Anthony David returns this February with a new studio album and I had the pleasure of checking it out ahead of time. Anthony David wastes no time and signals his intent from the get go with the title track, ‘As Above, So Below,’ which is a mellow number. Its atmospheric soundscape and melody compliment the lyric and contrast his raw vocals.
Fresh off the stage from the previous night’s Atlanta Soul Sessions at Jazz Café, I caught up with Indie Soul artist Anthony David at a 14th floor restaurant on an overcast Friday afternoon in London. We sat down to talk about his career since his last visit to London in 2008.
"It depends on the city, but ultimately it’s more exciting for me to be over here [than perform in the US]. It’s almost unfair for you guys; it’s too easy, you win!" He jokes, his calm and warmly toned voice breaking into a hearty chuckle.
Last time the easygoing singer songwriter was in town, he played on Later With Jools Holland. "They wanted me to perform this particular song that they liked, which I had never performed and didn’t have an acoustic version of," he recalls.
"I was shook as hell! I was like, 'I can kill this other one' but they weren’t having it, so we went away and practised and got it down. I was nervous."
Recently, the US Mid Term election campaign saw President Obama call into the Rickey Smiley Morning Radio Show. When asked about what he was listening to, the President said Michelle Obama had put him on to a certain Anthony David...
In a double bill of live Atlanta Soul, Avery Sunshine made her UK debut alongside Anthony David onstage at London's Jazz Cafe earlier this month. With no prior knowledge of Avery Sunshine’s music and fond familiarity of Anthony David’s, it was to be a night of discovery and familiarity in equal parts for me...
Avery Sunshine was first up...
In the wake of Avery Sunshine’s debut solo release, a self titled 'therapeutic' blend of R&B, Soul, Jazz, and Gospel, the Atlanta based singer, songwriter and pianist took some time to talk to SoulCulture about her new project and the organic creative process behind it and evaluate her dream list of future collaborations, having already worked with the likes of Chaka Khan and Roy Ayers.
"I like to call it therapeutic music. It’s my form of therapy anyway..." she says. "The album definitely exceeded what I thought I could do or even wanted to do. I’m most proud of that. Thanks to the team, we ended up making 93 on Billboard’s Top 100 albums… and we’re independent! We did the project thinking it would be good and that people would like it but I don’t think we were expecting something like that so soon..."
With a successful and thriving career already under her belt - that has seen Avery Sunshine perform with the likes of Michael Buble, Rachelle Ferrell and Karen Clark-Sheard - this multi-faceted songstress now unveils her debut album as a solo artist. A highly skilled keys player and vocalist, she has also lent her voice to the movie soundtrack for The Fighting Temptations, and was the choral director for the Tony Award winning production of Dreamgirls.
This self-titled album demonstrates Avery’s blend of jazz, soul, gospel and R&B, which