vivian sessoms: blog

There are shows and then....
there are SHOWS..

Some performances are good,
some performances are great..
some will change your life...


I once saw Labelle at summer stage and it changed my life.. forever..
It was the thing that made me absolutely positive I wanted to do music.
Seeing Prince live did that for me,
seeing D'angelo & Marvin Gaye did
that for me,
I've seen footage of Ella, and Sarah,
or Sly & early Natalie Cole on Don Kirschners Rock Concert as a kid and I knew..

Last night I saw Michael McDonald open up for Steely Dan and believe me when I tell you it was one of the most remarkable shows for sheer talent and execution of great music I have ever witnessed.
The music was as good as, and most of the time better than the recordings,
I kid you not, and that is not something you see often and most certainly not something you see in artists today.

I went on Donald Fagens site when I got home to read up on the man. He had a whole blog on Ray Charles and how much Ray had inspired him while growing up and how to him, Ray changed the face of music.
I love when an artist you admire and respect speaks so well of another performers artistry.
He also said in another blog
that nothing new & exciting has happened to music since Bob Marley & reggae.
hmm...
I almost agree..
I am a reggae/ska fanatic myself.

Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Michael McDonald are heroes to me. I didn't know I had heroes..
I will not tell you about the show itself, you MUST go see it!

Last night inspired me..
it changed me..
I am better for it..
That is the power of music.

mama said " in my time, we thought music could change the world if people listened"

Thank you for listening..


www.steelydan.com www.michaelmcdonald.com

ALBRIGHT FEATURED ON RADIO SHOW & PODCAST THIS WEEK!!

DJ Vinnie over at Afternoon Groove Radio featured us in the first hour of his broadcast this past Wednesday, playing our song "Dunno What". The show aired already but if you wanna check it out e-mail the folks at Afternoon Groove Radio to request it.
So far Afternoon Groove was an internet broadcast but we heard throught the grapevine that the show is moving to over FM and the
show we're featured on will be the first FM broadcast!
Congrats to everyone over at Afternoon Groove, we wish you much love & success with the new format!!

We're also on The Unsigned Artist Showcase podcast this week and you can go to their website listed below and listen to the show from the site or download the show.
They're playing the title track from our forthcoming cd "Sunny One Day".

By the way, our friends Heavy (awesome band! check out their website) were invited to be the featured dj's for the global soul podcast last month and they played one of the songs from our cd, "He Who Knows" (written & produced by Heavy). You can go to the website to download that show also.
So check us out, we're getting around!

We wanna' give a big shout out to DJ Vinnie, Reg T. & Heavy for supporting us & playing our music.

In other news you can hear partner Chris on guitar on the latest Amel Larrieux cd's including the newest one "Morning" & her last cd "Bravebird".
Chris is also in the studio with Heavy working on their latest cd which is pure fiyah, stay tuned for it!

More later y'all,
Thanks for checkin' in..
Peace

www.unsignedartistshow.com www.afternoongrooveradio.com www.globalsoulmedia.com www.heavymusic.net www.amellarrieux.com

Earlier in this blog, I mentioned that Tim Ries (Rolling Stones saxophonist) & I were featured guests on our friend Mads Baerentzen's c.d., an extremely gifted pianist & arranger from Denmark. Well, I am happy to say that finally the c.d. has just been released.
I don't know if you can purchase it here in the states yet as it is a European release but it will be available soon!
You can also go to Mads website www.madsbaerentzen.com to order the c.d. directly.
It is a really beautiful record written and arranged by both Mads & Tim and we had so much fun doing it. I just got a copy and I've been playing it over & over.
By the way Mads & Tim are also doing a few arrangements for my "other" c.d. More about that later.
Stay tuned..
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just a quick note to let you know we have a few new pics posted of the village underground show.
a big to thanks to tom paul (check out his website by the way), my sis sybil & dawn for the wonderful photos.
we're hard at work on our second c.d. , we'll keep you posted!
back in a minute :)
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ok, first things first..
YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

hey everybody,
viv here sending out a tremendous thanx to everyone who came out to the village underground last thursday!!!
it was our best crowd yet and that is most definitely thanks to all of you,
so thank you, thank you, thank you!

