He drops a
tribute album, “Dear Marvin,” on April 2, the iconic crooner’s 80th birthday.
The first single, “Got To Give It Up,” is the No. 1 most-added single on the
Billboard chart this week.
Sax salutes sexy soul on Elan Trotman’s “Dear Marvin,” a
collection of ten of Marvin Gaye’s best-loved songs that drops on April 2, the
late legendary R&B singer’s 80th birthday. Preceding the set’s arrival is
the single “Got To Give It Up,” a vibrant reboot of one of Gaye’s funky dance tracks
that is the No. 1 most-added single on the Billboard chart this week as an
instrumental from the Woodward Avenue Records album produced by Charles Haynes
(Marcus Miller, Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah) and Trotman.
“It’s
amazing how this project came about. ‘Got To Give It Up’ has been a huge part
of my live show for the past two years and has always been a crowd favorite.
That is just one of the many factors that inspired me to record the song and to
dig deeper into Marvin’s catalogue and life story. I had no idea that his 80th
birthday would be coming up around our time of completing the album, but once I
found out, I knew we had to release it on April 2 to mark the occasion,” said
Trotman, an award-winning saxophonist who has topped the Billboard singles
chart more than ten times.
In
reimagining Gaye’s catalogue in instrumental form, Trotman shares the spotlight
on “Dear Marvin,” with premier soloists, including Grammy-winning keyboardist
Jeff Lorber, seminal urban-jazz flautist Najee, esteemed trumpeter Patches
Stewart, soul-jazz-hip hop-funk trombonist Jeff Bradshaw and veteran guitarist
Sherrod Barnes. Trotman strategically deploys vocals to illumine a few key
tracks. Ray Greene (Santana, Tower of Power) begs on “Mercy Mercy Me”; rapper
Obadele Thompson plies his come-on skills to “I Want You”; and Tim
“Smithsoneon” Smith provides the cure through “Sexual Healing.” Members of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra enhance a pair of tracks with strings. Including
Haynes, Trotman’s core collaborators are his former colleagues from Berklee
College of Music: keyboardist Mitch Henry (Marsha Ambrosius), bassists Kyle
Miles and Keithen Foster (H.E.R.), and percussionist Atticus Cole.
“It’s been
an honor to be able to share my interpretations of some of Marvin’s classics.
As with all cover projects, I made an extra effort to learn lyrics and
storylines for each composition in order to truly understand his
interpretations and performances on each song,” said the Boston-based Trotman,
who is planning to be in Los Angeles on April 2 for an 11am ceremony held by
the United States Postal Service at The Greek Theatre to celebrate the release
of the Marvin Gaye commemorative Forever stamp.
“We,
Marvin's family, heard about Elan doing a musical tribute to Marvin. We are
very pleased with his album 'Dear Marvin,' and are so happy that it will be
released on his birthday, April 2. The musicians are all incredible! Thank you,
Elan Trotman. Job well done,” said Janis Gaye, Gaye’s second wife.
“Dear
Marvin,” is Trotman’s eighth album and second on the Woodward Avenue Records
imprint. The label issued the saxophone-flute player’s 2013 disc,
“Tropicality,” an autobiographical album that colors contemporary jazz with
native sounds from Trotman’s homeland, Barbados. Trotman curates, produces and
hosts the Barbados Jazz Excursion and Golf Weekend annually over Columbus Day
Weekend with the sixth edition taking place this October 10-14. Bringing that
winning formula closer to home, he will launch the first annual Martha’s
Vineyard Jazz Excursion and Golf Weekend in Oak Bluffs, MA on June 28-30. To
support the album release, Trotman will perform at festivals, theaters and
nightclubs through October beginning with the prestigious Boscov’s Berks Jazz
Festival in Reading, PA on April 5.
“Dear
Marvin,” contains the following songs:
“Inner City
Blues” featuring Sherrod Barnes
“Got To Give
It Up”
“Distant
Lover” featuring Patches Stewart
“Ain’t
Nothing Like The Real Thing”
“Mercy Mercy
Me” featuring Ray Greene
“I Want You”
featuring Obadele Thompson
“Sexual
Healing” featuring “Smithsoneon”
“After The
Dance” featuring Najee
“Trouble
Man” featuring Jeff Lorber
“I Heard It
Through The Grapevine” featuring Jeff Bradshaw
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