Leon Ware is a soul music singer, songwriter and producer. Best known for crafting the hit album, I Want You, originally recorded for Ware, until friend and Motown icon Marvin Gaye was assigned to the album in 1976. Ware also is notable for writing the Top 5 R&B single, "I Wanna Be Where You Are", for a young Michael Jackson in 1972, and creating the Body Heat album along with Quincy Jones. He also collaborated with Maxwell on his debut album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite.

Biography[link]

Leon Ware started his career as a songwriter in the spring of 1967 as a songwriter. He co-wrote along with Ivy Hunter and Steve Bowden for the Isley Brothers recording of "Got to Have You Back," In 1971, Leon would collaborate with Ike & Tina Turner, co-writing six songs on their United Artist album called Nuff Said. Released Fall 1971, the album reached the Top 40 of the R&B charts and also appeared in the pop charts. Later that year, Ware began collaborating with Arthur "T-Boy" Ross, the younger brother of Diana Ross. One of the songs they wrote was 'I Wanna Be Where You Are'. Recorded by Michael Jackson in November, 1971 for his 1972 Got To Be There album. The single exploded in the spring of 1972 peaking at number two on the R&B charts and number 16 on the pop charts. This success would lead to a record contract with United Artists Records with the release of his self-titled debut album 'Leon Ware. By 1973 Leon had songwriting credits on albums by the Donny Hathaway, Jackson 5, Average White Band, The Miracles and others. In the spring of 1974. Quincy Jones tapped Leon as songwriter and performer for two songs on his Body Heat album. The single "If I Ever Lose This Heaven," which he co wrote with Pam Sawyer and also sang on the album with Minnie Riperton and Al Jarreau, was an R&B singles chart entry in September. Nearly a year later, it was covered by the Average White Band reaching the Top 40 of both the pop and R&B charts in 1975. Ware collaborated again with Minnie Riperton on two songs for her Adventures in Paradise album "Inside My Love," released as a single in the summer of 1975. The song became a Top 40 R&B hit and also reached the pop charts. Also in 1975, Ware and T-Boy Ross had started working on demos for Ware's second album to be released on Motown and a demo to secure T-Boy Ross a record deal. One of those demo recordings, "I Want You was heard by Motown boss Berry Gordy decided it would be a good fit for Marvin Gaye. Gaye would hear the rest of the demo of the demo tracks for what would become Gaye's album I Want You. Ware would co produce and co write the album along with T-Boy Ross. Released in March 1976, the album exploded on the charts going number one on the R&B charts and the Top Ten of the pop charts. Having given away the material for his album, Ware began again on a solo effort for Motown. The result would be Ware's second album, "Musical Massage. Released in September 1976, it did not chart at all due to no promotion by Motown.

For the rest of the 70's into the 1990s, Ware would continue writing songs for others such as Teena Marie, Jeffrey Osborne, Loose Ends, James Ingram, Melissa Manchester, Bobby Womack and Lulu. He would also release nine solo albums between 1979 and 2008 with varying degrees of success. By the late '80s and 1990s, Ware continued to work on various sessions as a musician, arranger, and producer. One of his co-written songs, "Independence", the title track of a 1993 album by Lulu was a hit, particularly in Europe. Another session was Maxwell's debut album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite which was one of the first albums to usher in New Soul genre. Also, his work was discovered as a source of sampling by rappers and hip-hop artists.

As of 2009, Ware was recovering from treatment for prostate cancer, and credited his friend and fellow songwriter Adrienne Anderson with directing him to appropriate medical care.^[1]

Ware is featured on the debut album of Irish electo band Zombie Computer. He features on the title track “Indian Summer” with a beautifully written and performed spoken word piece which is complemented by Zombie Computer’s melodic & rhythmic sensibilities.^[2]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

References[link]

1. ^ Interview With Leon Ware: "Still Riding High", published March 6, 2009; www.souljazzandfunk.com.
2. ^ http://www.breakingtunes.com/zombiecomputer
3. ^ "Leon Ware US albums chart history". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p168077/charts-awards/billboard-albums. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 

