Earth Wind and Fire have a busy year planned.A new album,titled 'The Promise' will be released on May 20,and they will touring extensively this summer.Leader Maurice White has confirmed that he will be joining the guys on a few shows in the East Coast and in L.A.


Here is the final tracklist for 'The Promise'


"All In The Way" (first single)
"Betcha"
"Wiggle"
"Why?"
"Wonderland"
"Where Do We Go From Here"
"Freedom"
"Hold Me"
"Never"
"Promise 1"
"All About Love" (a remake of their 1975 song)
"Suppose You Like Me"
"Promise 2"
"She Waits"
"Promise 3"
"Let Me Love You"
"Dirty"


To see the album cover (it's incredible!) and other details,try this link...


http://www.amazon.com/exe...53-4165716





Here are the tourdates so far,although a few of these dates have yet to be confirmed...

5/11 St. Lucia Jazz Festival
5/23 Baca Raton,FL
5/24 Tampa,FL
5/26 Atlanta,Georgia
6/6 Boston,Mass
6/27-29 Hampton Jazz Festival (Hampton,VA)
8/1 and 8/2 Detroit Music Festival
8/14 Tucson,Arizona
8/17 Alpine,Ca
8/21 Livermore,Ca
8/18 and 8/19 Los Gatos,Ca



[This message was edited Thu Apr 24 6:49:39 PDT 2003 by DavidEye]

Here's a list of songs that were recorded for the album,but have been scrapped.Hopefully,these tunes will pop up on a future project...


"Soul"
"Whatever Happened" (appears on the "Undercover Brother" soundtrack)
"Ain't No Remedy"
"Heaven"
"Thank You For The Love"
"Fun And Free" (can be heard in the Eddie Murphy flop 'Pluto Nash')
"So Lucky" featuring ?uestlove
"I Wanna Be Loved" featuring Eric Benet

Ah man, I hope they include The Harlem's Apollo in the tourdates.

BTW What happend 2 Angie Stone's track?

Can't wait.thanks David!

DavidEye, THANKS 4 POSTING THIS!

Classic EWF cover by the way!

Thanks for posting this, can't wait!

Harlepolis said:

There will be MANY more tourdates added in the comng weeks.This is just what we have so far.

The Angie Stone track is still there.It's called "Wonderland".

DavidEye said:

Alright!!!

Thanx

The first single "All In The Way" has just been sent to R&B radio stations.Be sure to listen out for it.

Here's an updated list of the tourdates...

5/11---Pigeon Island,St.Lucia (St.Lucia Jazz Festival)
5/23---Boca Raton,Florida (Mizner Park Amphitheatre)
5/24---Tampa,Florida (Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center)
5/25---Orlando,Florida (House Of Blues Orlando) with the Emotions!!!
5/26---Atlanta,Georgia (Chastain Park Amphitheatre)
5/29---Grand Prairie,Texas (Nextstage)
6/1---Birmingham,Alabama (Boutwell Auditorium)
6/3---Vienna,Virginia (Wolftrap Filene Center)
6/5---Upper Derby,PA (Tower Theatre)
6/6---Boston,MA (Fleet Boston Pavillion)
6/7---Wallingford,CT (Careerbuilder.com Oakdale Theatre)
6/13---Dearborn,Michigan (Henry Ford II World Center)---with the Emotions!!!
6/20---Merriville,IN (Star Plaza Theatre)
6/27---Hampton,VA (Hampton Jazz Festival)
7/2---Los Angeles,CA (Greek Theatre)---Maurice MAY perform at this show,making a rare appearance!!!
8/5---Bethlehem,PA (Musikfest,Riverplace)
8/14---Tucson,Arizona (Anselmo Valencia Amphitheatre)
8/17---Alpine,CA (Viejas Casino-Oulet Center Park)
8/19---Saratoga,CA (Villa Montalvo Center For The Arts)
8/20---Saratoga,CA (Villa Montalvo Center For The Arts)
8/21---Livermore,CA (Wente Vineyards)
8/23---Seattle,WA (Summer Nights At The Pier)
8/24---Seattle,WA (Summer Nights At The Pier)

awww hell, i can't post the cover 4 some reason....it's a sweet cover, 2!!!!



gotta getcha into my edit....
[This message was edited Fri Apr 18 5:45:43 PDT 2003 by Handclapsfingasnapz]

Here's another update,this time from Billboard...



http://www.billboard.com/...id=1870468

What's UP there Davideye...

Yes, I've been aware of this info. Good news indeed!!!

The Elements music is good for one's SOUL...truly

I was listening 2 Philip Bailey's "Soul On Jazz" and if they recorded/produced songs like that LP then it will the cherry on the top of my pie

You can now hear sound samples from every song on the album (actually,these are more than just "samples",these are the entire songs!) by clicking on this link...


http://www.cduniverse.com...t=14341112

DavidEye said:

I will neva understand why they're so in love with the Arabic culture and its music but I like it. I heard Mr.White talked about it in a radio interview(which is in the website that you gave) and I think it started b4 All N' All when they made their 1st trip 2 Egypt.

Harlepolis said:

Did you hear the album? I heard the song with Angie Stone,it's called "Wonderland".Overall,it's a good album.Very jazzy and "Quiet Storm"-ish.Not much uptempto stuff.

DavidEye said:

I'm at work right now and the only songs that I listened to are Wonderland & All In The Way. I'm so glad that they're still using the "kalimba"

Harlepolis said:

"All In the Way" is GREAT!! I see why they chose it as the first single.It sounds like classic Earth Wind and Fire,and I think the Emotions are singing background vocals too.It reminds me of two old EW&F songs...."In Time" from the 'Faces' album (1980) and "Thinkin Of You" from the 'Touch The World' album (1987).



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[This message was edited Wed Apr 23 5:33:09 PDT 2003 by DavidEye]

I´m impressed with what I heard.
Sounds like a EWF album again & it´s nice 2 hear
Maurice White again.This could B their best album
since early 80´s.
/peace Manki

manki said:

I'm impressed too.It sounds like they kept their original sound and didn't really try to compete with the sounds of today.That's refreshing to see.

Hey, DavidEye, two things:

I'm sorry if you have posted this info before but is Maurice going to be touring with the rest of the group?

and:

I have never seen a performance from this group live with Maurice singing. What do you suggest?

Yes,from what I´ve heard Maurice White is back
with EWF on the road.I read an interview with him
saying his overall health is good,playing tennis,
working out & taking 3 different medications 4 his
Parkinson disease.Thanking god he´s having the situation under control 4 the moment.
I really hope he stays well,he´s great!
I saw him in 1990.In '99 Philip Bailey took Maurice´s
lead.I did´nt like that at all.Felt sort of out of place.
/peace Manki

manki said:

I saw a Sinbad special with Philip singing lead on my favorite Maurice tracks and I didn't like it either. It was a big production number with dancers and it turned me off, because, to me, it's only about the music.

stymie said:

Maurice has confirmed that he will join the guys for a few select shows on this tour.He will perform at some of the East Coast shows,and at the Los Angeles show.

If you want a good EW&F performance with Maurice,I suggest you pick up the "Earth Wind and Fire :In Concert" video from 1982.Taped in Oakland during the 'Raise' tour.Also available on DVD.


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[This message was edited Thu Apr 24 6:47:24 PDT 2003 by DavidEye]

Thanks for the post, DavidEye! Just putin my pre-order. Good to hear EWF with more good music.