Brainstorm (American Band)
Brainstorm was an American funk and R&B band active in the late 1970s, based in Detroit, Michigan. Their debut album, '' Stormin' '', was their best-selling album, and was released in 1977 on Tabu Records, executive-produced by Clarence Avant and produced by Jerry Peters. It contained the disco hit single " Lovin' Is Really My Game", which was featured in the film '' 54'' starring Mike Myers, and won the 1978 ''Billboard'' magazine Light Radio/Heavy Disco Record of the Year. The album also contained the radio hit "This Must Be Heaven" which is considered a soul classic, by virtue of its continued air play 34 years later. Other single releases from subsequent albums included 1978's "On Our Way Home", and "Hot for You", featuring Belita Woods on lead vocals. The members of the band (on the '' Stormin' '' album) were Belita Woods, bandleader and saxophonist Charles Overton, Lamont Johnson on fretless bass and vocals ("This Must Be Heaven"), Renell Gonsalves on drums, Treaty Womack o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multiple citizenship, dual citizens, expatriates, and green card, permanent residents could also legally claim American nationality. The United States is home to race and ethnicity in the United States, people of many racial and ethnic origins; consequently, culture of the United States, American culture and Law of the United States, law do not equate nationality with Race (human categorization), race or Ethnic group, ethnicity, but with citizenship and an Oath of Allegiance (United States), oath of permanent allegiance. Overview The majority of Americans or their ancestors Immigration to the United States, immigrated to the United States or are descended from people who were Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, brought as Slavery in the United States ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Professor RJ Ross
Professor RJ Ross is a smooth jazz and classic R&B singer and pianist. His debut solo album ''Face To Face'' was released by Music Force Media Group in 2008. Early career Ross's career began as a founding member of Detroit funk band Brainstorm. The band's album ''Stormin was released by famed music executive Clarence Avant's Tabu Records. Ross then moved to Oakland, California where he spent several years as the in-house arranger, producer, keyboardist and midi-expert at Fantasy Studios. At Fantasy, he played on numerous records, including those by Eddie Money, Jeffrey Osborne, Huey Lewis, MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur. He is known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit" ... and Tupac Shakur. Cancer In 1999, Ross was diagnosed with a rare form of Stage-IV cancer. According to Ross, the doctor told hi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of studio musicians in music history. Among their hits are " My Girl", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Baby Love", " I Was Made to Love Her", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", "The Tears of a Clown", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", and "Heat Wave". Some combination of the members played on each of Motown's 100-plus U.S. R&B number one singles and 50-plus U.S. Pop number ones released from 1961 to 1972. There is no undisputed list of the members of the group. Some writers have claimed that virtually every musician who ever played on a Motown track was a "Funk Brother". There are 13 Funk Brothers identified in Paul Justman's 2002 documentary film ''Standing in the Shadows of Motown'', based on Allan Slutsky's book of the same name. These 13 memb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aaron Mills
Aaron Scott Mills (born July 8, 1972) is an American former Arena Football League (AFL) kicker who, in a career lasting two years, played for the San Jose SaberCats (1995–1996). He holds the AFL league record for the longest field goal, with a 63-yard field goal in a 1996 game. High school career Playing football at Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Florida, Mills was a two-time All-State selection as both kicker and punter, and also participated in the Florida-Georgia High School All-Star Game after his senior year. College career Mills was a four-year letterman at Stanford University and was both, a kicker and a punter. As a junior punter, he averaged 42.2 yards per punt and was selected All- Pac-10 first team selection. He currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column inside the instrument to vibrate. Nearly all trombones use a telescoping slide mechanism to alter the Pitch (music), pitch instead of the brass instrument valve, valves used by other brass instruments. The valve trombone is an exception, using three valves similar to those on a trumpet, and the superbone has valves and a slide. The word "trombone" derives from Italian ''tromba'' (trumpet) and ''-one'' (a suffix meaning "large"), so the name means "large trumpet". The trombone has a predominantly cylindrical bore like the trumpet, in contrast to the more conical brass instruments like the cornet, the euphonium, and the French horn. The most frequently encountered trombones are the tenor trombone and bass trombone. These are treated as trans ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the music industry worldwide. It was originally called the Gramophone Awards, as the trophy depicts a gilded Phonograph, gramophone. The Grammys are the first of the Big Three television networks, Big Three networks' major music awards held annually, and is considered one of the EGOT, four major annual American entertainment awards, alongside the Academy Awards (for films), the Emmy Awards (for television), and the Tony Awards (for theater). The 1st Annual Grammy Awards, first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, to honor the musical accomplishments of performers for the year 1958. After the 2011 ceremony, the Recording Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. History The Grammys ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sounds Of Blackness