External links[link]

• [1] at Allmusic
• Artist page at Soul Walking
• Saffo Music produced by Leon Ware at www.larasaintpaul.com
• http://www.sixmillionsteps.com/drupal/node/908 - 75 minute audio mix with dialogue
• Brief profile of Leon Ware mentions childhood blindness and attending same school as Stevie Wonder
• Leon Ware 2012 Interview at Soulinterviews.com

Video links[link]

• Leon Ware RBMA video lecture session

Demetri Martin
Demetri Martin at Northeastern University on April 11, 2007
Born	(1973-05-25) May 25, 1973 (age 39) New York City, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Years active	Since 2002
Genres	Observational comedy, surreal humor, musical comedy, wit/wordplay, sketch comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday Life, American Culture, Random Subjects
Influences	Steven Wright, Eddie Izzard, Emo Philips, Mitch Hedberg, Socrates
Notable works and roles	· Demetri Martin. Person.  · Correspondent on The Daily Show  · Himself/Various on Important Things with Demetri Martin  · Elliot Tiber in Taking Woodstock (2009)
Website	www.demetrimartin.com

Demetri Martin (born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer and humorist. Martin is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, contributor on The Daily Show and for his Comedy Central show Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Early life[link]

Demetri Martin was born to a Greek American family^[1] in New York City, New York, and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey. He is the son of Lillian, a nutritionist, and Dean C. Martin, now deceased, a Greek Orthodox priest.^[2] Martin graduated from Yale University in 1995. Although he was accepted into Harvard Law School, he went to New York University School of Law after he received a full scholarship.^[3]

Career[link]

In 2001, Martin caught his first big break in stand-up comedy when he appeared on Comedy Central's stand-up showcase Premium Blend. At the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe he won the Perrier award with his show If I....^[4] The show was turned into a British television special in 2004. From 2003 to 2004, Martin wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien.^[5] In 2004, Martin had his own Comedy Central Presents stand-up special. His special was divided into three parts. In the first, he performed in traditional stand-up comedy fashion. In the second segment, he used humorous drawings as visual aids, which would serve either as the punchline or a background. During the third segment, he played a guitar and put on a pseudo-play where he would strum his guitar while alternating between playing harmonica and talking; some of his comedian friends dressed as fairies and dragons acted according to the story he was telling, detailing the magical land where his jokes came from. Martin's mother and grandmother also appeared.

Since late 2005, he has been credited as a contributor on The Daily Show, on which he has appeared as the named "Senior Youth Correspondent" and on which he hosts a segment called "Trendspotting". He has used this segment to talk about so-called hip trends among youth such as hookahs, wine, guerilla marketing and Xbox 360. A piece about social networking featured his profile on MySpace.^[6] On March 22, 2007, Demetri made another appearance on The Daily Show, talking about the Viacom lawsuit against Google and YouTube.

He has recorded a comedy CD/DVD titled These Are Jokes, which was released on September 26, 2006. This album also features Saturday Night Live member Will Forte and stand-up comedian Leo Allen.

Martin returned to The Daily Show on March 22, 2006, as the new Youth Correspondent, calling his segment "Professional Important News with Demetri Martin". In 2007, he starred in a Fountains of Wayne music video for "Someone to Love" as Seth Shapiro, a character in the song. He also starred in the video for the Travis single "Selfish Jean", in which he wears multiple t-shirts with lyrics written on them.

On September 2, 2007, Martin appeared on the season finale of the HBO series Flight of the Conchords. He appeared as a keytar player named Demetri.^[7]

He also had a part in the movie The Rocker (2008) starring Rainn Wilson. Martin played the part of the videographer when the band in the movie was making their first music video.

In 2009, he hosted and starred in his own television show called Important Things With Demetri Martin on Comedy Central. Later in June, it was announced his show had been renewed for a second season.^[8] The second season premiered, again on Comedy Central, on February 4, 2010. Martin has stated that Important Things will not return for a third season.

