north carolina

Gil “You & Me”

We had a great series of sessions tracking vocals on “Sometimes A Man", the debut contemporary-jazz record from Gil. The large part of the project was done earlier this year, with Gil flying back & forth from Charlotte to tracking dates at The Disc Ltd. Recording in Michigan (with producer/engineer Greg Reilly). The music was pretty much wrapped up in Detroit with a team of absolute bad-ass musicians (basically Earl Klughs full recording & touring band). The lineup features Tom Braxton on saxophone, Al Turner on bass, Ron Otis on drums, David Lee Spradley on keys and Al Duncan on keys and strings. Spradley also produced his cover of Klugh’s “Wishful Thinking”.

“You & Me” is the 2nd single from the album & is a Rockie Robbins cut from 1980. Gil's version is a little more jazzy, “smoothed-out” & ready for stepping. Check it out!

You can hear more from Gil here.

Upcoming Releases from Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon & Kil Ripkin

I’m super stoked that we’ve just wrapped up 2 really great Hip-Hop projects this week!

We finished “Beautifully Black", a 11-track release with Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon and Navy Blue on production. The stripped back, jazzy chops support Jah-Monte’s voice perfectly & features guest spots from MESSIAH! & more.
This album will be available for streaming on all the standard streaming platforms in a few weeks……..with a vinyl release following soon behind! Seriously, many of y’all will already know, but this guy is so prolific right now - he won’t slow down!!! It’s been pretty inspiring to watch what’s been happening over the past few years for him & his team.
You can check out previous releases from Jah-Monte here & Navy Blue here.

”Self Medicate” from Kil Ripkin is a 10-track album with production from Jah Freedom & features from Skyzoo, Torae & more. Tbh, we finished “Self Medicate” just before the pandemic shut everything down. Of course it became clear really fast that Kil & Jah would have to put things on pause while they figured out how to deal with the situation (like everyone else). Soooooo, when we were not as busy at the studio, I decided to completely remix the album while we waited for the best time to release it. I think it turned out amazing & it’s finally time to let it out!!!
Check some previous releases from Kil Ripkin here & Jah Freedom here.

It’s worth noting that both of these projects feature the artist with a singular producer. It really keeps the vision unified & cohesive throughout the respective album (and not this disjointed “compilation-sound” when the tracks are coming from everywhere).
I feel like there’s a natural flow that is is just THERE on projects like this.

Black Wall Street's SpeakEasy '21 (Vol. 2)

Black Wall Street: SpeakEasy is a political awareness program to raise awareness about public policy in Durham, NC. In collaboration with the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce and Kompleks Creative, the inaugural SpeakEasy event will consist of a political forum with 2021 city council and mayoral candidates.

It was a pleasure to assist the team with the audio post production.

Black Wall Street's SpeakEasy '21 (Vol. 1)

It was an honor to be on the team & help Black Wall Street, The Durham Chamber of Commerce & Kompleks Creative wrap-up the audio for SpeakEasy ‘21.

Black Wall Street: SpeakEasy is a political awareness program to raise awareness about public policy in Durham, NC. In collaboration with the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce and Kompleks Creative, the inaugural SpeakEasy event will consist of a political forum with 2021 city council and mayoral candidates.