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| 'The Rise And Fall Of Keite Young' Keite Young, ordained minister and R&B crooner, sings of sin and salvation on his stellar debut 'The Rise and Fall of Keite Young' (Hidden Beach Recordings, June 12). The uncanny duality is personified by the very title of the album as Young resounds with the sacred and the profane, the sanctified and irreverent. Whether it is the sin of sexual desires on the sultry track "The Way You Love Me" or the salvation of the faithful anthem "Pray" - the album is a testament to life's yin and yang touching on a kaleidoscope of human emotion. Ordained as a minister at 15 years old, Keite Young joins a long tradition of great soul artists such as Al Green, Johnnie Harrison Taylor and Teddy Pendergrass who have sung of their passions for both the spiritual and the flesh. Like Young, Teddy Pendergrass became an ordained minister at an early age and later went on to record sultry love songs like "Turn Off The Lights" and "Love TKO." Celebrated soulster Johnnie Harrison Taylor was also a preacher before he recorded the steamy hits "Disco Lady" and "Who's Making Love", while Al Green joined the ministry in the midst of his popularity in the mid-70s and continues to record and perform secular music today. On Young's 'The Rise and Fall, ' the diddy about unfulfilled passion, "If We Were Alone", is juxtaposed with the spiritually uplifting song "E.N.S. (Everybody Needs Somebody)", which Keite explains "speaks to the acknowledgment that God is the ultimate answer to all questions." Like the legendary crooners who came before him, Young does not shy away from singing about humanly passion but his album also shows a passion for something greater. Keite Young is the newest addition to the Hidden Beach Recordings roster, home to groundbreaking artists like GRAMMY award winning singer Jill Scott, saxophonist Mike Phillips, soul duo Kindred the Family Soul and the "Unwrapped" music series. On Young's debut album 'The Rise and Fall of Keite Young, ' the singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist channels the musical passion and adventure of Al Green, Muddy Waters, Sly Stone and the Beatles to artfully create his own singular, dynamic space. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |