trane_fanatic

Probably not some folks cup of tea on here, but I am a big R&B/soul head too, so this comes as sad news. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, November 10, 2006 · Last updated 2:35 p.m. PT By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY AP MUSIC WRITER NEW YORK -- Gerald Levert, the fiery singer of passionate R&B love songs and the son of O'Jays singer Eddie Levert, died on Friday. He was 40. His label, Atlantic Records, confirmed that Levert died at his home in Cleveland, Ohio. "All of us at Atlantic are shocked and deeply saddened by his untimely death. He was one of the greatest voices of our time, who sang with unmatched soulfulness and power, as well as a tremendously gifted composer and an accomplished producer," the statement read. Dan Bomeli, public relations manager at University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center in suburban Cleveland, said Levert had been brought to the hospital. Bomeli said Levert had died but he had no further details. "It's very sad. He was an amazing talent, obviously," friend and fellow R&B singer Will Downing told The Associated Press. "Gerald was a hard worker. He would go out there and do his thing, and be in places where the folks were. He would touch the people, and that's really what it's all about." Over his two-decade music career, Levert sold millions of albums and had numerous R&B hits. Levert first gained fame in 1986 as a member of the R&B trio LeVert, which also included his brother, Sean, and childhood friend Marc Gordon. They quickly racked up hits like "(Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop) Goes My Mind," "Casanova," and "Baby I'm Ready." But Gerald Levert's voice - powerful and soulful, almost a carbon copy of his father's - was always the focal point, and in 1991, he made his solo debut with the album "Private Line," which included a hit duet with his dad, "Baby Hold on to Me." His father also recorded the successful album "Father & Son." Levert was known for his sensual, romantic songs, but unlike a Luther Vandross, whose voice and songs were more genteel, Levert's music was explosive and raw - his 2002 album was titled "The G Spot." "When we would do shows together, we would get on stage and battle for the hearts of women. Every night, that was our thing," Downing said. Though Levert was successful as a solo singer, in 1997 he got into group mode again - joining with R&B singers Johnny Gill and Keith Sweat for the supergroup of LSG. The self-titled album sold more than two million copies, and their hits included the sensual "My Body." Levert also worked with other artists as a songwriter and producer. His most recent album was 2005's "Voices." Levert had four children. --- AP Regionals News Editor Sonya Ross contributed to this report.

He was a true jazz connoisseur and host of "Jazz at Lincoln Center" which can be heard on many NPR and other affiliates. The man knew the history of the music inside and out.

She is revered in the R&B / classic soul world and had a string of hits during the 70s.

Personally, I prefer the U.S. K2s (less harsh sonically) to the RVGs, but that's just me.

The extras could be the tracks with the Miles quintet. There would be a huge commotion if they were really unreleased tracks from the Prestige vaults that nobody had heard before.

Whoops, my bad.

http://artistowned.com/ You can buy an official copy at the site above. Hope they have the Trane documentary there soon too.

Are there any recordings where I can hear him talking before the surgery and subsequent damage from a screaming match?

Agreed, Ron. The sound on the Prestige Complete is fine n' dandy to me. I do not comprehed or grasp the criticism of it. I remember seeing the issue date on it and preparing to be dissapointed, but was very pleasantly surprised by the clean and just right mastering on a box this old. Not ultra-spiffy K2 standards, but much more than adequate. For 70 bucks for the whole kit and caboodle, you couldn't have done any better.

PMed ya on the Ervin.

Wow!... Um... oh yeah, PMed you on the McLean, Shawn.

Elvin is a icon to me. Had a chance to see him with his Drum Machine band and McCoy Tyner in his final SFJAZZ concert. I got to hear the materal on the box. Some sessions were good, but a large amount of it was so-so to these ears. With it's heavy price tag, I just don't see myself playing it much with so little time and many discs I haven't even opened yet. Can't justify the cost of it.

Exactly. The Elvin set just doesn't scream "MUST HAVE" in large neon lights like the JJ did for me. Besides, the more essential material in this box has a much better chance of being reissued by BN than did the JJ sides for Columbia. What's this BTW about the Lighthouse sessions not being truly complete? No "Happy B-day" or stage announcements. Boo!

