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Thousands of One

Get SoulForce!!!

About Me

Thousands of One live at Grassroots 2008

Get your copy of SOULFORCE!!!!

1. Request it at your local record store. They can positively get it for you. 2. Click CD Baby.3. Click iTunes.4. Snocap5. Leeway's Homegrown Music Network. Click!
If you already have it, please write a review at iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon, Rhapsody, and Last.FM.

Thousands of One

live at The Whiskey in Annapolis, MD on September 26 with

See-I

featuring members of

Thievery Corporation

Thousands of One moves bodies, minds and souls. Something deep happens when dedication to social change meets the burning desire to make amazing music. We give thanks for being alive! We give thanks that we can travel this beautiful road! We give thanks for a million things, and do our human best to put it into music. This is the essence of Thousands of One - to build connections between people and live inspired lives, striving to bring that inspiration into the world around us.Thousands of One have released their second CD "SoulForce" on I-Town Records. Featuring a vocal collaboration with Speech of the Grammy-award winning group Arrested Development and production and performances by Elliot Martin of John Brown’s Body, SoulForce captures the spirit and energy of the band’s live performances while adding a subtle layer of space age sound and rhythm. The result is a work of art that explores a new musical identity—a defining statement from a group whose sole purpose in creating music is to reflect the process of social improvement by starting from within, hence the title SoulForce. Collaboration with Speech from Arrested Development began at the 2007 Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, where the band met Speech and shared their love of promoting cultural unity, ending racism and imperialism, and working with youth through the creation of socially conscious, uplifting music. Speech says of working with Thousands of One, “I love supporting people who are doing good works. You’re doing good things … Let’s be family.” In the spirit of the "Funk Movement", the edutainment of real Hiphop and the firm belief that music can move mountains, this album is "the message" of Thousands of One - it speaks of ending racism, growing food, and creating unity. Turning heads with intense lyrics, incendiary politics, spiritual tenacity, wit and dope phrasing - the soul and voice of Jhakeem Haltom bolstered by a rocking and raw band cutting a deep original groove that pays tribute to the roots of soul, funk and reggae... Thousands of One mixes all these influences in a truly unique fusion with Hiphop, gospel, electronica, afrobeat, rock and dub. Lead vocalist Jhakeem Haltom can turn a phrase whether singing falsetto a la Marvin Gaye or spitting verse like KRS-One. He has been easily compared to Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, Talib Kweli and none other than Bob Marley. Heavy drum and bass buoy socially conscious lyrics, while the saxophone performances of Mark Wienand evoke pristine soundscapes. Guitar player Safak Ozkan, born and raised in Turkey, spent his youth playing in a rebel rock band, as well as playing the Oud (a traditional middle eastern stringed instrument). Safak has brought an incredible vibe to the crew as they venture into new fields of sound. The album features intricate and subtle Hammond B3, Rhodes, piano and Clavinet musicianship from the maestro of the boards Chad Lieberman, who has recently signed on with the TOO orchestra. Thousands of One has made 4 national tours in 2 years that all hit the west coast. They flew to Hawaii in 2006 for 8 incredible concerts that are still in the memories of fans who, to this day, request a return trip. Thousands of One recently began a national radio campaign with the album "SoulForce" through the Planetary Group that has caught the attention of hundreds of radio stations throughout the U.S. National Distribution of "SoulForce" is being managed by Leeway's Homegrown Network who will see that the album reaches the hands of countless people. All agree that seeing Thousands of One perform live is where it's at, though they say it isn't about "seeing" the band... When you attend a Thousands of One concert, it's more like "being" the band.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/10/2005
Band Website: thousandsofone.com
Band Members: JHAKEEM HALTOM - vocals, congas, flute
BRENT EVA - bass
JOEL BLIZZARD - drums
MARK WIENAND- Saxophone, flute
SAFAK OZKAN - guitar
CHAD LIEBERMAN - keyboards
Auxiliary members:
WILL PATTERSON - Percussion
TOM SAYERS - guitar, writer
WILL SAPP - Back up vocals

Influences: Stevie Wonder, Max Roach, Blackstar, LTJ Bukem, Bad Brains, Kanye West, Thomas Mapfumo , Questlove, John Coltrane, Fela Kuti , Philip Glass, Nina Simone, Grateful Dead, Jamiroquai , Inayat Khan, Burning Spear , Parliament Funkadelic, bell hooks , Nusrat Fati Ali Khan, Bob Marley, J.S. Bach, Rage Against The Machine , Wayne Shorter, Erykah Badu, Scotty Palmer, Ravi Shankar, Watts Prophets, Radiohead, Lee Perry, Dave Mathews Band, Wu-Tang Clan, Cody Chestnut, Daft Punk, Safak Ozkan
Sounds Like: soulfunkdub Hiphop
Record Label: I-town records / itownrecords.com
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

with Milionaires of Love tonight

I just got home from the 'Summertime Block Party Fundraiser', in which Thousands of One opened for the Millionaires of Love.  What a beautiful show! We will both be playing at the block party on ...
Posted by Thousands of One on Sat, 17 May 2008 11:09:00 PST

Recent review by David Dancy

"Thousands of One: Music for Everyone" By: David Dancy, Life & Times of Utica 04/03/2008 UTICA - On Saturday March 29 The Electric Company on Varick Street was the scene of a rare musical eve...
Posted by Thousands of One on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:22:00 PST

Interview with Alexis Santi of the Tompkins Weekly

The Ithaca music scene is a diverse, vibrant world that has rocked and rolled as the years have gone by.  While I was growing up, I listened to Ithaca musicians play out at the local hot spots.&n...
Posted by Thousands of One on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:40:00 PST

the "race dynasty" and "slaveship mentality" explained

They have declared that the race dynasty is over. The have made it their mission to heal this deep wound. In healing this separation, this painful cut, that was delivered to the human populous some ti...
Posted by Thousands of One on Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:49:00 PST

Profile of a Musician: Jhakeem Haltom

Profile of a Musician: Jhakeem Haltom June 5, 2006 by Elizabeth Bauchner Last week at the Ithaca Festival, during the Thousands of One show on the Commons, vocalist for the group Jhakeem Haltom spoke ...
Posted by Thousands of One on Fri, 04 May 2007 08:20:00 PST

West coast tour journal entry #3

4/11/2007 - California->Colorado Now having left the California vortex, we decided it was time to write another update. What are we listening to? Fela Kuti, Talib Kweli and Madlib's new album, Paul S...
Posted by Thousands of One on Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:13:00 PST

West coast tour journal entry #2

4/3/2007 - Colorado -> California Descending into Las Vegas in our beloved 1989 Chevy tour van dubbed "Tiffany" by Jocelyn for it's characteristically '80's pink velour interior, I thought I'd take a...
Posted by Thousands of One on Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:12:00 PST

West coast tour journal entry #1

3/31/2007 - Nebraska->Colorado Ah, the friendly people of Nebraska. We had a great time playing in Omaha, at the GoofyFoot Lodge as the first stop on the tour. Good people from the Adam Monaco Band, o...
Posted by Thousands of One on Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:11:00 PST

Quotes from The Unknown Rebel

Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see. -Martin Luther King, Jr.The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The right of the people to be secure in their persons,...
Posted by Thousands of One on Tue, 25 Apr 2006 08:43:00 PST

Bono's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast

posted on www.myspace.com/theonecampaign - Thursday, April 06, 2006BONO'S REMARKS TO THE NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST -"Thank you.Mr. President, First Lady, King Abdullah, Other heads of State, Members o...
Posted by Thousands of One on Thu, 20 Apr 2006 06:30:00 PST