Sincerely yours, Cross.

MUSIC vs the music industry

2012-01-18T10:12:00.000-08:00

I am a lover of MUSIC. I am a fan of MUSIC. I am also in the music industry. Which one of those statements holds the most weight to you? Before you answer, you may have noticed my usage of caps. I'll try to explain that throughout this blog entry.

In hearing Michael Jackson sing the words "there have been others, but never two lovers like MUSIC and me", you can hear a deep connection there. A connection between person, melody and statement. I believe him. He is in his truth at that moment. I can relate - MUSIC is a deep truth - a force; bottomless; and it's infinite in all directions.

Allow me to talk about the power of MUSIC for a minute. MUSIC is the very existence of melody, sound, rhythm and emotion. In Eli Wilson Jr's book, Equipping the Church Choir for Ministry, he states that "the power of MUSIC, in modern culture, is often overlooked and ignored to our detriment". Wilson, a musician, author and all around scholar, reminds us that "God has incorporated music into all of creation". He cites that the birds even sing. The wind howls it's own melodies. There is the rhythm of the heart, in fact. The rhythm of the changing of the seasons. I'll add the fact that even the angels sing. According to Wilson, MUSIC can unify and MUSIC can divide. Powerful!

Have you ever come home from one of those long days, and the first thing you do is put on MUSIC to soothe you? Yeah….me too. You see, MUSIC plays a much deeper role in our everyday psyche than we sometimes realize. It can make you face emotions that you've been struggling with. It can even bring out emotions you didn't even know you had. Can I get an amen!?!? MUSIC can also make you remember. The literary genius, Ralph Ellison, puts it this way: "MUSIC gets beneath the skin and works into the very structure of one's consciousness". I whole-heartedly agree with Ellison on that. After listening to an up tempo song, one can sometimes feel wound up. After listening to Duke Ellington and John Coltrane's In A Sentimental Mood you may feel sexy, sensual or like the song says you may find yourself getting a little sentimental. The "fate" motif in Beethoven's Fifth comes to mind. It DOES get under your skin!

Coming from the black MUSIC tradition, I tend to connect my everyday life experiences with my MUSIC. I live it. My MUSIC is born inside me before it is born into the actual physical world. It took me some time to realize this. But it's my truth. The incomparable James Cones reminds us that "black music must be lived before it can be understood". I would even go a step further and include the actual understanding of the community itself as well as the diaspora. In Cone's book The Spirituals and the Blues, he points out that "the spirituals are historical songs which speak about the rupture of black lives; they tell us about a people in the land of bondage, and what they did to hold themselves together and to fight back". Many of us are here today BECAUSE they found a way to fight back. They found a way to get by and continue to exist. They found meaning against the odds of being forced to accept a title of "meaningless". This, they did not accept. They not only found meaning through the act of pushing back, but they encoded their MUSIC with further meaning - songs of freedom, songs of worship, songs of confrontation, songs of reconciliation and songs of hope.

Noticed I haven't mentioned anything about an industry yet? Ok. Follow me on this.

As you can see, MUSIC means a lot to me. It means a lot to YOU, in fact. MUSIC has helped to heal people. It has charged world altering movements (i.e. the abolitionist movement, the civil rights movement). By the way, you should see the anti-apartheid film called Amandla: A Revolution In Four Part Harmony. Brilliant! As you travel the world, you find that all peoples have various forms of musical expression. These expressions help them to not only create art through excellence, but it allows them to know that they are alive. To know who they are. To know whose they are. The best way to understand a people is to first try to understand their MUSIC. The jazz musician comes to mind. A style born on the streets of New Orleans (much like hip hop in the Bronx), jazz presented a new ideology which was already floating around in the Cresent City air. This was before one "jazz" note was actually played. This experience was already being lived through speech, thought and sound. It, then, gave birth to a form of expression that captured what the people were feeling. Fortunately, there were people in Kansas City, Chicago and New York City who could identify with this sentiment. Then it travelled to other cities where it continued to develop and evolve. It further took on forms that reflected each city's people, while keeping it's integrity. The notes that began to be played reflected their lives. Jazz was and is a way of life. Ralph Ellison says this about the jazz musician: "These jazzmen, many of them world famous, lived for and with music intensely. The driving motivation was neither money nor fame, but the will to achieve the most eloquent expression of idea-emotion through the technical mastery of their instrument…..He (the jazz musician) must learn the best of the past, and add to it his personal vision. Life could be harsh, loud and wrong if it wished, but they lived it fully, and when they expressed their attitude toward the world it was with a fluid style that reduced the chaos of living to form." Deep.

MUSIC is vast. It is as big as the universe. Or bigger.

