Adam Lambert pre-"Idol" album due this summer

By Monica Herrera and David J. Prince
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Good news for Adam Lambert fans. But possibly not as good for the "American Idol" runner-up and his label bosses.
A small indie label will release Lambert's debut album this summer, months before Lambert's "official" debut on 19 Recordings/RCA Records is expected to reach stores.
Depending on who you believe, Lambert is either "blown away" by the material on the unofficial release, or is distancing himself from the project.
Entitled "On With The Show," the album was co-written and recorded by Lambert before his turn on the talent show. It will be released by Hi Fi Recordings/Wilshire Records.
The first single, "Want," is streaming now on the Hi Fi Web site, and according to the company's CEO John Hecker, the rest of the tracks will sound similar.
"The music's amazing," said Hecker. "There are some uptempo (songs), there's some that rock a little more, and there are some songs on the same tip as 'Want.' It's a real album that's coming out, not just a conglomerate of a bunch of songs. This is all original material -- as a matter of fact, Adam wrote a lot of it."
According to Hi Fi, Lambert even visited the Wilshire Records studio in Los Angeles as recently as last month to hear it. "He was in the Wilshire Records studio right before the finale actually, and he was blown away by the material," Hecker said.
Hi Fi did not notify 19/RCA about its intent to release Lambert's debut album before announcing the news on Friday. "I bet they know now," Hecker said.
Later, Lambert issued a statement through 19. "Back in 2005 when I was a struggling artist, I was hired as a studio singer to lend my vocals to tracks written by someone else," he said. "I was broke at the time and this was my chance to make a few bucks, so I jumped at the opportunity to record for my first time in a professional studio. The work I did back then in no way reflects the music I am currently in the studio working on. I'm thrilled to be working with some of today's hottest songwriters and producers and can't wait for people to hear what my music really sounds like."
Lambert is working with Lady GaGa producer RedOne and with ex-Evanesence songwriter David Hodges on the 19/RCA album.
Hecker said he was "100%" confident that his company has the legal right to debut its Lambert album before 19/RCA does theirs. "We would never put anything out that wasn't fully owned by the parties involved with all the rights secured. We were really careful."
He declined to discuss financial details, "but I can tell you that Adam will share in the success."
Hecker said he was approached by Wilshire Records about releasing Lambert's material soon after the singer made his first appearance on "Idol" in January.
"When they first discussed it with me I was really hesitant, because usually when there's music that's been recorded earlier, the stuff isn't so good. This stuff is unbelievable. We saw that it was the right thing for fans to hear this music. We're doing everything on the highest level, from the mixes to how we're promoting it."
Hi Fi Recordings is the label home of Melinda Doolitle, who finished third on Season 6 of "American Idol" and was a favorite contestant of Simon Cowell.
(Editing by Dean Gooodman at Reuters)

Source: Reuters

Allen Toussaint rediscovers New Orleans on new album

By Jeffrey Jones
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - R&B legend Allen Toussaint has done with his music what America has been forced to do since Hurricane Katrina laid waste to his hometown -- take a new look at what is in danger of fading away.
His new album is a collection of New Orleans classics such as "St. James Infirmary" and songs from outside the Big Easy that Toussaint reworked into the style he grew up hearing, like Thelonious Monk's "Bright Mississippi," from which the album takes its name, "The Bright Missisippi."
The result is a departure from 1960s and '70s Rhythm & Blues and pop tunes for which the 71-year-old pianist and composer is famous, hits such as Lee Dorsey's "Working in a Coal Mine" and the Rolling Stones' "Fortune Teller."
But if the album differs from Toussaint's best-known work, it couldn't be closer to his roots in New Orleans, a city undergoing a slow recovery from the 2005 hurricane. There, the traditions of marching bands and jazz funerals have endured.
"There's been a resurgence of this kind of music," Toussaint said. "Also, I'm very glad about the New Orleans traditional jazz brass bands who help keep this genre alive, even though it's a little rougher than what we're doing on this particular album."
The soft-spoken Toussaint recently spoke with Reuters by phone before heading on tour to St. Paul, Minnesota, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Calgary, where on June 22 he headlines a jazz festival with Big Easy stalwarts, Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
LEADING LIGHTS OF JAZZ
"The Bright Mississippi" is filled with performances by leading lights of today's jazz scene, including clarinetist Don Byron, who joins Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer Toussaint for the trip through old New Orleans with the song, "Just a Closer Walk with Thee."
In a bit of musical irony, Toussaint's new songs offer his fans a fresh look at older tunes such as "Egyptian Fantasy" penned by jazz pioneer Sidney Bechet and "Winin' Boy Blues" from the masterful Jelly Roll Morton.
The idea for "The Bright Mississippi" came from long-time collaborator Joe Henry, who also produced Toussaint's 2006 record with Elvis Costello, "The River In Reverse."
Katrina, and the bungled response to the natural disaster, loomed large over "River," which debuted at the first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival after the storm.
But now Toussaint, whose own house was destroyed in the flooding that followed the hurricane, is optimistic about the city's recovery and the state of its music scene.
While musicians have struggled -- many still live hours outside the city and return to play -- efforts like the Musicians Village, spearheaded by singer Harry Connick Jr., and other programs have been bringing them back, Toussaint said.
"I'm excited about it, because we're flexing new muscle," he said. "Things we didn't know we could do are being done, so the future looks really good."
A high-note to emerge from the Katrina debacle has been that the public reacquainted itself with New Orleans' unique people and culture, he said. Continued...
Source: Reuters