| Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals |
| Call It What It Is (April 8, 2016) |
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals — Call It What It Is (Apr. 8, 2016)
♣ Pražský koncert je ode dneška (8. dubna 2016) 39. ze 63, které ho letos ještě čekají na celosvětovém turné. Forum Karlín
♣ Forum Karlín, Pernerova 51–53, Prague, Czech Republic
♣ Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 8:00pm CEST
LINEUP:
♣ Ben Harper
♣ Oliver Charles
♣ Leon Mobley
♣ Juan Nelson
♣ Michael Ward
♣ Jason Yates
Editors’ Notes: Backed by the Innocent Criminals for the first time in nearly a decade, Call It What It Is simmers with fiery social commentary and rootsy fusions. While the songwriter’s blues–influenced rock doesn’t shy away from the calls for social protest (“Call It What It Is,” “Dance Like Fire”), the album is lightened by moments of sunny pop (“Shine”) and sublime folk (“Goodbye to You”). Eclectic and ambitious, Call It What It Is brings the musical and collaborative triumphs of Harpers’ best work to bear on the urgent issues of the day.
♦ The Title Track From Ben Harper’s New Record Calls Out Police Violence for What It Is
Location: Los Angeles, California
Album release: April 8, 2016
Record Label: Stax
Duration: 40:58
Tracks:
01 When Sex Was Dirty 3:50
02 Deeper And Deeper 4:03
03 Call It What It Is 3:48
04 How Dark Is Gone 3:39
05 Shine 3:56
06 All That Has Grown 3:26
07 Pink Balloon 2:22
08 Finding Our Way 4:15
09 Bones 3:22
10 Dance Like Fire 3:10
11 Goodbye To You 5:07
℗ 2016 Ben Harper, under exclusive license to Concord Music Group, Inc
CREDITS
♣ Produced by BEN HARPER, ETHAN ALLEN, JUAN NELSON, LEON MOBLEY, OLIVER CHARLES, JASON YATES, MICHAEL WARD
♣ Recorded and mixed by ETHAN ALLEN
♣ Recorded at The Village, Los Angeles, CA
♣ Mixed at Royal Triton, Los Angeles, CA
♣ Assistant Engineers: WILL WETZEL, GABRIEL BURCH, MATT DYSON
♣ Mastered by GAVIN LURSSEN at Lurssen Mastering, Los Angeles, CA
♣ Photography by DANNY CLINCH
♣ Design: TOM DOLAN
The Innocent Criminals:
♣ BEN HARPER — vocals, guitar, slide guitar
♣ JUAN NELSON — bass, background vocals
♣ LEON MOBLEY — percussion, bongos, cabasa, clave, congas, djembe, flexitone, music stand, shakere, tambourine, triangle, viber flap, wind chimes, whirly tube, background vocals
♣ OLIVER CHARLES — drums, djun djun, background vocals
♣ JASON YATES — Hammond B3, piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzers, clavinet d6, guitar, background vocals
♣ MICHAEL WARD — guitars, background vocals
♣ JACLYN HARPER — additional vocals on “Pink Balloon”
♣ CLAIRE WADSWORTH — additional vocals on “When Sex Was Dirty”
♣ All songs written by BEN HARPER, BMG Gold Songs / Three Chord Symphony Music (ASCAP), except: “Deeper and Deeper” written by BEN HARPER and MICHAEL WARD, BMG Gold Songs / Three Chord Symphony Music (ASCAP) / Monkeyfeather Music (ASCAP); “How Dark Is Gone” written by BEN HARPER, JASON YATES and LEON MOBLEY, BMG Gold Songs / Three Chord Symphony Music (ASCAP) / Tocayos Music / Wixen Music Pub (BMI) / LEON MOBLEY Publishing (BMI); “Pink Balloon” written by BEN HARPER and JACLYN HARPER, BMG Gold Songs / Three Chord Symphony Music (ASCAP) / LEND2HANDS (ASCAP); “Finding Our Way” written by BEN HARPER and OLIVER CHARLES, BMG Gold Songs / Three Chord Symphony Music (ASCAP) / Scent Music (ASCAP).
Thank you:
♣ BEN HARPER: My family and friends, The Folk Music Center, The Cove, Court House, Stoner, Roller Horror, Almost, Cliché, Central, Street Plant, Real, Stereo, Labor, Shut, Rip City, The Berrics, Jac, Claremont 7, D’Addario, Dumble, Billy Asher.