And then the music industry was born……

Have you ever heard of Scott Joplin? This African American man, who is now buried in a cemetery not far from me here in Queens, needs to be inserted into the discussion here. If you are not familiar with him, just click on his most popular song, The Entertainer, and you'll immediately recognize his work. In the very late 1800's, the musical style called Ragtime was introduced to the general public. Ragtime is a style of music that became the sound of the day. Internationally, in fact! Where did rag come from? Well, during the days of American slavery (as well as many other countries), the skin drum was outlawed. The American government and "slave power" contended that people of African decent were able to communicate using those skin drums. Paranoia was embedded into the American psyche. It was believed that these Africans, of various languages and ethnicities, would somehow use the drum to create a plan of counter attack. For that reason, not only were tribes, ethnic groups and families split apart, but the skin drum was outlawed. Once, the African American community was "allowed" to have supervised gatherings, aka juke joint parties, it was the piano player who served as the DJ (we're talking pre actual jukebox). Because the skin drum was not allowed, the piano players created a very percussive style that people could dance to. The left hand served as the rhythm section. Over decades this evolved into a form known as ragtime. By the way, skin drums were also outlawed in the caribbean, thus they invented the steel drum over there. They were not outlawed by Spaniards, so in spanish speaking countries the Africans continued to use skin drums. We still hear those African drums in salsa, meringue, afro- Cuban etc. But anyway, back to Scott Joplin, the ragtime pianist. Joplin, quickly became the world's most renown and important ragtime composer. A title he still holds in that genre today. In 1899, he composed a song called Maple Leaf Rag. It became the new craze. The hottest joint in the world. Today it would be looked at as "number one in 30 countries" or something like that. Due to the era, it was sheet music that was sold. Not records. In the wake of Maple Leaf Rag's success, Joplin got together with a couple lawyers and they pounded out a contract that said that Maple Leaf Rag will be promoted, advertised and put in stores and meanwhile Joplin would collect a certain percentage of every sale of the sheet music to Maple Leaf Rag. He'd get royalties. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY WAS BORN. That's how it all began folks. Later on, with the implementation of the record player in many homes, the "music industry" started to be called the "record industry". But in the end, the proper name for it ('til this day) is the music industry. Today, people simply call it "the industry". Funny how the word "music" doesn't even have to be used to describe the industry itself in this day and age. The saying is "The music industry is 10% music and 90% business". It's true.

The music industry, to me, is simply a vehicle. It is a way to be heard by as many people as possible. It is also a way for a person to make a living doing what it is they love to do. I say "love" loosely, however. The question is, how many artists are out there doing what they love as opposed to those who are doing it simply for the lifestyle? The fame. The money. In that way, there are plenty artists who don't actually love what they sing/perform. It is more so a way to make plenty of money and meanwhile be adored by many. I believe that most TRUE artists understand that the music industry is a group of boxes. Once the box is filled, it is packaged to be sold. It is the artist's chore to try and fit into one of those boxes……by any means necessary. But let me assure you of something. There are plenty of artists who fit themselves inside of one of those boxes and yet have so much more to offer. But those things may not fit into the box with them. Therefore they may leave it behind. The numbers are plenty. Then there is a different type of artist…..but I'll spare you and not mention that here :-)

In my estimation, MUSIC cannot fit into any type of box. It is way too big! As Eli Wilson Jr put it "Music can affect the heart rate. Has the power to calm the spirit. Reduce stress. Excite or incite emotions". When done correctly, it is perfectly in line with God. The love of God. The love of family. The love of your significant other. Song of Solomon speaks on that type of love. MUSIC is infinite. Saying "music industry" is like saying "air industry". Air will never fit into an industry. Can you imagine air being packaged and sold? Trust me, if they could they would….I know. But when it comes to MUSIC…..put it this way: If MUSIC is the size of the universe, the music industry is the size of one grain of sand on one beach of one planet in one galaxy. That's how big MUSIC is to me. It will never be able to fit into a small area. To bring the analogy back to Earth: If MUSIC was the Atlantic Ocean, the music industry is a cup of water that has been scooped out of the Atlantic.

If you don't remember anything else, remember this: The Atlantic will never fit into a cup.

MUSIC is infinite.

Sincerely yours, Cross

The World Soul EP, Vol 1 promo

2011-11-14T21:10:00.000-08:00

Shot and edited by Rob Gales.

What is 'world soul'? by TL Cross

2011-11-13T16:40:00.000-08:00

World Soul is not necessarily a musical genre. It is simply a phrase that we created in order to describe my music and the music of those artists who came before we (current artists) ever recorded a song. In some instances before some of us were even born. Perhaps, in the future, it will be recognized as an actual genre. But for now, we'll just use it to describe the musical sound of yours truly (smile). Don't get me wrong. World Soul has existed way before me and it will continue on after I leave this world. It can also be used to describe some of my peers and their musical creations. According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, World Soul is the "universal spirit that which connects the human soul to the body". This is a majorly profound look into human experience. Music is life. And in the end, our life is what we bare when we sing, write, play, perform, produce and compose. Marvin Gaye comes to mind. In a conversation that I once had with Dr Cornel West he explained it this way….."Singers, when doing their thing with integrity, are baring the nakedness of their souls. They are publicly wrestling with their inner-self." He said "We need artists like you, brother!". His words, not mine (insert blowing of own horn here lol). It gets deep. Deeper than deep. Now, of course, we have those artists out there who's music has little or nothing to do with their own soul. Sometimes it has more to do with what you, the consumer, have in your pockets. True story.