Prior to completing work on his second season, Martin starred in the comedy-drama film Taking Woodstock (2009), directed by Ang Lee, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. In the film Martin plays Elliot Tiber, a closeted gay artist who has given up his ambitions in the city to move upstate and help his old-world Jewish family run their Catskill Mountains motel. The film is based on the book written by Tiber.

On April 25, 2011, Martin released his first book, titled This Is a Book by Demetri Martin.

Martin was slated to portray Paul DePodesta as Oakland Athletics assistant GM to Billy Beane in the 2011 movie Moneyball, however was dropped and Jonah Hill took his place in the movie.

Plans[link]

Martin sold his movie concept Will to DreamWorks; he is expected to play a key supporting role.^[9] He will play the lead in the film Moon People, a pitch that he sold to Columbia Pictures.

Martin also signed a blind script deal with CBS in October 2010 to produce, write, and star in his own television series.^[10]

After CBS was shown the pilot for the series, they decided not to air it.^[11]

On August 11, 2011, Fox ordered a presentation of a new animated show they might air.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] If I

If I is a Perrier Comedy Award-winning comedy one-man show written and performed by Demetri Martin at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.^[12] It was also aired on British television as a special. The show is an autobiographical examination of Martin's life, as seen through various definitions of the word "if."

The title of the special comes from a lengthy palindromic poem that Martin wrote; the words "if I" are at the center of the poem.^[13]

Comedic style[link]

Martin is known for being an unconventional stand-up comic. He uses one-liners and drawings on a "large pad", as well as accompanying his jokes with music on either guitar, harmonica, piano, keyboard, glockenspiel, toy bells, ukulele, or tambourine, sometimes all at once.^[14] He has cited comedian Steven Wright as an important influence (both use deadpan one-liners in their acts) and he is also a fan of Bill Cosby.^[15]

Personal life[link]

According to a July 2011 interview on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Demetri had a short-lived marriage to a girl he knew from high school. They began dating after high school and got married when he was in NYU Law School and she was attending NYU Medical School. He was aged 25 and in the end of his marriage when his stand-up career began.^[3]

He is extremely allergic to nuts and peanuts.^[16]

Martin moved to Santa Monica, California in 2009.^[17]

Filmography[link]

• Invite Them Up (2005)
• These Are Jokes (2006)
• Demetri Martin. Person. (2007)
• Important Things with Demetri Martin (2009–2010)

Filmography and television work[link]

Written works[link]

• This Is a Book, April 2011, ISBN 978-0446539708.

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (May 2012)

• Official website
• Demetri Martin on Myspace
• Demetri Martin at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview from November, 2006, in Onion AV Club
• Interview from October 2006, in The DePaulia
• Article, in The Scotsman
• Article, in Gelf Magazine
• Interview by Brian M. Palmer
• MP3 Audio Interview on The Sound of Young America public radio show and podcast
• Interview Believer Mag
• New Jersey Monthly Magazine
• Fresh Air, NPR.org

Carleen Anderson (born 10 May 1957) is an American soul singer, who has had success in the United Kingdom. She is the daughter of the singer Vicki Anderson and stepdaughter of Bobby Byrd, and is most well known as the lead singer in the Young Disciples as well as for her own solo career.^[2]

Early career[link]

