Dr. E

Music is a remedy and Dr E definitely knows all about healing with her incredible songwriting and vocal range. Elevated is a very nice introduction to her musical universe and it presents different sides of her personality and talent.
What stroke me first is the amazing quality of her voice and the way she plays with it, making it very high-pitched and reminiscent of Erykah Badu on some songs and then very deep and sensual, putting a spell on the listeners. For me, this ability to extend her vocal range so widely is very refreshing and welcome, in a time when some self-proclaimed singers can barely produce decent notes. The great variety also makes it very easy to listen to the album over and over again, as it is never monotonous. Then, something that I really appreciate about Elevated is its eclectism when it comes to the productions. We are on a journey from classic soul to jazz, blues, gospel and acoustic music, which is a way to follow the different moods and experiences Dr E went through and describes. The use of instruments is amazing and a great place is left to the actual music, which is what I love more and more. The sax, piano and guitar made me want to smile and cry and dance, and this is what music is supposed to do: touch you deep inside and allow you to relate to the emotions the artist wants to share.
Last but not least, Dr E writing skills are also remarkable and make this album one I will definitely have in heavy rotation. It is not really surprising to discover that the singer is also an author, educator and motivational speaker, as the quality of her writing and the positive message she spreads are obvious in Elevated and the album is very inspiring and uplifting. As for the vocals and productions, the themes she touches upon are quite varied and are a description of her journey through life, one many of us can relate to. She sings about love, from wanting to give herself to her special one (Your everything) to heartbreak and pain (Kicked to the curb and her interpretation of the jazz standard Here’s that rainy day), but also about being yourself and achieving your dreams (Halle Berry, Elevated, Walk this road and Good girl down) and finally about God in Giving my life to you.
If you are in need of muscial healing, I would highly recommend you get a dose of Elevated, at least once a day. It will put a smile on your face and make you feel inspired and motivated to face whatever is waiting for you.

A Marion Carminelitta London review - jazzandsoul.eu

'Jazzy Soul Queen' to Grace Stage at JazzFest
By Stefanie Pohl
CREATED Aug. 4, 2011
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Dr. E will be headlining JazzFest Friday night.
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MSU PhD, "Dr. E" headlines Lansing JazzFest! After battling a tough road to recovery and getting off the streets, Dr. Elaine Richardson earned a doctorate in English from Michigan State University. It was there she met Distinguished Professor Geneva Smitherman who went on to help her become an internationally recognized scholar. In addition to her two published academic texts Dr. E has co-edited three other books and is in the process of completing a personal memoir detailing her inspirational story of redemption. Currently Dr. E teaches literacy studies in the College of Education at The Ohio State University. To top it off, she is also a nationally adored recording artist enjoyed most by soul and jazz audiences for her warm, bluesy tones, infectious rhythms, and fierce live performances.

Dr. E will return to the state of Michigan to headline the 2011 Lansing Jazz Fest taking place August 5-6, 2011. She will lead a clinic Friday August 5 at 5pm on the MICA Stage at The Lansing Jazz Fest followed by a live performance you wont want to miss later Friday evening from 9:00 - 10:30pm on the Jackson National Stage.
We spoke with Dr. E to discuss the upcoming show, her clinic "Dr. E: My Music & My Life", and her connection with Lansing.

