Spice it Up!

 In the past four months my body has accelerated from a malnurished looking 150 pounds to an almost superhuman 205 pounds as a result of a combination of Remicade injections that miraculously healed my large intestine, wiping out all symptoms of crohns disease, which afforded the opportunity for proper nutrient absorbtion and a fairly rigorous exercize routine.

In the last three months I gained enough strength and endurance  to a point where I could expand my training to the speed bag, heavy bag, and alternating between running on the indoor track and the treadmill. I also performed a lot of benching on the Hammer Strength machine, traditional squats, and from time-to-time I performed the “Bear” routine, which is a combination of dead lifting, squats and military press. In the last few weeks I’ve also incorporated a new routine called YTWL as seen below.

Unfortunately, even though I’ve gained over 50 pounds of mass through advanced training in combination with miraculous health recovery I’ve also gained a gutt because my cardio program has become all but nonexistent in comparison to what I used to do when I lived in Palm Beach. Going from 22 mile mountain bike riding treks up and down A1A once a week to 15 to 20 minutes about every other day on the treadmill has become an enormous problem. With the time constraints of working on my doctorate, taking care of my partially paralysed mom, and working at two job sites it’s going to be hard to put enough cardio time in to return my physique to more leaner proportions. But I’m going to get it done — period. 

While on a late night web crawling excursion I came across an awe inspiring article about the former British girl band pop star, Melannie Brown a.k.a. Scarey Spice.

  Spice Girl singer Mel B is offering up advice on how to get a rock-hard body like hers, and it doesn’t include a strenuous gym regime, Pilates or plastic surgery. Instead, the 34-year-old former ‘Dancing with the Stars’ contestant, whose real name is Melanie Brown, confessed to Britain’s Grazia magazine that the intimate time she spends with her husband, Stephen Belafonte, is the reason behind her toned physique.

“I’m honestly not body-obsessed,” she told the glossy. “I can’t be with three kids and a husband. My husband likes my muscles, but then he’s seen me every which way over the past eight years, including when I put on 42 pounds after my last pregnancy, and he always loves my body.”

“In fact, on top of all my exercise, I have sex with him five times a day — maybe that has something to do with it,” she continued.                         —BlackVoices

Of course I don’t believe one ounce of Brown’s so-called confession to sexual escapades with her man 5 times a day being one of the reasons for her rock hard body. If there’s one dude that has a healthy lifestyle its me. But I don’t have the time or the desire to have sex that much. Even back in the day I didn’t see the kind of results Mel proclaims to have gotten from knockin’ boots on the regular, particularly, after a pregnancy, and I was working out twice a day in the gym in addition to playing on the rugby team at my university. I don’t give a damn what kind of bullshit Mel feeds the media. I’m going to devise a new regimen to help return my physique to more leaner proportions. And do it within the time constraints of my daunting daily responsibilities.

After a little more research I found out her reason for lying about her miraculous physical metamorphosis. She’s only trying to push her new workout video. I’m not even going to waste my time posting a picture or the youtube video of Melanie Brown wasting time trying to pimp her new workout video on Ellen’s talkshow But I’ll tell you what’s up. No disrespect to Mel or her video but speaking as an experienced athlete, tossing around a couple of water bottles and cans of beans is not going to get you the kind of banging body she’s got and it sure as hell ain’t going to do the job of eliminating 55 pounds of fat gained after a pregnancy. You can get off that bullshit right now. But good luck to the sister in making a few bucks. Just seeing the picture of her glistening  body has encouraged me to work harder at eliminating my gutt.

Les Nubians

Les Nubians debut album, Princesses Nubiennes, mixes uplifting messages with contemporary hip-hop stylings. Other French rappers such as MC Solaar and Mel’ Groove have forged a blueprint upon which Les Nubians build their sound, equally influenced by classic soul, contemporary R&B and the inspiration of such African world music icons as Miriam Makeba, Ray Lema and Youssou N’Dour.

