Angela Johnson
"Got To Let It Go"
Purpose Records (US)
Dome Records (UK)
Columbia/Sony (Japan)
Producer, singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Angela Johnson, is a bad bad girl. Perhaps not since the heyday of Patrice Rushen and Angela Winbush has a young (female) soul musician displayed so much ability. - (Brett Wright - TOLEDO CITY PAPER)
If Angela Johnson were a man, she'd probably be one of the most revered producer/songwriters in today's market place. As it is, the music industry is still largely dominated by men; and though folks would like to profess that gender is irrelevant, the truth is, it isn't. Angela Johnson is the truth.
Born and raised in Utica New York, Angela has been making music practically her whole life. A musical child prodigy, Angela began playing the piano by ear at the tender age of four. At age 9 she was introduced to the violin. Like many of her contemporaries, Angela received most of her musical experience in the church, where as a teenager she served as church organist and choir director. Angela later applied these experiences to gain admission to the State University Of N.Y. at Purchase as a violin major. While attending S.U.N.Y., Angela developed an ear for studio production, and discovered her talent as a performance artist. Her underlying love for R&B and Soul, ultimately lead Angela to join together with fellow S.U.N.Y. student Christian Urich (Tortured Soul) to form the legendary R&B band, Cooly's Hot Box. Cooly's has been together for over a decade now, and they've recorded and released several dance floor classics ("What A Surprise," "Make Me Happy," "We Don't Have To Be Alone") as well as two albums, "Take It" (2002 Higher Octave/Virgin), "Don't Be Afraid, Get On" (2004 Purpose).
Angela's multifaceted talent as producer/songwriter/singer has allowed her to collaborate with such notable artist as Maysa Leak "All Day Long" (writer), Rahsaan Patterson "Dream Flight" (producer/co-writer), Gordon Chambers "Get Away" (producer/co-writer), Laurnea "No Shame" (producer/co-writer), Reel People "Can't Stop" (vocalist/co-writer), Monét "Wanna Kiss You" (producer/co-writer) and Seek "Journey Into Day" (co-writer) to name a few. In 2001 Angela wrote and produced the top ten hit "Angel" for Japanese R&B superstar, Double, selling more than 500,000 copies. Angela has also produced remixes for Jimmy Sommers feat. Macy Gray ("Love life") and Donnie ("Cloud 9") with DJ Spinna.
Angela's music has been prominently featured on UPN's "Kevin Hill" (Taye Diggs), FX's "The Shield" (Michael Chiklis) and The WB's "Roswell." In April 2005 SBC Global.net (AT&T/Cingular) launched a Television Ad campaign for there DSL service, that features Angela Johnson and Cooly's hot-box as the centerpiece of the commercial, complete with visual clips of the band performing the song, "Lose Your Friends."
"Got To Let It Go" is the highly anticipated follow up to Angela's critically acclaimed solo debut CD "They Don't Know," This twelve track journey through Angela's childhood musical influences, is destined to become a classic. For someone so incredibly self-contained, Angela wields an easy hand with her tracks, relying on smart lyrics and arrangements to get her point across. She never seems to be showing off. She is sincere and confident enough to let her music speak for itself without being trendy.
No question, Angela owes a debt to such '70's soul elements as solid melodies, heartfelt vocals, ditto for '80's technology like drum and keyboard programming, used liberally throughout the CD.
"Got To Let It Go" includes stellar contributions from Angela's band members Trevor Holder (drums), Justin Wallace (bass), Jeremy James (guitar & vocals), Lisala Beatty (vocals) and Tricia Angus (vocals). Other special guests include Jacques Schwartz-Bart (saxophone and flute), Matt Schulman (trumpet), Ernesto Abreu (percussion), Monét (flute and vocals) and Pauline Kim (violin).
Angela's musical craft emanates and expresses the true musicianship that is lacking so often these days from some of her "pseudo soul" commercial brothers and sisters. Make no mistake, Angela Johnson is the real deal!
contact info:
www.angelajohnson.com www.purposerecords.com
label : george @purpose records .com 718-622-6203
management : 973-688-8129
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