MARIA HOWELL: Same Old Story

Maria Howell

Same Old Story

© 2000 High Wave Co., Ltd.

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Remembered best as the choir soloist in "The Color Purple", Maria's smooth sultry vocals lay on top of nothing less than a groove...It's soulful, it's jazzy, it's poppin'.

tracks

1 Good Evening-Intro
2 I Got It Bad
3 Please Understand
4 Same Old Story
5 Turn It Around
6 To Sir, With Love
7 Come Into My World-Interlude
8 I Am The One
9 Let's Get Involved
10 Think Of Me
11 Where Do We Go

notes

Powerful. Riveting. Sultry. Mere words can only capture the refrain of her awesome talent. Maria Howell is much more. She is the ballad of beauty and elegance. The melodies flowing from the petite vocalist are truly amazing. While casting a spellbinding smile, she mesmerizes her captive audience with incredible harmonies and rhythms.

Howell's signature film performance as the choir soloist in "The Color Purple" was quoted by one critic as being "one of the most stirring moments!" Her rendition of “God Is Trying to Tell You Something” was memorable for all who saw it, but the offerings of the all-grown-up Maria are truly unforgettable, eliciting stirring moments, one after another.

Some may be inspired to call her a “best kept secret”, but anyone who leaves an imprint on every medium from radio, stage and television to the Hollywood screen is hardly incognito. Howell's talent has been featured as a nightclub singer in “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” as well as other roles on the small screen such as in “Linda” alongside master performers Richard Thomas (“The Waltons”) and Virginia Madsen (“Sideways”) and in “Scattered Dreams” with Tyne Daly (“Judging Amy”) and Alicia Silverstone (“Clueless” and “Beauty Shop”). Her credibility as a true thespian flourished when she nailed a coveted role as the daughter of Maya Angelou's character in Langston Hughes' “ Tambourines to Glory” stage play.

Although acting was a learned craft that has become more refined with each new role, singing and entertaining are skills that emanated from Howell as far back as she can remember. She recollects glaring at her six-year-old image in the mirror and knowing at that moment her destiny was clear. The destiny became a reality as she wowed audiences as the opening act for the legendary Ray Charles, and as she shared the stage with Earth Wind and Fire's point man Phillip Bailey. Performing with the likes of Nancy Wilson, Marvin Hamlisch, and George Benson became her comfort zone - a zone with overlapping genres. Anyone who swings with the Cab Calloway Orchestra, croons with Baby Face and rearranges the scale with Jeffrey Osborne can not, "ought not", be boxed into one musical art form.

Like Howell, her music is a collective soul, smooth, not eclectic. She not only combines sounds such as R&B with jazzy punctuations, she evokes an international flavor into her flambé of recordings. Her first CD, “Peace of Mind,” was produced while her celebrity was peaking in Japan . She followed up with another CD shortly after with a U.S. favorite, “Same Old Story.” Both sets of recordings have romantic overtones, but marinated with opportunities for toe tappin' and finger snappin'. Confident in her own groove, Howell shares the spotlight with several Atlanta artists in her latest compilation, “Acoustically Yours.” Over the course of her career, Howell has availed her illustrious voice to TV and radio commercials for prominent corporations like Haverty's Furniture and Bell South.

In the near future, Howell hopes to use her voice in a more philanthropic spirit. She has an affinity for connecting with children who aspire to “their own unique greatness.” Her drive to shape our youth is commensurate with her acting ambitions. She'd like to star in films that are reminiscent of the times when families would gather to watch poignant documentaries and movies like “Roots.” She is also interested in uniting her talents with animation. Not only does she love this variety of film, she understands that an animated movie is a masterful way to gain a child's undivided attention.

...And offering up another novel “ Howellistic ” melody is a way to keep ours.

Check out her other CD releases, "Peace of Mind" and "Acoustically Yours" also. You'll be glad you did! You can just go to the link below to listen and order...
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mariahowell

Don't forget to scroll down to "Reviews" and write a review of the album.

reviews

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  • What R&B should sound like!
    author: Joann Maiden

    Excellent CD. Great music and vocals. It outranks alot of the Bug-music out right now.

  • Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    author: Dee and Derrick Huggins

    As someone said earlier, "Best kept secret."

  • Awesome! Mellow - a refreshing change!
    author: Donna Kidd (Singer/Songwriter, Charlotte, NC)

    This by far ranks as one of the top cd's in my collection. The mellow sound of her voice brings the music to life and vice versa - the quality of the music and vocals is perfect and is such a refreshing change and added bonus to music. Keep it up Maria, you truly are a gifted and anointed singer. God bless you and I can't wait to purchase the next one!

  • Classic R & B
    author: Richard

    With the state of music today this is definitly a breath of fresh air. This CD reminds of the of days before Puff Daddy,"bling-bling", and booty shaking music. Maria is not trying to be with the mainstream by talking about how she is going to get her man back or how she plays on her man. This CD is not about an image that she is trying to relay to people. It has Nice beats, and Maria has soul that todays musicians thinks they can buy with High priced videos and paying millions for producers to place it on a sample track. It is just about good music, the way R&B should be. This is one of those gems that you dont want other people hearing because they will throw it along side Ashanti or any other artist with no lasting power. I only wish Ms. Howell much success and happiness because it definitly is well deserved for not getting caught up in the mainstream marketing of todays music.

  • Great album
    author: Julio

    I think, that this album is perfect to listen it at any hour of the day. Maria's voice is wonderful and very sensual. My favourite track is #3 Please Understand. All my support to Maria Howell music. Peace

  • amazing in all the ways
    author: shaktyor from spain

    it's simply a masterpiece.

  • lets colabe on sumin girl
    author: camil

    im on here at http://cdbaby.com/camil email me at str8biness@yahoo.com get at me i got it bad lol

  • STUNNING!!!!
    author: James Allen

    Totally majestic.This is one awesome album.R&B & soul at it's very best 5 star is don't enough.Heaven knows why Maria is'nt a huge star.Her voice is beautiful and the production is fantastic. Your missing something special if you haven't got this cd.Add to your cd collection straight away.TAKE MY WORD!!

  • Had the privilage of working with Maria in Celebrations: An African Oddessy
    author: Jay Perry (blueblood)

    Marie, great work.I had the privilage of working with you in a Providence, RI preformance of Celebrations, an African Oddessey. This play written by Ricardo Pitts-Willy. You were great then and this CD shows just how much heart and soul that you still have..It's great to hear you again.

  • great pop-jazz with an effortless vocal sound
    author: Creative Loafing

    Howell has been a favorite for years and this new CD reconfirms our opinion. Once again, she's produced an album filled with delightful pop-jazz, with soulful underpinnings. Her seemingly effortless vocal sound is the result of a lot of hard work that's made her a bright light among up and coming jazz singers.

  • WHOA!!! Where did she come from??
    author: Streetjamz.com,inc

    The emotion that Maria sings with tugs at your heart. The CD is well balanced and diverse. The songs on this CD deserves heavy rotation on radio stations around the world.

  • Better than ever; the R&B flair rocks
    author: Teresa Daye

    The cuts are meaningful and relevant to real life. Another masterpiece. You go, Girl.

  • This cd should be in the mainstream
    author: K.summage

    I really like the vocals and music on this cd. The hard work really payed off. I wish maria the very best in the music industry. This cd deserves a minimum of gold.

  • author: Gene Larue Jr

    HEARD A FEW NOTE FROM THE FIRST SONG AND WENT STRAIGHT TO THE ORDER FORM. "AWESOME"

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