At the age of 13, he was enrolled into the Jim Wilson School of Voice. Over the next five years Wilson instructed his student to the likes of English, French and Italian art songs, Broadway musicals, and Italian Opera. As a result the artist became a performing member in the county, district, regional, and state choirs in Ohio, in addition to being offered the Music Talent Award and Scholarship from Bowling Green State University, where he would go on to continue his education.
While attending BGSU, SJ was immersed in his music studies. Music theory, aural skills, sight singing, vocal ensembles, foreign language studies, opera, and jazz began to transform the singer, into the musician. Within this creative environment, he began songwriting. As a musical outlet he teamed with two fellow music students and formed the R&B trio, “The Birth of Blue Satinâ€. The group played ballads and grooves from Stevie Wonder to Louis Armstrong and showcased their own compositions at weddings, open mics, and events across campus. While the group was short lived, SlowJam recognized there was support for his vocal talent and songwriting and was interested in pursuing the idea.
After catching the music production buzz, the artist built his home studio, transferred to the Ohio University School of Telecommunications as an audio production major and began developing his skills as a producer. The result was “The Symphonicsâ€, a Hip-Hop/R&B duo comprised of singer SlowJam and rapper MC Cain. The group went on to attain success around campus producing two full length albums “Midwestern Evolution†and “The Sounds of Music†along with opening for national acts “2 Live Crew†and “Afro-man.â€
In the winter of 2005 SJ left for Chicago in search of a recording studio internship. With persistence and luck, he stumbled into a working opportunity at The Chocolate Factory, home studio to legendary R&B singer/producer R. Kelly. The position started from the ground up, but in less than a year’s time the intern had worked his way into Mr. Kelly’s personal assistant staff prior to the 2006 “Light It Up Tour.†The experience has no doubt influenced SJ’s music, character, and professional perspective.
This brings us to SlowJam’s current project “This is Making Loveâ€. The series is a collection of original compositions surrounding one theme: making love. Each track is drenched in the soul, passion, and honesty of bedroom intimacy. There are no distractions. The idea is romance, love in its finest hour. They do make love songs like they used to.Myspace Layouts - Myspace Editor
