Review Fix chats with singer and composer Kevin Flournoy, who discusses his new single, Tell Me If You Still Care?
About Kevin Flournoy:
An unstoppable behind-the-scenes force of musical nature since his 1994 breakthrough as a producer with “Sweet Sensual Love,” Big Mountain’s follow-up to their smash “Baby I Love Your Way,” and keyboardist on their Reggae Sunsplash tour, Kevin Flournoy has amassed a dizzyingly prolific all-star resume in the jazz, pop and R&B realms over the past three decades.
Driven by an expansive, panoramic perspective on music, and starting with his subsequent ’90s work with The Emotions, Teena Marie and Ronnie Laws (helming the saxophonist’s Blue Note tribute album Harvest for the World – Portrait of the Isley Brothers), Kevin has written, performed or recorded with Chaka Khan, Babyface, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Jeffrey Osborne, The Pointer Sisters, Jennifer Hudson, Howard Hewitt, Jamie Foxx, The Jazz Crusaders and contemporary jazz greats Boney James, Norman Brown, Kirk Whalum and Harvey Mason. In the 2000s, Flournoy toured with Donny Osmond for six years.
Now, marking an extraordinary 30 years as the music industry’s premiere “go-to” guy in a multitude of arenas, Kevin is finally emerging as a recording artist in his own right, writing, recording and producing his independent debut albumVers•a•tility. Much like Quincy Jones did in the 80s and 90s with his epic eclectic albums The Dude, Back on the Block, Q’s Jook Joint and From Q, With Love, the keyboardist/producer features a dynamic array of guest artists, complementing legends he has worked with throughout his career with hand-selected young and vibrant artists on the rise. The collection features eight vocal tracks and four instrumentals spotlighting Kevin’s brilliance as a keyboardist and composer.
Review Fix: How did this project begin?
Kevin Flournoy: The idea behind creating a remake of the hit R&B song from the 80’s, “Tell Me If You Still Care” came from my production work on a different project where they had utilized the chorus or hook of the song as part of their derivative song arrangement. The original computer program I created for that project felt so good that I decided to take it to the next level and remake the entire song adding live instrumentation and stacked background vocals. When I thought about who could sing and deliver the lead vocal, Phil Perry came to mind partly because I had been his keyboard player over the years and partly because I knew his gift to deliver a song was in my opinion unmatched in the R&B arena.
Review Fix: How is it different from your other work?
Flournoy: This single is a bit different from my other work in that it displays more of a pure traditional R&B production style whereas my other vocal songs tend to combine various genres of music utilizing an R&B foundation. For example, my second single “You’re All I Need” definitely comes from an R&B base but has young pop vocalist singing lead which pushes it toward the pop genre. Also, in terms of my production work, this song “Tell Me If You Still Care” was unique in that I produced a recording session at United Recording in Hollywood where six background singers recorded vocals into 6 different mics at the same time in the same room. This was in lieu of setting up a couple of stereo room mics to capture all the background vocalist at once. This technique ultimately gave me colorful control over what I wanted to hear from the background parts during the final mix.
Review Fix: How would you like it to be remembered?
Flournoy: I would like this song to be remembered as a song that was remade in such a way that it lived up to the success and classy presentation of its predecessor but added something fresh and new to that version. This would include the video presentation of the song as well. I’d like for the video to be remembered as something that elevated the look and sound of traditional R&B music in this new music era. And ultimately, I’d like the song to be remembered as a song that took people back in time to reengage with their happy thoughts and feelings.
Review Fix: What’s your favorite line in “Tell Me If You Still Care?”
Flournoy: My favorite line in the song is “And you’ve captured all my love with your sweetness” which comes in at the bridge where my other guest vocalist Shannon Pearson starts singing. I like that line because if gives power to what a sweet disposition can do coming from a man or a woman.
Review Fix: What was it like to perform with Phil Perry and Shannon Pearson?
Flournoy: I was already in awe with Phil Perry’s voice and vocal abilities on stage but when he came to the studio and recorded the lead vocal track it was nothing less than mesmerizing. I’ve produced several vocalists but this recording session with Phil was a master class in how to deliver a lyric and vocal line. I captured a small portion of this session on video and posted it on IG where it garnished 100,000 views in just a few days.
Shannon wasn’t originally going to be singing the bridge and had come into the studio to record some additional background vocals. The original version had a female voice singing on the bridge so Phil and I agreed that we should try that approach as well. Yet again I was mesmerized and in awe of how Shannon first pulled up her phone to listen to the original vocals and lyrics and then proceeded to go out into the vocal room and record what you hear on the song today. She is such an amazing talent!
Live performances on stage with both Phil and Shannon would always bring me a feeling of gratefulness for the privilege of playing with such gifted talents. The music flowed effortlessly playing for Phil and it was always fun. Nothing but smiles when I would hear Phil and Shannon singing their hearts out in front of me on stage.
Review Fix: You’ve performed with so many amazing artists- who is someone you’d love to perform with that you haven’t with yet?
Flournoy: Unfortunately, due to his recent passing I won’t be able to perform with him but I always wanted to perform with vocalist James Ingram. His singing style and music was something that always spoke to me in a way that was inspirational to my career.
Currently I really would love to produce and/or perform with vocal artist Gregory Porter. There’s nothing like working with a vocalist who has superb vocal control, vocal tonality and vocal phrasing. And that classical and jazzy touch to his presentation is where I live and grow with all my work. I think that collaboration would produce something very special.
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2024?
Flournoy: 2024 is the year that I release my first full length album as an artist. I’ve been writing and producing music for quite a long time and this first album will be a culmination of everything I’ve learned musically in the business. And I have experienced and learned quite a lot so I’m hoping this project will be full of substance.
I have a show I’m developing called “The K-Flow Show” that exposes the raw and exceptional talent you so often see all over social media that I’ll be working toward producing in 2024. I have done a few test episodes and a couple of live presentations and so far, the show seems to be something people really enjoy seeing and hearing. January 2024 will be the first international presentation of the live version of my show in Ghana, Africa. Looking forward to performing more international shows as well as filming episodes here in Los Angeles.
2024 is also a year where I will be performing all my newly released music live. I’m looking forward to booking concerts to present this first album project to the world. It’ll be the first time I go on tour for myself. The feeling of playing music all over the world will be familiar but at the same time it will be something new.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Flournoy: I just finished the mix for my next single release called “Smooth It Over” featuring saxophone icon Ronnie Laws. I will be working to mix and master several of the other songs for the full-length album to be released the first quarter of 2024. The next song to mix this month is be called” Put It There” which is a grand piano feature on myself. These two songs will be available and streaming by the end of 2023. I will also be finalizing my production on a song “To The Water” collaborating with Amanda Cole (formerly of the group En Vogue) which will also be available the first quarter of 2024.
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Flournoy: I just wanted to bestow a bit of positive encouragement to anyone who is on that lifelong journey to fulfill a dream whether it be in the music business or any other endeavor. Stay in motion. That goal can absolutely be achieved.
Review Fix: Where can people find out more?
Flournoy:
Website: www.KevinFlournoy.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/kevin.flournoy1
Instagram www.instagram.com/kevin.flo
YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/c/KevinFlournoy100
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