Expressive power of spiritual, orchestral soul

Stephen Emmer is a versatile Dutch composer, arranger, and musician. He is currently working on the project Home Ground, featuring collaborations with artists such as Chaka Khan, Patti Austin, and the recently deceased soul legend Leon Ware.

In 2014, Stephen launched the International Blue project, a celebration of the art of the pop crooner with Glenn Gregory, Julian Lennon, Tony Visconti, Midge Ure, and Liam McKahey. The album, which was presented at Abbey Road and received positive reviews worldwide, resulted in a meeting of kindred spirits, culminating in Visconti's Holy Holy project.

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Home Ground combines the expressive power of spiritual, orchestral soul with lyrics that bear witness to social consciousness. The songs on ‘Home Ground’ are vocally performed by musical icons of the last 5 decades.

This results in an impressive line-up featuring the best soul voices the world has produced, such as Chaka Khan, Patti Austin, Leon Ware, Kendra Foster, Frank McComb, Mary Griffin, Ursula Rucker, Andy Bey and Dwight Trible.

The Roots

Furthermore, the album was mixed by Bob Power (The Roots, Erykah Badu, A Tribe Called Quest) and mastered by Mark Wilder (Miles Davis, Sting & Jose James) and Chris Gehringer (Drake, Rihanna, Wu Tang Clan).

War Child

Stephen immediately had the idea that War Child would be a perfect fit for the campaign. Especially because War Child also uses music and creativity as an important tool in their program to help children overcome anxiety, depression, and aggression. A substantial portion of the album's proceeds will therefore be donated to this charity, so that War Child can help even more of ‘our’ children: the best possible investment in a future world where people live in peace.

Home Ground will be released on June 9 (2017).

[Jazzism - Review]