i was a little nervous about everything going smoothly but i
have to say everything went off without a hitch.

sherrod barnes opened for us and judging from your comments and e-mails he won all of you over just like i knew he would. what a wonderful musician, and all around guy, we truly love him.
he said he'd never performed his own show before but you would never have been able to tell that.
to put it simply, he amazed everyone, and believe me, you will see him with us again very soon!

as for our show, we started out with "oh baby" and the night sped off from there!! we coverd a lot of ground, talked about a lot, and made a lot of music.
so many of our good friends, family, and people we admire were there to support which made the night very special indeed. we had people from as far as australia, and florida. there was a lot of hugging and picture taking afterwards (val, i looked for you but you disappeared), catching up with friends we don't see enough of, making new friends, etc.

i wanna give a special thanks to limited tyme p.r. (((shirl&abby;))), bella starr (shae-muah), my buddies tom p., mike c., noam d., & cisco for the use of their e-mail lists & for helping to spread the word. i also wanna give a shout out to my boy marshall who has been hanging around since the "vivid" days (our first band) and never waits to chat after, he just glides in & glides out after, lol (you're a doll)...
i also wanna thank dawn waski for the beautiful pics of the rt tour posted in the photo gallery.

SO...
if you didn't make it out this time, don't fret,
we've got more shows coming up soon.
the first one is:

Friday, September 1st, 2006
@ The Blue Note
http://www.bluenote.net 12 Midnite
131 West 3rd Street
NYC, NY 10012
Price: $12.00

the bluenote, as you can imagine is a big deal for us and we really want to fill the place up, so mark your calendars, set your bberries & get ready 'cause we're gonna add a bunch of new songs and we'll be smokin' by then!!

we've got all kinds of stuff in the works, so stay tuned
and once again,
thanks for helping us make thursday our best night yet!!
lots of love
& remember to keep supporting independent music!!
bye for now ;)
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I swear it feels like the last day of high school around here. Everyone is buy turns missing their homelives but at the same time sad to be leaving each other for what we know will be a long while..

I've been on some long tours, made lifelong friends, had loads of fun, (and shopped til' i nearly dropped) but I never went home feeling like this before..
I'm gonna miss these guys <3 Let's go back to the beginning, when Jen & I first walked into rehearsals not knowing what to think. It was supposed to be an audition but by the end of the day they were taking our clothing measurements and ordering dinner for us, lol. It was an instant party!

You know how you can fall in love with people and not have it be a sex thing at all??
Seems like everyone fell in love with each other's musicality & personalities, guitarist with drummer, bass player with keyboard player, etc.
We'd literally spend hours and hours in each others rooms talking,
hanging, vibing and then trying to kill the audience at every show!!
WHAT A BLAST!!!!

We ate together, fought, didn't speak, made up, smoked, drank, talked shit, played each other our favorite music, jammed, propped each other up, supported one another, laughed, went on rides, played games, disagreed, agreed to disagree, and still made time to watch the trailer park boys, Family Guy and Ali G, all along the way making friends!
You guys have become like brothers to me, and I'm gonna' miss you all..
Love you lots, bye for now <3
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VIVIAN ON TOUR WITH ROB THOMAS
You can catch Vivian and Jenny Douglas McRae singing with Rob Thomas of matchbox twenty performing his solo album "Something To Be".
Check out live performances including Live8, Fashion Rocks & The American Music Awards on:

