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don-e
DANCEHALL ROCKS, DON-E's LATEST ALBUM IS AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW ON I-TUNES.
After a long absence from recording as a featured artist, one of the UKs most gifted urban talents DON-E returns with a new self-produced album Try This.
Don-e is a perfect product of his environment rooted in the heart of Brixton, the busy multicultural London suburb where he has built his own studio and has absorbed the diversity and wealth of musical influences of the street. In recent years he has been focusing primarily on writing and producing for other artists, among them Shaun Escoffery, Mica Paris, Beverley Knight, Lynden David Hall, Omar, Grace Jones, Avani and Rahsaan Patterson.
Now he feels the time is right to return with his own album. He takes the opportunity to introduce a talented new Birmingham-based singer Lornette Ford on the first single Slow; his good friend Omar is guest vocalist on the explosive No Reason; and UK rapper Grimm has a cameo on All We Need.
The album, recorded over the past year, has many flavours delicious slow jams like I Do and Rising, the rock-tinged How I Feel, and the smooth street soul of Bus Stop. A hidden bonus track UK Black pays homage to the many UK artists who have made their mark from the Seventies (back when urban was black) to the present day, as well as urging continued support for home grown talent. Don-e has recently returned from a US tour guesting with Omar, and has also played a number of live dates with Grace Jones. As a headliner he has enjoyed getting in front of club audiences again, notably at Londons Jazz Café, and he and his band will be out on the road performing material from the album.
Following his fathers gift of a home made guitar on his fifth birthday, Don-e became hooked at an early age. Several years - and instruments -later he stepped out of school straight into the UK music scene. He was influenced by his parents collection of gospel and classic soul legends Aretha, Marvin, Stevie, Sly, Curtis and Donny Hathaway. He also listened to Parliament, Funkadelic, Earth, Wind & Fire but he soon found there were other influences available in the music of Bob Marley, Dennis Brown and Sugar Minott. All around him were the sounds of Reggae, Dub, Lovers Rock, Jazz, Funk, Pop and then later Ragga, Jungle and Garage. He embraced all this and more, combining melodies, sounds and rhythms to create a style that would be identified as his own.
He signed to Island Records and released a remarkable debut album Unbreakable. Not only was he responsible for every song and arrangement, but virtually every instrument on the album was played by him. The album also featured the Top 20 hit Love Makes The World Go Round and the now classic underground club and sound system smash Unbreakable.
Having travelled and performed extensively internationally his unique Ragga Funk sound has caught the ear of not only emerging UK artists such as Shaun Escoffrey but also artists like DAngelo, Lauryn Hill and Mos Def. So here we are, back with a brand new album that is long overdue. For Don-e he is just finishing the journey he has started. The wait has definitely been worthwhile. Don-e absorbs many influences that are refreshingly reflected in his maturity as a singer/songwriter on this new project.
