Adriana Evans - Adriana Evans
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Free Music Notes for Adriana Evans
Free Music Review: More Information on MS Evans
Hit: 5 Stars
Found this online thought I would share it:Produced by rapper/producer Dred Scott, Adriana Evans' self-titled debut is a twelve song experience through a realm without boundaries, a locale where exploration is the first commandment, discovery the second, and restriction an unpardonable sin. A gifted singer/songwriter blessed with a voice and style reminiscent of the late, great Minnie Ripperton, Adriana Evans' songs evoke a vast range of emotions, blending the sounds of R&B, hip hop, and jazz on her PMP/Loud/RCA Records debut album. Exhibiting a notable quality of sheer confidence, Adriana was born to sing. It's in her genes, her heritage. Her mother, Mary Stallings, spent some time on stage, singing behind such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie. With the addition of having legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders as her godfather, music has been for Adriana a wonderful essence of life. "Jazz has always been my background. Because my mom sang with Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie, I basically grew up listening to jazz along with soul music and hip-hop, but jazz is my foundation. My influences, vocally, were Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, and Carmen McCrae...these are the people that I really listened to a lot. I think the album has a lot of those overtones because those are my roots. I basically went back to what I knew best, and that is straight ahead jazz," Evans explains. Born and raised in San Francisco as an only child surrounded by loving relatives, Adriana's childhood and teenage years were colored by the intense musical scene of the city during that time. While growing up in the Bay Area, it was not unusual to see such diverse acts as BB King, Jefferson Airplane, Tower of Power, Miles Davis, or Sly and The Family Stone on the same bill, sharing music for music's sake. "I tagged along with my mother to various festivals and clubs throughout the world. Occasionally, she'd pull me up on stage, but I didn't really hit the jazz circuit." Her mother still tours Europe and has several critically acclaimed albums. Adriana left San Francisco when she was 18 and moved to her present home of Los Angeles to attend college. It was there where she met producer/collaborator Dred Scott. "It had nothing to do with music. It was so far removed from the music business, but its weird how energy and karma work. You never know the reason why you meet people, but things just kind of developed. We became friends and we worked together, coming up with incredible melodies. He's so well versed in music in general: jazz, blues, everything." Evans sang on a Dred Scott hip-hop composition in 1993, "Check The Vibe," which was released on his "Breaking Combs" album. Evans recalls: "We realized that we worked well together. From there, it just grew into another song, and another song, and here we are with an album." Using all the diverse elements of jazz, soul, funk, and R&B has created a rich tapestry of songs on "Adriana Evans". "We had a complete autonomy on this record, which is very rare. For me, it's very important that I express myself musically and artistically. But I realize that there is an audience and it's equally important that the audience gets it." Evans came to the attention of PMP records CEO Paul Stewart about three years ago when he heard an obscure demo that featured Evans. Evans came to Stewart's attention again, this time visually, in the "Check The Vibe" video. He called Scott and asked for a tape, but was unable to do anything independently. He passed the demo on to friends at Capitol, who signed Evans. She recorded, but Capitol was in the midst of restructuring and closed its Black Music Department. Stewart had just formed PMP Records and immediately signed Evans to the label. All of the music on "Adriana Evans" was created by Dred Scott and all of the lyrics were written by Evans. Spend a moment listening to the album and the listener gets a feeling of soft sensuality. The music stays true to Evans' and Scott's R&B/ Funk sensibilities with jazz oriented styling. The lyrical content explores the bitter-sweet theme of the experience of life and all that it entails. Relationships are explored on several different levels on "Adriana Evans". The opening tune, "Love Is All Around," is a song about a different kind of love. "I got tired of the same old love songs," Evans says. "Love goes beyond sex and romantic relationships. I wanted to write a song that said 'look around, open your eyes, love is everywhere!'" The seductive melodies of "Say You Won't" and "I'll Be There" are Adriana's testament to the complexity of romantic relationships." It's about seeing the writing on the wall," Adriana says. "It's about everything your mom told you from the giddy up. Realizing your self worth." The first single, "Reality," a Roy Ayers-ish, xylophone-laden tune, was written by Adriana during a time when she was living deep in the hood. "We'd be working on music and there would always be chaos happening in the world right outside my window. My writing was definitely colored by what I was experiencing at the time." Also of note is the throwback to the old-school styled "Lookin' For Your Love," a song that builds subtly and gives the feeling that a lot of thought went into its structure. "That's a special song for me. Growing up in the 80's and being a kid in the early 70's, there was so much great Black music around. Dred and I wanted to do something that referenced that." Indeed, love is everywhere to be found on "Adriana Evans", an album that successfully melds a range of emotions. "It comes from my soul. I hear certain words and I hear certain melodies. The most important thing to me is to create good music. Ultimately, for me, it's about making people feel good." "Adriana Evans" is a passionate endeavor, exploring musical boundaries, treating the listener to a discovery of unrestricted creativity, full of inspiring melodies and timeless songs. This singer/songwriter is blessed with a gift, and her debut album is a testament of her love for her craft, and with all the grace of her lineage, it's a modern pleasure. Bio courtesy of Loud Records
Free Music Review: My God this one is the bomb
Hit: 5 Stars
This one is really unbelieveable. I have never been captured by an album like this one. I am buying it for all my friends for Xmas presents. Never mind it came out in 97 although Amazon list it as 2000. Run, don't walk to your buy key on this one. Played it in the car for my 19 year old daughter and even she wants one immediately and said it sounds like it just came out. Then I realized that is it: Adrina was ahead of her time. But where is she now?Free Music Review: What Happend?
Hit: 5 Stars
Let me tell, when Adriana first came on the scene I was in love with her voice, I loved it so much, I turned my brother on to it, and he loved it as well. This girl is so underated that its crazy. She has the PURE sound, the Pure voice. Unlike those artists who have to use machines and so forth, this girl is for real. Why isn't she as big as she should be?Free Music Review: 3.5 stars: Good debut-too bad she got overlooked by EVERYONE.
Hit: 3 Stars
I'm really a big fan of music that's made with real instruments, decent songwriting, and (if any) quality singers. So using those three criteria for Adriana Evans' self-titled debut, I was "somewhat" pleased with what I heard. It seems to me that even though a good share of the tracks featured the production values of hip-hop artist Dred Scott and therefore contained the kind of sound one would normally find on a "neo-soul" album, I strongly believe it was the tracks featuring crisp live performances from the studio musicians that Evans really felt comfortable with (courtesy of woodwind player/arranger/co-producer Rastine Calhoun III). I get the feeling that if Evans had collaborated with the latter instead of the former, then her debut would've been even more stunning in establishing her as a premier soul artist for the new millennium. As it turns out, I was just left with something not unlike a compromise in order to get the younger beat-and-sample heavy generation back to hearing authentic soul music. Thanks to a lack of promotion on her label's part, however, Evans might never get another shot to follow up with the kind of project that truly shows what she's capable of (ala Brigette McWilliams' HORRIBLY underhyped sophomore release, one of the best R&B/Soul albums in recent memory).
4 stars for the live-sounding tracks (1,3,6,7,9,11)
2 1/2 stars for the Dred Scott-produced material (Evans is better than that, COME ON NOW)
Free Music Review: How did I miss this one!
Hit: 5 Stars
My God, where did Ms Evans come from. How did I never hear of this artist until last night. I cannot stop playing it. I am buying this one for all my friends. It has it all, every song. Highly recommend you purchase this one.
The real question now is what happen to her?