Soul Survivors Tour – Vivian Green and Eric Roberson
Soul Survivors Tour – Vivian Green and Eric Roberson
Event on 2011-05-24 19:30:00
“This record absolutely feels like it’s more mine than anything I’ve done before,” Vivian Green says of Beautiful, her third album and her first for E1 Music. “I’ve grown a lot, as a singer and as a writer and as a person. I’m more seasoned and more confident now, and I’m better at knowing what I want to do. Now I allow myself to make music that I like, as opposed to music that someone else thinks I should be doing.”
Indeed, Beautiful is a musical and personal landmark for the charismatic Philadelphia-bred singer/songwriter/pianist, continuing the vibrant creative evolution that began with her breakthrough debut album A Love Story and continued on her widely acclaimed follow up Vivian.
Throughout Beautiful, Vivian Green delivers compellingly contemporary R&B songcraft that’s steeped in the emotional immediacy of classic soul. The songs explore the ins and outs of love from a variety of perspectives, from the youthful romanticism of “Somewhere” to the playful insight of “”Better Man” to the hard-won intensity of “When Were Apart” and “Beautiful.”
“These songs are all very personal, even if they’re not all directly about me,” Vivian asserts, adding, “A lot of them are songs I couldn’t have written on my first two albums, because I just didn’t have the experience or the wisdom at the time.”
In contrast to her first two albums, which were recorded in a variety of studios with multiple producers, Vivian approached the recording of Beautiful in a more intimate, organic manner. With the exception of “Save Me,” which she cut with Jason Farmer (Keyshia Cole, Rihanna, Wyclef Jean) in the producer’s seat, Vivian recorded the entire album with Grammy-nominated producer Anthony Bell, a longtime friend and collaborator who made key production contributions to her first two albums, and whose extensive resume also includes work with Jazmine Sullivan, Jewel, Musiq, Raheem DeVaughn and Jill Scott.
“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had making a record,” Vivian says of Beautifuls birth cycle. “We worked in Anthony’s studio, which is in his home, and it was a very relaxed, creative environment. If I wanted to sit down at the piano and start writing a song from scratch, like I did with ‘Somewhere,’ I could. The whole experience was very natural and comfortable, and I hope that you can hear that in the music.”
Co-writing with Vivian on four of Beautiful’s songs was her younger brother Solomon Green, a budding rapper whom she’d been urging to branch out into songwriting. “I always felt he should diversify,” she explains. “One day I brought him to the studio to write with me, and it was like, wow. It was awesome and rewarding to watch my baby brother blossom that way, and I’m really proud of him.”
Growing up in the East Oak Lane section of Philadelphia, Vivian Green’s musical talents emerged early in life. After receiving early training as a classical pianist and vocalist, she gained invaluable experience performing in jazz clubs, weddings and corporate functions. By covering songs by Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Donna Summer, and Aretha Franklin, among others, Vivian strengthened her vocal range. She recorded demos of her own compositions through her teen years, and received her first professional songwriting credit when Boyz II Men recorded her “Dear God” on their platinum-selling album Evolution.
Vivian’s increasing notoriety helped to win her a record deal with Sony Music, which released her debut album A Love Story in 2002. That disc spawned the urban AC/dance hits “Emotional Rollercoaster” and “Fanatic,” and established Vivian as one of the year’s most celebrated new artists. After a three-year recording hiatus, during which she gave birth to a son, she broke new musical ground on her second album Vivian, which produced the number one AC/dance singles “Gotta Go, Gotta Leave” and “I Like it But I Dont Need It.” Vivian won rave reviews in such outlets as People, Rolling Stone and The New York Times, which described the album as “a stellar sophomore accomplishment.” Touring to support her first two albums, Vivian won a reputation as a riveting live performer, sharing stages with such artists as Maxwell, Teena Marie, Betty Wright, Chaka Khan, Betty Wright, Q-Tip, Anthony Hamilton, and Common.
In 2003, Vivian made her film debut, portraying Billie Holiday and performing the Holiday classic “Love for Sale” in the Oscar-nominated Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely. Two years later, she appeared in the TV series American Dreams, playing the role of Brenda Holloway and singing Holloway’s Motown hit Every Little But Hurts.” Vivian wrote the music for David E. Talbert’s popular all-star stage play Love in the Nick of Tyme, which debuted in 2007. Also in 2007, she guested on Guru’s album Jazzmatazz Vol. 4 and Cyndi Lauper’s The Body Acoustic.
Vivian Green’s varied musical and personal experiences are reflected in the personally charged, effortlessly soulful music she makes on Beautiful. “As we get older,” she notes, “we get wiser and stronger and more secure in who we are. That’s definitely been true for me, and I hope that it comes through in the music I make.”
at El Rey Theatre
5515 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, United States
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