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©#o http://www.thecharlottepost.com 1D AKrs £ ®F)e Cfjarlotte ^osit THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2004 NTERTAINMENT Janet Jackson Damita Jo Various producers Virgin Records Janet Jackson’s eighth stu dio release proves she is a model of consistency as well as change. She doesn’t deliv er bad recordings but will update her sound when need ed. That’s what makes “Dami ta Jo” such a satisfying record. Sure, there’s nothing new or groundbreaking about this release, but it con tains what we’ve come expect from Ms. Jackson. There are likable love songs of the slow- and mid-tempo ilk and a few tenacious grooves that show Janet isn’t ready to hang up her dancing shoes. Jackson is ready to explore other producers. Jimmy “Jam” Harris and Terry Lewis are still running things, but with help. White- hot Kanye West contributes the exuberant “Strawberry Bounce” and the beat-driven “My Baby.” Dallas Austin and Bagg also contribute songs. For those who like to groove, “All Nite (Don’t Stop)” is the place to start. The lay ered, pulsating rhythm is infectious. Uber pioducers Jam & Lewis craft this song into a club anthem that begs for a remix. Nearly as lethal is “R&B Junkie,” which sam ples Evelyn King’s “I’m In Love.” It’s as savvy a dance song as “All Nite,” but aimed at ol’ school audiences. So why did Janet pick an ol’ school ballad for the CD’s lead single? Maybe she want ed a change of pace. “I Want You” - on which she drops her sex kitten falsetto for some thing a bit more earthy - is a good song, but not quite sin gle material. But there is so much else that is single material. “Damita Jo” should be hang ing around the Tbp 10 for most of the summer and deep into the fall. This may not have the impact of “Rhythm Nation” or “Janet,” but it’s in the ballpark. Ratings Classic; j^ p' ,5; Excellent; Good Why? No stars — A mess R&B duo balance musical and personal lives together It’s always a family affair By Chens F. Hodges FOR THE CHARIjOJTE POST Not since Ashford and Simpson has a husband and wife duo made such sweet music. But that’s what Hidden Beach record ing artists Kindred the Family Soul, do. Husband Fatin, and wife Aja, are the neo-soul “It” couple. They burst on the scene with their hit single “Far Away From Here,” bring both the male and female energy to the R&B scene that is dominated by racy songs focusing on sex, but Kindred focus is love. The response, according to Aja, has been overwhelmingly positive. “We reach a vHde range of people, from age 10 to 60;” she said before a performance last Sunday at Tonic, an Uptown nightclub. 'Ibnic was filled with men and women waiting to hear the group perform songs from their disc. The crowd was a mixed bag of college students, poets and investment bankers. And as the duo sang, Fatin beckoned the crowd closer. “We’re all fam ily here,” he said as the crowd moved closer to the singers. When the duo broke out into their hit single, “Far Away From Here,” the crowd exploded, singing word for word with Kin dred. Their debut album, “Surrender to Love,” has received critical acclaim and Fatin said it is because their songs celebrate the common man. “This has exceeded our expectations,” he said about the success of album. “Real life is full of positives and negatives and we try to identify the good things in hfe.” Kindred received a Soul Train Music Award nomination for best R&B album by a duo or group, but lost out to urban boy band B2K Aja joked before the performahce that the award show gave her a reason to buy a ridiculously priced pair of shoes. Please see COUPLE/2D Fatin and Aja blend the musical and marital as Kindred and the Family Soul. The duo was nominated for a Soul Train Award for best R&B album by a duo or group. Troubled pop duo may be on reality TV Bobby Brown is pitching a reality program on life with wife Whitney Houston. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA - Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown have had a tumultuous few months, with Brown in and out of jail and Houston checking herself into a reha bilitation program. But it’s their reality, and Brown wants to bring that reality to tele^sion. Brown’s production compa ny, B2 Entertainment, has been following the couple around Atlanta in hopes of selling a show about Brown’s life to a network. “As I understand it, the reality show is about Bobby Brown. If she can help her husband in any way, she of course will do so, but it’s about Bobby,” Houston’s pub licist, Nancy Seltzer, told The Associated Press on Fri day. Houston joined Brown, their daughter, Bobbi Kristi na, 10, and the family dog for dinner Monday at the Palm Restaurant in Atlanta’s Buckhead district. Houston was accompanied by a repre sentative of her rehab facili ty, said Mark Trigg, Hous ton’s Atlanta attorney. They dined on a 6-pound lobster, 24-ounce porter house steak and several plates of Clams Oreganato, waiter Jimmy Logan said. Bobbi Kristina had her own lobster and the pooch snacked on steak tartare. The next night, at Prime in Atlanta, Houston sang "Happy Birthday” to a fellow diner, as a five-person pro duction crew caught the action, manager Mark Pin- sky said. Houston, who is in an inpa tient rehab program, is allowed approved authorized outings, Seltzer said. While taking her daughter to school on one of those out ings, Houston received a speeding ticket Tuesday in suburban Gwinnett County for driving 68 mph in a 45 mph zone, Gwinnett police Cpl. Dan Huggins said. “She’s working on getting well, she’s working on her self,” Seltzer said. Producers may be old school, but they’re teaching hits t Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. By Jeff Baenen THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MINNEAPOLIS - Ever the sports fanatic, Jimmy -Jam draws a comparison to the sporting world when he talks about his two-decade-long music collaboration with 'Ibrry Lewis. Jam notes that Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs is back with the Washington Red skins and that 70-year-old coach Hubie Brown has turned around the Memphis Grizzlies. “All of the sudden people realize, well, wait a minute, they have knowledge and experience that really can’t be taught. You have to live it. And we’ve lived a lot of musi cal lives,” Jam says. Jam and Lewis are execu tive producers of Janet Jack son’s new CD, “Damita Jo.” It’s the latest installment in a partnership with Jackson going back to her 1986 break through album “Control” that netted Jam and Lewis their first and — despite numerous nominations since then — only Grammy as producers of the year. Jam and Lewis also had a hand in Usher’s new album, “Confessions,” which sold about 1.1 million copies in less than a week and jumped to the top of the charts, as well as Usher’s last album, 2001’s “8701,” which sold more than 3 million copies. As Jam, 44, points out, he and his 47-year-old partner are old school but also cur rent. Their producing credits stretch back to the S.O.S. Band, Gladys Knight and Alexander ONeal and up to Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men and new artist Heather Headley. “I do feel we are elder statesmen, I absolutely do,” says Jam, who generally speaks for the pair (Lewis declined an interview request). “And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think that experience is something that can’t be taught.” On “Damita Jo,” Jam and Lewis took an executive pro ducer role. Besides tracks produced by Jam, Lewis and Jackson, there ^are others produced by Dallas Austin (TLC, Madonna), Kenneth “Babyface”. Edmonds and Kanye West (Jay-Z). The goal, Jam says, was not to compromise Jackson’s sound. ‘We made sure that the record sounded like Janet,” he says. Jam calls Jackson “the ulti mate muse.” Her 18-year working relationship with Jam and Lewis has resulted in big-seUing albums such as “Control” and “Rhythm Nation 1814” and a string of hit singles. ‘We love each other. We get along great,” Jam says. “The fun that we’ve had making the records has always shown through on the records.” Singer Patti LaBelle says she likes working with Jam Please see OLD SCHOOL/3D
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