|  Reared
on Motown backbeats, 70s groove bands, and gospel wails, multi-talented
artist Angela Johnson has a knack for creating songs that infuse
the classic elements of music’s yesteryear into a dynamic
and contemporary brew distinctly her own. Her critically-acclaimed
solo albums They Don’t Know and Got To Let It Go introduced
Angela as a soothing soul singer with a stealth, gut-punching alto
and a sensitive songwriter of deceptively simple melodies that moved
listeners from romantic sways to back-burning sweats.
Her most recent offering, A Woman’s Touch is a single-producer
project that furthers Angela’s evolution as an erudite production
talent and continues a legacy of female musician/producers not seen
since the pioneering days of Patrice Rushen and Angela Winbush.
Boasting the crème de la crème of soul and R&B,
from Rahsaan Patterson and Eric Roberson to Maysa and Julie Dexter,
A Woman’s Touch is more than an indie soul project, it is
an industry event unseen since the timeless producer albums of Quincy
Jones and Norman Conners. When considered alongside a body of work
that includes two solo masterpieces and two highly-hailed group
projects as the lead singer of the soul-funk band, Cooly’s
Hot Box, Angela’s fifth studio release is a revealing testament
to the time and commitment Angela has spent honing her multi-faceted
skills to a spit-shined perfection. To thrive for over 15 years
in this bare-knuckle business of music requires talent, beauty,
a strong constitution, and steely determination—qualities
Angela has possessed since day one.
Her enduring career isn’t surprising to those in the know;
Angela’s talents and tenacity have made it seem destined.
As a musical child prodigy who played piano by age 4 and violin
by age 9, it appears Angela Johnson was born for music. She certainly
was prepped for this glorious—and occasionally brutal ride—by
her upstate New York rearing in the tough industrial town of Utica,
NY. There, as a teenage choir director and church organist in her
Baptist church, Angela received her first critical training on how
to rouse a crowd through the power of song. Refinement as a musician
and performer came through a fated stint at State University of
New York (SUNY) in Purchase. At SUNY, Angela studied as a violin
major and met her fellow students and future Cooly’s Hot Box
bandmates, including close collaborator Christian Urich of the cult
favorite, Tortured Soul. Several years of singing lead and writing
for Cooly’s Hot Box produced three dance hits (“What
A Surprise,” “Make Me Happy,” and “We Don’t
Have To Be Alone”), a doomed label deal with Virgin Records
that still produced Cooly's commendable debut Take It, and a much
celebrated sophomore project (Don’t Be Afraid, Get On) under
Angela’s current label home, Purpose Records, signaled the
end of the Cooly's era. After departing Cooly’s in 2002, Angela
met the industry as a grown woman of esteemed talents with an experience
earned doctorate in music business chicanery. The year also found
a newly motivated Angela Johnson determined to show the world what
she could do as an artist, alone.
 Since
her 2002 solo debut, They Don’t Know, and its auspicious follow-up,
Got To Let Go, Angela Johnson has been making the kind of honest
soul music that has inspired promoters, music lovers and industry
insiders everywhere to make sure that everyone knows exactly who
she is. With the 2008 release of A Woman’s Touch, interest
in Angela’s music has exploded throughout the music scene,
from radio to industry bloggers the word is out. Even before A Woman’s
Touch, Angela’s talents as a singer, songwriter and producer
have been in high demand. With songs featured on HBO’s The
Wire, UPN’s Kevin Hill, FX’s The Shield, and WB’s
Roswell, and a 2005 national TV advertising campaign with Cooly’s
Hot Box for SBCglobal.net (AT&T/Cingular) already under her
belt, soon everyone will be whistling an Angela tune. Madison Avenue
aren’t the only ones taking notice of Angela’s talents.
Artists like Conya Doss (“Emotions”), Seek (“Journey
Into Day”), Laurnea (“No Shame”), and Reel People
(“Can’t Stop”) have all sought out Angela Johnson’s
unique sound to grace their projects. More than an artist’s
musician, Angela’s a proven hit producer and songwriter with
a 2001 top ten, gold selling hit, “Angel,” for Japanese
R&B superstar, Double. It’s because of Angela’s
track record for helping talented artists’ deliver some of
their most memorable work that A Woman’s Touch track listing
reads like the who’s who of contemporary soul.
On her latest project Angela expertly guides Grammy award-winning
artists like Gordon Chambers (“Get Away”) and Claude
McKnight of Take 6 (“Here I Stand”) through unexpected,
tropical soundscapes, revealing different sides of these familiar
talents. As the writer, producer and arranger of every track of
A Woman’s Touch, Angela repeatedly illuminates recognizable
artists through the different lenses of her unique musical kaleidoscope.
Whether it’s pushing Frank McComb (“Play”), labelmate
Monet (“That’s Just The Way”) or Eric Roberson
(“Let Me Know”) to move their soulful sounds to the
dance floor or lifting the curtain on her solo-worthy backing singers
Lisala (Walkin’) and Tricia Angus (“Not The One”)
on compositions that places their ample voices firmly center stage,
Angela’s never predictable. Even when she allows trademark
artists to do what they do best, like Maysa on the romantic “More
Than You Know” or Rahsaan Patterson’s funky “Dream
Flight”, Angela Johnson still manages to put her indelible
stamp on the music. A Woman’s Touch also illustrates Angela’s
ear for arranging persuasive, radio-friendly material that would
be at home on any adult contemporary, smooth jazz or progressive
soul station. Catchy duets like Jazzhole front man Marlon Saunders
(“Wait On A Maybe”) with newcomer Lenora Jaye, or Angela’s
own vocal collaborations with band mate Ernesto Abreu (“Amal”)
or Lisala and Tricia Angus (“Crying Over You”) confirm
that independent soul needn’t ever be dull or esoteric to
be good. Then again, that’s Angela Johnson’s work, to
keep the music simple, yet vibrant to the ear. It’s the music
she’s best at that is perhaps most reflective of whom Angela
is as an artist, wife, mother, and as a woman: a strong, uncomplicated,
uncompromising melody determined to play all the keys of life. Six
years after the release of her solo debut and countless more steadily
riding the music industry rollercoaster to prominence, A Woman’s
Touch, parades an artist at her peak. Still in fighting form with
a point to prove, Angela Johnson is an ever-evolving talent with
an unquenchable desire to feed her listeners that good, soul-nurturing
music their hungry for. Are you ready for another serving?
|
Angela,
our compliments on your fantastic new album "Got to let it
go"
