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Sade
February 2010: Soldier of Love is released, the sixth studio album the band Sade have released during their 25 year career, and the first since Lovers Rock in 2000. For Sade herself, as the lynchpin of the group’s song writing effort, it’s a simple matter of integrity and authenticity: “I only make records when I feel I have something to say. I’m not interested in releasing music just for the sake of selling something. Sade is not a brand”.
The call went out in 2008 for the group to re-convene at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios, in the countryside of south west England. It was the first time the four principals had met up since the Lovers Rock tour wrapped in 2001. Bassist Paul Spencer Denman de-camped from Los Angeles, from where he managed his son’s punk band, Orange. Guitarist and saxophone player Stuart Matthewman interrupted his film soundtrack work in New York, and London based keyboardist Andrew Hale gave up his A&R consultancy.
In a series of fortnightly sessions at Real World, Sade sketched out the material for a new album which, they all felt, was probably their most ambitious to date. In particular, the sonic layering and martial beats of the title track, Soldier Of Love, sounded quite different from anything they had previously recorded. According to Andrew Hale: “The big question for all of us at the beginning was, did we still want to do this, and could we still get along as friends?” The answer soon came back as a passionate affirmative.
The album was completed in the summer of 2009, mainly at Real World. The feel of the music this time had moved away from the old country soul styling of Lovers Rock and assumed a more eclectic identity. At times the band sounded like the original Sade, with Matthewman back blowing soft sax on In Another Time and the vocal on Long Hard Road hymning. But with songs such as the joyously quirky reggae chant Babyfather, and the dramatically arranged album opener The Moon and the Sky, Sade were exploring new territory. “I never want to repeat myself,” Sade herself says. “And that becomes a more interesting challenge for us the longer we carry on together”.
Helen Folasade Adu was born in Ibadan, Nigeria. Her father was Nigerian, a university teacher of economics; her mother was an English nurse. The couple met in London while he was studying at the LSE and they moved to Nigeria shortly after getting married. When their daughter was born, nobody locally called her by her English name, and a shortened version of Folasade stuck. Then, when she was four, her parents separated, and her mother brought Sade and her elder brother back to England, where they initially lived with their grandparents just outside Colchester, Essex.
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New Releases, Birthday Shoutouts, 50th Anniversary of Court and Spark & More
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast includes new releases from Rose Mallett, Tony Jones and Jessica Jones, Ian Shaw, Lisa Hilton,{Kristen R. Bromley, Jo Harrop plus preview singles from Kelly Green and Andrea Wolper, with birthday shoutouts to Max Roach (100!), Cheryl Bentyne, Kate McGarry, Peter Eldridge, Chelsea McBride and Sade , among others. At the close of the 2nd hour, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark. Thanks for listening and please support the artists ...
Continue ReadingJazz Not War: Part 1
by Ludovico Granvassu
This time it felt quite inappropriate to be upbeat and excited about all the beautiful new albums that keep coming out. After an aggressive virus has brought the world to a near halt for almost two years, we are now facing another life-threatening turn of events, this time entirely man-made. The playlist features music inspired by the eternal struggle between war and peace, from Charles Mingus' fear of the atomic Bomb--by way of Alexis Korner-- to John Coltrane's sonic prayer ...
Continue ReadingNew Releases Plus a Celebration of Jazz Capricorns Sade, Melba Liston and More
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast presents new releases from Pete Malinverni, Remy Le Boeuf's Assembly of Shadows and the Yellowjackets. In the first hour, songs by Sade and in the second hour a set of tunes honoring composer, arranger trombonist Melba Liston to celebrate their birthdays. Other Capricorn shoutouts include Rachel Z, Chelsea McBride, Christine Tobin, Ingrid Jensen, Andrea Wolper. Anat Cohen and Ruth Brown. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by purchasing their music during this time of ...
Continue ReadingNew Releases and Celebrations for Melba Liston, Sade and Eartha Kitt
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast opens with music by composer and arranger Melba Liston and concludes with the unique vocal stylings of the great Eartha Kitt to celebrate their birthdays. New releases include Gayelynn McKinney, Jane Ira Bloom & Mark Helias, Joe Traina and Marty Elkins, with more birthday shoutouts to Ruth Brown, Sade, Michelle Walker, Cheryl Bentyne, Andrea Wolper, Nicole Zuraitis, Aubrey Logan and Kate McGarry, among others. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by purchasing their music ...
Continue ReadingSade: Bring Me Home - Live 2011
by Jeff Winbush
SadeBring Me Home: Live 2011Epic2012There is no need for the singer Sade to sucker the fans with this sort of ploy. The Once In A Lifetime tour started in April 2011 and ended nine months later with shows in America, Canada, Europe, South America and Australia--106 shows to 800,000 people grossing over $53 million dollars. The band had not toured in a decade and as devout fan knows it might be ten ...
