Greetings to all our Gravity 180 fans and music lovers everywhere! After a three year labor of love, we are proud to announce the release of our latest CD. We were blessed with a wonderful team for this project, beginning with our Co-producers, Nils and Eddie Brown and we sincerely thank them as well as our family, friends and fellow musicians without whose generosity, talent and support this CD could not have been made.
With this project we wanted to expand our musical horizons while still maintaining the core essence of the band and we couldn’t be happier with the end results. All in all, this is our best effort to date, so we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did making it.
People, turn it on and crank it up!
Love and best wishes,
The Gravity 180 Family
TO PURCHASE THE CD, CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW:
Oliver Brown, Clydene Jackson & Harold Payne
"Surface Thrills" Live at MyPlace / Santa Monica, CA
"California Blues" Live at the Lounge / Hermosa Beach, CA
Nils CD release party with Gravity 180 at Spaghettini's
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Barbara Blake (94.7 The Wave) interviews Gravity 180 @ Spaghettini's Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch
Gravity live in Japan 1990 / "I want to Make Love to You"
How Gravity180 Got Together
Gravity 180
‘Celebrated Trio Takes A Turn’
Within this circle is magic. Gravity 180, three master musicians: Clydene Jackson, vocals/keyboards, Harold Payne, vocals/guitar, and percussionist Oliver C. Brown. On their new eponymous CD the band distills their sterling song craft and illuminated performances into a stunning suite of songs that honors the significance of a shared history as it redefines their signature sound. Melodic pop is framed with classic soul; global grooves are polished by smooth jazz with Jackson and Payne’s patented vocal blend creating what one inspired scribe dubbed “sandpaper and silk.” Imaginative wordsmith Harold Payne describes the band’s genre as “Noomer Music” -- new music, by baby boomers, for everyone.
A brief history: Jackson and Payne met when both were solo performers in clubs on the Redondo Beach pier. As a team, their first gig was at The Tijuana Inn in Gardena, California where they invited Brown down to hear them. “I had just come off a national tour with Leo Sayer,” he recalls. “I didn’t want to work a club. I went down there and heard those songs and said, ‘Please, just let me in.’’’
Since that night, over twenty years ago, Gravity 180 has released a series of CD’s on both major and independent labels, launched tours from their home base in Los Angeles to Hawaii and Japan, and endeared themselves to a worldwide audience. All three members maintain separate career identities. Jackson is a first-call session singer for film soundtracks and recording projects including The Lion King, Superman Returns and American Gangster; Brown, an original member of KC and the Sunshine Band, has toured with artists ranging from Al Jarreau to Fleetwood Mac, and Payne, a solo artist, is a songwriter whose credits include Patti Labelle, Snoop Dogg, Rod Stewart and long time collaborator Bobby Womack. Instant recall is the touchstone when the three convene. “First off we’re family. We can read each other’s mind,” surmises Jackson. “Even though we do things individually, we’re always a part of one another.”
While the core of the band remains solidified, other family members also contribute. Brown's brother, Eddie Brown of the famed folk duo, "Joe and Eddie", is a frequent collaborator on songs with Payne and Jackson. Eddie and smooth jazz guitarist, Nils ("Pacific Coast Highway" and composer for the Showtime series, Weeds) are credited with co-producing Gravity 180's newest project. Nils adds his lustrous guitar and Payne, his husky, heartfelt vocals to an evocative reggae-tinged, "Moonlight On The Water.” Oliver’s potent percussion propels the conscious world grooves of "Standing On The Shoulders", and Jackson's soaring take on the soulful ballad, "Somewhere In My Heart" are among the highlights on the new tracks.
By updating their name from Gravity to Gravity 180, the trio confirms their legacy while noting the positive pulse of change. “A new name signifies a new turn,” says Payne. “But Gravity is still the force that holds everything together.”
Contact: Affinity Records (310) 574-0022/ affrecords@yahoo.com/ www.Gravity180.net
Have a great new week my friend...I thought Stevie Wonder's performance here was exceptional...his demeanor, words and thoughts were so beautiful...it's like he just wrote these songs for this event, although they are old songs...it fit the occasion perfectly and...we need to appreciate Stevie Wonder while we still can...With much Love, Val
I knew Michael Jackson and worked with Jermaine Jackson when I came to Los Angeles after leaving K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Michael Jackson was a gift from God that we were gratefully allowed to share our lives and hearts with through his wonderful music which will always live on...A shy man seeking peace in the midst of all of the storms that swirled around him in his life...It is my prayer that he is truely peaceful now. I intend to make great music in his honor and I hope all of our comtemporaries will do the same... In Jesus love, Oliver C. Brown
Hey, thanks so much for the add & friendship! I really like meeting new people and other artists, too!
I’m 13 years old and having been playing guitar for 5 years and songwriting for 1 year! I hope you have a chance to stop by my page and check out my music and backstory! I welcome any and all feedback!
Thank you for the request, Jeff and Gravity 180. Lovely music and profile! Please check out mine when you have a moment, also. I'm located in Riverside, Ca. Beautiful day, Cynthia Danne
Yea it was a magical night.....he was very sweet man....a little grouchy ... but always nice to me. He gave me his phone number that night (he had a phone he kept in a suitcase!) and we talked from time to time...sadly he died about a year after that.... Thanks for dropping in Jeff, I dig your playing and Harold has great things to say about you...and yes, lets latk blues sometimes...take care. Jodi