♣ JUAN NELSON: First and foremost I want to thank God for blessing my life. Thanks to my family and friends for unconditional love and guidance. Thank you Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals for reuniting and making this record a joy to work on. Thanks to D’Addario and Gallien–Krueger. Last but not least, thanks to our fans for all the love you’ve shown over the years. Gratefully yours, Juan.
♣ LEON MOBLEY: I would like to thank JAH, Yvonne Mobley, Gerrie Mobley, Fatimah Mobley, Clarence Mobley, Dexter Johnson, REMO Inc., Remo Belly, Chris Hart, Istanbul Cymbals, Mehmet Tamdeger, Manton Daley, Vic Firth Sticks, Kelly Firth, Joe Testa, DW/Gon, Bops, Scott Donnell, Don Lombardi, Kotzen Drums, Mike Kotzen, Nas, Damian Marley, Mike Levy.
♣ OLIVER CHARLES: I would like to thank my family and friends. Gogol Bordello Crew, Mariachi El Bronx Crew, Ocean 11 Crew, all the LAmusicians, Yamaha, Paiste, Vic Firth, Hepcat, and Evans, RhythmRoots Allstars, Dakah, Soul Of John Black.
♣ JASON YATES: The native called Flies Away who carried a drum all the way to the top of Mt. Whitney that still awaits there to be played. Larry Strauss for simultaneously befriending me and coming to my defense. And the universe for showing me the way to Aimee.
♣ MICHAEL WARD: I wish to thank Tennessee and Odin Von Ward, Janet and Bill Bradley, Tracy and Chad Hartfiel, Rich Ward, Hugh Gilmartin at D'Addario, George Starks, Tim Godwin at Taylor Guitars, Todd Von Cloninger, Larry Strauss.
♣ The band would like to thank: Our crew, Red Light Management, Concord/Stax, Shore Fire Media, Ethan Allen, Gavin Conaty, Elliot Groffman, Rod MacSween, Diana Pereira, Janine Small, Jennifer Specland, Randy Sugarman.
♣ Bentley RIP
♣ Management: WILL BOTWIN and CHRISTINE KANE for Red Light Management
♣ Web & Digital Management: GAVIN CONATY
♣ (P) & © 2016 Ben Harper. Under exclusive license to Concord Music Group, Inc., 100 N. Crescent Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. All Rights Reserved.
Review
♣ Coming off an hiatus lengthened from 2008, following their last album, the Grammy nominated Lifeline, Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals spent time separated like there was no time to lose.
♣ While Harper worked with Charlie Musselwhite, Ringo Starr and with his own mother on Childhood Home — the latest off his discography — guitarist Michael Ward recorded with Gogol Bordello, and keyboardist Jason Yates with John Mayer and Citizen Cope. According to Harper it was a cathartic period apart for the band, much to the benefit and enrichment of Call It What It Is.
♣ “Everybody was in the thick of it in the time–off. Like, nobody has one day or one note to waste when it comes to their musical experience so we were just hittin’ it and we were all able to just bring that back into the studio and mix it up. Everybody had just come so damn far… And not only in music but as people. I’m still the same asshole but they have gotten much, much nicer.”
♣ And with that, Harper was hesitant to wax–off objectively in presenting the band’s position and progression since Lifeline dropped. “You should never wax poetic on your own maturity without sounding a bit wack, right? But… We’re doing an interview, who’s the interview about? Me. So you have no choice but to expound. So, If I can take a distant, objective view, I think we landed with the ball way further down the field. And that’s from both the musical and personal experiences we’ve had in between the time we stopped playing together and picking it back up. And, I think we’ve grown a lot and that’s growth projected into the art, into the music, into the song.
♣ “We’re grown–ass men but we had to — not prove to each other — but to show to each other. We had a lot to express. And, the best part about it was we didn’t have to mend any fences ’cause we had done that in like year one after we split. The fact that we can get everybody together, back on the same page to do this is so open–road for this band.”
