Rufus Wonder...
released his new CD album entitled "The Radiant One" on Oh! O'Star
Records. This CD brings all his new songs together. From The
Radiant One to Hey! Sexy Lady!
This Special Edition CD album entitled "Tell Me So" on Oh! O'Star
Records. The album "Tell Me So" is a blend of his soul, and R & B
classics and some of his latest releases. Hear what everyone is
talking about.
Paradise's Birthday and CD release party was uncorked at la Peña Culture Center.
The new CD is called JazzFunkHipHoPoetry (pronounced Jazz-Funk-Hip-Hop-a-tree):
The
beginning of a brand new sound! Also called JFHP or J-Hop for short, this event
and Cd features Paradise singing, rapping and reciting, bassist-promoter Bill
Jackson, rappers Kasa Nova and Mack Lamar, drummer Bill Norwood, Vocalist Rufus
Wonder.
Born in Bossier
City, Louisiana, Rufus Wonder has had a storied career in the music
business. At the age of 12, he moved to Oakland, California and began
his musical journey in the high school choir. In the Navy, he formed the
singing group, The Blenders. Rufus Wonder and the Blenders performed all
over Asia. After the military, Rufus joined a group called "The Riffs"
and they had many concerts in the Los Angeles area. After The Riffs
dismantled, Rufus made his mark on the stage in Chicago and Detroit.
Next, Rufus wrote
"Under the Moon", and "So Upset" before signing with Lando Records. Rufus,
recorded as Rufus Wonder & the Additions on the Lando Record Label in
Detroit, Michigan. It was here that Rufus Wonder was signed, and recorded
by the famous, child star, Frank I. "Sugar Chile" Robinson (video
below), and Clifton
Dickerson, the owners of the record label.
Rufus,
has performed on stage with such artists as the "Fabulous Counts", "Little
Milton", the famous dancers Oscar Huckabee & Caledonia Young, Edd Henry,
Steve Mancha, "100 proof aged in soul", "The Du-Kays", "The Red Saunders
Band of Chicago", "Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds", Dennis Edwards,
"Carl Carlton, "Sugar Pie DeSanto", "The Mar Keys", William Bell, "The
Temptations", Billy Preston, Betty Everett, Alberta Adams, Christine
Katrell, "The O' Town Passions", "The Cleveland Jones Temptation Revue",
Lee Williams, "God's New Creations", "The Oakland Heirs", Joe Williams,
and Inez Jones, The famous actress, Colostine Boatwright who is in the
movie Cooley High, and Cynthia Joy , actress & model from Great Neck, New
York, to name a few.
The Fedora Chronicles - Notes On Disk - Rufus Wonder: "The Radiant
One"
Ren's Music Reviews
Rufus Wonder - "The Radiant One"
This
is one of those albums that take me back when I thought music and
style would return to the way it used to be... Way back in the
1980's, when I became infatuated with The Golden Era, I try to
consume or absorb everything I could. Perfect example of this is
when I was worked at the Via Condotti Italian Restaurant on
Saturday, I would sleep in the next morning because of how hard I
worked and the long walk home. Once a local radio station started
playing vintage music Sunday morning, I changed my routine and sleep
patterns - I would wake up in time to hear the show. I would set my
radio alarm clock to it, crawl on the stairs out of my bedroom in
the basement then go into the kitchen and make a pot of coffee the
instant after I tuned in the family’s stereo system into that
station, then if I had to I would crawl back into my room in the
basement, I would do so and hammer out my writings down on an old
type writer my grandmother have given to me before she moved down to
Virginia before the ribbon went dry…
… All
the while listening to the vintage music. If I had to go out on
Sunday morning and do chores around the yard, I had my Walkman tuned
to the same station. I was consumed with trying to listen to that
show from beginning to end, listening to the earliest music
recording, through the swing and jazz era, up until the birth of
Rock And Roll. At that time I was hoping for a resurgence of the
style from that era. In a way, that time in my life was the early
glimmers of what would later become The Fedora Chronicles.
From
listening to Rufus Wonder and the Album "The Radiant One," I was
taken back to that period in my life, back to the 1980’s. For that
reason, I think Rufus Wonder was the same way. This music echoes
much of the Golden Era with a modern element to it to keep it fresh
and current.
This
album’s sound takes us back to the Cotton Club and Cab Callaway
while the other is more for the jazz of the fifties with a fusion of
funk from the past
few decades.
First
off is Rufus Wonder’s The Radiant One. Before you even open this CD
you know that this guy is really one of us, a vintage aficionado –
The Outfits he wears on the front and back of the cover is exactly
like those worn by the zoot suitors of the Nineteen Forties. There’s
also the Art Deco font and other artwork. It’s as if this album
cover is what people during the Golden Era thought albums in the
future would look like.
As for
the music, it’s a great blend of music styles from that era and
modern soul and funk. As I wrote earlier, this sound takes us back
to the Night Clubs of the
era and the closest artist who I can compare this to is Cab
Callaway. Don’t let the description on CD-Baby throw you off when
you read - 80s influenced R&B with a hint of soul and Motown. Those
of us who survived the 80’s will tell you the resurgence of Thirties
and Forties Retro began in the 80’s. Does “The Radiant One” sound
like music in the 80’s? Sure, but my ear says this sound just as
much if not more of an earlier era. So I can’t split hairs. If the
artists of that era had access to the instruments, production
techniques and recording technology of today – this is an example of
what it would have sounded like.
There
are only five songs on this one, each one is just as strong as the
other – “Tell Me So,” “Stuck On You,” The title track “The Radiant
One,” “Hey, Sexy
Lady” and the album comes to a close with an instrumental of the
title track. Just like a lot of other new artists with a lot of
promise, this album is
just too short. It’s decent, high quality music with production
values.
"Tell
Me So" - To an extent, Rufus Wonder sounds like he's channeling
every guy who wants a woman to stop playing hard to get and just
come out to say how she feels.
"Stuck
On You" - Behind every great man, there's a woman that's his muse -
and that's the narrative of this song.
"The
Radiant One" - Rufus Wonder's Anthem - song of love about how one
"Radiates" with beauty.
"Hey,
Sexy Lady" - "... Most modern song - a mellow Rap with a pure funky
beat and a touch of a salute to Barry White.
Be
sure to check out Rufus Wonder’s website – There you can find a
special edition of this album for a special edition recorded live
that includes two of his
own classic tracks – “Under The Moon” and “So Upset” – Both these
songs have the classic Mo-Town sound that’s a joy and need to be
heard.
I’ve
had this album on my desk and have waited for far too long to be
reviewed, Which is a shame and a crime on my part because these
albums deserve a lot of attention. I encourage everyone to check
this album out and give it a shot on it's own merits. This album
looks and feels that it was targeted for vintage aficionados with a
lot of soul and modern funk for today's audiences as well.
Written content copyright Eric "Renderking" Fisk, 2006.
