Leon Michels
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Leon Michels
Leon Marcus Michels is an American music producer, record executive, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist best known as the leader of the eclectic soul project El Michels Affair and co-founder of Truth & Soul Records and Big Crown Records. He is a founding member of soul and funk bands Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Menahan Street Band, and Lee Fields & The Expressions, and has played with Charles Bradley as well as Wu-Tang Clan. A frequent collaborator of Dan Auerbach, Michels was a touring member of The Black Keys and co-founded The Arcs. As a producer, Michels has produced records for artists such as Lee Fields, Norah Jones, Chicano Batman, Nicole Wray, and Hanni El Khatib. History Michels' professional career began as a teenager in the late 1990s. He got his start playing in the high school funk band The Mighty Imperials with Thomas Brenneck, Nick Movshon, Sean Solomon, and Homer Steinweiss, which soon found a home at the small Desco Records label, the precursor to Soul ...
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New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the List of United States cities by population density, most densely populated major city in the United States, and is more than twice as populous as second-place Los Angeles. New York City lies at the southern tip of New York (state), New York State, and constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous Megacity, megacities, and over 58 million people live within of the city. New York City is a global city, global Culture of New ...
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Charles Bradley (singer)
Charles Edward Bradley (November 5, 1948 – September 23, 2017) was an American singer. After years of obscurity and a part-time music career, Bradley came to prominence in his early 50s. His performances and recording style were consistent with the revivalist approach of his main label Daptone Records, celebrating the feel of funk and soul music from the 1960s and 1970s. One review said he "echoes the evocative delivery of Otis Redding". Called "The Screaming Eagle of Soul", Bradley was the subject of the documentary ''Soul of America'' which premiered at South by Southwest in 2012. Early life Abandoned by his mother at eight months of age, Bradley was raised by his maternal grandmother in Gainesville, Florida. At age eight, his mother returned, and took him to live with her in Brooklyn, New York. In 1962, his sister took him to the Apollo Theater to see James Brown perform. Bradley was so inspired by the performance that he began to practice mimicking Brown's style o ...
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The Dap-kings
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings were an American funk and soul band signed to Daptone Records. They were part of a revival movement of mid-1960s to mid-1970s style funk and soul music. They released their debut album ''Dap Dippin in 2002, the first of seven studio albums. Their 2014 album '' Give the People What They Want'' was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. Following Sharon Jones' death in 2016, the band released the posthumous album '' Soul of a Woman'' in 2017 and a compilation of cover songs in 2020. The Dap-Kings, the Daptone house band are notable for their collaborations with Mark Ronson, including their contributions to Amy Winehouse's ''Back to Black''. The band continued to work and perform together through 2018. History 1996–2000: The early years with Desco Records In the mid-1990s, artist Phillip Lehman and musician Gabriel Roth (also known as Bosco Mann) founded a band called the Soul Providers, and began recording an album of James Brown- ...
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Daptone Records
Daptone Records is a funk and soul independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. Best known as the home of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and Charles Bradley, the label boasts a roster which includes Menahan Street Band, The Budos Band, The Sugarman 3, and Antibalas, and runs the recording studio Daptone's House of Soul. History Daptone Records was formed in 2001 by Gabriel Roth (Bosco Mann) and Neal Sugarman. Daptone was born out of the closure of Desco Records, a label run by Roth with fellow musician Philip Lehman who both played in the band Soul Providers. Roth and Lehman ended their band and business relationship in 2000. Roth, who had played with Sharon Jones as part of the Soul Providers, subsequently founded a new label with Neal Sugarman, leader of The Sugarman 3, as the home of their new group, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. Their first release was 2002's ''Dap Dippin' with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings''. In their first four years, Daptone would also put out ...
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Soul Fire Records
Truth & Soul was a record label and production team based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was formed in 2004 by Leon Michels and Jeff Silverman with Philippe Lehman. The label was best known for their releases with Lee Fields & The Expressions and other New York retro-soul groups. As a production house and recording studio, Truth & Soul worked with artists like Aloe Blacc ("I Need a Dollar") and Adele ("Right as Rain"). In 2016, Truth & Soul's catalog was acquired by The Orchard, and was succeeded by Big Crown Records. History Soul Fire Records Truth & Soul was born out of Soul Fire Records, a label run by musician Phillip Lehman. Lehman had previously run soul revival pioneer Desco Records with Bosco Mann, and founded Soul Fire in 1999 as a funk label; Mann would later open the soulful Daptone Records. Between 1999 and 2003, Soul Fire put out numerous records by artists like Lee Fields and The Whitefield Brothers. In 2003, Lehman decided to retire from the music business, le ...
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Homer Steinweiss
Homer Steinweiss is an American drummer, songwriter, and producer known as a prominent drummer in the New York soul revival scene. He is a founding member and drummer of groups including Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields & The Expressions, El Michels Affair, and Dan Auerbach's The Arcs, among many others. He leads the Brooklyn folk soul band Holy Hive with Paul Spring. A popular session musician as part of The Dap-Kings and in his own right, he is perhaps best known for his work with Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse, with whom he recorded the 2006 album ''Back to Black''. Early life Steinweiss was born into a musical family in New York City. His parents worked in the jewelry business and were very supportive of his interest in music. He began playing music in the early 1990s after watching a conga player in the jazz band at his sister's Manhattan high school. When his conga teacher became unavailable he switched to drums. Steinweiss was initially interested in grunge but an ...
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Thomas Brenneck
Thomas "Tommy" Brenneck is an American guitarist, record producer, and engineer. He became known as the leader of the Menahan Street Band and a member of The Budos Band, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and El Michels Affair. He is the founder of Dunham Records, a subsidiary of seminal retro-soul label Daptone Records; he was the producer of soul singer Charles Bradley. As a producer and session musician, he frequently works with Daptone and Big Crown Records artists. History Tom Brenneck was born and raised in Staten Island, New York. He is a self-taught guitarist and joined the original Daptone band The Dap-Kings at the age of 20. He quickly became one of the essential members of the Daptone family, working closely with the label founder and producer Gabe Roth aka Bosco Mann. He played and toured with Sharon Jones who was the label matriarch. Jones gave Brenneck his nickname, “TNT". Since then Brenneck founded Dunham Records and Studio, cultivated the music and career of ...
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Hanni El Khatib
Hanni El Khatib (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist songwriter and producer as well as visual director and co-owner of the Los Angeles-based independent record label Innovative Leisure. His 2013 sophomore full-length Head In The Dirt was produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. His album Moonlight was released on January 20, 2015. He was described by ''The Guardian'' as a “former skate-punk raised on vintage rock and R&B hois keeping the spirit of 76 alive with his primal raunch ‘n’ roll.” Biography Hanni El Khatib, a first-generation American, who was raised in San Francisco, California by a Palestinian father and a Filipino mother. He grew up skateboarding and listening to 60s soul, surf music, doo-wop and British invasion bands like the Beatles and the Zombies. He took piano lessons as a child and learned to play the guitar between age 11 and 12. He attended art school but dropped out before graduating. While employed a ...
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Nicole Wray
Nicole Monique Wray (born May 2, 1979), also known as Lady Wray, is an American singer and songwriter. Her 1998 debut single "Make It Hot" was certified gold. Early life Nicole Monique Wray was born on May 2, 1979, in Salinas, California, to Debra Wray (née Murphy) and Kenneth Wray. Her older brother Kenny Wray is also a singer and she has younger sister Myrtis Wray. At a young age, Wray relocated to Portsmouth, Virginia.Biographyat Allmusic. She became one of her church's star choir members and also participated in local fashion shows. During her teenage years, Wray was introduced to then-upcoming rapper Missy Elliott, who was looking for a female singer to sign to her own recording label The Goldmind Inc. Wray impressed Elliott by performing SWV's song " Weak" and became the first recording artist on Elliott's label as well as securing a distribution deal with Elektra Records. Career 1997–2002: ''Make It Hot'' and split from The Goldmind Inc./Elektra In 1997, Wray ...
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Chicano Batman
Chicano Batman is an American band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2008, the band is composed of Eduardo Arenas (bass, guitar, vocals), Carlos Arévalo (guitars, keyboards), and Bardo Martinez (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar). Currently, the band's drummer, Gabriel Villa, has not been active in the group since their last studio album, Invisible People. The group's sound draws from a mix of genres ranging from psychedelic soul, funk, indie, prog, and rock. Biography Chicano Batman was formed in 2008. NPR's ''Alt.Latino'' referred to the band's music as one of the show's and listener's favorites of 2014. Chicano Batman provided support for select dates on the January–February leg of Jack White's Lazaretto Tour 2015. In April 2015, the band performed on Day 3 (April 12 & 19) for both weekends of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In July 2015, Chicano Batman performed at Ruido Fest. As of 2017, the band has played at Bonnaroo (2016) and LouFest (2016), ...
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Norah Jones
Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the top jazz artist of the 2000's decade. She has won nine Grammy Awards and was ranked 60th on ''Billboard'' magazine's artists of the 2000s decade chart. In 2002, Jones launched her solo music career with the release of ''Come Away with Me'', which was a fusion of jazz with country, blues, folk and pop. It was certified diamond, selling over 27 million copies. The record earned Jones five Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. Her subsequent studio albums—'' Feels Like Home'' (2004), '' Not Too Late'' (2007), and '' The Fall'' (2009)—all gained platinum status, selling over a million copies each. They were also generally well received by critics. Jones's fifth studio album, ''Little Br ...
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