There we were…..down in Tribeca, talking about my music. The conversation included Brian "BeeZo" Palmer, Tonya Payton, Alphonso "Fonz" Morris, Darrin "DC" Chandler, video director Rob Gales and yours truly. It was 2009 and we were sitting there in the infancy stages of what I am now embarking upon. The question Tonya asked me was (and I'm paraphrasing) "What is your style of music? Is it R&B? Neo Soul? Pop? Or somewhere in between?" When she asked me that, I had a flash back to a conversation that I had with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis during my stay in Minneapolis. My question to them was "What did Prince consider his music when he first came out?" There reply was "When Prince came out, there wasn't as much of a need to put music in a box like it is today". Now back to Tribeca. I didn't have an answer for Tonya. Her suggestion was that we create a word or phrase that best describes what I do. So after kicking around a few ideas, we ended up with 'world soul'. The funny thing was, when it was said, we immediately all felt like THAT'S IT! World Soul was finally the phrase that would represent my music and the music of so many others.

The break down.

World - When I think of the word "world" as it relates to music, I think about melody first. No matter what city, state, country or continent you are from, melody will always find it's way into the hearts of the people. You can be listening to a song that is in a language you don't understand, and yet you can still feel it. It can make you hum, move, sing….feel! Also across the world, we are connected by emotion. Everyone across the globe loves. Everyone hurts. Everyone is happy. Everyone is sad. We're connected by life's experiences. I feel that through music, people tend to have a universal sameness.

Soul - When I think of "soul" as it relates to music, I think about the deep, heartfelt expressions of my ancestors. You can even go back to the music of West Africa. Historically, every event in the lives of the community was expressed through music. Music was key to life. That is still the case there. Here, in the states (as well as the islands, South America etc) music is what got people through their pain while in bondage (aka slavery). There were no record deals. Music was their only freedom. By the late 50's, or more accurately the early 60's, 'Soul' became recognized as an actual genre. Sam Cooke and Ray Charles come to mind. Otis Redding was the first singer who was marketed as a "soul singer". Those are the same records that gave hip hop it's loops and original spirit (see: Kanye's 'Otis' loop). The term "soul" covers a cultural ground for me. There is a spontaneity to it. Sometimes it's not planned. You're creating right before the eyes of your audience. I think of blues, gospel, jazz, R&B, hip hop, reggae, salsa etc. And let me be clear! To sing 'soulfully' or to bare your soul through music is, of course, not relegated to one culture or group. However, the soul GENRE is very specific. So once you put "world" and "soul" together, you are bringing together heart felt sincerity with a flavor that is accessible to all mankind.

Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Fela Kuti, John Coltrane, Minnie Riperton, Prince, Duke Ellington and many many many others embody these terms. It's very hard to box them in. Some current artists as well. I'm sure you can think of a few. World Soul is when an artist takes a pure (sometimes regional) ideology and creates music that reaches out to YOU. No boundaries. You can do what you do in it's purest form! If it expresses feelings that are universal as well as pays homage to the soul tradition, that is YOUR version of World Soul. It's about using YOUR musical voice, in it's authentic state, as a means to speak to all of mankind about matters of the heart, mind, body and soul. It's the freedom to let your soul celebrate God's creation through your music.

Sincerely yours, Cross.

Check out the official website: www.tlcross.com

All Falls Down: Rockin out with a hip hop legend.

2011-11-13T16:12:00.000-08:00

I was in a daze. Staring at my computer screen. I had just done the beat to what would ultimately become "Southside Girls" (a song on The World Soul EP, Vol 1). But at this point I was stuck on the line "They wish your man could be from your side of time. But if you had it your way.......". This was going and going like a broken record in my head. Phone vibrates. I look at the screen and it's the homie DJ Absolut from HOT 97. His text was simple and to the point: "Jada video shoot in the morning". I jumped up! No longer in a daze. Called BeeZo to let him know that it was on. Not to mention the video was to be shot up near his hood in the Bronx.

Me and BeeZo walks up into Sin City at about 12 noon. To be honest with you I had never even been inside Sin City before. As we entered, everything was already going down. Music blasting. Jadakiss doing his thing. Directors shouting out orders to those on camera. I give Abso and Fredo a pound and we stand on the side and watch how it's going down. Next shot was a scene where everyone is all sitting around a table and rockin out. The energy was CRAZY! Some videos are just easy to do because of on set chemistry among artists, directors and all other participants. This was one of them! And Jada's legendary presence was the thing that gave this video it's character. Not to mention Mills and Royce did an amazing job.

We head up to Yonkers. Shouts to Y.O. Walk into D-Block studio (I had never been their before). We all sat around at first waiting for the shot to be set up. All I kept thinking was "Yo, it is HOT up in here!". It was like an oven I tell you no lie. After a few interviews it was my turn to get in the shot. At first, I'm rockin out by myself. TL Cross being TL Cross basically. At some point Jada walks in and he's about to do his solo shots. He does his thing. At this point I was told "Yo Cross, let's get a shot with the two of you". So I'm like "bet!". Music drops and me and Jada start rockin out! My favorite moment was when I was doing the hook part and I ran my hand across my head. At that moment Jada says "Woooooo! My Dougie!" and starts laughin (seen here). We had fun yo I can't lie. Right after that take, we're waiting and tryina stay cool. Jada turns to me and say "Yo TL, you a star! I hope you ready!" I just said "You already know!" I'll never forget that moment.

All in all, it was an experience I will never forget. The 12 million views on World Star. The urban airplay across the board. All that! And I definitely owe it all to the homie Absolut. Salute!

What goes through my head on the day of a show? Watch!

