RAD (Rose Ann Dimalanta) played keys on Prince's Musicology tour. She has a new solo CD on the way. Check it out!!



Label: 7 Bridges Recordings
Title: EAST BABE
Artist: RAD.
Cat. No: 886970 2948-2



“High on Tower and on Sly”
(East Babe – Track 1)

] East Bay: general reference to the east side of the San Francisco Bay Area [

] Babe: general reference to a fine and shapely female [


THE MUSIC

Being the latter and bred in the first, rad. managed to carve out her very own niche as a singer-songwriter and furious soloist over the last decade or so. Though sporadic album releases mostly kept rad. under the radar of the mainstream, her genuine signature style and uncompromising originality brought on attention from musical connoisseurs around the world.
And now rad. returns with a vengeance: EAST BABE is a powerful statement and an homage to her home area, the East Bay, filled with airtight, syncopated funk and soulful interludes.
After months at Paisley Park in Minneapolis and touring with Prince for the better part of a year, the petite keyboardist took a rain check from Prince’s Musicology tour in 2004 to focus on her newborn daughter and her own album production, EAST BABE.

As a child of the 70’s, rad. remains true to the art of the ALBUM. Not as a succession of single tracks, but a continuous musical experience that allows the listeners a look into the artistic state of mind of the musician(s), a snapshot of their disposition. Identifying the roots of today’s dance music and weaving them into her own trunk of funk is something that rad. does well. And in this context rad. digs deeper, goes for essence – minimalist at times, orchestral when needed. Knowing that it’s the currents that move the vast, she navigates safely through the treacherous waters of the sea of music out there.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, this girl is bad, bad, bad. Get hip to it.

THE ARTIST

Growing up in the East Bay city of Oakland’s notorious Fruitvale District in the 1970’s, both area and era shaped rad.’s musical taste and esthetic. As a teenager she got turned on to jazz and quickly excelled, becoming the president of the UC Berkeley’s Jazz Ensembles in the 80’s.
“I grew up totally listening to r&b and funk. In Oakland we had a great radio station, KDIA, which transmitted soul music 24/7.
When I was 15, my jazz band teacher introduced me to the great Bill Evans. I heard the song “Autumn Leaves” a favorite song of my father’s and couldn’t fathom how someone could play so much interesting stuff around the melody. The lush harmonies, and the rhythmic phrasing, the interaction between the musicians…it got me hooked.
By the time I was 17, I delved further into traditional jazz, studying, practicing, learning standards, transcribing and most of all playing, and set my mind on becoming a jazz pianist. I gravitated toward pianists like Wynton Kelly, Bobby Timmons, Ramsey Lewis, Joe Sample, and Horace Silver, their styles of being more rhythmic and less technical simply resonated with me. Not to mention all the gospel and soul in their chops. When I was coming up, all the jazz guys I was playing with were wearing suits and emulating the Marsalis vibe, and I found myself not always wanting to play that “out,” and even felt a little out of place at times, being so dressed up and all—so I’d go home, put on some jeans and still listen to Earth, Wind & Fire or Brick or some funk ad infinitum.
I realized then that I truly felt at home with “dance music,” that is, music with a constant groove, like funk, salsa, samba, and disco. And as powerful as instrumental music is, I still loved lyrics and loved to sing along with the radio. Patrice Rushen was big at the time and I was so blown away hearing this lithe voice on the radio, carrying this tune with a head bopping groove, and suddenly a 16 bar killer Fender Rhodes solo. So although I’d prepped myself to be this jazz player, I still loved popular music. And it continues. I still aspire to be a monster jazz player, yet all the while bounce to soul music.”
It wasn’t before too long that rad.’s life immersed in music met with destiny and through a chain of events she ended up in Europe in the early 1990’s where the rad. project took its beginnings. After a few years in Europe she returned with husband/producer Michael Kirsch to the East Bay. Since then, they’ve split their time between residences in Northern California and the South of France.