Anderson was raised by her paternal grandparents, David Sr. and Alberta Anderson, in Houston, Texas, during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Pastor Anderson’s Pentecostal church was located in the Fifth Ward political district of North Houston, populated by working class African-Americans, many of whom were migrant sharecroppers, and their descendants, from Louisiana. By the time Anderson was 3 years old, she was singing solos in front of the congregation. By the age of 7, Anderson was playing piano by ear, directing the church choir and writing church songs every week for the choir to sing before her grandfather would deliver his Sunday sermons. The gospel music atmosphere was enhanced by Anderson having the benefit of her Aunt Betty Faye Anderson, soprano soloist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her Uncle, David Anderson Jr., and his daughters, Pamela and Jhelisa, along with their mother, Yvonne, had a very successful family gospel singing group that travelled the southern US states. Anderson’s birth father, Dr. Reuben Anderson Sr., is pastor of the Tower of Faith Evangelistic Church of God in Christ, in Compton California. Her mother is soul singer, Vicki Anderson who featured with James Brown during the 1960s and 1970s. Vicki Anderson (birth name, Myra Barnes) married Bobby Byrd (soul singer and childhood friend of James Brown) who formed a group with James Brown in the late 1950s called The Flames, which was later named, James Brown & The Famous Flames. After a brief marriage, Anderson gave birth to a son, Bobby Anderson, in 1979. After the divorce, Anderson lived as a single mother in Los Angeles where she received several scholarships to study classical and jazz music performance, as well as music education, at Los Angeles City College (LACC) and the University of Southern California (USC). Anderson also studied Creative Literature at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). During her studies, Anderson worked as a student tutor for extra income to support herself and her child. Anderson’s goal at the time was to become a music school teacher, but her plans were thwarted when President Ronald Reagan took music out of the curriculum in the government-sponsored schools. With only one semester left before completing her music degree, circumstances caused Anderson to take office-clerk jobs to make ends meet. In a 2005 Echoes magazine interview, Anderson says that a career in music performance was not at all on her agenda at that time.

The following summer, after her Godfather, James Brown, was incarcerated in 1988, several artists from the James Brown Show toured worldwide as ‘Bobby Byrd and the JB All Stars’. It was the summer of 1989, and Anderson was asked to join the tour as the opening act. She saw this as an opportunity to have a ‘working’ holiday in Europe with her son. With her brothers Bartlett Anderson on keyboards and Tony Byrd on drums, they continued touring with the collective until 1990. Whilst on the road, Anderson was the understudy for Vicki Anderson, Marva Whitney, Lyn Collins and Martha High, with additional tutelage by Maceo Parker, Pee Wee Ellis and Fred Wesley.

Anderson met Marco Nelson and Femi Williams, who later formed the Young Disciples, on this tour with Bobby Byrd and the JB All Stars. Her first London performance of Denise William’s Free at the then Town and Country Club (now, the Kentish Town Forum, also known as the HMV Forum) so impressed the UK natives that DJ/bassist/music producer Marco Nelson and DJ/music producer Femi Williams suggested Anderson move to England to start a singing career. This was the first time Anderson even considered such a path, and it took some convincing. She was swayed when told she could get steady work as a session singer and a songwriter. Ultimately, Anderson was motivated by the positive impact she felt raising her son in the UK would have on his life, as she could sense the violent turbulence brewing in her son’s birth town of Los Angeles, where they had lived for 10 years. In a 1998 Pride magazine interview, Anderson describes how she received much resistance from family members regarding to her relocating to the UK. However, the Rodney King riots that exploded soon after Anderson’s expatriation were proof, as far as she was concerned, that her decision to move was the right thing to do.

Upon relocating with her son to the UK in the summer of 1990, Marco Nelson and Femi Williams introduced Anderson to the stirring UK underground music scene, which (for lack of a better name) was called Acid Jazz. Anderson sang lead and background vocals on a variety of music products in that season, including collaborations with Paul Weller, Bryan Ferry, Galliano, Guru and Courtney Pine, as well as recording under the assumed name of Mardou Fox for several ‘white label’ releases for record producer, Eddie Pillar. Also in 1990, Gilles Peterson and Sir Norman Jay (both top UK-based internationally acclaimed DJs) were elected by the Talkin’ Loud record label to recruit new music acts. Peterson, Jay, Nelson and Williams already had a bond as fellow DJs, resulting in Peterson and Jay signing the Young Disciples. Marco Nelson’s alliance with Paul Weller, gave the Young Disciples the advantage of recording in Weller’s Marble Arch-located Solid Bond studio, where they recorded their album, Road to Freedom. The single release, Apparently Nothing, gained critical and commercial acclaim. Nelson and Williams focused on the production aspects of the music, shunning the promotional tasks required for marketing the project, which meant Anderson was courted by several record companies to pursue a solo career. This friction divided the musical group. With her priority as a single mother to provide a secure future for her son, Anderson felt her best option was as a solo artist. In a October 2011 Jazz FM radio interview with BBC presenter, Jumoke Fashola, Anderson states that a solo music performance career, up until that time, had been the furthest thing from her mind.