2011-10-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

If I Only Had A Heart: My Interpretation.

2011-08-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

Every Thanksgiving, I have a tradition. Watch The Wiz! No matter what happens that day, I will always carve out the time to watch it. And I will NOT watch it on TV. It has to be on DVD or some other format that I can control. The Wiz, minus the commercial interruptions, is the only way. A 19 year old Michael Jackson, while hanging on those scarecrow bars, sang You Can't Win right here in Queens (Astoria to be exact). Just a few miles from there, you will find the park where the munchkins climbed off of the wall of graffiti and sang to a "lost" Dorothy. Some 40 years earlier, in that same park, you would have found The World's Fair of 1939. Take a moment to look at the end of my Vol. 1 EP's ending. There, you will see a huge globe behind me. This is the same globe from the grounds of that fair. It was also the location for Ironman II, Men In Black, Award Tour by A Tribe Called Quest, opening credits for King of Queens, Mo Money Mo Problems by Notorious B.I.G. featuring Ma$e and Diddy and Captain America: The First Avenger among other films, videos and shows. This is all just a few miles from where I sit and type to you right now. The 1939 World's Fair was very important (as was the 1964 fair at the same location). Television was introduced to many people that year via the '39 fair. Interestingly enough, that was the same year that The Wizard of Oz (the film) was introduced to the American public and the world at large. I'm talking about the Judy Garland led film that had such a huge impact until it is one of the only films we see regularly from the 30's. There is one other film from that era that is still current but I won't mention it here. I'm not a fan. Now, although The Wiz (MJ and Diana Ross) is my Thanksgiving tradition, I will always have a deep place in my heart for The Wizard of Oz as well. It's one of the greatest fairytales ever told, in my opinion.
As you know, the scarecrow was looking for a brain. When Dorothy stumbles upon him, he famously sings a song entitled "If I Only Had A Brain". I have always loved that song! It's a melody that has always stayed with me. Later, as you know, they stumble upon the Tinman. And he is looking for a…….you guessed it, A HEART! The same song (If I Only Had A Brain) is now recycled for the Tinman and called "If I Only Had A Heart". Only this time the lyrics change. It talks about his desire for a heart. Love it! So one day, as I'm just walking down the street and minding my own bitness, I had the idea to learn how to play and sing this song. Can't we all relate to matters of the heart? Here I am (below) singing my reworked version of this classic. Enjoy and don't forget to check out the official TL Cross website: www.tlcross.com

Cross Goes Commercial......TV Commercial That Is!

2011-08-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

I was approached by my bruva fruma nutha mutha, Darren Benbow, with an opportunity to submit some music for a soon-to-be-made commercial for Delta Community Home Loans. It was explained to me that the company was looking for something kind of doo-wop-ish. Something that had a bit of a retro feel to it. Or at least that's how I understood it. Immediately, I rushed over to the piano. The first thing I played was I - VI - II - V off top. Those are just the chords that always come to mind when thinking of that era. It makes me think of Grease (the classic film). But more importantly, it takes me back to tales I read about the street corner singers from New Jersey and New York and Philly and Detroit etc. These are the people who'd gather on the corners to harmonize. Each group had a different image and a different sound from the other. This dates way back to the 40's. And it still goes on 'til this day. I know this because we were doing it at LaGuardia HIgh School when I was there! I'm a huge fan of doo-wop. Love The Moonglows and The Flamingos and The Sherelles and Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers so on and so forth. I wanted to, somehow, channel that energy into the song for the commercial. So I sang all of the parts with a different tone and a different personality. From the highest falsetto to the lowest bass. To make it fun, I mentally created 5 different characters from any given urban neighborhood circa the 1950's. Gave each indiviual a name. I even gave all 5 personalities a group name.....The Head-Lites. Hey! I never said I wasn't crazy :-) Below is the actual ad as it appears on TV.....

And this is the original piece that I wrote with all of the parts in it...including my leads. Unedited. Visually, I just threw a few pictures up of various doo-wop groups throughout the history of the genre. Think this could have been a hit in 1951? Hmmmm. Enjoy!
P.S. See if you can pick out Mavin Gaye. He got his start in one of those groups.

Check out the official TL Cross website: www.tlcross.com

My Participation In The 'Men Love Mary' Project.

2011-08-17T00:15:00.000-07:00

When I was approached by Soul Bounce to participate in the Men Love Mary project, I was on board before they could finish their sentence! I have always loved what Mary represents through her music. Then they told me that the homies Eric Roberson and Jessie Boykins III were on board and I was like COOL! I chose You Gotta Believe because of it's melodic sequence as well as it's ties to 90's gospel. I did this beat and sang these vocals all in an hour and a half FLAT! That's 100% pure love! Enjoy.

Check out the official TL Cross website: www.tlcross.com

A Writer Takes His Pen to Write the Words Again: Stevie Wonder, the brilliant "world soul" writer.