THE AREA

The East Bay is home to many “out of the box” artists like M’shell Ndegeocello or Ledisi amongst many others. The East Bay continues to feed the LA scene with A-team musicians and houses the world’s largest Jazz music catalog in the Fantasy Records building in Berkeley, where many Jazz Funk classics were recorded in the 1950’s, 60’s & 70’s.
Though many world class artists have drawn heavily on the resource of melting pot funk musicianship bred by the area, the East Bay as such has gone largely unnoticed by popular music history. It remains a preference of East Bay artists and musicians to place themselves between Jazz and popular music, and for some this has been their Achilles heel.
As the hippy revolution of the sixties took its start in the East Bay college town of Berkeley rather than the city of flower power fame, San Francisco, so did many bands like Sly & the Family Stone, Cold Blood or Tower of Power just to name a few. Artists from near and far capitalized on the unique musical potential of the East Bay. Carlos Santana crossed the Bay Bridge to record and sign up band members.
Herbie Hancock found the musicians, producers and studios for his Headhunters albums here as many others drew and continue to draw from this culturally rich stew. Prince recruited Sheila E., Eddie M., Rosie Gaines, Bonnie Boyer, Larry Graham and others from the East Bay, including - last but not least - rad.

THE ALBUM

EAST BABE is a handmade record.
No loops were used and no samples. All musicians contributed their part in live recordings.

rad. and husband/producer Michael Kirsch have been a team for well over a decade. Back in the 1980’s Michael was a student of sound engineer Fred Catero who recorded the early Tower of Power and Headhunters albums in the Bay Area. The couple shares a mutual love for the analog sound and conventional 70’s style album production as an art form. No doubt they have a drummer fetish, and this is for all of us to enjoy.

On this ride, they enlisted the talent of drummer extraordinaire John Blackwell, a fellow Prince alumni and East Bay resident. He deals a good dose of pyrotechnical exchanges, quoting and innovating in the fields of Funk and Soul. John particularly shines on heavy Funk tunes like the Bush-critical “That Ain’t No Way”.
Also on the bus is rad.’s usual Bay Area crew of drummer David Garibaldi, guitarist Ray Obiedo and bassist Marc van Wageningen. When not on tour with his band Tower of Power, David Garibaldi is always enthusiastic with the musical challenges rad. serves up. He skillfully blends Afro-Cuban Rhythms with his own funk sensibilities.
The drummers are tastefully complimented by percussionist Michael Spiro, who lent his talents to artists from Ella Fitzgerald to Latin legends like Cachao or Airto. Bassist Marc van Wageningen, a definite talent deserving wider recognition, lays his driving and poetic bass. Herbie Hancock veteran Ray Obiedo adds special flavor as he has on rad’s previous albums.
Adding to the explosive Funk numbers, French Bistro flavored Cha cha “Baby Girl” and the powerful soul ballad “Before We Say Goodbye”, featuring Saxophonist Charles McNeal, make EAST BABE a versatile reflection of the East Bay’s musical melting pot.
Guest appearances by another Prince (and rad.) alumni, Norbert Stachel, on Soprano saxophone and Nigerian master drummer Sikiru Adepoju, who the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart refers to as the Mozart of the Talking Drum, round off the album.
[Edited 12/29/06 23:21pm]

RAD. will be touring (mainly Europe) in April and May 2007. The line up:

> rad. - vocals & keys
> Eric Leeds - Saxophones (Prince, Madhouse)
> Ray Obiedo - Guitar (Herbie Hancock, George Duke)
> Marc van Wageningen - Bass (Sheila E., Tower of Power)
> Billy Johnson - Drums (Santana, Maze)

I've been able to hear most of "East Babe" and I'm seriously diggin' it. One of my favorite things about rad. is the way she balances R&B, funk and jazz...or in other words, soulful melodies, tight jams, and just the right amount of "stretchin' out."

She's most definitely a unique artist, but if I were to draw comparisons for this album in particular, I'd say think of a combination of TOP, Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters, Incognito, Brand New Heavies, and even Jazz Rosco. But, as Levar Burton would say, "you don't have to take my word for it." You can hear the title track at myspace.com/7bridgesrecordings.

OK, that's only one song, I guess you still kinda have to take my word for it.