2007 Shepherd Express Award "Best Acoustic Guitar Player"

My Son..Evan Christian!!!!

Guitar Aficionado

Best of Milwaukee 2007 by Shepherd Express Staff

December 06, 2007 ACOUSTIC MUSICIAN

Evan Christian

Evan Christian's commitment to mastering the flamenco guitar is so great that he moved to Spain to study the craft. That's not to say that his playing is completely grounded in tradition, though. In the studio, he pairs his flamenco guitar riffs with smooth, hip-hop-inflected neo-soul and synthesized, peppy funk in the vein of Prince. He shows off his guitar chops at his regular gigs at the Jazz Estate most Mondays. (Evan Rytlewski)

Runners-up: Lisa Marie Gatewood, Moxie Chicks

By KENYA C. EVANS

November 23, 2007

Flamenco guitarist Evan Christian performs solo at The Jazz Estate on Monday nights and
Jackalope Lounj on Thursday nights.
"I’m doing traditional flamenco, and my own material, which is blues, soul.
Some of it’s in Spanish," Christian explains.

Milwaukee’s Evan Christian is driven to become one of the finest flamenco guitar players in the world.

And for Christian, practice makes perfect.

He began his musical rendezvous as an upright bass player in fourth grade. His skill evolved into a natural obsession. His burning passion led him to self-taught lessons of the bass, electric and acoustic guitar. Flamenco music spoke to him most intuitively.

"(Flamenco is) the highest level of an acoustic guitar player, I think. You’re using all 10 of your fingers at the same time," says Christian.

He has been performing and producing music for the past 10 years, touring the Midwest with his group, the Evan Christian Quartet. Last summer, he toured internationally with Milwaukee’s own R&B sensation Cincere, entertaining the armed forces in the Middle East and Mediterranean.

In 2004, he debuted with "Fuego," a CD taking listeners on a sensual journey of acoustic flamenco. He recently completed his second CD, "The Mosaic," which is more experimental and eclectic than "Fuego," and is working on his third. He plans to relocate and promote both CDs in New York and seek a record deal with national release. "A deal is just distribution," he says. "It’s a big part of it, but I’m not letting the fact that I don’t have one right now stop me."

Two years ago, Christian decided to take his music abroad and study flamenco in Spain. The trip took him on a journey of personal and artistic growth. With nothing but his guitar on his back and "Fuego" CDs in his bag, he voyaged overseas and immersed himself into the world of flamenco music. Although his original plan to attend school didn’t happen, he began an unofficial apprenticeship with local guitarists and masters of flamenco. During his eight months in Madrid, he proved himself as an artist, built a strong fan base, gained the confidence of performing solo and fraternized with some of the greatest flamenco players in Spain.

Christian’s eye-opening experiences during his study abroad in Spain and international tours with Cincere only reinforced his beliefs about the importance of practice. He practices three to five hours a day, every day, and when he’s not practicing or writing music, he’s performing.

"You can’t do anything on stage that you can’t do in your room," Christian says. "And the best ones are the ones that practice the most, and invest the most time."

I absolutely could NOT be prouder of my "Suggah Bird" ♥

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Comment by stepfatherofsoul on December 10, 2007 at 7:27pm: Congrats to your son ... please give me info about his CDs!

Comment by Hoss on December 9, 2007 at 2:08am: Didn't the Flinstones drive wooden cars??

Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 8, 2007 at 9:27pm: She has her hands on the 'steering wheel' JUST like you!!!!
If it ain't a wooden hotrod we can pretend it is..LOL

Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 8, 2007 at 9:18pm: You sure she riding a wooden car....LMBO. I can't make out what that thing is....LOL

Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 8, 2007 at 9:11pm: Evan can play all the other instruments too--self taught.

Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 8, 2007 at 8:57pm: LOL LOL..Sole, I almost fell out the chair laffin..I saw a pic of your mother when she was a baby girl and she had the NERVE to be hot roddin in a little wooden car..same pose as you in your no. 7..it's uncanny!!!!!! LOL

Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 8, 2007 at 8:05pm: Look at my Brother....SMILE. Po Big Jim....LOL. See you never would have caught me...ROFLMBO

Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 8, 2007 at 6:48pm: Thanks Hoss! No, Evan is the baby..he didn't get the rake treatment like the oldest boy--your look-alike Big Jim (Chris)..and when I whacked it across Chris' back it snapped in half and he didn't even FEEL it..!!! ROFL

Comment by Hoss on December 8, 2007 at 1:44pm: Congrats to Mr Evan:) Is that the lil guy you had to chase with the rug rake??LOL

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Remembering Q

E.FM Radio Spotlight

Quincy Jones is thoroughly entwined in the musical background of my young adulthood. A genius of unique quality. I have been posting blogs and music throughout the years and decided to embark on the arduous but satisfying task of gathering some of it to remember the excellent legacy that he left.

