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The Jazz In You...Too

© Paula Chase-Hyman

I promised you Mike Phillips and today I deliver. Never say I don't sacrifice for my loyal readers - because I went through some stuff to get you this exclusive. But its all worth it for the music, especially this music! So, let's welcome Mike Philly into our homes, shall we?

On May 14th, the world was blessed with "You Have Reached Mike Phillips," the debut CD of sax man, Mike Phillips. Least you wonder why this should matter to you - Mike is set to be Hidden Beach Recordings second big headliner, their first was none other than Miss Jill Scott. Hidden Beach is not playing around ya'll!

If you attended the 2001 summer leg of Jill's tour than you know Mike Phillips. The opening act, Mike also tore it up on "The Way" for Jill's Words and Sounds Vol. 1 live recording CD. Also, late at night on the hip-hop stations or anytime of day on an Adult Contemporary or Jazz station you can hear Mike's cover of The Roots, "You Got Me" from Hidden Beach's "Unwrapped Vol. 1."

So now that the appetizers are out of the way, Mike has finally brought the main course in, "You Have Reached Mike Phillips."

Mike Philly called me three minutes early for our interview. Later he joked me about it saying he caught me off guard, and he did. I was ready for the interview but was fully expecting him to call me dead on time or a few minutes late.

His good natured teasing resonated with me and revolved around a common theme that popped up throughout - Mike is real just like his music. His philosophy and nature will appeal to "real" music fans. Loyal readers know what I mean by real - its original, no nonsense music that you get lost in, and more important, its music for the sake of the music!

So, how real is Mike? Let's start with the title of this debut project. Mike says that the whole CD is a synergy that's created between the songs and a phone call. The story revolves around a guy watching the phone ring but who won't pick up.

The person calling is Joe and Jill consumer wanting something different - something their kids can listen to - something without parental warning labels on the cover - something to bop their heads to.

"Some of the artists and labels have been ignoring the call from consumers saying 'we want different music,'" Mike states. "My CD is a testimony that I have enough courage to pick up the phone and deliver what the people want."

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