NEW YORK, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Columbia Records) - Contemporary soul singer
Raphael Saadiq has announced the initial dates on his heavily-anticipated 2009 Winter Tour, beginning February 28 at the House of Blues in San
Diego (please see full itinerary following). Raphael's upcoming performances mark the artist's first full-length headline concert appearances since a series of highly successful dates opening for his Columbia Records labelmate
John Legend in December 2008.
Saadiq's forthcoming shows come at a high point for the artist, whose groundbreaking sound combining the best elements of traditional and contemporary Rhythm & Blues has garnered three 2009 Grammy nominations including Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (for "Never Give You Up," a key track from The Way I See It featuring Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton); Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (for "Love That Girl," another deep groove from The Way I See It) and the big one: Best R&B Album for The Way I See It. The 2009 Grammy Award ceremony will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 8, 2009 and broadcast that evening on CBS television (please check your local listings).
Raphael's critically acclaimed latest collection, The Way I See It, was named iTunes No 1 Best Album of 2008. With an average customer rating of four-and-a-half-stars, The Way I See It has been praised in an iTunes online review for "inhabit(ing) the atmosphere of late-Sixties Motown and Philadelphia International, incorporating the distinctly echo-laden drum shuffles of Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, as well as the swelling string choruses of the Delfonics and the Stylistics....music pours from this performer as easily as it did from Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder before him."
The Way I See It, chosen by NPR's "World Cafe" as one of 2008's Top 10 CDs, reached No 19 on the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums chart and Top 10 (No 8) on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart.
Raphael Saadiq has been playing music since the age of 6, first rising to prominence under the name Raphael Wiggins in the R&B trio Tony! Toni! Tone! in the late 1980s going on to form a second R&B trio, Lucy Pearl, in the early 90s.
Launching his career as a solo artist in the mid 1990s, Raphael earned his first five Grammy nominations - setting the record for an independent release - for his 2002 album debut, Instant Vintage. A crossover success, Instant Vintage peaked at No 25 on the Billboard Top 200 and No 6 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart.
Raphael's collaborated with, and produced records for, a variety of artists including D'Angelo, who won a Grammy in 2000 for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, The Isley Brothers, The Roots, Macy Gray, Snoop Dogg, Devin the Dude, Kelis, Q-Tip, The Bee Gees, Nappy Roots, T-Boz from TLC, Joss Stone, Earth, Wind & Fire and many others. Raphael took home a Grammy for Best R&B Song in 2002 for his work on "Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop)" by Erykah Badu featuring Common.
His latest album, The Way I See It, available in a collector's edition box set of 7" 45 rpm singles as well as on traditional CD, represents the finest example to-date of Raphael's downtown sound, a masterful blend of old and new school sensibilities on tracks featuring artists such as Joss Stone, Stevie Wonder, and Jay-Z.
Raphael Saadiq - 2009 Winter Tour Dates:
Sat/Feb 28 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
Mon/Mar-02 - Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues
Tue/Mar-03 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
Thu/Mar-05 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox @ The Market
Fri/Mar-06 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
Sat/Mar-07 - Vancouver, BC - Richard's On Richards Cabaret
Tue/Mar-10 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
Wed/Mar-11 - Kansas City, MO - Voodoo Lounge @ Harrah's Casino
Thu/Mar-12 - Chicago, IL - Park West
Fri/Mar-13 - Minneapolis, MO - Fine Line Music Cafe
Sun/Mar-15 - Detroit, MI - City Theatre
Mon/Mar-16 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
Tue/Mar-17 - Montreal, QC - Cabaret du Musse Juste Pour Rire
Thu/Mar-19 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
Fri/Mar-20 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre Of The Living Arts
Sat/Mar-21 - NY, NY - Fillmore
Mon/Mar-23 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live!
Tue/Mar-24 - Washington DC - 9:30 Club
Thu/Mar-26 - Charlotte, NC - Wachovia Atrium
Sat/Mar-28 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