Continue ReadingSade: The Ultimate Collection
by Jeff Winbush
Did the world really need a new Sade best of" album? Possibly, since it has been 17 years two albums of new material since The Best of Sade (Epic,1994). The timing of The Ultimate Collection is in no small part related to the fact Sade is off on her first world tour in a decade; since Soldier of Love (Epic, 2010) is a year old now she needed to put out new" product to whet the appetite of the fans.
Continue ReadingSade: Soldier Of Love
by Jeff Winbush
The best thing about Sade Adu is also the worst thing about Sade Adu: her near fanatical commitment to consistency. There's no difference between vintage Sade and contemporary Sade. She's the antithesis of the snowfall cliché: with Sade you always know exactly what you're going to get. Soldier of Love is Sade's first album in a decade, and only the sixth by the group in 25 years. Flooding the market with material is not a crime Adu can ...
Continue ReadingSade Performs at Boston TD Garden on Wednesday, July 6
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MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts
Dave Koz, Sade Leads Nominees In 2011 Oasis Contemporary Jazz Awards
Source:
Mike James
Nominees for the 2011 Oasis Contemporary Jazz Awards were announced on January 20th. The event makes its return after a long hiatus and celebrates the best in contemporary jazz. The awards gala will be the highlight of a four day gathering, taking place March 10th through the 13th. Over 40 artists are scheduled to attend. Nominees were announced in 20 different categories. Leading all nominees was saxophonist Dave Koz, who picked up nominations in 9 categories, including Entertainer of the ...
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Sade: First Tour in Ten Years
Source:
JamBase
ADDITIONAL DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON Following the platinum selling success of Soldier of Love, Sade announces their highly anticipated return to the world's stage. The North American leg, produced by Live Nation, begins on June 16 in Baltimore, Maryland at the 1st Mariner's Arena. Tickets go on sale in select markets beginning October 16 at LiveNation.com with additional dates to be announced soon.
Thu Jun 16 Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner Arena Sat Oct 16 Sun Jun 19 Philadelphia, PA ...
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Sade's Surprising Comeback
Source:
All About Jazz
The Long War:Sade soldiers on. As breezy as they sound, Sades songs explore the heavier lifting inside love: commitment, consistency, friendship. Keywords Sade; Soft Jazz; Singers; Vocalists; Soldier of Love; Pride; Epic Records It sounds implausible now, but there was a time when soft jazz was almost radical. This brief moment should be credited largely to the English. In the early eighties, groups like Everything but the Girl and the Style Council developed a hybrid kind of pop that drew ...
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Sade's 'Soldier' Sets the Tally Ablaze
Source:
Michael Ricci
With it's first album of new material in a decade, Sade's Soldier of Love" doesn't miss a beat. The set marches to the top of the U.S. tally, and has an impressive hold on the pole position. With 502,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan, Sade's minimalist, slow-burning soul scores the young year's top debut.
Led by vocalist Sade Adu, Soldier of Love" taps the same adult market Sony Music reached so well at the end of 2009 with Susan ...
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Sade Returns with Beauty and Mystery
Source:
All About Jazz
Sade, Soldier of Love". Like a long-ago lover not quite forgotten, Sade has returned to steal our hearts with more beautiful, uncategorizable music.
It's been 10 years since her last album, a fatal hiatus for almost any other artist, but just another hibernation for a woman whose disdain for fame only deepens our fascination. Sade's voice sounds unchanged, a unique emotional instrument that conjures visions of rain-streaked windows and windblown streets. Her topics love, loss, sorrow, strength remain the ...
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Sade's First Single, 'Soldier of Love' Making Radio History
Source:
Michael Ricci
"Soldier Of Love," the highly anticipated anthemic first single off Sade's forthcoming album, Soldier Of Love is already making radio history. Following it's release on December 8th, the track debuted at #11 on the Urban Hot AC chart, making it the highest debut of the decade and the third highest all-time on the Urban Hot AC chart. But, that's not all! Soldier Of Love" also debuted at # 5 on the Smooth Jazz airplay chart while also becoming the first ...
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Exclusive: New Sade on the Way, 2009 Release Possible
Source:
Billboard Magazine
Sade Adu, the reclusive quiet storm" soul signer who takes notoriously long breaks between releases, has regrouped with the band that bears her name and is recording her first album of new material since 2000's Lovers Rock, Billboard.com sources confirm. The group is in the studio through June and Sony hopes to put the record out by the end of 2009 though, despite rumors, there is no set release date on the calendar. She is in the studio and the ...
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