Solo career[link]

Through her association with the Young Disciples, Anderson met Ashley Newton, the then Circa label head, who later joined the Virgin Records music company. Amidst the variety of record companies vying to sign Anderson at the time, it was this previous meeting with Ashley Newton that led Anderson to sign with Virgin Records. Her first album was preceded by the marketing EP Dusky Sappho in 1993. The album True Spirit, released in 1994, had pop chart success with single releases Mama Said and Nervous Breakdown. Anderson wrote most of the songs on the album with some songs co-written with producer, Ian Green. Another single lifted from the album that charted well was Let It Last, co-written with Mark Nevin of Fairground Attraction. The album was nominated for a Best International Newcomer BRIT Award, in 1995. Anderson sang on the Red Hot Organization’s compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool, released in 1994 to promote awareness of the HIV epidemic in the African-American community. The album included numerous stellar artists and was heralded as “Album of the Year” by Time magazine.

Anderson’s second solo album, Blessed Burden, released in 1998, was co-produced by Paul Weller. Anderson again wrote most of the songs with some co-written with Weller and a few covers. Weller supported Anderson in her creative extension, but the Virgin record company executives became disenchanted by the new direction of Anderson’s live music recordings, as they were in such direct contrast to the sampling and drum looping production techniques acquired from Anderson’s Young Disciple days, which were used as a format for her True Spirit album. Subsequently, Virgin dropped Anderson after the Blessed Burden album.

During the recording of this album, Anderson forged alliances with the Brand New Heavies. After being dismissed from Virgin, Anderson accepted the offer from the Brand New Heavies to stand in for their lead singers, N’Dea Davenport and Siedah Garrett, to promote the Brand New Heavies ‘best of’ album, Trunk Funk, from January 1999 to September 2000 on a worldwide tour.

Independent years[link]

Whilst touring with the Brand New Heavies, Anderson formed a friendship with saxophonist, Ben Castle, son of the famed trumpeter, Roy Castle. Castle encouraged Anderson to continue her solo career via the independent route and provided the means for her to release her first independent album, Alberta's Granddaughter, in 2002, for which Anderson received a variety of favorable press reviews. The one single release from that album, a cover of Noel Gallagher’s Don’t Look Back in Anger, was a highly praised featured performance on her 2004-2005 tours with Courtney Pine’s British Council sponsored European events.

In 2003, Ben Castle suggested the production skills of Mark Edwards and the engineering expertise of Colin Walker, alongside filmmaker, Tim Johnson and Andy Hutch, to record Anderson’s performance at the Glee Club in Birmingham, England. Live CD/DVD gaining critical media acclaim from magazines Mojo, Blues & Soul, as well as from the BBC.

These acknowledgements led EMI to release a ‘best of’ Carleen Anderson CD, entitled, Up To Now: The Best Of, in 2004, which included a variety of popular and rare performances across the length of Anderson’s career.

In 2005, UK based, Dome Records, released Anderson’s Soul Providence CD, also co-produced by the Ben Castle, Mark Edwards and Colin Walker team. Soul Providence was composed entirely of Anderson’s self-penned songs, save for one, a cover of Leon Ware’s Wanna Be Where You Are. Anderson recorded this song first made famous by the Jackson Five in 1971 as a duet with Paul Weller. Another duet on Soul Providence is with Jocelyn Brown. Soul Providence was praised by Blues & Soul magazine, as Anderson’s best body of work since her Young Disciples days.

