 This Is How Montell Does It!
Montell at the Kickoff Concert at
Washington Redskins "The music on my
albums has pretty much paralleled my life. When I started out with "This Is How We Do
It" I was young, cocky, an energetic kid. With the second record, "More To
Tell," I was more refined and mature, when with "Let's Ride," I think I was
coming into my own persona as a recording artist. Now with my fourth album, my life is
different. the songs that are pouring from me reflect my experiences of traveling the
world, going to places like Ireland, Nigeria and Cuba. I want to slowly introduce my
audience to other sides of whom I am and what I'm about while, at the same time, giving
them the kind of music they know me for.:
Bold, ambitious, adventurous and filled with the kind of music
that Jordan's many fans will love, Get It On... Tonight covers
the lyrical gamut when it comes to matters of the heart and the flesh! Montell leaves no
doubt about the subject of tunes like the insistent "Get Enough" which he says
is "my nasty song! It's playful. I'm singing down in my lower register like I'm
whispering in this woman's ear and, yes, I'm talking dirty to her!" Likewise,
"What It Feels like" is "kinda risqué, I like to tell stories over a phat
heart and this song leaves little to the imagination!"
In contrast, Jordan shows his romantic side on standout ballads
like "One Last Time" a jazzy, sensual slow jam that's all about the possibility
of rekindling a love relationship and "Can We Move (The Morning After)" which
continues the story "when the guy wakes up and wonders why -- aside from sex -- he's
trying to keep the relationship going." For Montell's longtime fans, there's the
party-favored "Everybody" and the infectious first hit song from the album,
"Get It On Tonight". He notes, "R&B and hip-hop are in my soul forever.
You can listen to that track and know it will appeal to those who know my music; it's
uptempo and festive. You experience the party, that's what I do in my records."
Montell has already established himself as a consistent hitmaker
in the world of R&B, hip-hop and pop with three solid best-selling albums and a
half-a-dozen hit singles over the past four years. From his anthemic million-seller
"This Is How We Do It" to 1998's chartopping "Let's Ride," the
multi-talented singer, songwriter and producer has proven his ability to remain
contemporary and viable in an ever-changing marketplace. In 1998, his musical skills were
further revealed when he co-wrote and co-produced the across-the-board small
"Nobody's Supposed To Be Here" for Deborah Cox, adding another dimension to his
own success as a recording artist and performer.
Now with the release of Get It On... Tonight,
it's obvious that Montell is using all that he's achieved do date as a springboard for
creative expansion. "My focus is to get out of whatever pre-conceived category people
may have me in," he says. That mission is fulfilled on tunes like his cover of Phil
Collins' classic "Against All Odds" which Montell says "is one of the best
records I've ever made," the sensual ballad "Time To Say Goodbye" and
"Coming Home," a foot-tapping groove with an insistent hook.
The acoustic-flavored, adventurous mini-opus "Once Upon A
Time", (which he's also recorded in Spanish) was inspired by his 1999 visit to Cuba
and bears witness to Montell's commitment to his own artistic evolution. The Los Angeles
native lights up when he talks of the song which has a decidedly visual flavor to it:
"I tried to write a song that would evoke the settings, the scenery in Cuba. It's
about me in a foreign land and it's meant to be an epic kind of saga, it's my way of
trying to get my audience to slowly accept me doing other kinds of music things. I never
want to force feet listeners to accept anything they're not used to. I just want to expand
my musical horizons."
Montell Jordan's desire to grow as an artist has been apparent
since he began his musical journey, signing in local talent shows, nightclubs and of
course, in church choirs in Los Angeles during his formative years. A graduate of
Pepperdine University, Montell's ascent in the music industry began with his 1995 smash,
"This Is How We Do It," a No. 1 pop and R&B hit that led the way to a
multimillion-selling internationally successful debut album of the same name. The 196
gold-plus follow-up CD More To Tell gave audiences another peek at his burgeoning talent.
"I went from the leather jacket to the backward cap," smiles the genial nearly
seven-foot tall gent, "To the Armani suit. I really welcomed the opportunity to show
people that I am a true R&B artist." His second album included the hit "I
Like" which was featured on the soundtrack for Eddie Murphy's "Nutty
Professor" box office hit movie.
Touring with the likes of Boyz II Men, TLC and Mary J. Blige,
Montell further developed an audience for his music and in 1998 came his third Def Jam
album Let's Ride which boasted hits with the title track, "I Can Do That" and
"When You Get Home" as well as guest appearances by Master P and Redman. The
album covered a range of subject matter from Montell's spiritual devotion ("I Say
Yes" and "4U") to seduction ("Can I?") and sexual abstinence
("Don't Call Me").
Following the album's release, Montell began his global travels,
visiting Ireland where he collaborated with celebrated Irish acts like Hothouse Flowers
and Brian Kennedy, and sang in Gaelic! "Music is a universal language and I certainly
began to speak it fluently after that trip." Montell smiles. After a return visit to
Ireland, Montell went to Cuba in early 1999 for a project entitled "Music
Bridges" in which artists from other countries have the opportunity to collaborate
with their Cuban counterparts. The visit gave Montell the chance to see "a wonderful
place and a proud people. I worked with a local group Synthesis on a song called
"Unlonely" and I learned that music truly is the key to breaking down the
barriers." The trip also resulted in a guest appearance on the forthcoming album by
fellow traveler, saxophonist Dave Koz, with Montell's reading of the Wham hit,
"Careless Whisper."
A seven-day trip to Nigeria allowed Montell to experience
"the truest definition of bittersweet -- the sweet, seeing a proud nation... and the
bitter, a separation between the affluent and those who are very non-affluent and the
major contrast between the two." All of Montell's global visits definitely shaped his
perspective when it came time to writing tunes to the all-important fourth chapter in his
musical odyssey. "I started writing outside the realm that I am normally confined
to," he reflects," and when "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here" happened,
it changed my life. It began the longest-running No. 1 R&B hit ever. As it took off, I
was silently screaming, "yes, I am the one who wrote and produced it! I guess people
haven't seen me as someone who could write that kind of song.
Using all that he's learned over the past few years and working
with longtime associate Schappell Crawford, Montell has crated an album that he hopes will
achieve his objective of making music that has a timeless quality to it. "We have the
immediate tunes like "Tonight" which was done with Danny 'Jazz The Man' Nixon,
one of the hottest guys around and then we have a song like "Cuddle Up" which is
what I call a 'fireplace' record," Montell says. "It's midtempo, slow, sexy, and
it's the kind of song that I hope people will say twenty years from now, 'let's put on
that old Montell Jordan jam.' You want to keep making records to help you stay as hot as
you can for as long as you can but I'm also trying to make music that will last."
Describing his overall approach to the making of Get
It On... Tonight, Montell, who is hosting the weekly television show
"Motown Live!" in the fall of 1999, says he wrote songs "that would show
where my life is right now being a husband, a father, a recording artist and performer and
trying to find a balance with all of it. A song like "Why You Wanna Do That"
captures an experience I've had where I've been out at a club for a little recreation and
a woman comes up to me and is all over me. She knows I'm married but she's all up on me! I
like to use my music -- whether it's uptempo tunes or ballads -- to tell stories.
From the memorable head-boppin' "Tonight" to the smooth
slow jam "Say Goodbye", Montell Jordan shows he's at the top of his game with Get
It On... Tonight, a sizzling collection of music that reinforces his status
as a groove master and soulful balladeer, who's reaching new heights of musical expression
as the next millenium begins.
Call CJ DiRoma at 856-665-5513 for more information and availability |
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