FOX 47 News: You're returning to the Lansing area for JazzFest. What were your experiences like here when you were getting your doctorate?
Dr. E: I had a great experience living in the Lansing area.
While I was there, my children were a lot younger. In fact, they went to Spartan Village elementary school, which I'm told is not there anymore. I thought that was such a great experience for us. I lived in the graduate student housing there and it was amazing to live in that cosmopolitan environment. My neighbors were Korean, Somalian, just from everywhere. It was just so good for my children to grow up in a diverse environment like that. It's natural for you to see people and learn about people from different parts of the world. It was such a great experience for my children but also for me too.
I got a full-ride minority competitive doctoral fellowship. It was an affirmative action scholarship. It was an honor for me, somebody who came through a rough life and background of poverty, to receive help once I was able to reach out for help. I had positive people in my life who invested in me, and one thing led to another. I was able to meet Geneva Smitherman who was a university-distinguished professor of English at Michigan State University and she was part of the reason why I got the fellowship that I got. Being able to get that education and opportunity, for myself and for my children, it made a difference in our lives.
FOX 47 News: Are you looking forward to Lansing JazzFest this weekend?
Dr. E: I am! I am so excited. It's going to be great. And I have friends there too; one of our students that I met at Ohio State, Bonnie Wood, is in the PhD program in English at Michigan State. She graduated with her Masters at Ohio State University, so she's sort of following in my footsteps, which makes me proud. A lot of people from the English department are coming and giving me a big party, so I'm really looking forward to it.
FOX 47 News: What will be the focus of your clinic on Friday?
Dr. E: Turning your life into lyrics and melody. It's actually called "My Life and My Music" but that's what it's about. How I take life experiences, and how sometimes I get melodies and feelings and then I put the lyrics to it. And sometimes when I get the lyrics from my life, and I sing it to musicians that I work with, and we come up with the sound. It's about writing, and living, and how your music and your life can be therapeutic.
FOX 47 News: It is quite a female-driven lineup this year at JazzFest. How does this speak to the jazz genre today and your experiences in the jazz world?
Dr. E: I can't speak generally, but in my personal experience, I have been blessed. People have been embracing me. Right now I live in Columbus, Ohio - here, especially, there is a lot of love for female artists. Both vocalists and instrumentalists. I have a lot of support in the Ohio region as a female artist. I do feel, from what can I see, is that there is a lot of love for female artists. There could be a lot more! But there are a lot of people supporting female artists and female musicians, so I am happy about that. A lot of people could take some notes of what the Lansing Jazz Festival is doing in terms of female representation.
FOX 47 News: What should patrons expect from your performance Friday night?
Dr. E: I would say a lot of soul, and emotion. Improvisation. I think that performing is about connecting with the audience, w - Fox 47 Lansing

Wednesday, August 3,2011
New sounds at Jazz Fest
by Lawrence Cosentino

Earth and Ice
Flutist Nicole Mitchell is ferocious, in a nice way
Some musicians have personalities so big, and talents so formidable, all you can do is sit back and hope your face isn’t vaporized.
Others, no less big and talented, make you lean forward, tied to their search for truth as if you are roped together on the side of a glacier. Instead of blowing you away, they draw you close.
Flutist-composer Nicole Mitchell belongs to the second group. Mitchell blends intricate compositions, feel-good grooves and unstructured free-falls into a rough-cut, intensely personal style.
“I go in all directions because there’s no one stopping me,” she said, with a laugh, in a phone interview Friday.
Mitchell’s Ice Crystal Quartet, headlining the Lansing Jazz Fest Friday, has a silvery timbre she loves to write for. “When you put the flute and the vibraphone together, it has this clear, crystal sound that I’ve always loved.”
The Ice Crystal Quartet is the perfect foil for Mitchell’s long-lived Black Earth Ensemble, a meaty Chicago music machine with singers, guitar and horns. Mitchell also heads the Black Earth Strings, with violin and cello, and plays in the free-jazz Indigo Trio and Frequency, an ethereal avant-garde project using electronics.
She entered a new musical realm June 6 when she premiered her first orchestral work, “Stealing Freedom,” a celebration of Harriet Tubman, with the American Composers Orchestra in New York.
She is driven less by ambition than by the fear of getting stale. Life doesn’t stand still, and neither does her music.
“You got your hard times and good times,” she said. “You get this really ferocious weather, and then you’ll have a nice summer day like today.”
Ferocious weather is a Chicago specialty, and so is the earthy free-jazz sound in which Mitchell has taken root.
“Chicago is known for honesty,” she said. “We don’t like stuff all polished and perfect and refined. There’s a grit in the city that gets inside of the sound.”
Free-jazz crosswinds on the Chicago scale are hardly ever felt in Lansing, but Mitchell’s sunny aura and positive vibes make audiences receptive to adventure.
Vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, bassist Joshua Abrams and drummer Azreeayl Ra (filling in for the announced drummer, Francisco Rosaly) have worked with Mitchell for years and know how to roll with her mercurial demands.
“The musicians I work with are very patient and accepting,” she said, “but they definitely think, ‘Oh boy, here we go — five bar phrases, then into some other time signature, repeat this three times, go back over here,’” she said. “They don’t know if it’s because I’m a woman, or left-handed, or what. But it’s a lot of fun.”
True to the Chicago free-jazz ethic, mistakes are secondary to the thrill of the quest.
“It’s more interesting to hear someone do something they’re not really quite sure how to do,” she said. “They’re challenging themselves and maybe messing up, but there’s a certain aesthetic to that that might be a little different from New York or L.A.”
With a stack of awards from Down Beat, the Jazz Journalists Association and even “Chicagoan of the Year 2006” from the Chicago Tribune, Mitchell is deeply rooted in the American jazz pantheon at age 45. It’s hard to believe she started with classical training on flute in grade school and didn’t discover jazz until college.
“It was the sound of the instrument I really related to,” she said. “I didn’t think in terms of the style.”
A new universe opened to her when she took a class in jazz from trombonist Jimmy Cheatham at the University of California in San Diego.
Cheatham took out a piece of paper, wrote, “E-r-i-c-D-o-l-p-h-y” on it, and told her to go to the library.
Dolphy was one of jazz’s most original minds, a multi-reedman with a sound so distinctive it became known as the Key of Dolphy. He played with John Coltrane and jammed with birds in his backyard.
“It was shocking,” Mitchell said. “I thought, ‘Wow, how have I missed this?’”
She called it a “back-door” introduction to jazz. “Most people get into swing first, or bebop. For me it was Eric Dolphy and (free jazz legend) Ornette Coleman. After that I explored everything.”
She learned a lot about the connection between music and life from busking on the streets of San Diego. “I tried to connect with each person that walked by and narrate who they are, how they walked, through the sound,” she said.
In 1990, Mitchell moved to Chicago and became a mainstay of the jazz style often called “creative black music,” a humid tangle of straight-ahead jazz, blues, gospel, African rhythms and avant-garde music and theater. In 2009-10, she was president of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Chicago’s most fertile hotbed of jazz activity.
Several recordings with Mitchell’s various groups followed, including “Xenogenesis Suite,” a dark disc devoted to the African-American - Lansing City Pulse

When Elaine Richardson isn't lecturing at Ohio State or taking care of her three children, she escapes to Cleveland's club and bar scene to sing sweet soul music as Dr. E. Last year, the singer, songwriter, educator, author, and mother released her debut album, Elevated — a smoky R&B cabaret on which she channels Billie Holiday and Erykah Badu while confronting her hopes and demons with beauty and groove.

"My music and my life are about love and education," she says. "I survived sex trafficking and abuse, and I write and perform from places of pain and triumph." Richardson is due to release a hip-hop-flavored mixtape with New York DJ KidRelly. An EP will drop in June on her Give Us Free Records label.

Learn more at:

myspace.com/giveusfreerecords

Catch her in 2011: Stay tuned to Dr. E's website for upcoming performances, but you can often catch her at unique Cleveland-area venues ranging from Gibb's Lounge to the Savannah. - Cleveland Scene Magazine

Dr E - Elevated - 2010 - Give Us Free Records
Dr E is a relative newcomer on the scene yet carries with her a wealth of experience that is indeed enviable in today's climate of ever-younger, mass-produced and incision-sharp marketing techniques. With a pretty countenance, a vocal style that leans towards the Erykah Badu / Billy Holliday school of vocals and abundant with a sense of fun, grace and sass we have a set that works on the party areas of the soulful brain as well as giving us a jazzy twist and element of stylistic swish! I warn you that some songs may not be immediate, and that's OK - we are conditioned these days as we live in a time of immediate gratification. Songs such as "Dance To My Song" when given a few spins edge under the radar and hit home. This, to me, is clever and a sign of something and someone with a little more to offer than many today. "Halle Berry" for instance is a lovely sax-filled swayer that is clever in picking up the down-to-earth themes that India.Arie is so good at and, let's face it, tells things as they are. Dr E is one of those artists who scribes a good song and lays it down on the line. Doing this soulfully and with class is a good thing and you will not be disappointed!

"Elevated" deals with positivity and espouses, in a funky, slow and bluesy way the old adage that change comes from within. the greatest soul sings - mayfield, Brown, Franklin - all knew about this and instead of chundering on about bling, cars, the club or getting down in bed, Dr E offers real insightful stuff here and having worked through this painful process myself, I can really and wholeheartedly understand this groove and where she is coming from. Who said wisdom no longer flourishes? Having already alluded to stylistic breadth, fans of acoustic guitar and a rootsier sound will soon pick up on "Your Everything". How simple a song can be with a good voice and an acoustic guitar! I think I can see Dwayne Wiggins and Sheree Brown smiling. I certainly smiled when I took a listen to "Walk This Road". The sax here is delicious and the feel reminds me, slightly of The Temptations "This Is My Promise". Easily my favourite song, this song oozes superior style and effortlessly and, for me, makes the purchase of this CD a must on this and this alone. fear not though - check out more songs such as "Good Girl Down" and the sultry sax-drenched "Giving My Life To You". Tasty stuff and more than worth a purchase for these alone. Recommended.

Barry Towler
The Vibe Scribe - Soulchoonz

The Dr. is officially in the house. Cleveland native Dr. E is a vocal powerhouse who only needs one tool, her lovely voice, to operate on the eardrums of all who bear witness to her musical talents. Her poised tone, fierce delivery and ability to fluctuate between octaves flawlessly will leave listeners in awe as this doctor prescribes medicinal melodies that can cure almost any emotional ailment. Her debut LP, Elevated, features a compilation of well-rounded and grounded musical compositions that will warm the hearts and souls of many.

Inspirational passages fill the air as speakers release the power of this eclectic songstress on the enthusiastic and motivational “Elevated”. As the song’s title would suggest, Dr. E offers words of encouragement to weather trough the most tumultuous storms that people encounter throughout life. This bluesy mid-tempo groove couples Dr. E’s soulful voice with perfect instrumental arrangements and sequences. The subtle sounds of an open hi hat adds flair to the cosmic sounds of the strong kick and snare that provide the backdrop for this phenomenal track. The bass, hollow body and electric guitars flirt seductively with one another and compliment the prominence of Dr. E’s soothing tone. The song is as influential as it is relatable and can serve as an antidote to the Rainy Day Blues.

Dr. E keeps the inspirational juices flowing with “Halle Berry”, a creatively woven ditty that proves that one must look deeper than the surface to find the true beauty and value of people and to recognize one’s self worth. She cements her lyrical intentions by stating:

“If I looked like Halle Berry, could you get into me/Hold my hand and tell everybody that you really loved me/But I can’t be no Halle Berry, I can only be me… Take me or leave me”

Her smooth voice gracefully floats between the various tones of her brazen mezzo-soprano range as she sings and scats throughout this Jazz-laced composition. The transitions throughout the falsetto blend faultlessly as the oscillating rhythms of the accompanying saxophone serenade the eardrums. This song is refreshing and educating, reiterating that self-worth is the only worth that really counts.

Elevated is a musical elixir that’s mixed with multiple genres and various subjects. This therapeutic trip through tonal bliss may cause enlightenment, utopic arousal and rejuvenating mental stimulation and will most likely extinguish any antagonistic emotions that may currently exist. Results may vary. If the desired result is not met, press rewind and increase the dosage. - Amped Sounds Magazine

Dr E released her debut album, Elevated, in 2010 to more than just polite ripples of applause. And with good reason! There are enough juicy morsels on Elevated to satisfy fans of jazzy chanteuses such as Billy Holiday and Queen Badu, while also offering up a diverse selection of accomplished grown folks music. As the 2010 lists come in from the great and good in the soul community, I hope that Dr E will be included, as she undoubtedly deserves at least an honourable mention. While Elevated may not be that wholly consistent, perfect first album, it nonetheless announces the arrival of an original voice on the scene with bags of personality and a refreshing individuality. Without a doubt, one to watch in 2011.

Take a listen to the album standout, the mature, real soul cut, Walk This Road! Niceness! - SoulCuts

Soul Music Spotlight review (by:Pinkheadphones)

* November 17, 2010 7:50 pm
* Ebony Jeanette
* 0 Comments

Trending heavily across the world, soul music continues to blend tasty collections of Rhythm & Blues, Gospel, Neo-Soul, and Acoustics into mouthwatering grooves. Today we spotlight three soul sisters adding their own spices and flavors to the ever expanding genre.

Davina Robinson – The Rock ‘N Roll Soul Chick

Davina Robinson makes music fearlessly, and rocks the house with heartfelt vocal intensity and lyrical assertiveness reminiscent of rock goddesses Pat Benetar, Janis Joplin and Tina Turner.

In Osaka Boys, Davina delivers power rock with a sexy twist in a tribute to what she loves most about her city – all of the cute boys. Making Love To Your Girlfriend breaks it down with funky baseline and still rocks pretty hard with sultry vocals and smoking hot guitar riffs. Davina gets more personal with an angst tune called Never Good Enough where she boasts clever lyrics about living ones life by other people’s standards.

An American singer/songwriter based out of Japan; Davina’s Robinson’s 2008 debut EP, ‘The Blazing Heart‘, won accolades from the Billboard Song Contest, the Great American Song Contest, the VH-1 Song Of the Year Contest and the UK Songwriting Contest, among others.

The second release “Osaka Boys” is enjoying the #1 spot Reverbnation for Osaka, Japan and Davina is currently working on her first full length album which will be released winter 2011. Learn more about the rock and roll soul chick at www.davinarobinson.com

Dr. E – The Jazzy Soul Songstress

Indie-soul newcomer Dr. E’s debut album Elevated is both eclectic and intensely contagious – a credit to her impressive talent as a singer/songwriter. Dance to My Song starts things off on with a flirtatious sound that is ready for dance floors then slows the pace for Halle Berry, a smooth jazz ballad with lyrics so significant and personal- you can’t turn away. Kicked to the Curb is where Dr. E turns heartache into payback in this catchy R&B song about a relationship gone wrong. Like Kicked To The Curb, Put It Down is a solid R&B groove but with a more soulful delivery. The first notes of “Your Everything” immediately sends shivers down the spine as the striking melodies of the acoustic guitar take hold of you and bring forth more fully the meaning and effect of each and every love professing lyric.

The album transitions with Let Me Clear My Throat, a soul heavy track that returns listeners to down home blues with a sultry bass line and a smoky delivery.

Dr. E showcases the raw beauty of her vocals and her ability to invoke words with special shades of meaning that recall the spirit of Phyllis Hyman in her touching tribute to the late soul singer in Here’s That Rainy Day. The title track Elevated delivers an uplifting message of the unrestrained joy one feels when they continue to reach for their dreams and goals. Walk This Road shows off Dr. E’s deep, spirit touching vocals while Giving My Life to You goes gospel as Dr. E thanks her creator through emotional lyrics focused on inspiration, praise, and guidance. By the second chorus of the final track Good Girl Down, you’ll be singing along to the empowered lyrics and moving your body to the funk flooded groove.

