R&B gets a Johnny Gill rebound

Instead, producers and audio engineers masked average voices using theauto tune processor and electronic studio effects.

But there were few who still stood out. Even with the changing styles of the music industry Johnny Gill has always held his ground as a vocalist who carries forward that rich tradition of singers, and makes the ladies swoon by the pure richness of his delivery.

New Edition

Johnny Gill is often hyped as a member of the 1980s teen group New Edition but the fact is he had a successful career as a solo artiste, before and after his time with the group.

Saturday he will take to the stage at the Carnivore, Nairobi, as part of the TuskerLite Experience. The experience has seen different artists perform in Kenya starting with Donell Jones in December and Joe Thomas in February.

With a new album released last year Gill is expected to entertain the crowds with music from his solo career and as a member of New Edition.

Before New Edition, Gill was one of the teen stars of the early 1980s and is best remembered for recording with another young singer, Stacy Lattisaw.

Together, the duo sang remarkably mature Rhythm and Blues songs, for their ages including “Perfect Combination” and “Baby It’s you” in 1984.

He joined New Edition in 1987, a year after Bobby Brown, the late Whitney Houston's ex-husband, had left the group. His stunning baritone made an impact immediately especially in the hits ‘Can You Stand the Rain’ on the 1988 album N.E. Heartbreak.

Countless hits

With countless hits like ‘Cool It Now’, ‘Candy Girl’ and ‘Mr. Telephone Man’, New Edition was big. They were the forerunner to Boyz II Men, the other great African American boy band to emerge in the 1990s.

However, the band split with Gill and Ralph Tresvant opting for solo careers, just like Bobby Brown while Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell and Ronnie Devoe formed the group BellBivDevoe.

After leaving the group Gill, in 1989, re-established himself as a solo artist with the release of his self-titled album, the following year with hits such as ‘My, My, My’ and ‘Rub You the Right Way’. This was followed by the album “Provocative” in 1993 and “Let’s Get the Mood Right” in 1996.

Together with other heavyweight artists, Keith Sweat and the late Gerald Levert, Gill formed the group LSG, an abbreviation of their surnames and recorded two albums - “LevertSweatGill” in 1998 and “LSG2” in 2003.

He has reunited with his old band New Edition for various reunions including the 1997 album “Home Again”, the group’s only album to feature all six members, including the often-unsettled Bobby Brown.

Whitney Houston

In 2008, he began touring with New Edition band mates Ralph Tresvant and Bobby Brown in a group called Heads of State.

This was the group that Brown controversially performed with on the night that his ex-wife, Whitney Houston, passed away in February this year.

In his prime, Gill worked with the industry’s top R & B producers, many of who retain a healthy respect for the singer’s gifts.

In 2010, Gill signed a new record deal and last year released his latest album ‘Still Winning’.

He says that after 30 years of recording music he has never sat to listen to his own music just for pleasure but such hard work went into making his new album that he feels entitled to do so for the first time.

Plenty has changed in the music business since Gill last recorded an album and even he admits that it was difficult choosing whether to maintain the trademark vocal style or to try a new sound.

However, fans of Johnny Gill will not be disappointed. It is almost as if he has not been away from the mainstream at all with all the elements of classic R&B retained on all the new songs.

There is even an LSG reunion on ‘Long, Long, Time’ with Keith Sweat and Eddie Levert (from the O’Jays), filling in for his late son, Gerald.

Another favourite is a remake of a 1973 song, ‘My Love’ originally by the former Beatle Paul McCartney.