2011-08-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

When you think of legendary artist, Stevie Wonder, what comes to mind? Ok, we all know that he was, of course, born without sight. But once you get pass that detail what comes to mind? When asked, most people say "the voice". And why not? Stevie Wonder has one of the single most recognizable voices in the history of recorded music. And with good reason! After being influenced by singer Jesse Belvin, his mentor Clarence Paul and of course the mighty Ray Charles, Stevie created a sound that was all his own. A style that has influenced singers in many genres. From the age of 11, Stevie was already surrounded by future legends on a daily basis. Take a moment to think of all of the Motown legends you can muster up in your mind. Now add The Funk Brothers (the session band) along with The Andantes (the session singers). Little Stevie was around some of the greatest to ever do it! Much of this can also be said for future genius, Little Michael Jackson…..but that's for another blog entry all together.
     What impressed Berry Gordy Jr about Little Stevie was his ability to play the harmonica. Originally, it was not his voice. He later grew to appreciate Stevie's singing as he found his voice. At that point Stevie also was a very good drummer and bongo player. Not yet much of a piano player. Being exposed to people like Earl Van Dyke changed that tho! Again, that's for another blog entry. Stevie was writing classic songs by his teen years with the help of Clarence Paul. Songs like Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Going To Do) come to mind. Of course that was later covered by Aretha Franklin. When the beautiful Tammi Terrell was new to Motown and looking for material, it was a 16 year old Stevie (along with Paul) who composed and penned All I Do (Is Think About You), a song that was later covered by Stevie himself on his 1980 Hotter Than July album. He was, as a teenager, coming into his own as a songwriter/composer.
     In 1967, Bob Dylan, who many recognize as one of music's greatest lyricists of all time, declared William "Smokey" Robinson "The greatest living American poet". This is huge coming from the man who said "He not busy being born is busy dying" (It's Alright, Ma….I'm only bleeding). When one looks into the lyricism of Smokey Robinson, you realize that you are experiencing one of history's most clever wordsmiths. A lyric from The Tracks of My Tears comes to mind: "Outside, I'm masquerading. Inside, my hope is fading. I'm just a clown since you put me down. My smile is my make-up I wear since my break-up with you". Side note: Social critic, Michael Eric Dyson has a peice where he compares the work of Smokey to the works of Shakespeare. Awesome. But anyway, the same year that Dylan made that comment, Smokey was at a Christmas party with a young Stevie. Stevie got on the piano and started playing the chords to a song he had been struggling with. It turned out to be the music for Tears Of A Clown. Ultimately, the two co-wrote what turned out to be a major classic for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. I have never heard either man talk about this experience in any interview but I'd imagine that this must have been a pivotal point for young Stevie in his development as a lyricist. In due time, he would go on to be something that his mentors could only marvel at. At some point, Stevie Wonder went into orbit.
     I could spend the rest of this entry talking about Stevie's composition style. His use of key changes and that type of thing. But that deserves it's OWN microscope. We'll just talk lyrics. Somewhere between Where I'm Coming From and Music Of My Mind, a major lyricist was born. The word major is, in fact, too small a word. The man who ultimately wrote the lyric "We are idle strangers, married to our dangers" was born. The man who said "Don't let your bed of sorrows ever conquer your pride. There's always a way out" was born. The man who asked "Evil. Why have you engulfed so many minds leaving room for darkness where lost dreams can hide?" was born. How about the lyric, from 1980's Lately, when he says "I'm a man of many wishes. I hope my premonition misses but what I really feel, my eyes won't let me hide because they always start to cry". Have you ever listened to the brilliance of They Won't Go When I Go? Have you ever stopped to wonder what a "ribbon in the sky for our love" means? How about in Overjoyed where he is talking about his "dream" romance and he exclaims "The sandman has come from too far away for you to say come back some other day"? And to be honest with you, Stevie has one liners for days, HOWEVER, the power in his lyrics is his dedication to a topic, his poetic view of it, his word play to get the point over as well as his imagination. I am talking about the type of imagination that would make him write the words "A female Shakespeare of your time with looks to blow Picaso's mind.…….You took me riding in your rocket and gave me a star but then a half-a-mile from heaven you dropped me back into this cold cold world". WHAT!?!?!?
     I remember being asked, by Forrest Renaissance, to perform in a Stevie Wonder tribute show in Harlem. I sang Love's In Need Of Love Today (a crazy lyric within the title itself). At the end of my performance I went into Ngicuelela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing from his Songs In The Key Of Life album. The first part of that song says "Ngiculela ikusasg, Ngliyacula nao thando. Ngicula ngelinyi langa Uthando luyobusa Jikelele kulomblada wethu". I sang this in my best Zulu accent (which is very difficult for an English speaker such as myself). Stevie's lyrical genius is not relegated to just one language as the second verse of that song is in Spanish and last verse in English, of course. There is beauty in EACH language. Stevie found it. And believe it or not, no matter what language he writes in, it always takes on the Stevie Wonder spirit. "Over dreams, I have picked out a perfect come true".

Here is a great example of the lyrical puzzles that Stevie has pieced together throughout his 5 decade long career.

What is your favorite Stevie Wonder lyric?

Foot note: Stevie Wonder is one of the originators of a musical ideology that forced us to coin the phrase: world soul.

Check out the official TL Cross website: www.tlcross.com

Towards the BET Music Matters Party performance, part 3 (The Show)

2011-07-15T16:04:00.000-07:00

The place was packed. The host introduces me. The applause was thunderous! If I'm lyin' I'm flyin' (old school talk). I didn't quite expect that to be honest with you! It's been a while since I took the stage (due to studio work). Once Sikchyld hit 'em with Smilin Billy Suite by The Heath Brothers (sample used for One Love, Nas) I knew it was time for me to take the stage. Once my foot hit the pavement of that stage I heard cheers. The type of cheers that would make any performer want to give it their all. I sit down to the piano. "Yo Sikchyld bring in the horns!" Our cue came and went. But that was because I got to the piano so late. So I say "Yo Sik, stop playin wit 'em and bring in those horns". He scratches in them Otis Redding horns…..the intro to Best Kept Secret. Three kicks. Me, Sik and Baby Boy rocking out for those first 8 bars. I always can hear Fingaz and Bridget tinkering around with riffs on their boards……like pitchers warming up in the bullpen. We all drop in together….BANG! BeeZo and Vell with the "ooooo's". Steps looking sharp. I can always see them in my peripheral. Baby Boy locked in. Best Kept was now in full flight…..and it felt GREAT! I was in good voice. Took it back to the days under my father's (Eli Wilson Jr) church music ministry and did some things out of spontaneity. Off to the races!
     When I feel something hit me, I usually just get up from my keyboard. Depending on the song, either Bridget or Fingaz covers me. As I got up, I noticed that there were a lot of chords and wires on that stage. Wow! I'm staying locked in to my song but meanwhile staying aware of where I step. Can't let it be a distraction tho. Don't wanna go out like Willie Lump Lump! I kind of felt like "If I knock some sh$# over OH WELL!" While standing, it's a whole different type of feeling. A panoramic view. I wish everyone can experience what it looks like when an entire crowd is rocking to your music and singing your lyrics with you! It's a phenomenal feeling. Your heart is their heart. Your feelings are their feelings. It's unity. It's sameness. It's God. We end Best Kept on a C minor 9 chord. Or at least that's what I played. Bridget tends to chord differently from me and Fingaz tends to chord differently from her. So it always makes for one amazing interwoven chord effect. One down…two to geaux!
     Through the applause, I start playing the intro to I Want You by myself. The spirit of Marvin Gaye was upon us. I said a few words to the audience at that point. I forget what….if someone has the footage send it in. I count it off and I Want You is now underway. Wow! It felt better than I had even thought it would. I love music! I do it for the love! These are the thoughts that came into my mind. As I sang this song, I locked into one person. I sometimes like to lock into a person's face or image. Gives me a target. The first verse flew! I kinda wanted to rewind and sing it again….I love it. The second verse started getting me ready for a major build up. I felt like I was flying. That break down came....literally the calm before the storm. It lulls you in. On that last bar of the break I went for the quartet scream. History minute: The quartet scream is something that was made popular in the 40's and 50's by none other than the mighty Archie Brownlee of the 5 Blind Boys from Mississippi (not to be confused with the boys from Alabama). Some of the greats can be heard doing the quartet scream. From Marvin Gaye to Stevie Wonder (Signed, Sealed, Delivered), little Michael Jackson (It's Your Thang), Bobby Womack (If You Think You're Lonely Now), Ray Charles (Night Time is the Right Time), Johnny Taylor (Who's Making Love), David Ruffin (The Double Cross) just to name a few. When I do the quartet scream I feel like I am channeling something that has been passed down through the black experience for decades and even centuries when you think about it historically. There I went! The climax took me to a place that I only go when I am singing. I cherish that place.
     Now comes the time for the last song…..Pop Life! Side bar: Prince, on a recent award show, mentioned that it was time for younger and newer artists to step up. It sent chills through me. The first thing that came to mind was a song that Prince himself wrote years ago called Pop Life. At that time, his song talked about the race to be on top. Well, his speech led me to ask myself the question "What defines 'pop life' in TODAY'S world?" My answer to that question was writing a song about where people's heads are today :Sidebar complete!: Ok…back to the show! Right before I was about to go into Pop Life, I hear a voice come from the audience saying "TL CROSS!!!!". That voice filled the entire room. I laughed and said to the audience "I paid him!". Everyone laughed. I couldn't see who it was, but later I found out it was Drego Moore! Wow! Had no idea he was even there! Thought he was in a whole other state. So, I play the first few chords of Pop Life and something came to my mind….I'M THIRSTY! I stop right in the middle of the intro. I just stop playing completely. On a dime. Silence. I turn to the crowd and says "Hold on a sec". Grab my cup of water and drank. The people laughed. I even laughed at myself on the inside. Hey what can I say! I was thirsty!!!! Ok so I start the intro again. 4 hits of G minor….right hand. Sik and Baby Boy come in with the beat and that was all she wrote! The three of us rocked out to the verse. Later, I was told that it was a lil slow and that BeeZo gave Sik the signal to gradually speed it up. He did! However, I never knew that part. Once we all hit….whew!!!! We were in it to win it! We rocked out hard. I gave a look to Bridget and, like always, she covered me on piano so I could be free to get up and play to the audience front and center. Man! What a feeling!
     Right before the show I had asked Sik if he still had the Isaac Hayes Do Your Thang intro. He said yes. So after Pop Life I asked him to give me some pimply music so I can introduce the band. Introduced everyone…..but made one blunder….I FORGOT TO INTRODUCE SIKCHYLD HIMSELF! Wow! You can't get everything right all the time! I've done similar things before and when it's all said and done I always end up kicking myself. Sik is the heartbeat of what we do. A big "C'mon son" to me for forgetting to shout out the homie.
     Walked off stage drenched. Partially because of the lights and my hard work, but also because it was hot outside and it was hot INSIDE!
     Me and Fingaz drove back to the QBoro. Talked about everything under the sun. Dropped him off. I got home. Walked in. Put everything down. Sat alone in a dead quiet room for a second. Thought about my previous 24 hours. Life can be such a whirlwind. But sometimes you just have to be still and take everything in.
     Got in the shower. I put on a song that had been on my mind for the entire day: "You can reach me by railway. You can reach me by trailway. You can reach me by an airplane. You can reach me with your mind. You can reach me by a caravan. Cross the desert like an Arab [woman]. I don't care how you get here, just GET HERE IF YOU CAN." Perfect ending to a night.