Website: http://www.benharper.com/news
Twitter: https://twitter.com/benharper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/benharper
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benharper
Also:
BY MARK WARREN, FEB 11, 2016, An Esquire exclusive:
♣ http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/news/a42040/ben-harper-call-it-what-it-is/
♣:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣::::::::::::♣♣♣♣♣♣♣:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::♣
| Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals |
| Call It What It Is (April 8, 2016) |
♣ Forum Karlín, Pernerova 51–53, Prague, Czech Republic
♣ Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 8:00pm CEST
LINEUP:
♣ Ben Harper
♣ Oliver Charles
♣ Leon Mobley
♣ Juan Nelson
♣ Michael Ward
♣ Jason Yates
Editors’ Notes: Backed by the Innocent Criminals for the first time in nearly a decade, Call It What It Is simmers with fiery social commentary and rootsy fusions. While the songwriter’s blues–influenced rock doesn’t shy away from the calls for social protest (“Call It What It Is,” “Dance Like Fire”), the album is lightened by moments of sunny pop (“Shine”) and sublime folk (“Goodbye to You”). Eclectic and ambitious, Call It What It Is brings the musical and collaborative triumphs of Harpers’ best work to bear on the urgent issues of the day.
♦ The Title Track From Ben Harper’s New Record Calls Out Police Violence for What It Is
Location: Los Angeles, California
Album release: April 8, 2016
Record Label: Stax
Duration: 40:58
Tracks:
01 When Sex Was Dirty 3:50
02 Deeper And Deeper 4:03
03 Call It What It Is 3:48
04 How Dark Is Gone 3:39
05 Shine 3:56
06 All That Has Grown 3:26
07 Pink Balloon 2:22
08 Finding Our Way 4:15
09 Bones 3:22
10 Dance Like Fire 3:10
11 Goodbye To You 5:07
℗ 2016 Ben Harper, under exclusive license to Concord Music Group, Inc
CREDITS
♣ Produced by BEN HARPER, ETHAN ALLEN, JUAN NELSON, LEON MOBLEY, OLIVER CHARLES, JASON YATES, MICHAEL WARD
♣ Recorded and mixed by ETHAN ALLEN
♣ Recorded at The Village, Los Angeles, CA
♣ Mixed at Royal Triton, Los Angeles, CA
♣ Assistant Engineers: WILL WETZEL, GABRIEL BURCH, MATT DYSON
♣ Mastered by GAVIN LURSSEN at Lurssen Mastering, Los Angeles, CA
♣ Photography by DANNY CLINCH
♣ Design: TOM DOLAN
The Innocent Criminals:
♣ BEN HARPER — vocals, guitar, slide guitar
♣ JUAN NELSON — bass, background vocals
♣ LEON MOBLEY — percussion, bongos, cabasa, clave, congas, djembe, flexitone, music stand, shakere, tambourine, triangle, viber flap, wind chimes, whirly tube, background vocals
♣ OLIVER CHARLES — drums, djun djun, background vocals
♣ JASON YATES — Hammond B3, piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzers, clavinet d6, guitar, background vocals
♣ MICHAEL WARD — guitars, background vocals
♣ JACLYN HARPER — additional vocals on “Pink Balloon”
♣ CLAIRE WADSWORTH — additional vocals on “When Sex Was Dirty”
♣ All songs written by BEN HARPER, BMG Gold Songs / Three Chord Symphony Music (ASCAP), except: “Deeper and Deeper” written by BEN HARPER and MICHAEL WARD, BMG Gold Songs / Three Chord Symphony Music (ASCAP) / Monkeyfeather Music (ASCAP); “How Dark Is Gone” written by BEN HARPER, JASON YATES and LEON MOBLEY, BMG Gold Songs / Three Chord Symphony Music (ASCAP) / Tocayos Music / Wixen Music Pub (BMI) / LEON MOBLEY Publishing (BMI); “Pink Balloon” written by BEN HARPER and JACLYN HARPER, BMG Gold Songs / Three Chord Symphony Music (ASCAP) / LEND2HANDS (ASCAP); “Finding Our Way” written by BEN HARPER and OLIVER CHARLES, BMG Gold Songs / Three Chord Symphony Music (ASCAP) / Scent Music (ASCAP).
Thank you:
♣ BEN HARPER: My family and friends, The Folk Music Center, The Cove, Court House, Stoner, Roller Horror, Almost, Cliché, Central, Street Plant, Real, Stereo, Labor, Shut, Rip City, The Berrics, Jac, Claremont 7, D’Addario, Dumble, Billy Asher.
♣ JUAN NELSON: First and foremost I want to thank God for blessing my life. Thanks to my family and friends for unconditional love and guidance. Thank you Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals for reuniting and making this record a joy to work on. Thanks to D’Addario and Gallien–Krueger. Last but not least, thanks to our fans for all the love you’ve shown over the years. Gratefully yours, Juan.
♣ LEON MOBLEY: I would like to thank JAH, Yvonne Mobley, Gerrie Mobley, Fatimah Mobley, Clarence Mobley, Dexter Johnson, REMO Inc., Remo Belly, Chris Hart, Istanbul Cymbals, Mehmet Tamdeger, Manton Daley, Vic Firth Sticks, Kelly Firth, Joe Testa, DW/Gon, Bops, Scott Donnell, Don Lombardi, Kotzen Drums, Mike Kotzen, Nas, Damian Marley, Mike Levy.
♣ OLIVER CHARLES: I would like to thank my family and friends. Gogol Bordello Crew, Mariachi El Bronx Crew, Ocean 11 Crew, all the LAmusicians, Yamaha, Paiste, Vic Firth, Hepcat, and Evans, RhythmRoots Allstars, Dakah, Soul Of John Black.
♣ JASON YATES: The native called Flies Away who carried a drum all the way to the top of Mt. Whitney that still awaits there to be played. Larry Strauss for simultaneously befriending me and coming to my defense. And the universe for showing me the way to Aimee.
♣ MICHAEL WARD: I wish to thank Tennessee and Odin Von Ward, Janet and Bill Bradley, Tracy and Chad Hartfiel, Rich Ward, Hugh Gilmartin at D'Addario, George Starks, Tim Godwin at Taylor Guitars, Todd Von Cloninger, Larry Strauss.
♣ The band would like to thank: Our crew, Red Light Management, Concord/Stax, Shore Fire Media, Ethan Allen, Gavin Conaty, Elliot Groffman, Rod MacSween, Diana Pereira, Janine Small, Jennifer Specland, Randy Sugarman.
♣ Bentley RIP
♣ Management: WILL BOTWIN and CHRISTINE KANE for Red Light Management
♣ Web & Digital Management: GAVIN CONATY
♣ (P) & © 2016 Ben Harper. Under exclusive license to Concord Music Group, Inc., 100 N. Crescent Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. All Rights Reserved.
Review
♣ Coming off an hiatus lengthened from 2008, following their last album, the Grammy nominated Lifeline, Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals spent time separated like there was no time to lose.
♣ While Harper worked with Charlie Musselwhite, Ringo Starr and with his own mother on Childhood Home — the latest off his discography — guitarist Michael Ward recorded with Gogol Bordello, and keyboardist Jason Yates with John Mayer and Citizen Cope. According to Harper it was a cathartic period apart for the band, much to the benefit and enrichment of Call It What It Is.
♣ “Everybody was in the thick of it in the time–off. Like, nobody has one day or one note to waste when it comes to their musical experience so we were just hittin’ it and we were all able to just bring that back into the studio and mix it up. Everybody had just come so damn far… And not only in music but as people. I’m still the same asshole but they have gotten much, much nicer.”
♣ And with that, Harper was hesitant to wax–off objectively in presenting the band’s position and progression since Lifeline dropped. “You should never wax poetic on your own maturity without sounding a bit wack, right? But… We’re doing an interview, who’s the interview about? Me. So you have no choice but to expound. So, If I can take a distant, objective view, I think we landed with the ball way further down the field. And that’s from both the musical and personal experiences we’ve had in between the time we stopped playing together and picking it back up. And, I think we’ve grown a lot and that’s growth projected into the art, into the music, into the song.
♣ “We’re grown–ass men but we had to — not prove to each other — but to show to each other. We had a lot to express. And, the best part about it was we didn’t have to mend any fences ’cause we had done that in like year one after we split. The fact that we can get everybody together, back on the same page to do this is so open–road for this band.”
Website: http://www.benharper.com/news
Twitter: https://twitter.com/benharper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/benharper
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benharper
Also:
BY MARK WARREN, FEB 11, 2016, An Esquire exclusive:
♣ http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/news/a42040/ben-harper-call-it-what-it-is/
♣:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣::::::::::::♣♣♣♣♣♣♣:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::♣