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Mayor of Atlanta Andre Dickens joins two of the city’s best known soul singers Anthony David and Algebra Blessett to present them with plaques celebrating their Billboard Gospel #1 hit “Heaven”.  The song, originally a major hit in 1988 for Be Be and Ce Ce Winans, spent a year climbing the Gospel Airplay charts before reaching the top. Also present at the gathering was the song’s producer Eddie Stokes, another Atlanta resident. The release was the first success in the Gospel genre for the Dome label.

ANTHONY DAVID’S FIRST EVER ‘BEST OF’ COLLECTION IS PURE ‘HEAVEN’

For the first time in 10 years Atlanta vocalists Anthony David and Algebra Blessett come together for an emotionally charged performance of the 1988 BeBe and CeCe Winans #1 Gospel and R&B hit “Heaven”. Their acoustic version of the song – which has received praise from BeBe Winans himself - has now become a Billboard Top 10 Gospel hit, with airplay on more than 100 Gospel and Adult R&B radio stations across the US.

The song opens this first ever collection of many of Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Anthony’s finest songs, which also includes “4Evermore”, a Top 20 Billboard R&B hit with Algebra from 2011, and his very first Billboard R&B hit, “Words”, on which he is joined by India Arie. Following the success of that single he received warm acclaim from Michelle Obama and President Obama, who both said he was one of their favorite artists.

Anthony and Algebra have such a unique vocal chemistry together and it is very evident on “Need You Now”, their achingly soulful rendition of the Grammy Award-winning Lady Antebellum song, a huge hit in the US and around the world in 2010 and the #1 most-downloaded country song of all time in the US.

Other guest vocal performances come from Millie Jackson’s daughter Keisha on the beautiful “Lady”, Gramps Morgan of Morgan Heritage and Demetria McKinney on the irresistible reggae tune “Givin’ It Up” and Dutch singer/actress/TV and radio presenter Giovanca on “The Further We Go”. Anthony’s remake of Tears For Fears’ “Rule The World” is a unique family collaboration, on which he is joined by his cousin, Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman, and another UK song he has always loved is the Level 42 classic “Something About You”. Also included is UK favourite “Body Language”.

Says Anthony: Algebra and I really enjoy working together, both on stage and in the studio. We chose ‘Heaven’ for our first duet in a long while because it’s a feel good classic we grew up on”.

And India.Arie says about Anthony: “He’s a great talent and one of my oldest friends. Not only did he encourage me to start performing professionally but it was him who suggested I use my first and middle name as an artist. There was even a time when he spent his rent money for me to experiment in the studio”

Order the CD version here

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3r0uUP9 

Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/45xM8Cf

Ingrooves: https://ingrv.es/heaven-the-best-of-xz5-c

After setting the soul scene alight - especially in the UK - in the early 2000s, New Jersey vocalist Dennis Taylor is being discovered, and re-discovered, by a growing audience around the world in 2022, thanks in large part to a series of new remixes.

20-track collection brings together some of the stand-out tracks produced by Darryl James and Fred McFarlane back in the day, notably Enough is Enough, Smile and Steppin’, and the stellar new mixes by Nigel Lowis of In The Mood and It’s Over, as well as the brilliant Drizabone Remix of Smile. Released for the first time on this album is the Nigel Lowis reinterpretation of Here I Am.

Among the other original recordings included are the Rahsaan Patterson-composed Want, a collaboration with UK vocalist Beverlei Brown on Could Be You, Taylor’s beautiful take on the Anita Baker classic Angel and his version of the Kenny Gamble-Bunny Sigler song Love, Need and Want You, first recorded in the Eighties by Patti Labelle.

Twelve of the tracks on the package are co-written by Taylor, most of them with his production team of Darryl James and the late Fred McFarlane (best known for his work with Evelyn King, Jocelyn Brown, Robin S and Jenny Burton).

Available on all digital platforms.

Released September 30th, 2022

DOME 30 YEARS, Vol. 1

When Peter Robinson launched Dome in 1992 after working in A&R for major labels, little did he imagine that the label would still be going strong three decades later.  Yet here we are and Dome has now celebrated its 30th birthday with the release of Dome 30 Years Vol 1 and an accompanying Vol 2, both of which are available on all streaming and download services.

25 tracks spanning early releases like the Lulu/Bobby Womack Top 30 hit I’m Back For More and Richard Darbyshire’s majestic This I Swear, via Hil St Soul’s timeless version of Until You Come Back To Me and Brenda Russell’s Bluey-produced Latin favourite Make You Smile, right up to the present day and new music from Jarrod Lawson with his take on the Isleys’ Footsteps In The Dark, the Nigel Lowis Mix of Dennis Taylor’s In The Mood and a new take on  jazz funk classic Could Heaven Ever Be Like This from Incognito feat. Bluey.    

The label has been blessed to work with so many talented artists from the US and UK in its quest to deliver the finest in soul, R&B and dance music, and many of its newer followers from around the world are only now beginning to discover just how many gems there are in the Dome catalogue. This compilation will help that process of discovery, and there are many more great artists to be featured in Volume 2.