     Hats off to BET, Omar Grant and Kelly G! I am always humbled by the opportunity to rock! Stay tuned….more to come.

God bless you.

-Cross

Check out the official TL Cross website: www.tlcross.com

Towards the BET Music Matters Party performance, part 2 (The Pre-Show)

2011-07-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

Mona Lisa lets me know that she's now leaving an appointment in East Elmhurst, Queens and headed my way to drop off a white shirt, that I had requested, before heading back to Brooklyn. She shows up. Hands me the bag. Small talk. She tells me she'll see me later….at the show.
     I was sitting in my basement studio around 12 noon,. In a daze. I receive a text. Bridget was telling me that she was headed from her hood over to Mr Fingaz hood (about 10 minutes away) to review some music before the show. I believe it was the music from her soon to be released EP. I wake all the way up. I go over vocal exercises. Shades of LaGuardia, High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. Mi mi mi mi miiiiii! Well, I will spare you by not typing solfege here :-) As I walked around my house, I kept a free mind. Nothing heavy. It is always important, to me, to go about a performance day like I go about all other days. I feel like music is so real and it's so life based until I want that to show through me. Whether rehearsed or impromptu, I will always find it important to allow my life to shine through.

(insert loooooong shower here)

     The shirt was a great fit. Jeans pressed. Shoes out of the box and on my feet. Threw on a brim, as usual. Of course I couldn't find my glasses…..as usual! Fingaz and Bridget pull up into my driveway out back. I know this because QBee starts barking. Maaannnn, that dog is like clockwork! They start loading the car. We head out to Manhattan's Lower East Side (LES).
    Pull up to the front of the venue. Drom. We sit at a bus stop. Start unloading the car. Cops pull up behind us. Looking like they are on the prowl. I guess they realized we were a bunch of musicians unloading our instruments into a venue. They didn't bother us. I stop for a second and take in the moment. I'm thinking "Wow! Not far from where I'm standing.....hmmm...how many legends performed where I stand? I think about Jimi, Dylan, Clapton, Monk, Blakey, Afrika Bambaata, Beastie Boys, Madonna, Talking Heads, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Coltrane, Lennon, Donny....wow!"

A guy is flipping a cab driver the bird. Snaps me out of it!

      As I'm leaning my keyboard up against the fence, a dude approached me and says "Excuse me, your name is Tone right?". I'm thinking "Here we go! Who did I piss off now?" He says "Do you know a girl named Monique? Singer?" I'm like "Yeah! From way back!". He goes on to tell me how we were once sort of in the same circle during a time when I was with the group. Cool dude! He was to sing later on that night with a band called Trilogy. That guy took me back to when I was 14 and under the management of Jo Jo Brim and Jimmy Maynes. I digress again.....
     I walk in. See my dude, Omar. We greet like old friends. We represent the original Fame school (don't hate lol). So he begins to explain to me some of the things I need to know about the night. He said "I heard you're singing I Want You by Marvin Gaye!". He goes on to tell me how much he loves that record. That's a good sign seeing that this would be only my 2nd time singing it. First time with the band. One thing he kept asking, though, was "Where's the rest of the band?". Three keyboard players walking in to a soundcheck with no drummer, backgrounds, DJ etc, usually spells trouble. I hop on the phone with Baby Boy who was in the Bronx at the time. He was on his way. Spoke to Sikchyld who was still in Southiside Queens. He was leaving soon. BeeZo was still in the Bronx as well and he informed me he'd be there closer to showtime. Same with the homie Vell. I tried to get our soundcheck pushed back to give Sikchyld, at least, a chance to get there with our audio. No dice! After Trilogy and Mike Jagger checks, Omar is like "Cross, you're up!" Being that we had no real audio, besides our keyboards, I had BeeZo and Sik send us something to check to. Unfortunately, the sound people didn't have the proper cable to allow us to hear that audio. So I turn to the drummer, who had just checked with Trilogy, and asked could he check with us. He agreed. I count off "5, 6, 7, 8…" and we go into a keyboard heavy version of Best Kept Secret. sidebar: You should hear me, Fingaz and Bridget all chord to Best Kept in our own ways creating something pretty damn phenomenal! Our soundcheck lasted for no more than 6 minutes. We were straight!
     Cut to 7:34pm. I was told that showtime was at 8pm. However, the host approached the mic and said to the people "We'll be getting started in 10 minutes". Ok so now I'm nervous because, although Sik and Baby Boy were now in the building, BeeZo and Vell hadn't showed up yet. I text B "Show starts in 10 minutes yo!" He hits me back "We'll be there in 5 min". GREAT! They walk in. A strange dude in a blue suit starts talking to me about hats. I'm half listening. Focused. Then FINALLY! The last piece to the puzzle arrives……my glasses! Perfect timing…..Randall walks in and hands them to me. OK NOW IT'S ON!!!!!! lol Sorry homie in the blue suit. I zone out.
     Sitting side-stage while my band sets up is always cool! Everyone is getting that "serious bitness" look when just 5 minutes earlier they're all cracking jokes. They start to get that game time look. I love it! Butterflies are now fluttering shamelessly.......