Founded by two sisters from Bordeaux, France, inspired by the conscious rap of Public Enemy, De LaSoul, and Arrested Development as well as the smoother but no less exhilarating sounds of Soul II Soul and Des’ree, Les Nubians are a new breed of Afropean-styled hip-hop.

The girls cite a long and varied list of musical inspirations for this distinctive sound, including MiriamMakeba, Ella Fitzgerald, the Fugees, Fela Kuti, and Jazzie B of Soul II Soul. “This album is a kind of travelogue, a kind of journey through all the different kinds of music of the African Diaspora,” says Helene. “We begin with the roots-African chants, griot chants-and then after that traditional soul, and after that gospel, blues, jazz reggae, funk and on to more modern styles. (And there’s even a hint of jungle in track 5). This was our idea of travel, to offer a tribute to different black music, but still to have a modern touch.

Because soon it will be the 21 stylings. Other French rappers such as MC Solaar and Mel’ Groove have forged a blueprint upon which Les Nubians build their sound, equally influenced by classic soul, contemporary R&B and the inspiration of such African world music icons as Miriam Makeba, Ray Lema and Youssou N’Dour. Born to a French father and Cameroonian mother, Helene and Celia Faussart learned how to sing at a young age.

Even from their first performance as a cappella group, journalists in attendance later raved in print about these two charismatic young girls and their wonderful voices. Inspired by a backstage meeting with jazz singer Abbey Lincoln (who encouraged them to “do it-the greatest thing in the world is to be a singer!”), the group pursued their music relentlessly. The results come to fruition on Founded by two sisters from Bordeaux, France, inspired by the conscious rap of Public Enemy, De LaSoul, and Arrested Development as well as the smoother but no less exhilarating sounds of Soul II Soul and Des’ree, Les Nubians are a new breed of Afropean-styled hip-hop.

According to Helene, when it comes to Africans in France, “There is no music that speaks to them, so we wanted to make music that spoke to these people, who have this history to them. But not only that, we wanted to use our music to communicate with the whole world. We felt there was a lack of young people doing a new kind of music. Not to just copy R&B, but to do something original, something personal with it. To let people know what we think, what we stand for.

David Sanborn

David Sanborn began playing in rhythm and blues bands as a teenager, including time with Albert King and Little Milton; joined Paul Butterfield Blues Band, 1976; worked with numerous other artists, among them Stevie Wonder, 1970-72; established solo career, 1975; scored music for films such as Soul Man; hosted radio program The Jazz Show and the television series Night Music; has appeared regularly on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Two-time Grammy Award winner David Sanborn, a highly visible and often emulated entertainer in America since the mid-1970s, has influenced saxophone players from an array of styles, especially popular music. Arguably possessing the most distinctive alto saxophone sound in the pop spectrum, Sanborn has contributed to the world of music his own passionate technique—complete with crying and squealing high notes. His emotional interpretations of melodies have always uplifted any recording or live performance, regardless of the specific genre. Although most of Sanborn’s own recordings take on rhythm and blues, dance music, pop, and rock and roll, he is also an accomplished jazz player. However, Sanborn has remained quick to contend that “I’m not a jazz musician,” as quoted by Down Beatcontributor Howard Mandel in 1993, and “I sometimes get looped with jazz musicians because I play sax and improvise,” he told Los Angeles Times writer Bill Kohlhaase in 1996.

“Not that I’m offended by the description,” he further explained to Mandel, “but I think the rhythmic orientation of what I do is not really jazz. Where I came from, the kind of musical context I grew up in, the kind of playing I did when I was a young player, and the way my playing formed was in more of a rhythm and blues context. The music that really made me want to become a musician was by Ray Charles. David Newman and Hank Crawford were the guys. They combined the sophistication, some of the harmonic sensibility, certainly the hipness, and the rhythmic undercurrent of jazz with the emotional directness of gospel and the structural elements of R&B.”

