“Stange Times” is a reflection of initial conversations Omar Coleman had with Eddie Roberts during Coleman’s 2020 sessions at Color Red Studios (Denver, CO) testifying the bizarre state of America amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The exchange kept running back to the strange times that they were living in and Coleman took the stanza and ran with it. He immediately compiled lyrics he scribbled out on pieces of paper and knocked out lyrics from start to finish. Roberts approached the album combining classic blues with funkier blues and captured the rawness and immediacy of the music by recording through tape on Color Red Studios’ Tascam 388. “I hear Omar’s voice as a cross between Muddy Waters and Charles Bradley,” he states, “I tried to reflect those qualities in music approach and songwriting as well as the way we recorded the album and built the instrumentation of the tracks.” Joining Coleman and Roberts on “Strange Times” are Dan Africano (Ghost Light) on bass, Chris Spies (Matador! Soul Sounds) on keyboards and organ, Carl Sorenson (Dragondeer) on drums, Eric Bloom (Lettuce) on trumpet, Nick Gerlach (Michal Menert) on saxophone, Adrienne Short on viola and Kari Clifton on violin. ‘Eddie Roberts presents Omar Coleman: Strange Times’ comes out in summer 2021.
WHAT'S THE STORY?
When Chicago-based producer David Vandenberg brought The New Mastersounds to the US for their first time to open for Greyboy All-Stars in 2004, little did Eddie know nearly two decades later there would be full-circle energy tied into that first night out in Chicago and working with Omar Coleman, an icon-clad staple in the city heralded as ‘Home of the Blues.’ On Eddie's first night in Chicago, Vandenberg took him to Rosa’s, a legendary blues club on the West Side of town, a club that Coleman had been playing for decades. Fast forward to 2021 producing Coleman's upcoming record on Color Red, Coleman started to lay down his original tune "Old Man Teaser" and explained that it was a story about the lady behind the bar at Rosa's teasing all the older blues musicians.
An instance like that goes beyond coincidence and demonstrates the ripple effect of Color Red’s collaborative spirit and the minuscule degrees of separation in their musical network. As for the album’s title, Eddie Roberts Presents Omar Coleman: Strange Times, it’s an ode to The New Mastersounds’ 2001 debut record, Keb Darge Presents: The New Mastersounds, that was championed by the iconic Scottish DJ and curator launching the band into a 20+ year career and nine more records to boot. Now, the baton is passed to Eddie as a leading voice in the modern funk and soul revival era with notable producer and bandleader accolades and the launch of Color Red that curates top-notch musical talent from all over the globe.
released March 18, 2021When Chicago-based producer David Vandenberg brought The New Mastersounds to the US for their first time to open for Greyboy All-Stars in 2004, little did Eddie know nearly two decades later there would be full-circle energy tied into that first night out in Chicago and working with Omar Coleman, an icon-clad staple in the city heralded as ‘Home of the Blues.’ On Eddie's first night in Chicago, Vandenberg took him to Rosa’s, a legendary blues club on the West Side of town, a club that Coleman had been playing for decades. Fast forward to 2021 producing Coleman's upcoming record on Color Red, Coleman started to lay down his original tune "Old Man Teaser" and explained that it was a story about the lady behind the bar at Rosa's teasing all the older blues musicians.
An instance like that goes beyond coincidence and demonstrates the ripple effect of Color Red’s collaborative spirit and the minuscule degrees of separation in their musical network. As for the album’s title, Eddie Roberts Presents Omar Coleman: Strange Times, it’s an ode to The New Mastersounds’ 2001 debut record, Keb Darge Presents: The New Mastersounds, that was championed by the iconic Scottish DJ and curator launching the band into a 20+ year career and nine more records to boot. Now, the baton is passed to Eddie as a leading voice in the modern funk and soul revival era with notable producer and bandleader accolades and the launch of Color Red that curates top-notch musical talent from all over the globe.
