W♥M (Archive)

Prince in 2016: New Music, Distribution, and PPAD: The Time, and Back in Time

Prince Piano and Mic-Photo courtesy Princestagram Read More Prince Though he and band 3rd Eye Girl managed some hit-and-run random concert dates, mostly in Europe and there were sporadic gigs back home at Paisley Park … Judith Hill Midnight: members of the invited media (Star Tribune, Fox9, City Pages, The Current) are escorted back to Paisley’s Studio A, for what turns out to be an introduction to singer Judith Hill, a preview of her new music, and some Q+A. …

“So Far, So Pleased” –  not only a song title from a 1999 album, but the general way most Prince fans (or fams as they are called) are feeling of late, about the Purple One’s output to start this calendar year.

New Music

After releasing HITnRUN Phase One (NPG/Univeral Records) last September, an electronic-tinged album collaboration with producer Joshua Welton that was met with mixed reviews, the follow-up and 39^th (!) studio album, HITnRUN Phase Two (NPG Records) was more of a solo affair and return to the rock, funk, and brass sound most recognize him most  from.

Released digitally in mid-December, Phase Two was met with generally positive reviews, with Rolling Stone calling the record “his most consistently engaging album in years” and embodying “what he does best”.

Distribution

Ever a believer in artist’s creative rights and eliminating the middleman where possible, Phase Two was initially released digitally to paid subscribers of the Jay Z-led streaming online site, Tidal, where Prince had already contributed the upload of most of his catalogue, a Purple Pick song of the Week, and partial live stream of a Rally4Peace concert.

After being disappointed with sales numbers and record company distribution efforts for Phase One, he turned to Twitter to ask fans’ opinions on a new way of distributing the current album to those waiting for a physical copy and has taken a street level, targeted approach to getting the hard copies out in the wild.

Yesterday, they were delivered to a local Minneapolis record store and NPG has also allowed select members of the Purple Community to buy in-bulk wholesale, to resell at a fair price to their friends and contacts.

Results of this experiment are yet to be determined, but odds are he will also cut a direct deal with a few major chain stores (Target, Best Buy, both HQ’d locally) to eventually sell there as well.

Paisley Park After Dark

What started out as a semi-regular series of late night affairs of dance party get-togethers at Paisley Park in suburban Chanhassen, MN spotlighting local and a few national artists (always overshadowed by a “will-he-or-won’t-he-play” mystery); for 2016, these PPAD nights have been more organized and defined.

The usual mystique of learning of a show often on the day-of, has thankfully been replaced by actual advance notice, even with several weeks heads-up regarding his recent Piano and a Microphone performances on a Thursday January night, that allowed the ever-faithful appropriate time to book travel and hotel, many coming over from Europe and the Far East.

A planned European solo tour of this configuration was scuttled in lieu of scalpers selling tickets at inflated prices before they had even gone on sale, and the Paris attacks on Bataclan, which shook music goers everywhere.

The result was Prince announcing two solo special performances at his own place with the early and late solo shows being very different, stark, and intimate. The earlier 8pm show had songs being played in a (mostly)linear timeline and was perhaps his most personal and revealing set ever, though both shows received glowing reviews.

The Time and Back in Time

Following up those piano shows with performances from Larry Graham and local prog-funk outfit PHO as well as a DJ night, THIS FRIDAY continues the PPAD series with a rare appearance at Paisley Park from the current incarnation of Morris Day and the Time as well as rising songstress and Grammy winner Judith Hill, who had her debut album, last year’s Back in Time, recorded at Paisley and was produced by Prince.

Advance sales (once unheard of for these gatherings) are available at new site paisleyparkafterdark.com which uses the reliable and trustworthy Songkick/Crowdsurge software to process these ticketless transactions, and from all reports at the piano shows, was problem-free at check-in.

The Future

What else is to come in 2016? Only the Purple Yoda knows, though he’s off to a good start – it’s often hard and requires patience to be an ongoing Prince fan (or fam), but 2016 is paying off in dividends so far.

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

D'Angelo and the Vanguard at First Ave, Minneapolis (06 Sept 2015)

poster D'Angelo & the Vanguard Setlist Drone Ain’t That Easy Vanguard Theme Betray My Heart Spanish Joint Claire Fisher Interlude Really Love The Charade Brown Sugar Sugah Daddy -- Encore I -- Left and Right/ Chicken Grease/ What it Do -- Encore II -- Untitled (How Does It Feel) Tour Dates 10/01/15 Lean On Him - A Tribute to Bill Withers 10/04/15 Afro-Punk Festival 11/08/15 Fun Fun Fun Fest Read More D'Angelo We originally didn't see Minneapolis on the D'Angelo "The Second Coming Tour" 2015 US summer dates... but it would seem he finally added us because he was in the area (Chicago) for North Coast Music Festival. .…

The Second Coming had arrived… though about an hour late, it more than made up for it, in intensity-

D’ Angelo and the Vanguard played a very sold out, more than two hour show at First Avenue in Minneapolis, on a holiday weekend that was definitely in need of a shot of live funk, soul, and blues.

