Is What’s Going On still the number one phrase of today?
“Home Ground is an album project that is inspired by the eloquence of both orchestral, spiritual soul music and socially conscious lyrics as has been made in the past by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes, Bill Withers and Curtis Mayfield. This later on got sampled by influential hip hop artists adding more lyrical topics from that period to the bill. The attempt here was to rather emphasise the drama and sophistication that featured in this lost musical genre then to merely replicate it in a pure retro, nostalgic kind of way and to merge the emotional message of then with the sonic impact of today.
About the world that is constantly in conflict
The main topic of Home Ground is (as Quincy J also puts it): “About the world that is constantly in conflict, whether over land, religion or race. It’s not only black against white, it’s poor against rich, it’s fair against unfair and so on.” Or as Donny Hathaway said: “When I think of music, I think of music in its totality, complete. From the lowest blues to the highest symphony, you know, so what I’d like to do is exemplify each style of as many periods as I can possibly do.
An iron fist in a velvet glove
Music arrangers like Charles Stepney, David van de Pitte, Dale Warren, Gene Page and Johnny Allen were adventurous in their, almost cinematic, use of the orchestra for soul music. They gave it more sophistication and refinement yet only to serve in providing a more dramatic musical backdrop to the actual message of the words. The composers and artists of that era often decided to embed the harsh meaning of their words in a less aggressive, more soothing kind of musicality. Rather then sending off angry lyrics with angry music, thus more acting as an iron fist in a velvet glove. The original idea once was to reach out to as many people as possible in trying to contribute to society’s best interest with an accessible artistic reflection on problems in the world, next to the development of a more human world wide community.
Marvin Gaye
Home Ground as a project took its inspiration from the above and hopes to continue that musical tradition and contribute to that vision, as we‘d like to paraphrase the great late Marvin Gaye in asking ourselves: is What’s Going On still the number one phrase of today?” [Stephen Emmer]
Release date : 9 June 2017
Tracklist
01. A New Day To Come ft Andy Bey
02. Close To Life ft Frank McComb & Leon Ware
03. Interlude #1
04. Home Ground ft Patti Austin
05. Soul Glow ft Kendra Foster
06. Interlude #2
07. Under Your Spell ft Chaka Khan
08. Everybody’s Movin’ ft Dwight Trible
09. Interlude #3
10. Own Again ft Mary Griffin
11. Soil ft Ursula Rucker
12. Interlude #4
13. Place Delight ft Mary Griffin
14. God It’s Hot (Today) ft Dwight Trible
15. Yesterday Oh Yesterday ft Frank McComb
16. Pangea ft Andy Bey
Credits
Music composed & produced by Stephen Emmer
Lyrics
Stephen Emmer, Glenn Gregory, Ursula Rucker, Chaka Khan
Recording, mixing & mastering
Pre-production and recording by Stephen Emmer and Lau Kagenaar @ Stephen Emmer Studios (Amsterdam/Hilversum)
Additional recording by Paul Power @ Power Sound Studio (Amsterdam)
Additional recording by Ronald Prent & Fieke van den Hurk @ Wisseloord Studios (Hilversum)
Additional recording by Bill Lefler @ BL Studios (Los Angeles)
Additional recording by Michael Freeman @ CRC Studios (Chicago)
Additional recording by Roy Hendrickson @ Avatar Studios (New York)
Additional recording by Lawrence Manchester @ Milk Boy Studios (Philadelphia)
Additional recording @ The Village Recorder Studio (Los Angeles)
Additional recording @ Abbey Road Studios (London)
Additional recording by Rob Macomber @ Jazz Lincoln Centre (New York)
Mixed by Bob Power (New York)
Additional mixing by Stephen Emmer & Lau Kagenaar @ Stephen Emmer Studios
CD and digital mastered by Chris Gehringer @ Sterling Sound (New York)
Vinyl mastering by Mark Wilder @ Battery Studio’s (New York)
Producers
Executive producer
Joe d’Ambrosio
Associate producer
Lau Kagenaar
Project Management
Connie Kemp & Maarten Bousie
Musicians
Piano Stephen Emmer, John Beasley, Lau Kagenaar
Drums Yoran Vroom, Martijn Bosman, Joost Kroon
Drum programming Stephen Emmer
Percussion Jeroen de Rijk
Electric bass Stephen Emmer
Double bass Hein Offermans
Acoustic & electric guitars Stephen Emmer
Keyboards Stephen Emmer
Vibraphone, glockenspiel Murk Jiskoot
Horns Tom Beek, Matthias Konrad, Martijn de Laat, Bert Pfeiffer, Robbert Scherpenisse
Strings Vera van der Bie, Marieke de Bruijn, Ian de Jong, Merel Jonker, Eilidh Martin, Ben Mathot, Isabella Petersen, Jasper van Rosmalen, Jan Willem Troost, Alex Welch
Backing vocals
Judith Petra, Denise van Donselaar, Ivar Vermeulen, Laurens Kagenaar, Shirma Rouse
Video & Artwork
Cover photo by Beeple
Photo’s booklet by Beeple
Artwork by Stephen Emmer
Graphics/layout by Ben Hendriks
Trailer-video by Carlo Delbosq & Ronald Vierbergen
Special thanks to
Lau Kagenaar, Connie Kemp, Maarten Bousie, Glenn Gregory, Bob Power, Joe d’ Ambrosio, Sumby Kuti, Willem Friede, Larry Gold, Gandhar Savur, Big Boy Caprice, Alicia Lee Muller, Ronald Prent, Vera de Bie, Kelly Barnes, Daphne van Rossum, Julia Emmer, Inez Emmer, Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple, Fieke van den Hurk, Marc Sokpoli, Robert Monas, Warchild, Pledge International
Very special thanks to
Freddy & Roekie, who made me create and conceive this album. This album is dedicated to the work and vision of Leon Ware. “Dear Leon, thank you for your inspiration and may you rest in peace” – [Stephen Emmer]
Quotes
“I’ve found you’ve got to look back at the old things and see them in new light.” – [John Coltrane]
“How can you be an artist and not reflect the times.” – [Nina Simone]
“It’s not jazz, man, it’s social music.” – [Miles Davis]
“I’d like to call the Home Ground music ‘ecstatic soul’.” – [Bob Power]
Liner notes…
Have you already heard about Home Ground? It’s the new ecstatic soul album by Stephen Emmer, combining the eloquence of contemporary orchestral soul music with socially conscious lyrics and featuring no one less than Chaka Khan, Leon Ware, Patti Austin, Frank McComb, Mary Griffin, Andy Bey, Ursula Rucker, Dwight Trible and Kendra Foster.
One way to view Home Ground is as a soundtrack for the play unfolding before us daily on television, laptop, smart phone and tablet screens as well as in newspapers. That unfolding drama details mass migrations of people seeking to find a new start over after chased out of their homelands by war, environmental disaster, or by crises that while being far more personal and intimate are no less existential.
From the standpoint of the immigration debate taking place this album seeks to give a voice to those looking to carve a piece of home in a place that is not their homeland, and asks the listener to try to walk in the shoes of those who have been pushed or pulled away from all that was familiar.
In an effort to help make this world a better place the Home Ground campaign is in support of charity. Based on the lyrical context and the fact that the project is music based we immediately thought of War Child as the perfect fit. Especially since they use both music and creativity as an important tool in their program for children to overcome fear, depression and aggression.