Returning to traditional rhythm and blues textures and urban music influences in 1996, Sanborn released Songs from the Night Before, his fourteenth solo outing. “I’m lucky enough to really love what I do,” said Sanborn, as quoted on his website at Elektra Records. “I get to do an album every 12 to 18 months, and it always seems to be a reflection of where I’m at musically at that particular point. I’ve been listening to more R&B pop recently, like D’Angelo for example. It’s interesting how some of it goes back to some of the `70s stuff I grew up around. The production is different, but the vibe is there.”

Celia Cruz

Celia Cruz was one of Latin music’s most respected vocalists. A ten-time Grammy nominee, Cruz, who sang only in her native Spanish language, received a Smithsonian Lifetime Achievement award, a National Medal of the Arts, and honorary doctorates from Yale University and the University of Miami.

A street in Miami was even renamed in her honor, and Cruz’s trademark orange, red, and white polka dot dress and shoes have been placed in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute of Technology. The Hollywood Wax Museum includes a statue of the Cuba-born songstress. According to the European Jazz Network, Cruz “commands her realm with a down-to-earth dignity unmistakably vibrant in her wide smile and striking pose.”

One of 14 children, born in the small village of Barrio Santos Suarez, Havana, Cruz was drawn to music from an early age. Her first pair of shoes was a gift from a tourist for whom she sang. In addition to spending many evenings singing her younger siblings to sleep, Cruz sang in school productions and community gatherings. Taken to cabarets and nightclubs by an aunt, she was introduced to the world of professional music. At the encouragement of a cousin, Cruz began to enter and win local talent shows.

Leaving Sonora Matancera’s band in 1965, Cruz launched her solo career with a band formed for her by Tito Puente Despite releasing eight albums together, the collaboration failed to achieve commercial success. Cruz and Puente resumed their partnership with a special appearance at the Grammy Award ceremonies in 1987. Signed by Vaya, the sister label of Fania, Cruz recorded with Oscar D’Leon, Cheo Feliciano, and Hector Rodriquez in the mid- to late ’60s. Cruz’s first success since leaving Sonora Matancera came in 1974 when she recorded a duo album, Celia and Johnny, with Johnny Pacheco, trombone player and the co-owner of Fania. She subsequently began appearing with the Fania All Stars. Cruz’s popularity reached its highest level when she appeared in the 1992 film The Mambo Kings.

Afro-Cuban Soul Vol. 1

Also known as Les Chakachas or Los Chakachas, they were formed by band leader Gaston Bogaert, ex-Los Juano Boengs and ex-The Continentals, percussion (conga & tumba); Tito Puente’s singer wife Kari Kenton, vocals & maracas; Vic Ingeveldt (Dutchman from Liege), saxophone; Charlie Lots, trumpet; Christian Marc, piano; Henri Breyre, guitar & backing vocals; and Bill Raymond, bass guitar. All were native in Schaarbeek (a district of Brussels), or nearby Charleroi; Willebroek and Liege.

 During the 1950s, Tito Puente was at the height of his popularity, and helped to bring Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds, like mambo, son, and cha-cha-cha, to mainstream audiences (he was so successful playing popular Afro-Cuban rhythms that many people mistakenly identify him as Cuban). Dance Mania, possibly Puente’s most well known album was released in 1958.^[1] Later, he moved into more diverse sounds, including pop music, bossa nova and others, eventually settling down with a fusion of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres that became known as “salsa” (a term that he disliked). In 1979 Puente won the first of five Grammy Awards for the albums A Tribute to Benny Moré, On Broadway, Mambo Diablo, and Goza Mi Timbal. In 1990, Puente was awarded the “James Smithson Bicentennial Medal.” He was also awarded a Grammy at the first Latin Grammy Awards, winning Best Traditional Tropical Album for Mambo Birdland. He was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. After a heart attack following a show in Puerto Rico, Puente had heart surgery in New York City, from which he never recovered. He died on May 31, 2000, just a few months after shooting for the music video Calle 54, in which Puente was wearing an all-white outfit with his band.