Maze, The Whispers, and Leela James

Originally from Philadelphia, singer-songwriter, producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Frankie Beverly, formed Raw Soul in 1970. The group recorded a number of singles with limited success and subsequently moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1981, where the group was introduced to Marvin Gaye. Before long Raw Soul became a huge success, were invited to tour in support of Gaye, and at his recommendation changed their name to Maze in 1976.

The same year, thanks to Mr. Gaye’s persuasion with the label, Maze signed with Capitol Records and released their debut album “Maze featuring Frankie Beverly” in 1977. The album was certified gold and earned the group a considerable fan base, aided by the singles “Happy Feelin’s”, “While I’m Alone” and “Lady of Magic”. At this time singer and rhythm guitarist Beverly was joined by lead guitarist Wayne Thomas, keyboard player Sam Porter, percussionist and backing vocalists Ronald “Roame” Loary and McKinley “Bug” Williams, and drummer Billy “Shoes” Johnson.

Maze’s sophomore album “Golden Time of Day” featuring the No. 9 R&B hit “Workin’ Together” was followed by “Inspiration” in 1979. Both these albums and all subsequent releases have been certified gold, and reached similar positions in U.S. Billboard 200 and U.S. R&B charts, which speaks volumes to the band’s consistency and devoted following. “Joy and Pain” was released in 1980, followed by “We Are One” in 1983, which marked Maze’s introduction into the UK charts reaching No. 38 and selling-out eight shows at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, UK.

Maze’s subsequent album “Can’t Stop the Love” in 1985 was the band first chart-topping U.S. R&B album, led by the singles “Back In Stride” and “Too Many Games”. In 1989 the band moved to Warner Bros. and released the album “Silky Soul”, which also found its way to the top of the R&B chart. Around this time the group proved popular with rappers who sampled a number Maze’s songs. “Back to Basics” was released in 1993, which the group supported with an extensive tour schedule.

The Whispers came together in 1964, in California, and they were made up of twin brothers Wallace and Walter Scott. Wallace Scott was the voice of the band and was the lead singer on the vast majority of their hits. The Whispers were officially hit makers with the height of their fame being the 1970s and 1980s. Their first breakthrough into Top 40 was the song “Rock Steady”, which made it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making it to number 7.

They are a band that originally started their career on a major label, but decided to downsize to a smaller label based in Los Angeles called Soul Clock. They were lead by Ron Carson, who became responsible for their huge hit, “Seem Like I Got To Do Wrong” in 1970. Moving again to a larger label called Janus, they decided to stick to working with Carson; however, during the height of their career the band was signed to SOLAR Records who were led by Dick Griffey. Much later in their career they started their own label called Satin Tie Productions, and released an album called “For Your Ears Only”.

They have been responsible for some very memorable performances indeed such as their performance of the National Anthem at the 1989 World Series.

It was in 2014, that The Whispers were inducted into The R&B Music Hall of Fame. The “And the Beat Goes On” singers still perform to this day.

The young songstress has a voice beyond her years and is hailed by critics as a soul revival. She includes artists such as James Brown, Roberta Flack, Toni Braxton, Mavis Staples, Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway as influences whilst her vocal abilities and tones are often likened to Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner. Her debut album 'A Change Is Gonna Come' was praised for its rich, gravelled tone incorporating traditional soul techniques with contemporary genres such as R & B and funk. It included collaborations with Raphael Saadiq and Kanye West.

She is wise beyond her years when it comes to lyricism too, she has an elevated view of the music industry and often condemns the glorification of materialism and misogyny in popular R & B and pop music. She is a firm believer that artists should rely on the credibility of their music and be rewarded for these similarly to how they were in former decades. She released her second album 'Let's Do It Again' through Shanachie Records and the title is a homage to one of her noted influencers, The Staple Sisters. It was far more commercially successful in the States that the debut, peaking at #84 on the US albums chart and #11 on the R & B chart.

That year she received two prestigious award nominations, one from the NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding Artist category and another from the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist. With this elevated critical acclaim and notoriety, her third album 'My Soul' sold even better than its predecessor. It peaked at #37 on the US charts and broke the top 10 on the R & B chart. After this Leela decided to release a cover album in tribute to one of her favourite artists, Etta James, and critics praised the beautiful re-imagination of the iconic singer's most popular hits.