Overall, Elevated is a raw, emotionally riveting exploration of the life and story of Dr. E. Her vocal versatility, positive energy, and meaningful lyrics make her a vital force on the indie soul music scene. Learn more about the powerful personal journey behind the jazzy and soulful sounds of Dr. E at www.giveusfreerecords.com

TaNeal – The R&B/Hip-Hop Soul Diva

If you are in the mood for some raw rhythm and blues with gangster girl flow – check out the newest songstress on the scene, TaNeal.

A new artist with a brand new track for every overplayed rap song about needing a dime; you can leave the change behind because TaNeal is way more than currency. Witty pop flavored rap lyrics, with hints of Baduizm in the vocals- Currency is a combination of old school R&B and Hip-Hop in response to new school slang. No more currency – women are way more than dimes.

Now or Neva has a Maxwell feel and starts out with TaNeal showing off her pretty soprano over smooth rhythm and blues. A song about the need to break free and be yourself. Worth a listen especially if you are in the mood for a soulful tun turned blue.

L2L is where TaNeal will make you learn to love her and get on the dance floor. This track is a fist-pumping dance groove and features a rap solo by R.Y.A.N. with the Drawing Board Experience.

TaNeal’s raw talent and street sass has gained her significant buzz giving her the opportunity to open for major R&B acts such as Day 26 and Shirley Murdock. Currently working on a new demo for her next album for hip-hop soul fans and if this next one is anything like the L2L or Now or Neva, TaNeal is on the fast track to being on - Ear Candi Magazine

Even as we witness the erasure of real Black women in R&B, Leela James, Yahzarah and Dr. E. offer three different models of making sure the voices of Black R&B gurls are heard.

What’s a (Black R&B) Gurl to Do?:
Leela James, Yahzarah and Dr. E.
by Mark Anthony Neal

If you are a female R&B singer and your name is Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, or Beyonce it is perhaps the best of times; you have unprecedented access to mainstream media, your music is radio-friendly in the broadest sense (I must hear Key’s “Un-thinkable” fifteen times a day) and to many fans, you are not simply an R&B singer, but a pop star, worthy of a morning or two, sitting on the set of The View. But alas, if your name is not Keys, Blige and Beyonce, the situation is considerably different.

Take the examples of Erykah Badu and Janelle Monae. Badu, whose New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh, is easily her most accomplished recording since Mama’s Gun was released a decade ago, literally had to strip on the screen—albeit with a hint of avant-garde agitprop—in order to get people excited about her new recording. Months after the “controversy,” few talk about what might be one of the most stellar R&B releases of the year.

Janelle Monae’s The ArchAndroid is another fine recording from an artist, I would argue, who has yet to find her voice, but Monae was largely marketed as the quirky Black girl who dared to imagine herself in the context of Fritz Lang’s 1929 film Metropolis. Kudos to Monae for imagining outside of the sphere (yet another iteration of Afro-Futurism), as Rob Fields argues in his fine review of The ArchAndroid, but I wonder if critics and others would have found the talented Monae as compelling had she simply played it straight (whatever that might mean in 2010). Truth be told Monae succeeds, in part, because she is not your regular R&B gurl—the anti-Keyshia Cole if you will. No doubt Monae will have to reboot Brave New World the next time around to remain as relevant as she is now.

The point is that there seems to be little space in the world of contemporary R&B to be a regular Black gurl—or a god-fearing, honest to goodness grown-ass black woman, full of desires, anxieties and ambition. Indeed, conventional wisdom suggest that in this environment legendary singers like Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross (the Keys, Blige and Beyonce of their generation) would not have survived the first three or four years of their solo careers. But even as we witness the erasure of real Black women in R&B—perhaps mirroring the same erasure in mainstream culture in general—Leela James, Yahzarah and Dr. E. offer three different models of making sure the voices of Black R&B gurls are heard.