Sounds of Blackness is a vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the ''Billboard'' R&B and Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts in the 1990s. Cynthia Johnson of Lipps Inc. and Ann Nesby are the group's most prominent alumni. History Origins The group was founded in 1969 by Russell Knighton at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the group was called the Macalester College Black Voices. It was in 1971 when current director Gary Hines took leadership over the ensemble, and the group name was officially changed to Sounds of Blackness. The chief lead singer of the group was Ann Nesby until 1995 when Nesby left the group to pursue a solo career. The group continues to perform internationally. The group performed the original songs for the 2000 Disney animated short ''John Henry'' (based on the folklore character) as part of Disney' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B or C trumpet. Trumpet-like instruments have historically been used as signaling devices in battle or hunting, with examples dating back to at least 1500 BC. They began to be used as musical instruments only in the late 14th or early 15th century. Trumpets are used in art music styles, for instance in orchestras, concert bands, and jazz ensembles, as well as in popular music. They are played by blowing air through nearly-closed lips (called the player's embouchure), producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century, trumpets have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded rectangular shape. There are many distinc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive funk style drew on psychedelic culture, outlandish fashion, science-fiction, and surreal humor; it would have an influential effect on subsequent funk, post-punk, hip-hop, and techno artists of the 1980s and 1990s, while their collective mythology would help pioneer Afrofuturism. The groups released albums such as ''Maggot Brain'' (1971), ''Mothership Connection'' (1975), and ''One Nation Under a Groove'' (1978) to critical praise, and scored charting hits with singles such as " Give Up the Funk" (1975) and "Flash Light" (1978). Overall, the collective achieved thirteen top ten hits in the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits. The collective's origins date back to the doo-wop group the Parliaments, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Regina Carter
Regina Carter (born August 6, 1966) is an American jazz violinist. She is the cousin of jazz saxophonist James Carter. Early life Carter was born in Detroit and was one of three children in her family. She began piano lessons at the age of two after playing a melody by ear for her brother's piano teacher. After she deliberately played the wrong ending note at a concert, the piano teacher suggested she take up the violin, indicating that the Suzuki Method could be more conducive to her creativity. Carter's mother enrolled her at the Detroit Community Music School when she was four years old and she began studying the violin. She still studied the piano, as well as tap and ballet.''Biography Today'', p. 31. As a teenager, she played in the youth division of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. While at school, she was able to take master classes from Itzhak Perlman and Yehudi Menuhin. Carter attended Cass Technical High School with a close friend, jazz singer Carla Cook, who introd ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Deon Estus
Jeffery Deon Estus (July 4, 1956 – October 11, 2021) was an American musician and singer, best known as the bass player of Wham! and as the bassist on George Michael's first two solo projects. Estus' single "Heaven Help Me", with additional vocals by George Michael, reached No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1989. Early life Estus was born in Detroit on July 4, 1956. He went to Northwestern High School. There, he sang second tenor in the choir under the direction of Brazel Dennard. His bass guitar teacher was James Jamerson of Motown's the Funk Brothers. Career Estus joined the R&B band Brainstorm as a teenager, recording two albums with them and scoring a hit with "Popcorn". During the early 1980s, he moved to Europe to join and tour with Marvin Gaye. He lived in Belgium and Ireland, before settling in London. He turned down the chance to play bass on Marvin Gaye's 1982 comeback album, ''Midnight Love'', because he was so busy recording and he said that he ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or trombone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments. Since the 1960s, the electric bass has been the standard bass instrument for funk, R&B, soul music, rock and roll, reggae, jazz fusion, Heavy metal music, heavy metal, Country music, country and pop music. The double bass is the standard bass instrument for European classical music, classical music, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, rockabilly, and most genres of jazz. Low brass instruments such as the tuba or sousaphone are the standard bass instrument in Dixieland and New Orleans-style jazz bands. Despite the associations of different bass instruments with certain genres, there are exceptions. Some ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |