JESSIE JOHNSON'S RETURN!

I received a new release by The Time guitarist, Jesse Johnson the other day called "Verbal Penetration (Vol. I & II)". I am not sure if this project will ever make it to wide release, but it's a great find for fans of the 80's band. If you remember, Jesse had success with "Be Your Man" and to a lesser extent "Can You Help Me" and "I Want My Girl". It seemed that his future as a solo artist would be solidified but, for some reason, the solo thing never clicked for Jesse Johnson unlike his band mates, Morris Day and the production mega-team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Verbal Penetration features the single "UandIRWeRUs", which almost has a Curtis Mayfield feel to it. UandIRWeRUs, is full-bodied and nicely layered. Although the title is strange, there is a message in the words, putting thought into the lyrical content. The unfortunate thing is that without a hot name or big label this hidden gem will most likely be swallowed up in the sea of Christmas Music and the holiday push of higher grossing artists. 

 

If you are a fan of great guitar work, decent vocals and a cool little groove, you'll want to check UandIRWeRUs out for your digital archives. I wasn't able to get the full feel of Verbal Penetration, but from the tracks made available to me another standout was "Sheila Rae" a nice, light although slightly dated sounding ode to this special woman. The weakest of the batch is the title track "Verbal Penetration," which isn't bad but a little dated. Do a Google search or parose Bing or Ping for Jesse Johnson's Verbal Penetration!

TELL ME, ARE MY EARS DECEIVING ME?

AVERY SUNSHINE,
HAVE YOU HEARD HER?

Maybe it's my inflated EGO or my shrinking pockets from not being in the game. It could just be my being unaware or just the fact that I can't listen to the radio that long anymore but, I have to ask; Where are the new breakout artists? When I can listen to the radio I hear artists like Neo, Faith Evans, Eric Benet Monica and Kem. I hear syndicated shows playing all the HYPE but same old "joints" (as if that makes them sound better), but I haven't heard any artists who might have started to made a break for the top of the charts and on to becoming household names. Tell me if I am wrong, and if I am just not listening at the right time of day.

MUSICAL PHENOM
"JEREMY JAMES"

I know there are a few artists like Avery Sunshine and Jeremy James who have put out some strong, critically acclaimed work. There was a lot of initial buzz about both of these artists projects, but somewhere along the way they both seem to have stalled out. Is it my imagination, the artists fault or is it a lack of media exposure? I really want to know your feelings on this and let me know if I'm off-base.

WILL DOWNING'S 1st ALBUM

There was a time, not too long ago, when artists like Les Nubians, Ledisi and Maxwell found their way to "mainstream" success because they had the talent and they got the exposure so their sparks could turn into flames. I go as far back as to when two radio geniuses threw away the first Will Downing' album because he looked like a Hip-Hop artist and we... I mean they didn't play Hip-Hop. Later the album was dug out of the trash and listened to. Out of curiosity we/they found out the true talent the man possessed! He was given a fair shot, and the rest is history!

What can we do? Will we get back to developing the new artists with substance? Does radio need a wake-up call? Are my ears playing games with my mind? Instead of calling myself "KNOWWAX" should I change my monicker to "DON'T KNOWJACK"?