JOY DENALANE / “Sign Of The Times”

At first I was thinking of a different sound, more deep soul combined with raw Wu-Tang beats. But then I realized it's no use making music that you like listening to, but have to force yourself to create yourself. The music you make should come to you easily, naturally. That's how my sound and music came about. —Joy Denalane
Afro-German Joy Denalane is my favorite under-40 R&B female vocalist. Her father is from Soweto, South Africa; her mother is from Berlin; her music is from the heart. Child can sang. Her instrument is so wonderful, she makes the guttural pronunciation of German sound sweetly lyrical. In fact, you can listen to her for a minute before you even realize she’s not singing in English; she just be sounding like some sister that’s got to be from either Harlem, Detroit, Chicago or New Orleans, especially when she drops a husky “hey, baby” like ya girl from around the way. Check one of her hit songs Geh Jezt from her debut album, Mamani. joy in action.jpg Here, she takes on Prince’s hit,Sign O’ The Times. A friend marveled: I can actually understand what she’s saying; I couldn’t really understand what Prince was saying. But you know clear enunciation has never been a necessary ingredient in a recipe for soul. Plus, check this: she’s backed by a quartet (guitar, bass, drums and percussion). No turntables. No special effects. No, she rocks hard based purely on the energy and heart she brings to the song. Warning: Do not confuse this version with the version on Joy’s new Mamani Live CD. Although recorded on the same tour, they are from different dates. On the single version, when the guitarist solos, he is chording more than playing single-note runs and to my ears, the recording sound is better because the band has a stronger presence. It takes a lot of heart to even think about doing a basically acoustic version of Prince’s hard-edged burn-out. Imagine, you stand onstage with only a skeleton of a band that offfers sparse (albeit effective) support and you’re going to do a Prince stomper. Sure you can do ballads, soft soul, African melodies with percussion, but Sign O’ The Times? Well, I guess this really is a sign of the times! —Kalamu ya Salaam Click here to purchase Joy's Sign of the Times cd single. Visit Joy's website www.joydenalane.com              Joy is a soulful voice.          presse_04_03_bg.jpg Joy has a big, soulful voice. What separates her from the Mary J. Blige’s and Lauryn Hill’s of the world is she also has the ability to control that voice. (In Lauryn’s defense though, singing is only the second best thing she does with her vocal chords; in my opinion, Lauryn is a much better MC than singer.) The reason I’m not yet on the Joy bandwagon is the commonplace production style of her first (and only) studio album, Mamani. This sister writes good songs and has a hell of a voice then inexplicably buries all that goodness beneath the gloss and sheen of overproduced American-style R&B. I haven’t heard the rest of the live album, but if all of it is as good as her version of Sign O’ The Times, I’ll be one step closer to getting on that wagon. On a different note, I think its interesting that 95% of Prince covers are by women. (That’s a completely unscientific guess.) Just off the top of my head and sticking only to well-known artists: Sinead O’Connor’s "Nothing Compares 2 U," Chaka Khan’s "I Feel For You," Cyndi Lauper’s "When You Were Mine," TLC’s "If I Was Your Girlfriend," Meli’sa Morgan’s "Do Me, Baby," Mariah Carey’s "The Beautiful Ones," Mica Paris’ "If I Love U Tonight," and both Stephanie Mills and Alicia Keys have versions of "How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore." The only male Prince covers that come to mind are Ginuwine’s "When Doves Cry" and Tom Jones’ version of "Kiss." There’s got to be more but I can’t think of any. What’s the deal with that? —Mtume ya Salaam             You can sit next to me.          Well, I can’t answer the question about Prince covers, but I can say that after you have listened to the Mamani Live CD, I’ll push over so you can sit next to me on the Joy bandwagon. On that album is another cover, which I think I ought to share, namely Loverman. It’s a song that jazz fans indelibly associate with Billie Holiday and her legion of fans, followers, imitators, disciples, and all those who sang jazz who were profoundly influenced and/or touched by Billie’s artistry. But, of well over 100—perhaps even 1,000—recorded versions of Loverman, no one (before Joy) has come up with an update that transforms the song from a torch ballad into something truly post-modern. joy 04.jpg So along comes Joy and this hip-hop influenced arrangement with the heavy, heavy rim-shots and the repeated muted trumpet riff. Damn, the arrangement sounds so right. This isn’t a novelty, this is a true update: Loverman with a backbeat. Between Sign O’ The Times, Geh Jezt, and Loverman, Joy has earned her accolades the hard (old-fashioned) way: live singing. —Kalamu ya Salaam