Music-loving fans of the genre were out in droves over the weekend, coming locally as well as from other cities and countries.  Prince was hosting a three day “international dance party” at Paisley Park and the mere whiff that he might perform, got people interested and traveling, many of whom put the D’Angelo show, on their weekend schedule as well.  As it turned out, the Purple Yoda was on stage for all of ninety seconds, but anyone lucky enough to have a ticket to this show, got more than their fill of the grown man funky stuff.

LP Music

Coming from a gig the previous night at Paisley, local group LP Music took to the stage a half-hour later than scheduled, to play an extended hour of their blend of instrumental jazz /funk/ soul, after an announcement had been made, that D’Angelo hadn’t even landed in Minneapolis yet.

The group features former Prince collaborators- sax/keyboardist Eric Leeds and multi-instrumentalist Paul Peterson, of fDeluxe fame (a.k.a. The Family).  Their initial gig was at this same venue in June 2013, when D’Angelo and Questlove from The Roots asked them to play, and they returned again to open, this time with Quest joining them on drums, for their entire set.

The group’s musical concept is freedom and improvisation, just a groove and a key, which lent itself well to the dual drummers on stage this night, as well as by Peter Schimke and Peterson’s brother Ricky, on keyboards.  Leeds played keys as well, as much or more than he picked up the sax, and a stunning “drum battle” ensued mid-set, spotlighting the two dueling percussionists on both ends of the stage.

Questlove

Not apparently working hard enough after a week of The Tonight Show and playing live, Questlove also added DJ to his night’s responsibilities- spinning a no-boundaries mix of all genres from the last 40+ years of music between sets and after, that flowed together seamlessly and more than got the crowd moving.

After a lengthy break (made less so by Quest’s deft spinning), D’Angelo and ten-piece group The Vanguard took the stage an hour past their scheduled time, to deliver a 140 min. set  that, once it found its righteous groove, took no prisoners. The new album, Black Messiah (RCA Records) was surprise released ten days before Christmas and automatically had most music critics shuffling their Top Ten Lists for the year, to include the seminal work.

D'Angelo and Jesse Johnson

The man himself was undoubtedly in good spirits, smiling and looking more cut and trimmed than his January SNL appearance, and was in confident, James Brown-like command of his band, often conducting it, via hand signals or subtle head-nods. For guitarist Jesse Johnson (formerly of The Time), it was a homecoming as well, though he chose to mainly stay back, in long coat and ‘70s style floppy hat.

Though the band made it look so, ‘Ain’t That Easy’ was a full-on funk fest, with Prince-like electronic drumbeat and inviting lyrics, “Let your days slip away, come with me.”  The overall presentation was highly tight and professional, with each song flowing directly into each other, backup vocalist Joi Gilliam bolstering D’Angelo’s own vocals (which could have been more up front in the mix), and legendary bassist Pino Palladino anchoring the bottom end.

‘Spanish Joint’ featured some noteworthy strumming from other Vanguard guitarist, Isaiah Sharkey, and defiant fists were in the air everywhere for protest anthem, ‘The Charade’.  “Where my Brown Sugars at?”, D’Angelo asked, resulting in cheers, and then moved to piano for the main set closing ‘Sugah Daddy’, complete with JB-like false endings, before he announced, “for real, we gotta go”.

Encore one was a blowout medley mostly culled from 2000’s Voodoo, with the main man still smiling, screaming in falsetto, and calling on the band to break, anywhere from one to forty-seven times.

D'Angelo

With the crowd still wanting more and chanting, the band returned for an unforgettable ‘Untitled (How Does it Feel), D’Angelo pausing saying, “I’m a take my time” and saying this was their last gig on this leg and the last to feature this set list.

“It feels extra special to wrap it up right here”, he said as the final song stretched to twenty minutes in length, with each member getting a brief solo moment then departing one-by-one, to applause as the crowd sang the song’s chorus.

“It feels SO good, thank you so much”, the now-alone D’Angelo beamed from his keyboard, before departing himself- The Second Coming a memorable success in a venue so legendary for hosting this style of music.

D'Angelo and the Vanguard at First Avenue, Minneapolis (06 Sept 2015)

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ itunes.apple.com