After a successful tour in France and Sweden last April and another quick appearance in Finland last month, we are bringing back James Brown's original Funky Diva and Soulsister No. 1 MARVA WHITNEY for another tour in Europe. You may know Marva from unforgettable funk hits as "Unwind yourself", "It's my thing" and many others. Special guest at some of these shows will be former James Brown bassman and musical director SWEET CHARLES SHERRELL, the man who invented the slap-technique and had a major impact on the playing style of his successors Bootsy Collins, Fred Thomas and many other bass players. As usual, the live show will be backed up by the Soulpower DJ crew Pari and Baba.
The dates:

Oct 12 Hannover, Palo Palo
Oct 14 Oslo, Cosmopolite
Oct 15 Newcastle, The Cluny
Oct 20 Berlin, Lovelite
Oct 21 Berlin, Lovelite
Oct 23 London, Jazz Cafe

Maybe we 'll see you at one of the shows!

More info on Marva at www.soulpower.info
[Edited 9/4/05 9:00am]

BRING MARVA TO CHICAGO!!!!!







pretty please?

Anxiety said:

We are gonna work on a massive US tour in 2006. In the meantime, we'll re-issue the so-far-unreleased Marva Whitney/James Brown album "I sing soul" (a myth among fans, but we actually have it). So I guess you can say the lady's back.

MrSoulpower said:

it's about time! i'm a big marva fan (although i will admit i'm fairly new to her work) - i'd be an even bigger fan if i could find more of her work on CD!

Anxiety said:

"Live and lowdown at the Apollo", an amazing live album (which was actually recorded in Augusta, Georgia ) is a must-have and has been reissued on CD. Soulbrother Records put out an anthology called "It's my thing" a couple of years ago, which features the same-titled album as well as some B-sides. You can find both on www.dustygroove.com

MrSoulpower said:

"it's my thing" is the album that turned me on to marva - i'll have to seek out the live album! if all her best records were reissued on CD, how many albums would we be talking about roughly?

Anxiety said:

Marva has only released one studio album ("It`s my thing") and the one live album I have mentioned above. But she has released enough 45s for another album and there is still tons of material unreleased. "I sing Soul" is an album fans have been talking about since the late 60s, but since nobody had it, it is often called off as a myth. However, we recently got our hands on it and it will be released in 2006. Marva has also released some amazing 45s on the T-Neck label after she left JB. Here is some more info on her:

Marva Whitney is fondly remembered by funk devotees as one of the rawest, brassiest, most powerful divas the music ever produced. Along with fellow funk belters Lyn Collins and Vicki Anderson, Whitney made her name singing with the James Brown Revue for a few years, and her limited, much-sampled recordings for Brown-associated labels now fetch astronomical sums on the collector's market. Born in Kansas City, Whitney began performing at the age of three with her family's touring gospel group, the Manning Gospel Singers. She studied music in college and caught on as lead singer of the R&B group Tommy Gadson & the Derbys. In 1967, she signed on with the James Brown Revue as a featured female vocalist, meaning that she would perform her own small set every night while Brown took a break. Whitney accompanied Brown on his late-'60s tour of Vietnam, and made other international appearances with him as well. In 1969, Whitney made her first solo recordings for King, Brown's label at the time. She scored a Top 20 hit on the R&B charts with "It's My Thing (You Can't Tell Me Who to Sock It To)," a rewrite of the Isley Brothers hit; the follow-up, "Things Got to Get Better (Get Together)," just missed the R&B Top 20. Far too gutsy and funky to cross over to the pop charts, Whitney remained with the Revue until 1970, without scoring any more significant hits on her own. Still, cuts like "Unwind Yourself" (now very recognizable through several hip-hop samples) and the duet "You Got to Have a Job (If You Don't Work)" helped cement her reputation among record collectors. Her only studio LP, It's My Thing, was released in 1969 and has been heavily bootlegged and sampled by numerous DJs; her Live and Lowdown at the Apollo LP also commands hefty price tags. Whitney went on to record for the Isley Brothers' T-Neck label, as well as Nashboro, but her prime material is from the James Brown years. Seven of those tracks were compiled on the Polydor collection James Brown's Original Funky Divas. Whitney has reunited sporadically with Brown for live performances over the years.

Thanks for the music lesson! Marva's always been one of those artists who I've wanted to know more about. As much as I love "It's My Thing" - and I always hear something new on it that I love - you know how it is...I WANT MORE!!!

I was very happily surprised a year or so ago when I heard "What Do I Have To Do" on the TV show "Alias" last year. I was watching it with friends and I started jumping up and down, screaming "IT'S MARVA!!!" - my friends were like, "where?"

to MrSoulpower for helping to keep it alive for the Classic R&B artists.

I've got a friend that sends me a newsletter for acts appearing at the Jazz Cafe.
If I resided in London, i'd live in that place.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Anxiety said:

Yeah, "What do I have to do" got to be my favorite tune by Marva. Even after the many shows we have had so far, it still gets me! It's a monster live and we always use it as encore.

theAudience said:

Yeah, we play the Jazz Cafe a lot and we love it ... it's definetely one of the great venues in Europe.

MrSoulpower said:

man that venue is the shit. sooooo many cool acts play there

CinisterCee said:

Yeah, the Jazz Cafe deserves a thread for its own ..