*Celebrating 43 years together in October the iconic band Pieces of a Dream’s new album on Shanachie Entertainment, “On Another Note,” is Jazz at its best thanks to founders James Lloyd on piano and Curtis Harmon on drums and percussions.
Lloyd and Harmon are joined by regular band members Tony Watson, Jr. on sax, Chris Harris on guitar and George Granville on keyboard. “On Another Note” is executive produced by Danny Weiss and long-time group manager Gar Roberts. The first single off of their 24th album, released in May, is the title track.
“We just started writing songs,” said James Lloyd about the new album. “We thought it was time. We just wanted to make fans feel our vibe, make some fun songs to play live…touch people by putting them in a certain mood. A roller coaster ride of ups and downs.”
Pieces of a Dream founding members are from the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, and met in school while playing in the same school band and decided to form their own group.
“We met in the Middle School Jazz Band…17 piece band,” James informed me about the humble beginnings of the Pieces of a Dream band. “We formed a group out of that for a talent show…we got 3rd place! We liked it and started doing block parties, weddings…night clubs when we weren’t even old enough to be in the club. Then we were discovered by Glover Washington, Jr. He produced our first three albums. We got to play with him two times, once was on a television show called ‘City Lights.’ Other members that have been in the band have come and gone. We’re the founding members -been together for 43 years.”
SOLANGE WARNED AGAINST USING NEW ORLEANS-BASED CHURCH AS RECORDING STUDIO
In all those years the Pieces of a Dream band has traveled the world over and has sold millions of albums with their Jazz style that fuses most genres of music together such as R&B, Funk, Pop and Blues. My favorite cuts on the “On Another Note” album include #2 “Floating,” written and produced by Lloyd, because I love the Latin/Jazz feel of Chris Harris’ guitar playing, Tony Watson, Jr.’s sax playing that brings that traditional Jazz flavor and the simplicity of James’ keyboard playing; #5 “A Pieces Fiesta,” co-written and produced by Curtis Harmon, because I love the Latin /Jazz feel of the percussions and drum playing by Curtis, the guitar playing by Chris Harris and the popping of the keys by George Granville and Harmon offering that traditional Jazz sound as the icing on the cake; #6 “Images of Peace,” written and produced by James Lloyd, because it is simply delightful as Tony Watson, Jr.’s sax playing takes us on a cloud of love, and #7 “Rolling Along,” written and produced by Lloyd, because it makes you want to hit the road as the keyboard playing makes the road as smooth as possible and I love the guitar playing by Harris that offers that crazy Jazz feel.”
Advice James Lloyd gives to up-and-coming musicians and artists is remain humble and be responsible because no one wants to work with people with a cocky attitude and people that you can not trust. www.PiecesofaDream.net.
SYNDICATED COLUMN: Eunice Moseley, has an estimated weekly readership of over ¼ million with The Pulse of Entertainment. She is also a Public Relations Strategist and Business Management Consultant at Freelance Associates, and is Promotions Director (at-large) for The Baltimore Times. www.ThePulseofEntertainment.com. EVENT: Eunice is founder of the annual “Uplifting Minds II” Entertainment Conference (ULMII), into its 20th year, held in Baltimore Saturday April 20, 2019 in partnership with Security Square Mall and The Baltimore Times and in Los Angeles Saturday, November 9, 2019 at the Los Angeles Convention Center (511) offering Entertainment Business Panel and a Talent Showcase and Competition (vocal, songwriting, dance and acting) with over $15,000 valued in prizes. Celebrating 20 years! Log onto www.UpliftingMinds2.com for more info or to participate as a panelist or talent.
www.GoFundMe.com/Uplifting-Minds-II-Entertainment-Conference
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