The Pulse of Entertainment: Kim Waters Says Shake Your Body Down with New Album ‘Shakedown'

Eunice Moseley 

(June 30, 2020)- "My desire is to put a smile on their faces," said saxophonist Kim Waters about the release of his new album titled "Shakedown" (Shanachie). He explained it's all about having a good time shaking it down to the ground. "With everything going on, everybody is confused...I hope it's a great inspiration."

"Shakedown" is Kim's 24th album. The Smooth Jazz sax player is also a composer, pianist and music producer who is ranked among the top five instrumentalists in Jazz. A Maryland native currently residing in Georgia, Waters is known for his dissent Contemporary Jazz sax playing. He is known for taking Hip-Hop music, R&B, Reggae and Pop genres and twisting them into his style of Contemporary Jazz. On "Shakedown" he reinvents Ella Mai's hit "Boo'd Up."

"Every one that we do, we have a little spirituality because we give of ourselves," Kim stated about his album's creative process.

The 10-track "Shakedown" project, was created while he was at his grand piano and not in the studio, a first time, and is dedicated to his wife Dana and his twins Kimberly and Kayla. Kim Waters was a prodigy child playing the violin at the age of eight and then at age 13 he changed to the sax because he said he was teased about playing the violin by other boys. He has a long history with his current label Shanachie Entertainment since the release of "Love's Melody" in 1998. This is his 13th album at the Shanachie imprint.

"I want to tell them to stay strong, and let this (album) give them a little break," Kim concluded. www.KimWaters.net 

The Pulse of Entertainment: Candi Staton Says ‘Just Breathe' on New Single via The Orchard

By Eunice Moseley

(June 26, 2020) - "Started...really writing a couple years ago," said Grammy nominated Candi Staton about her new music and recently released single titled "Just Breathe" featuring Rapper Yo-Yo. "It's like what's going on in the world today? One mountain after the other...people getting killed, police officers not being charged...fake news coming from the powers-to-be."

The single was released on the Beracah/MRI/TheOrchard imprint. Currently 80 years-old, but still very youthful, Candi has been providing us with inspiring music for over 60 years. Her first release via a group called The Jewel Gospel Trio was in 1953 - she was a teenager touring with Sam Cooke and Mahalia Jackson, and I wasn't even born yet! In the 60's she garnered two Grammy Award nominations for her R&B singles "Stand by Your Man" and "In the Ghetto." In the 70's she became a "disco-queen" with her "Nights on Broadway" and "Young Hearts Run Free" singles. In 1971 her single "He Called Me Baby" was covered by Rock band One EskimO for their debut album "Kandi" and the single peaked at #1 on Billboard's "Triple A" Chart. Her 1972 single "Best Thing You Ever Had" was sampled by Christina Aguilera and a remix of the single was used for a Twitter Superbowl commercial. In the 80s she released two songs that went multi-platinum, "You Got the Love" and "Hallelujah Anyway," meaning each single sold over two million records. The single "You Got the Love" was covered by Joss Stone in 2010. Since then she has recorded not only Gospel, R&B and Disco, but Blues and Pop. Still going strong Candi Staton's music has amassed over 100 million audio streams.

"You watch the news and get a knot in your stomach," Candi pointed out about why she released the "Just Breathe" single. "I've been in the house for two months...didn't know what's going on. I said I need to take a break."

Candi said watching the news of one after the other being killed by police and all saying "I can't breath" because of the police choke-hold and she thought about that song "Just Breathe" because she felt it fit with the current times.

"We started writing and we got three songs," she continued. "‘Where We Go From Here,' we are working on that now... It's a great time for prayer. God got us. He has us in the palm of his hand."

Candi is about to cross-over to Hip-Hop by enlisting Yo-Yo as a featured artist on the "Just Breathe" single. Yo-Yo came into the Hip-Hop spotlight in the 90s garnering placement on Billboard's "Hot Rap Songs" Chart. Her debut album "Make Room for the Motherlode" peaked at #5 on Billboard's "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" Chart in 1991. That same year her single "You Can't Play with my Yo-Yo," off of her the debut which featured Ice Cube, reached #1. That success led to major collaborations with Brandy, Queen Latifah, Snoop Dogg and MCLyte. In 1993 she hit the top of the charts again with "Bonnie & Clyde/IBWin' with my Crewin'." In 1995 she earned another Grammy nomination for "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group" for her contribution to the Quincy Jones track "Stomp," which also featured Chaka Khan, Coolio and Shaquille O'Neal. She also ventured into acting having starred in Boyz in the Hood, Sister Act: Back in the Habit, "Martin" and "New York Undercover."

"People are afraid to come out," Staton stressed emotionally. "I began to talk to the Lord. I began to remember...God is on my side. I said God protect them (protestors)."

Candi Staton wants her fans and the protestors to "Just Breathe" and to know that God got you. www.Candi-Staton.com