RECORDING JOURNEY - VOCALS pt 3
Meet Georgia Brown!
Hello again!
Here is my third and final installment of the vocal segment in my RECORDING JOURNEY series. Time to tell you all about Georgia Brown. Wow. Where to start?
I will begin with the first time I heard Georgia’s voice. I had returned back to Brazil from a trip abroad. My wife and I got together with some close friends for dinner and play catch up. My friend, Brian (also an American living in Brazil) is a real live music aficionado. He and his wife love to go out on the town to discover and explore new, eclectic places and hear new live music. After dinner, as we were catching up on our adventures, Brian said “Well, we went out and heard an amazing singer. You gotta hear this!” as he held up a nicely packaged cd.
As I was checking out the cd packaging, he put the cd in. Georgia Brown........
As the first track unfolded, I heard her voice. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was absolutely stunning what this artist can do. Instantly, not knowing anything about her, where she was, what country, it did not matter. I looked at Brian in amazement and said, “ I don’t know how, but I WILL have this person perform on my record…..!!!” I must find a way to get a hold of her!
After some time went by it just “so happened” that I discovered one of our good friends is a long time mutual friend of Georgia. BTW- I need to interject here that if you have not noticed, there is the re occurring theme in my blogs that I don’t believe that things “just “happen”………..
Here is the official story of this self-taught phenomenon.
Georgia Brown, an Italian Brazilian, started singing when she was seven years old and became a professional musician when she was ten.
At 15, she toured as a backing vocal to Jorge Ben Jor, one of the greatest MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) singers, in the peak of his career on the "W Brasil Tour".
At the age of 17, she became a musician/producer, composing and arranging her own music in the R&B/Soul Style. She then moved to Oakland, California, U.S.A. where she lived for two years, producing songs and studying audio engineering.
Upon returning to Brazil, she recorded her first self composed album "BLACK NATURE", which premiered on "Programa do Jô" (Globo TV) and later appeared on more than fifty nationally broadcast TV shows, gaining an audience of several million fans.
In 2001, combined with the success of her album, COMMIT A CRIME, Georgia embarked on her major Hip-Hop/Soul and R&B BLACK NATURE TOUR two years later (2001 - 2002), accruing many fans and making her debut album in Brazil certified as GOLD, selling over 120.000 copies.
Many of Georgia’s songs have by famous DJ's such as DJ Patife who produced a different remix in the R&B style to add to the playlist on his album "Na Estrada", released in 2005. With the support of radio and club DJ's, the song was a hit in the clubs and radios around the world, being #1 on the Top 10 on the electronic music charts. Perfect Drum N' Bass partnerships were formed with DJ's for the launch of the singles "Deeper" by Georgia Brown and Producer XRS and "Red Light" by Georgia Brown and Producers DJ Marky & XRS in England. Georgia Brown licensed songs for famous compilations such as, AMP MTV 2, with the track "I Need U" by Georgia Brown & the Cosmonautics, Jóia 3 Chill Out and Lounge by Luciano Huck, with the track "Lover Street" by G. Brown Bossa Nova Mix and others.
In 2004, she released HEART BEATS, an original album full of concepts, innovation, and dare with her musical style showing several vocal and instrumental techniques, mixed with the accelerated DnB beat with the melody and the harmony of R&B. With this album, she created a new kind of electronic music, D’N’B/Soul, and with these characteristics, Georgia Brown went PLATINUM with over 300,000 copies sold, touring in Europe, USA, Asia, and Brazil.
Also in 2004, Georgia Brown broke Mariah Carey's vocal record on GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS and received her certificate for her two records, "World's Greatest Vocal range "G2/G10 - 8 octaves" and "World's Highest Note "G10" which were published two years later. Georgia also had her records registered on RANK BRASIL RECORDES, singing in nine different octaves and eight complete octaves recorded by a professional music team that said, "Georgia is a phenomenon. Her vocal cords extend beyond human and animal detection limits and her notes are higher than the highest note produced by any natural or electronic musical instrument. Her notes can only be measured by a "frequency measurement device".
In 2005, Georgia Brown, an expert in vocal techniques, also released the first volume of her Vocal Techniques Video Class on DVD, a best seller (selling over 20,000 copies), singing her vocal techniques, "A Maior Voz do Mundo – A Revolução do Canto Vol.1 (World´s Greatest Voice)". Since her records were published in the Guinness Book of World Records (2006 edition - page 172) due to her incredible vocal range, Georgia Brown started invitations to interviews and to perform on TV Shows in Japan, Korea, Brazil and various European countries.
Georgia released her third album "THE RENASCENCE OF SOUL" in 2008, in physical and digital format by her own label WGM Music Entertainment.
In 2009, DJ/Producers remixed Georgia Brown's songs when she became a diva of the Tribal House scene. The potency of her voice, in synchronicity with the pick-ups of the Top House Music DJ's, resulted in another project of electronic music. The original track "Loneliness" featured on the album THE RENASCENCE OF SOUL, remixed by Allan Natal, was #1 on the Top 10 list for three months on Mexico´s most renowned electronic music radio station, BEAT 100.9 FM. The song was also a hit in Brazil which Georgia Brown performed her TO DA FLOOR TOUR 2009.
Searching for a harder kind of sound and looking for a House Tribal producer able to arrange a new type of production, HytraxX was choosen. In 2010, Georgia Brown released the track, "Love 4 Real". When the original track was out, the Tribal House scene was transformed. Released by the Mexican label, Bearlin Records, the single was #1 for one month and a best seller on Masterbeat's Top 10 list. In the clubs, "Love 4 Real" became an anthem.
"The African American voice from a white woman with killer red hair" always amazes everyone in every performance. "The Guinness World Records Singer", the nickname by which she is recognized because of her highest and lowest notes that can make anyone shiver. On THE LOVE 4 REAL TOUR, the Queen of High Notes sings clearer than ever, making her a phenomenon not only because she possesses the greatest vocal range in the world, but also proves that she is a REAL SINGER.
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Yes, this woman is amazing…………
OK, back to the story. One night we went to a really cool nightclub and watched Georgia perform. That particular evening, Georgia was performing a wide range of classic rock. What a voice. You name it; she sang it. No, she killed it.
I met Georgia after the show. She is fun, crazy, charismatic and we hit it off immediately. This is so going to happen………….
As one particular song was developing during the songwriting process for the record, I knew I found the song to feature Georgia. The instrumental “Angel On My Mind” was a perfect fit. We set the date & time for the session. I had asked Georgia if she would like to hear the tune beforehand to get a feel. “No, I just want to hear it and feel it while we are recording”. I loved that response !!!!
Well, the session time came and in came Georgia. What a blast to work with her! We had a great time. I have to say that while we were setting mic & headphone levels, etc. Georgia began to improvise over the song for the first time. A minute into the song she covered every “style” you can imagine and each one equally as flawless. R&B, Blues, Rock, Blues Rock, Pop. She then paused and casually said, “So, what style would you like?” We all started cracking up! This was going to be one fun and amazing session……….
Three quick takes later, I was left with a serious dilemma. I had more great performance than I can ever use on one song. But, hey- that’s a producer’s dream and a great problem to have.
I can’t wait for you to hear Georgia Brown performing on “Angel on my Mind” from my upcoming cd!!!
You can find tons of material on the web with a quick search, but here’s the fast track:
Until next time!!
Peace! MC
