earlier LPs in my sister's collection and have been a diehard Khan-isseur since.

Right now, my favorites are still Barry, Minnie and Chaka. And here are some of my other favorite things:

There is no vocalist more magnificent than Sarah Vaughan. I took Chaka's advice when I read the liner notes on Echoes of an Era, that maybe it would lead someone to Sarah. What an opening that was for me.

I love Cassandra Wilson. Another voice like no other. So warm and rich. I love how she can take a song from any genre, climb inside it and turn it into her very own.

My favorite composer is the Brasilian master, Antonio Carlos Jobim and my favorite song is his composition Aguas de Marco (Waters of March). That is pure Spirit to me.

Some of my other favorites are: Dianne Reeves, Oscar Peterson, Sade, Djavan, Anita Baker, Luther, Incognito, Joe Sample, Brenda Russell, Phyllis Hyman, Bill Withers, Stefon Harris (a genius! - look him up), Roy Hargrove, Dori Caymmi, Susana Baca, Maysa, Eric Reed... on and on

Today's playlist:

Soulmusic.com presents Dedicated to Soul
Frank McComb: Love Stories
Kenny Lattimore
Ledisi: Lost & Found
Jill Scott: Real Thing

Music is my Life...