Maze Feel That You're Feelin
Maze Somebody Elses Arms
Maze Southern Girl
Cant Get Over You
Maze Golden Time Of Day

The history of the Butlers/Raw Soul is dense, but for all of us music nerds, that's normal. It is not totally clear what year the Butlers actually formed but they released their first single in 1963 on Liberty Records. That single was "She Tried To Kiss Me" and another single followed on Guyden entitled "Lovable Girl." After the Guyden single the Butlers took a break not recording another record until the single "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" was released on the Phila label in 1966. The group also backed Charles Earland and Jean Wells on one Phila single ("I Know She Loves Me").

As you might be noticing, the Butlers were doing a fair amount of recording but not achieving much success. The group's recordings sold regionally but never had the promotion to make an impact on the national scene. After the single with Phila, the Butlers moved to the Fairmount label (part of the Cameo-Parkway family) and released a handful of singles, some being reissued singles of the past. The Butlers were with Fairmount for 1966-67 and then moved to Sassy Records. Sassy released the group's greatest single (in my opinion) "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" b/w "If That's What You Wanted." A copy of that 45 sold for just under $500 last summer on eBay. Even though that isn't that much in the world of record collecting--it's still a hefty sum. The Butlers released another single on Sassy ("She's Gone" b/w "Love Is Good") that appears to be even

harder to come by then the "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" single.

The true history become a bit blurred here as the AMG biography states that the Butlers last record was released on C.R.S. in 1974 (". However, between 1971 and that single, Frankie Beverly formed a group called Raw Soul and released a number of singles. Some of the songs recorded by Beverly during this period are "While I'm Alone," "Open Up Your Heart," (both on the Gregor label) and "Color Blind." "Color Blind" was released by the Eldorado label and rerecorded by Maze. Beverly's big break came when Marvin Gaye asked Raw Soul to back him on a tour. Gaye helped Beverly/Raw Soul get a contract at Capitol. Beverly decided to take the group in a different direction, a name change occurred, and Maze was created.

The above isn't the most complete history of Beverly but hopefully someone will know a way to get in touch with the man or his management because a comprehensive pre-Maze history needs to be done on Frankie Beverly (his real name is Howard, by the way). Below you'll find every Frankie Beverly (pre-Maze) song available to me right now ("Color Blind" will be up soon).

If you have a song that is not included below, shoot it over to funkinsoulman (at) yahoo.com and it will go up in the next Frankie Beverly post (later this week--highlighting Maze). Also, if you have any more information please share your knowledge. The Butlers material has been comp-ed sporadically (usually imports) but the entire Maze catalog has been reissued and is available.

Enjoy. "She Kissed Me" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)

"I Want To Feel I'm Wanted" (not sure which label or year) "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" (Phila, 1966) "Because Of My Heart" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)

"Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" (Sassy, 1967)

"If That's What You Wanted" (Sassy, 1967)

Frankie Beverly is one of those cats that has lasting power. He started in the music business doing a tour with doo wop group the Silhouettes and then formed his own group called the Blenders. The Blenders never recorded a single, Beverly wouldn't appear on wax until forming the Butlers a few years later. Along with Beverly, the Butlers included Jack "Sonny" Nicholson, Joe Collins, John Fitch, and Talmadge Conway.

Beverly would later enjoy great success fronting Maze and Conway would become a

well-known penning Double Exposure's

"Ten Percent" and the Intruders' "Memories Are Here To Stay."

While Maze is a phenomenal group, Beverly's work before that group will always stand out as his best (imo).

The Butlers produced tunes that most Northern Soul fans would kill for and Raw Soul gave the funksters something to pursue. The Butlers recorded their first single in 1960 titled "Loveable Girl". Left to right John Fitch, T Conway, Frankie Beverly, Sonny Nicholson and Joe Collins.

Frankie Beverly12/6/46 - 9/10/24

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