(Another) Kashif appreciation thread
disco_che
1,115 Posts
Have been enjoying this man's production as well as his songwriting lately. Never knew he wrote and/or produced for Whitney Houston and George Benson as well. Still his name isn't dropped too often so I thought he should get his own thread. His short biography is an interesting read as well. Anybody knew he became a member of B.T. Express by the age of fifteen?
From discogs:
From his teenage years as a member of the '70's seminal funk band B.T. Express through his solo work, Kashif has worked as a musician, author, software developer, lecturer, film producer, and educator. But music is and always will be his first love. As a producer/songwriter he has produced and or written songs for Whitney Houston, Kenny G, George Benson, Barry White, Lil' Kim, Evelyn King, Will Downing, Dionne Warwick, Howard Johnson, Johnny Kemp, Glenn Jones, Al Jarreau, Da Brat, Meli'sa Morgan and other artists.
Never knowing his real parents, Kashif (whose name means "inventor, discoverer and magic maker") grew up in eight foster homes. Learning to play a $3.00 song flute at the age of seven provided him with what turned out to be an important common denominator in his unstable environments. By the age of 15 he joined B.T. Express whose credits included early funk/dance hits like "Here Comes The Express" and "Do It 'Til You're Satisfied".
It was while he was signed as a solo artist with Arista Records, that Kashif teamed with New England Digital to help further develop the Synclavier, the world's first sampler. His use of the computerized instrument was recorded on tracks like "I Just Got To Have You (Lover Turn Me On)", "Stone Love", "Help Yourself To My Love" and the Grammy-nominated instrumental "The Mood". His second album, "Send Me Your Love" resulted in two Grammy nominations ("Edgartown Groove", featuring Al Jarreau, and "Call Me Tonight"), while his 1985 release "Condition of the Heart" also yielded another Grammy nomination with "The Movie Song." He wrote and produced "Inside Love" for George Benson and helped launching the career of Kenny G with the tracks "Hi How Ya Doin', and "Nightime In Tribeca". He then teamed up with then-newcomer Whitney Houston. The result was Whitney's first across-the-board smash "You Give Good Love", which he also co-wrote, and "Thinking About You", a single track from Whitney's successful debut-album. Kashif also worked with Whitney Houston on her second album. He produced Dionne Warwick's "Reservations For Two" which he duetted with her. He also sang on and recorded another duet titled "Love Changes" with Mel'isa Morgan, taken from his same-titled album.
In the 1996, with an invitation from the UCLA Extension program, Kashif created a course called "Contemporary Record Production With Kashif". He also wrote and self-published the book "Everything You'd Better Know About The Record Industry." In 2001 Kashif started Brooklyn Boy Software and developed three software products, the Music studio Organizer, Music Business 411, and the Complete Music contracts Pack. Most recent music projects include producing "Brooklyn Breezes" for Will Downing, producing the Duke Ellington Tribute CD for the Duke Ellington Foundation featuring Nancy Wilson, Kenny Lattimore, Eugene Young, and other original members from Duke's band. The theme song for the 2001 Para-Olympics was another creation he worked on.
September, 2003 marks the release of "Music From My Mind", a double CD. The 15 new songs plus the entire first Kashif LP on Arista records is being release on CD for the first time ever. This compilation includes songs like "Ain't Nothin In The World Like A Black Woman", "Superfly", and "Tossin Turnin" from the new set and "Lover Turn Me", "Help Yourself To My Love", and "Stone Love" from the old school set.
Here are some of his finest moments IMHO:
Kashif - Stone Love
Kashif - I Just Gotta Have You (Lover Turn Me On)
Evelyn King - I'm In Love
Howard Johnson - Keepin' Love New
Howard Johnson - Say You Wanna
Melba Moore - Love's Comin' At Cha
High Fashion - Hold On
From discogs:
From his teenage years as a member of the '70's seminal funk band B.T. Express through his solo work, Kashif has worked as a musician, author, software developer, lecturer, film producer, and educator. But music is and always will be his first love. As a producer/songwriter he has produced and or written songs for Whitney Houston, Kenny G, George Benson, Barry White, Lil' Kim, Evelyn King, Will Downing, Dionne Warwick, Howard Johnson, Johnny Kemp, Glenn Jones, Al Jarreau, Da Brat, Meli'sa Morgan and other artists.
Never knowing his real parents, Kashif (whose name means "inventor, discoverer and magic maker") grew up in eight foster homes. Learning to play a $3.00 song flute at the age of seven provided him with what turned out to be an important common denominator in his unstable environments. By the age of 15 he joined B.T. Express whose credits included early funk/dance hits like "Here Comes The Express" and "Do It 'Til You're Satisfied".
It was while he was signed as a solo artist with Arista Records, that Kashif teamed with New England Digital to help further develop the Synclavier, the world's first sampler. His use of the computerized instrument was recorded on tracks like "I Just Got To Have You (Lover Turn Me On)", "Stone Love", "Help Yourself To My Love" and the Grammy-nominated instrumental "The Mood". His second album, "Send Me Your Love" resulted in two Grammy nominations ("Edgartown Groove", featuring Al Jarreau, and "Call Me Tonight"), while his 1985 release "Condition of the Heart" also yielded another Grammy nomination with "The Movie Song." He wrote and produced "Inside Love" for George Benson and helped launching the career of Kenny G with the tracks "Hi How Ya Doin', and "Nightime In Tribeca". He then teamed up with then-newcomer Whitney Houston. The result was Whitney's first across-the-board smash "You Give Good Love", which he also co-wrote, and "Thinking About You", a single track from Whitney's successful debut-album. Kashif also worked with Whitney Houston on her second album. He produced Dionne Warwick's "Reservations For Two" which he duetted with her. He also sang on and recorded another duet titled "Love Changes" with Mel'isa Morgan, taken from his same-titled album.
In the 1996, with an invitation from the UCLA Extension program, Kashif created a course called "Contemporary Record Production With Kashif". He also wrote and self-published the book "Everything You'd Better Know About The Record Industry." In 2001 Kashif started Brooklyn Boy Software and developed three software products, the Music studio Organizer, Music Business 411, and the Complete Music contracts Pack. Most recent music projects include producing "Brooklyn Breezes" for Will Downing, producing the Duke Ellington Tribute CD for the Duke Ellington Foundation featuring Nancy Wilson, Kenny Lattimore, Eugene Young, and other original members from Duke's band. The theme song for the 2001 Para-Olympics was another creation he worked on.
September, 2003 marks the release of "Music From My Mind", a double CD. The 15 new songs plus the entire first Kashif LP on Arista records is being release on CD for the first time ever. This compilation includes songs like "Ain't Nothin In The World Like A Black Woman", "Superfly", and "Tossin Turnin" from the new set and "Lover Turn Me", "Help Yourself To My Love", and "Stone Love" from the old school set.
Here are some of his finest moments IMHO:
Kashif - Stone Love
Kashif - I Just Gotta Have You (Lover Turn Me On)
Evelyn King - I'm In Love
Howard Johnson - Keepin' Love New
Howard Johnson - Say You Wanna
Melba Moore - Love's Comin' At Cha
High Fashion - Hold On
Comments
:face_melt: :game_over:
My bad.