Dome Records Vol. 1    29/04/22 on all digital download/streaming platforms

Full Flava, led by UK producer/songwriter Rob Derbyshire, have over the past couple of years released a series of remixes of key songs from their 20-year history. Working with a stellar line-up of US and UK female vocalists - including CeCe Peniston, Chantay Savage, Carleen Anderson, Donna Gardier and Incognito’s Joy Rose - they cover a wide range of styles from disco to Latin, soulful house to soul-jazz.

Refreshed is a 2CD collection of remixes together with new cuts like Get Down Saturday Night, a 2021 take on an Eighties club hit, with a powerful soul vocal from Chantay Savage, Music Is My Way Of Life (JKriv Remix), sung by Kelli Sae (already a #1 track at Traxsource.com) and Rod Temperton’s Love X Love featuring Izzy Chase, with a Latin-flavoured mix by Incognito.

Among the most streamed Full Flava recordings are September, also featuring Chantay Savage, remixed by Sunlight Square; You Are The Universe featuring CeCe Peniston, remixed by Michele Chiavarini; “Was That All It Was, a disco era Philly favourite featuring Carleen Anderson, given the soulful house treatment by Micky More and Andy Tee; and the Stevie Wonder composition Betcha Wouldn’t Hurt Me, with Donna Gardier on vocals. Blue Lab Beats bring a soul-jazz twist to Stories, also featuring Carleen Anderson.

REFRESHED DOMECD350
Release: October 1 2021

• Available on 2CD
• and to stream

Jarrod Lawson, the singer-songwriter-keyboardist from Portland, Oregon who emerged seemingly out of nowhere at 37 with a debut album that took the jazz and soul world by storm, has completed recording of his long awaited second album.

Titled BE THE CHANGE, it will be released worldwide by Dome Records on October 30 – on CD, 2LP vinyl and on digital platforms - preceded by the title track as a single.

He is accompanied by a band that benefits from the rhythmic presence of Grammy-nominated percussionist Sammy Figueroa, whose playing in a lengthy career has graced albums by artists as diverse as Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones, Hall & Oates, Carole King and Chic.     

Lawson’s trademark layered harmonies and vocal phrasing, his jazz fusion arrangements and his stunning keyboard skills are in evidence throughout the 11-track album, notably on “Be The Change”,  “Universal Chord” and “How Long”.   On the beautiful, intimate “I’ll Be Your Radio” he is joined by Moonchild’s Amber Navran on vocals and flute and her fellow members of the Los Angeles alternative R&B trio who contribute clarinet and flugelhorn. On the smouldering torch song “Love Isn’t Always Enough” Max Ribner’s trumpet and flugel provide the perfect mood-setting accompaniment.  

Describing him as the “blue eyed soul boy of jazz”, the London Evening Standard wrote: “It’s not just Lawson’s wide ranging tenor and ability to swing, scat and groove that has made him the biggest soul-jazz sensation in years.  It’s the way he’s bringing spirituality back to a genre that had lost its depth”.  

Jarrod received a Soul Artist of the Year Award from the UK’s Jazz FM in the wake of the release of his debut set and was Album of the Year runner-up at Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards.He has performed at the North Sea Jazz and Love Supreme festivals among many in Europe, Indonesia’s Java Jazz festival and a number of festivals in his native US.  He has also played Billboard Live in Tokyo.   A European tour, originally scheduled for July 2019, has been rearranged for May 2021. 

It was 20 years ago that HIL ST SOUL released their groundbreaking debut album SOUL ORGANIC.  The team of Zambian-born vocalist Hilary Mwelwa and producer Victor Redwood-Sawyerr (VRS) had been working away in a North London studio creating a unique blend of neo soul, jazz and R&B that impressed critics on both sides of the Atlantic.

And now, to coincide with a September show at London’s Jazz Cafe, where Hil first appeared in 2000, Dome are releasing a 20th Anniversary Edition of the vinyl album - now in a gatefold sleeve and with three additional tracks.

The 16 tracks in the 2LP set include “Strictly A Vibe Thang”, which charted on the Billboard R&B Singles chart, “For Your Love” and Hil’s acoustic version of “Until You Come Back To Me”, which ended 2000 as the most-played vocal track of the year across US Smooth Jazz radio stations.  In the ensuing two decades it has been Dome’s most downloaded - and one of the most streamed - tracks.

Billboard magazine enthused: “Brimming with R&B/hip-hop/jazz-flavoured rhythms and image-rich lyrics….Even Aretha’s ‘Until You Come Back To Me’ glows again under Hil’s touch”.  And talking about lead single Strictly A Vibe Thang, US magazine Radio & Records  wrote: “You can’t sit still on this one.   While listening to this infectious tune you got to move something – even if it’s just your big toe!”    

The bonus tracks on the new release are the acoustic version of “Until You Come Back To Me”, the VRS remix of “Just A Matter Of Time” and “Down To Business”.