So sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I was away from my computer for the Easter holiday. Thank you so much for this news. This is exactly the type of collaboration I have been dreaming of doing. Even though I am not familiar with Julia Fordham's work, I have heard great things about her. I am very happy that Indie Arie was willing to do whatever was necessary to get there and get on the CD. I am just astonished at musical chemistry between the two. I can feel it just by reading the article! I think it's almost as important to be a fan as it is to be an artist. Only then does one appreciate what another artist is trying to accomplish. I believe the appreciation comes from just having the love of music residing in one's soul.
Thanks again for sharing a wonderful article! Very inspiring! I look forward to hearing Julia Fordham's music. Sherelle In a message dated 03/28/2002 9:40:37 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > To Kakki and other fans of Julia Fordham and/or India.Arie. This is > exciting news. > > Music News > Fordham, Arie Share the "Love" > March 28, 2 p.m. ET, RollingStone.com > > > It's been five years since fans of British singer-songwriter Julia Fordham > have heard new material. She followed up her last album, 1997's East West, > with a greatest hits album, Collection, in 1999. Her upcoming record, > Concrete Love is due on June 18th, and it may be the most hard-earned > success story of Fordham's fourteen-year career. The album features a duet > with acclaimed Americana singer-songwriter Joe Henry on the > track "Alleulia" as well as a duet with India.Arie on the title track, > completed just a week ago. > > "She's like this beautiful little angel who wafted in and sprinkled her > fairy dust everywhere," Fordham says of Arie. The two singers originally > met at a Sade concert. Fordham, who was already a big fan, gave Arie a copy > > of her record and Arie immediately took to the song "Concrete Love." "She > said she loved the song and was always singing along," Fordham says. "And > she came to my house and asked me to sing the song, and she sang this > unbelievable, exquisite harmony along with me." > > At the eleventh hour, Arie made it to a Los Angeles studio and added her > vocals to the song, which Fordham describes as a "sultry and soulful" love > song. "She just opens her mouth and a selection of gems falls from it," > Fordham says, "but I didn't feel like she came in and dominated the track. > She's woven a golden web around the song. India is one of the most innately > > musical human beings I have ever encountered in my life. I knew that from > hearing 'Brown Skin' on the radio and ran out and bought the album and had > that confirmed. She has the most exquisite natural tone vocally and superb > instincts musically." > > But the addition of Arie's vocals goes beyond making a good song better. > For Fordham, Arie's enthusiasm for the track and collaboration on it have > re-energized her attitude for a record that was almost never released. > After six albums on Virgin Records, Fordham, while enjoying her time there, > > decided that her next home would be on a smaller label. Division One, an > imprint of Atlantic Records, seemed like the perfect match. Concrete Love > was set for release on January 29, 2002 and a small number of advances had > been sent out, but a month before the release, Time Warner and AOL merged. > Several Atlantic (a division of Time Warner) subsidiaries -- Division One > among them -- were closed. Meanwhile, the advances of the album had been > reviewed, garnering glowing press in several publications. "I didn't assume > > that just because it was a strong record and because I've had a long > career, that -- especially in the current climate -- I would get picked up > quickly somewhere else," Fordham says. > > > She did, however, signing with Vanguard records. "I literally hadn't heard > [Concrete Love] for six months," she says. "I had moved on to other things. > > It was dormant, and now it's sprung back to life in a bloody flame of glory > > [laughs]. It's fantastic, and there's an energy around it. I felt this > energy in January, with this unexpected wonderful press reaction, and then > not to have a deal, not to have it available, I was low as shit. And then I > > just sort of thought, 'Great, it's coming out on Vanguard on the 18th,' and > > now India's brought a beautiful last-minute addition. I just sort of feel > through the roof." > > Fordham is equally satisfied with her duet with Henry. "I absolutely loved > his album Scar," she says, "and he came in and incorporated some of my > ideas with his own flavors that he wanted to add and it was wonderful. He's > > almost like an instrument. Larry Klein [the album's producer] said he's > like this really classy clarinet player, and the flavor he added to his > track was just divine in its own way." > > With six albums behind her, the seventh on the way and two record deals in > less than a year, Fordham finally feels settled and is looking forward to > the album's release. "It's a really good life," she says. "I've had this > incredible musical journey." > > CHRISTINA SARACENO > > (March 25, 2002)