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 26th, 2005 at 12:03 am and is filed under Cover. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


11 Responses to “JOY DENALANE / “Sign Of The Times””

hristou Says:
June 27th, 2005 at 3:43 am

Sorry for my english (i’m french) Joy Denalane have a great voice. Thanks


Nash Says:
June 27th, 2005 at 4:51 pm

i’m really impressed.
she’s really creating something new…
and the percussion is great too.
nice one 🙂


Pierre C Says:
June 29th, 2005 at 1:52 pm

wow. y’know, i only wish that prince would learn to demonstrate the kind of restraint other artists do when they cover his tracks. (though to be fair, the original version is perhaps one of prince’s more restrained productions)


drfeelgoed Says:
June 30th, 2005 at 4:47 am

This cover is cookin’! Too bad it’s only @ 64 kbps. Anyway, thank you for introducing this singer, if her other work is just as good….

          Kalamu responds

My bad! Each of the three featured songs are supposed to be at a higher rate. It’s been corrected. Is now at 192 kbps. Enjoy.

 


okyeame Says:
July 1st, 2005 at 4:49 pm

yeah. i’m definitely feeling this. sister sings with attitude and the guitar playing is hip. it’s grooving. i’ll be checking out this album. thanks.


Ken Says:
August 4th, 2005 at 9:17 pm

Thanks for introducing (many of) us to this wonderful artist. BTW–found a version of Ms Denalane covering "Four Women" ("Vier Frauen") in primarily in German–alternating verses in, I think, a couple other languages/dialects. Throws a backbeat on this one too a la the Loverman cover.

Mtume says:                                                       

Joy’s version of "Four Women" is from her 2002 studio album Mamani — one of Kalamu’s favorite albums, BTW.


Tina Says:
December 3rd, 2005 at 4:50 pm

Hey, EISH! A sister kept telling me “there this woman i need you to listen to” and I thought “ya ya ya, whatever”. And she finally passed the CD to me 2day.I was driving back home and listening to her in the car..wow…then I hear the first beats to Vier Frauen…I am like:thats Nina’s song…few secs later..That just sounds like Sara Tavares, wait a min..thats Sara,oh my God thats Sara…I drove so fast so I could hear the whole CD on the hi-fi..thats says it all..loved it.


Joseph Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 4:57 pm

Loved her last ablum, she has to be one of the mosted tamazing singer I’ve ever heard. Does anyone know when her next studio alsbum is coming out.


Angie Says:
April 23rd, 2006 at 3:35 pm

next studio album is slated for a summer ’06 release, as it states on her record company’s website. joy’s awesome!!!


celeste cambaza Says:
June 19th, 2006 at 2:53 am

my name is celeste i’m singer realy apriciate a the album mamani and the song could
was anch mier and ver fraunem
when shw sing with sara tavares with chowniso Marair
excelente nice work
the best joy


Velibor Obradovic Says:
August 20th, 2015 at 11:44 am

Dear lady, I am addressing you as a great singer and music connoisseurs.
I have been involved in composing and I have the perfect song for you. The song is protected under the name “South Africa” and it can be a big hit in the whole of Africa, USA, UK and so on.
If you are interested in a demo, I can let the mail, if you give me a signal. Song is perfect Best regards


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