Check out the official TL Cross website: www.tlcross.com

Towards the BET Music Matters Party performance, part 1 (The Final Rehearsal)

2011-07-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

Three people in a car. Mr Fingaz, Bridget Perez and me. We were headed from Jamaica, Queens over to Astoria. Three piano players headed to rehearse on Steinway Street. Home of the world famous Steinway piano. Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock play(ed) on a Steinway. Coincidence? I think not! :-) Already thinking about maneuvering through traffic on the Van Wyck, I get a call from DJ Sikchyld. He had just left Southside and was already ahead of us. Traffic was backed up. No surprise there. Long story short, we walk into Astoria Soundworks rehearsal studio late. I could already hear music coming out of room 5. Thomas "Baby Boy" Felder, from the Bronx, was already on the drum set. BeeZo, also from the Bx, was already cracking jokes with Harlem-born, Lavell Evans aka Vell Vegas. The vibe was already energetic from the 1st note!
     First things first. Will it be Ovation or will it be Best Kept Secret? I told Sik to run the audio on Ovation. Me and Baby Boy discussed the drum pattern very briefly. He picked it up within seconds! Ovation has that "TL Cross melodic structure" but it surely has that "Needlz drum pattern". Fingaz plugged in his bass (This would have been his 1st time playing bass with me. He normally plays keys). Bridget scrolls through sounds to try and find some type of 80's synth sound to match the original recording. She finds it. Everything is in place. We hit it from the top. HARD! So far so good.
     Next up? Marvin Gaye's I Want You. In previous days I'd had a conversation with BET's (and LAG's) Omar Grant, who told me to make sure we perform one remake. I chose I Want You for personal reasons. For one, I love that song! I'll blog, one day, and go more into depth about it. Sik started running the audio on that one. I, of course, started playing first. Fingaz scrolled to find a vintage synth lead. He found it! Straight throwback. Bridget was messing around with a whurlitzer at that point. Shades of Ray Charles and Donny Hathaway. We knew, from the gate, that this one felt good. It felt right! BeeZo and Vell crooned throughout in true Marvin Gaye fashion. I get inspired hearing those guys. Them cats can SING! And they are true kindred spirits with me. Somewhere in there, I got a lil misty, thinking about my own life. But I digress…..
     Pop Life is always fun to play. It goes from intimate to HUGE! It always adds an injection of energy into the room whenever we go over it. No different on this night. From snaps to the big beat! Baby Boy's thunderous drums, Fingaz piercing synth lines, Bridget's original piano chording along with B and Vell's harmonies…..inspiring! Note: The homie 'Day' is missing from this picture….I know. He couldn't make this one. But his heart was with us!
     Last, but not least, B leans over to me and says "Let's try Best Kept". So I say to Sik "Do you have Best Kept?". At this point, Vell got excited and asked "Wait, so we're doing Best Kept?". I was in deep thought….pondering. This has got to be right! Sik brings in the horns. Three kicks. Me and Baby Boy come in on the ONE. "This joint goes out….to all the block parties…and the house parties….and the trucks and the jeeps and the coups and the Lexus…." BOOM! Everybody falls into place. Perfect. We knew at that moment….WE'RE STARTING THE SHOW WITH THIS! Case Closed.
     Left Astoria, headed back to the Jamaica area. Dropped off Fingaz. Dropped off Bridget. Back home. A million things running through my head. You name it. I decided not to touch my keyboard that night. No singing. I decided to do something that helps me even more…..LISTEN. After listening to Monk and Marvin and Stevie and Ella and Michael and Coltrane and ME, of course, and everything under the sun, I cut on the TV and flopped down onto my sofa. The classic show, Three's Company, is on. Another misunderstanding between the roommates. Ha! Life at it's most simple. I'm thinking "Big show tomorrow. Hmmmm wonder what's on VH1 Classic." Turned my phone upside down. Goodbye world. 'Til tomorrow.

Check out the official TL Cross website: www.tlcross.com

TL Cross learns the art of the blog.

2011-06-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

So I have a blog......finally! Sometimes we as artists get so caught up into our music until we totally forget all of the other elements that go into who we are. For that reason, I decided to name this blog "Sincerely yours, Cross". Me being me.....that's the best way to describe this blog. You probably got here via the mother of my operation, www.tlcross.com. There will be many entries to come. But this first one is just to welcome you all to my crazy world. I'll share my thoughts, behind the scenes footage, opinions, music history and most importantly, I'd like to hear your thoughts and opinions. Enjoy! And maybe you'll get something out of this experience as we grow together. God bless.

-Cross