Leela James’s new release My Soul finds the singer at a bit of a crossroads. James possesses an instrument—big, gritty and grown—more apt to evoke Mavis Staples and Betty Wright in their prime or seasoned contemporary veterans like Bettye LaVette and Sharon Jones, than anything that passes as popular on your local urban radio station. Clearly a hip-hop baby, James’s strategy has been to do R&B’s version of the time-warp dance, a strategy mined to varying success by traditional R&B types like Raphael Saadiq, Solange Knowles and John Legend (particularly on Once Again) and “alternative” critical faves like Amy Winehouse and the aforementioned Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

On the heels of her recent recording of covers, 2009’s Let’s Do It Again, and now recording on the revamped Stax label, James seems more intent to musically fit into this century. Though the smoker “I Ain’t New to This” (a reminder that she’s paid some industry dues) and “So Cold” are credible attempts by James to sound relevant, her voice is a constant reminder that she was not built for this era—her voice simply articulates a depth and complexity that has long been gone from R&B.

James is more successful when she manages to meld and update classic Soul/R&B sensibilities with a contemporary urgency as she does on tracks like “Supa Luva” (with a closing nod to The O’Jay’s “Forever Mine”) and “I Want It All.” Ultimately James sounds most comfortable wrapped in throwback grooves, such as the 60’s house-party groove “Let It Roll,” the sweet “The Fact Is” which samples The Moments’ “Lovely Way She Loves” and My Soul’s standout track, “Mr. Incredible—Ms. Unforgettable,” where James is paired with Raheem DeVaughn.

Last year Washington D.C. native Yahzarah, appeared on Foreign Exchange’s stellar Grammy nominated Leave It All Behind, including a brilliant take on Stevie Wonder’s “If She Breaks Your Heart” (originally recorded on the Jungle Fever soundtrack). The Ballad of Purple Saint James, Yahzarah’s third full length recording and first since 2003, is an extension of her collaboration with Foreign Exchange’s Nicolay and Phonte Coleman. Yahzarah, like Eric Robeson, is of a generation of R&B artists who have made peace with their marginal status in relation to m - NewBlackManBlogspot.com

Elaine Richardson, an English professor at Ohio State University, is also a jazz songwriter and vocalist, whose compositions have been heard on such TV programs as "All My Children" and "Dharma & Greg."

She's so high on education that when she presents a concert of her new CD on Sunday at Gibb's Restaurant in Severance Town Center, the event's profits will go to the scholarship fund of her alma mater, East Tech High School.
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Her stage name is Dr. E, but years ago when she was a Cleveland State University dropout, high on drugs and working the streets of downtown Cleveland as a prostitute, she was nameless to her johns -- and futureless -- or so it appeared.

"I am so glad I don't look like where I came from," said Richardson. "So many of my friends are dead."

Prostitution was a big detour from her days singing in the children's Sunshine Band at Holy Grove Missionary Baptist Church. Every time she sang a solo, "The old folks would say, 'Shine, baby,' " said Richardson,

50. Her childhood came to a halt when she was 13, raped by a new acquaintance -- a friend of a friend. "I was just square -- naive -- when he asked me to go into a bedroom with him.

"From that time on I became a problem teenager."

In junior high, Richardson watched for the police while another friend -- "a tennis shoe pimp," she calls him, broke into cars. But soon, he went to jail, and she went on to East Tech.

"My mother did everything she could to turn me around," said Richardson. One bright light: She sang twice a year in a downtown Cleveland talent show run by a perfectionist producer. It was the show all the kids wanted to be in, but it was demanding.

"It was like you were training for the Olympics to be in that show," she said. But she loved the applause of the big auditorium's audience.