Same here. I sprung for the J.J. Johnson box, but can't find enough reasons even after reading the reviews (majority of them fairly positive) here and on other message boards & Web sites to pull the trigger on the Elvin for some reason. Guess spending an unhealthy gargantuan amount of cash on the Concord sale really left my pocketbook timid. Like you, I will get the Max though when it reaches the end of the line.

Cory Lidle of the Yanks was the pilot?

Here in San Francisco, I had SBC Yahoo DSL for 2 years and the constant dropout was a nightmare, to say the least. Apparently, I lived close to the border of the service area. Switched to Comcast last year and after the six month promo offer of $20/mo., they upped the price to $45/mo. After my threat to cancel, they let me keep the promo rate of 20 bucks for at least another year. IMO, cable absolutely blows away DSL speedwise and also in terms of reliability.

Same thing at the store on Market in SF. I'll have to check the other SF stores next weekend (is the Stonestown one any good? How about the one down in Mountain View?) I went to the one in Stonestown yesterday. 10% off all CDs (I think all Towers are starting at that point first) and 30% off 'zines. Not nearly enough to start spending yet. FWIW, the CompUSA store downstairs is also going OOB after it replaced the Good Guys franchise that shut down. Leopold's, Wherehouse, Sam Goody's, Musicland, Tower... all gone. Only big chains left are Virgin Megastore and FYE. None are gonna be in Baghdad-By-The-Bay. It's all about the indies... Streetlight, Rasputin's, Amoeba.

Colbert is great. I can see how some people might not dig him though, especially Bush fans. Colbert said on "60 Minutes" he's out to play the most arrogant Bill O'Reilly character you can imagine. I have some of John Zorns's stuff, but some of that material is straight garbage.

There is a Japanese version of this box that is all K2, right? I would guess, however, that it would be "mad bank".

Ya know, I got the box preparing to be dissapointed with the sound of a set that came out in '91. Much to my surprise, the sonics sound Tony The Tiger greeeeeeeaaaat. Ditto for the Evans collection. I also got virtually all the K2s that were in the Concord sale, including the titles that were in the Trane and Evans sets, but may not bother opening them now. I had purchased the K2 of the "Coltrane" Prestige a while back and the sound of the tracks from the box hold up well against the much-later Japanese mastering. One thing I have noticed about the K2s is that they are louder and have a little more detail than the original CD pressing, but I am no audiophile...

It's been getting pretty good reviews. The jazz influences are pretty much gone by now with the sound being more paranoid and melancholy. Who's heard it so far?

I'm going to get it with the new Roots - Game Theory today. Picked up OutKast's Idlewild last week, mindblowingly great stuff. Pretty good times for hip-hop w/ Lupe Fiasco coming up too.

I've noticed a lotta these Rhino Handmade & Hip-O-Select releases come back in regular issue form sooner or later. Collectors' Choice Music has reissued an Eddie Hazel and 2 Allen Toussaint albums from releases that were outta print too.

To my ears, early '90's Fantasy CDs generally sound pretty damn great. Are the individual recordings about the same, better or worse than those on the box set? Since they ran out of Evans Complete Riverside before they got to my order, I'm giving strong thought to buying up the individual recordings included in the box. I won't be able to do it for what I would have paid for it in the blowout sale, but I can do it for considerably less than what the set is selling for in various places on the internet. I guess I probably shouldn't be too concerned. I never seem to notice or be bothered by the sound quality of any recordings some seem to find fault in. Maybe my stereo and ears aren't as high end as others. Despite what others on the board say, the sonics on the Evans box are fine to me (similar to other early 90s Fantasy CD reissues) and not "terrible". However, I am not an audiophile, so don't listen to my opinion.

I had purchased your Art Ensemble box there a while back, Chuck. You da man. Tell me something I don't know. Loved the AE set, BTW. Phillip Wilson is a revelation on the tracks he is featured on.