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Conyers, Georgia, United States
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Take “Just One Look” at Soul Sanctuary
Jody Mayfield’s latest release is a neo-jazz and soul experience.
(ATLANTA, GEORGIA) September 20th, 2014 – If you take “Just One Look” at Jody Mayfield’s latest release, Soul Sanctuary, you’ll know why he stands out as a forerunner among today’s brightest jazz innovators. Within the album, Mayfield combines jazz, r&b, funk, and soul - all into what he defines as a “Jazzology.” Mayfield believes this ‘Jazzology’ within Soul Sanctuary teaches both a love of self, as well as of others.
Jody Mayfield's Soul SanctuaryThe fifteen tracks on the album take the listener on a journey through a fusion of stylistic soundscapes. “I wanted to include something for everyone on Soul Sanctuary,” explains Mayfield. He continues, “The main focus was to transcend just a one-genre focus. We wanted a CD than can both groove as well as soothe. Another motivation was to bring back feel-good songs about loving relationships."
“Just One Look” is the lead single off of Soul Sanctuary and was written by Mayfield, with lyrics by Shiwana Jordan. The tune is a neo-soul exposé of smooth jazz featuring the amazing vocal prowess of Sherita Murphy. Other key tracks on the album include “Forever With You,” an old-school ‘Motown-Romance’ tune composed by Mayfield, performed by Gregory Wright and Sophia White, and spotlighting lyrics penned by Heidi McLaughlin. Perhaps the most poignant is the title track, “Soul Sanctuary,” a serene piano ballad, epitomizing the album’s thematic goal.
Mayfield has decades of experience performing with the legends. These include artists such as Mary Lou Williams, Frank Foster, Grover Washington, Jr., Illinois Jacquet, and James Lloyd of Pieces of a Dream just to name a few. He has even worked with The Tony Rich Project and performed with the renowned Dizzy Gillespie at The Montreux Jazz Festival. However, Jody also has the knack to tap and work with today’s brightest rising young artists, which he did while creating Soul Sanctuary.
Over the decades of experience, Jody has come to believe that jazz has given birth to all American music. “I don’t care if it’s country, rock, r&b, Gospel or hip-hop … they are all the offspring of jazz,” Jody calls it, “jazz and all her babies.”
CONTACT
Stan Ushry
(404) 797-2811 (tel.)
mixstan11@gmail.com
JodyMayfield.com
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Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
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Jody Mayfield is a jazz musician from Atlanta GA. He studied at Clark Atlanta University, where he majored in Music Performance. He has performed with musical greats such as Dizzy Gillespie at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland ('81, '82) as well as James Lloyd of Pieces of a Dream; Frank Foster; Grover Washington, Jr.; Mary Lou Williams; Illinois Jacquet and the Tony Rich Project. He also opened concerts for Sarah Vaughn, Dexter Gordon, Rodney Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, Lionel Hampton, Fred Hammond,Bishop T.D. Jakes to name a few.
Jody Mayfield has worked with top hip-hop producers such as Organized Noize, Anthony David, Marq (Remarqable) Jefferson of So So Def Records. He has also produced a double CD set of songs for the non-profit organization Young Life, which impacts the lives of inner-city teens. Jody Mayfield has toured with Sleepy Brown. He has also worked with actor comedian, Robert Townsend (who referred to him as a “Master Musician�) on film and television projects for the Black Family Channel.
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