Launch.com
Sessions@aol
VH1.com
mtv.com
itunes
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LALAH HATHAWAY/OUTRUN THE SKY
Vivian & Chris wrote and produced 3 songs on the latest Lalah Hathaway disc entitled "Outrun the Sky".
Get your copy now 'cuz it sells out fast!
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DAVID MORALES/2 WORLDS COLLIDE
Vivian is one of the co-writers and featured vocalists on the new David Morales album entitled "2 Worlds Collide".
Be sure to pick up a copy.
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MADS BAERENTZEN TRIO
Due out this fall, Vivian is one of the featured artist on Danish composer/pianist Mads Baerentzens album, along with saxophonist/composer Tim Ries.
Stunning arrangements of gems like the Duke Ellington classic "Come Sunday", and the standard "Tenderly" contributed by both Mads & Tim will make this cd a must have. Stay tuned!
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KHANI COLE/LIFETIME
Vivian & Chris produce jazz singer
Khani Cole's latest effort entitled "Lifetime" on Expansion Records.
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V&C GET SONG IN FEATURE FILM
Vivian & Chris have a song featured in an upcoming independent film entitled "Moonlight Serenade" set in the '40's, about a composer who writes a ballad that becomes a hit song, their song is the featured song.
Stay tuned for more info!
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LOOK FOR CHRIS SOLO RELEASE
Thats right! Look for Chris to do his thing on his upcoming release MUDBOY/"BeatJunkie" in the spring/2007.
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V&C WORK WITH STARSEARCH RUNNER UP
Freedom Bremner, 2x Star Search runner up is starting work on his project with Viv & Chris @ SuprDupr. You can find Freedom's current single "Cuddly Toy" on cdbaby.com or on his site
houseofreedom.com
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There's lots to see here, so kick back & stay a while.
For instance, if you go to dates, you'll be able to see what Chris and I are up to on a weekly basis, if we're playing anywhere and who with.
In news, you can get the all the info on our latest projects, who we're writing with or producing, any press.

In case you didn't know, Chris and I have been working on a record for the last 3 years and finally it's ALMOST finished. We're so proud of this offering and hope all our friends, old and new, will go out and buy it (in a few months if you click on buy, you'll be able to purchase your very own albright cd right from home).

This music is a departure for us artistically, but we felt like it was time for a change and the change feels right.
It's soulful, it's bluesy, there's an experimental feel to some of it, in that we played with a lot of elements, though overall it is a soul/r&b record, or maybe it's a jazz/hip hop record, I don't know. It just has a warm, laid back, ride in your car feel to it. We hope you like it!

For all my VIVID people, there's something on the cd for you too, but hang tight cuz' we'll definitely be doing more rock stuff in the future. Also, since so many of you ask if there is a VIVID cd and there isn't one yet (sorry), there are a few VIVID tracks in the music section, along with some other goodies we think you'll like so be sure & check it out.

Stop back often, cuz' we're busy at work on lots of things and have so much exciting stuff lined up.
One of the things we'll be working on is a cd for Jenny. Those of you who know me surely know Jenny Douglas-McRae, as we are practically one anothers shadow. Jenny is an amazing singer-songwriter whom we hope to start work with early next year. For those of you who don't know her, she's worked with Janet Jackson, Joe Cocker, and Glenn Lewis to name just a few.

Chris has started work on his solo offering as well and knowing Chris that'll be a real eclectic mish-mosh of rock/hip-hop/electronica

Just about everyone we know is talented and I mean EVERYONE, so if you're looking for an outlet reach out to us. We're usually in the middle of 3 or 4 projects at a time and always need a good song, a good lyric, or just a plain old good idea.

It really is amazing what the internet allows people to do!
It gives all of us who normally wouldn't have a way to reach people, an outlet and a voice!

Thanks for checkin' in,
PEACE&LOVE;

we've gotten some letters from people asking where the name "albright" came from.
albright is my maternal grandmothers maiden name, and in fact, i was named after her.
for as long as i can remember she wrote short stories and poetry but was never published though it was her life's dream.
naming our band albright felt like a fitting way to remember her for her writing and for her love of words. She in turn passed that love on to me...


vivian cora albright sessoms
02.03.27 - 04.19.92