In 2006, Anderson sang at the Stables, the music forum established by Sir John Dankworth and Dame Cleo Laine. In the introduction for Anderson to sing with Sir John Dankworth and his band, Dame Cleo Laine’s enthusiasm sparked the interest of the Ronnie Scott’s promoter who was in the audience. Since then, Anderson continues to have sold out audiences at Ronnie Scott’s with residencies over several nights. A Live at Ronnie’s recording was made in 2010, but the release was delayed due to the tragic loss of the Ronnie Scott’s house drummer, Chris Dagley, who was on the performance and died in a motor accident a few months after the recording. As the club and the band recover from the shock of their much loved and valued band member, they plan to release the Live at Ronnie’s CD, in 2012.

Anderson’s vocal music also appears in the 2006 film, The Fall.

From 2002 to 2007, Anderson taught vocal music at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, where she was also Head of the Vocal Department. This association, led to the connection with theatre promoter, Julian Boast, who arranged for Anderson to sing for and meet HRH Queen Elizabeth at the Royal Theatre, Brighton, in 2007. In her 2010 interview on Paris TV show, One Shot Not, Anderson speaks of her initial plans to be a music teacher, without any consideration of ever having a career in music performance.

Currently, Anderson is writing for her next studio album, scheduled for release in 2012, as well as preparing for a tour with her Soul Trio, with Anderson on keyboards and vocals, with a selection of highly regarded bass players and drummers.

Anderson’s is managed by Jim Lawn at Clas Management. Anderson’s music company is Dusky Sappho Music.

Discography[link]

With Young Disciples[link]

• Road to Freedom (Talkin' Loud, 1991)

Solo recordings[link]

• True Spirit (Circa/Virgin, 1994) UK #12^[3]
• True Spirit - Remixes (Circa/Virgin, 1995)
• Blessed Burden (Circa/Virgin, 1998) UK #51^[3]
• Alberta's Granddaughter (Dusky Sappho Music, 2002)
• Up To Now: The Best Of (Virgin, 2004)
• Soul Providence (Dome, 2005)
• Live at Ronnie Scott's (TBC, 2011)
• New Studio Album (TBC, 2012)

Solo singles[link]

• "Nervous Breakdown" (1994) UK #27
• "Mama Said" (1994) UK #26
• "True Spirit" (1994) UK #24
• "Let It Last" (1995) UK #16
• "Maybe I'm Amazed" (1998) UK #24
• "Woman in Me" (1998) UK #74^[3]

Under the alias Mardou Fox[link]

• Subterraneans feat. Mardou Fox "Taurus Woman" (1993)
• Numbers "Ballad of Mardou Fox", "Traffic", "Mardous Lament", "Jack Summerset" (2001)

Collaborations[link]

• Duet with Omar "Who Changes the Seasons" (1992)
• Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 "Sights in the City" (1993)
• Incognito "Trouble don't always last" (1994) (with Ramsey Lewis)
• Duet with Lewis Taylor "18 With a Bullet" (1998)
• The Brand New Heavies "Saturday Nite", "Apparently Nothing", "Try My Love", "Swinging Big Tom"
• The London Community Gospel Choir "Whenever You Call" (2001)
• Agent K. "Ride Away Getaway" (2002)
• Andy Hamill "Falling" (2003) (with Tony Woods)
• Full Flava's album Colour of My Soul, Carlen performs lead vocals on "Stories" and "You Are (My Destiny)" (2003)
• The London Community Gospel Choir "I Surrender All" (2003)
• Courtney Pine "When The World Turns Blue" (2003)
• Mamayo "The Game" "Born to Love" (2005)
• Hope Collective "Give and Let Live" (2005)
• Duet with Paul Weller "Wanna Be Where You Are" (2005)
• Duet with Jocelyn Brown "Parting the Waters" (2005)
• Incognito "Show Me Love" (2005)
• Incognito "Summer in the City", "Tin Man", "That's the Way of the World" (2006)
• Full Flava album Music Is Our Way Of Life, Carleen performs lead vocals on a cover of Jean Carn's Was That All It Was. (2007)

References[link]

External links[link]