Richardson graduated from high school and went on to Cleveland State, though "I was never one of the kids people thought would go to college." There, she felt unprepared for higher education. "I was in developmental courses -- just wandering around CSU. I didn't fit in," she said.

She fell in with friends who smoked marijuana and drank, though she had never done drugs in high school. Soon she skipped classes, didn't do her work and flunked out. Then the streets beckoned.

Dr. E -- "Elevated"

CD release concert and party

When: 5-8 p.m., Sunday.

Where: Gibb's Restaurant, 3560 Mayfield Road (in Severance Town Center), Cleveland Heights.

Tickets: $10 in advance, $15 day of show. Call 614-292-4382.

Profits from the party benefit East Technical High School's scholarship fund.

About Elaine Richardson: giveusfreerecords.com

"Then girls on the street looked like models -- they looked like movie stars," said Richardson. "I said, wow -- I want to look like them!"

She worked Euclid and Prospect avenues. Her drug use escalated. Richardson "graduated" to higher-paying New York streets. She had a baby girl, Evelyn, in 1984. Just before another daughter was born in 1987, she went on a binge and ended up in a hospital thinking she was carrying a dead baby.

But Ebony was born healthy, and Richardson started going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings while in the hospital. "I was just ready to do whatever I had to do to keep my children," she said.

She returned to Cleveland when Ebony was 6 months old, moved back with her parents, went on welfare and went back to school. "I had plenty of support from family and friends," she said -- including a neighbor who took care of her girls while she was in class. "Once people see you trying to do something with your life, they help," she said.

In 1993, Richardson got her master's degree in English from Cleveland State, and went on for a tuition-free doctorate at Michigan State. After that, there were professorships at the University of Minnesota and Penn State, a Fulbright appointment at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica -- and the addition of another daughter, Kaila. In 2007, she was given Cleveland State's distinguished alumni award.

"I cherish that," she said.

The professor of literacy studies starts her fourth year at Ohio State this fall, and keeps on with the music composition she began while studying at Michigan State.

She wrote almost all the songs of "Elevated," the new CD -- a musical autobiography -- she will perform on Sunday. She collaborated with Larry D. Marcus, Cleveland native and Billboard Award-winning songwriter, who produced the album. It was recorded by Jon Guggenheim of C-Town Sound Inc. of Cleveland.

Richardson, who has written or co-authored five academic books, is eager to tell her story. "I hope I can help people to have hope." Even if they are sitting in a jail cell, as she did a few times, "singing and entertaining the girls."

She's shopping around her autobiography, "PGD to Ph.D," to publishers. (PGD means Po' Girl on Dope.) The book is in everyday language, said Richardson, who is a specialist - Cleveland Plain Dealer

Songtress Elaine Richardson, affectionately known as Dr. E, has come a long way from the days of singing in Miss Ross’ talent shows and her personal as well as professional growth becomes overtly apparent in her new CD, “Elevated.”

Just a few years ago, in 2006, Dr. E established herself as an independent recording artistwhen she started Give Us Free Records then released her first CD, “Coat of Flesh” along side the Ohio-based R&B Soul band Fleshcoat.

But, this time, she’s going at it alone and taking her music career to the next level. Dr. E singing.jpgDr. E's voice is comparable to Stephanie Mills, Erykah Badu, and Billie Holliday

With “Elevated,” Dr. E wants listeners to get to know her better as a soul singer. Therefore, this recording focuses on a live sound that features her soulful, jazzy vocals accompanied by some of Cleveland’s finest musicians.

Dr. E’s voice is comparable to the likes of Stephanie Mills, Erykah Badu, Macy Gray and even Billie Holliday. In fact, you hear remnants of all of those artists at some point as she blends a diversity of styles including hints of blues, jazz, gospel and pop.

“Elevated,” the fourth track on the titled CD, is a song you’ll want to play over and over again. It’s very catchy and almost everyone can relate to it on some level.

Others tracks that stand out are the bluesy “Let Me Clear My Throat,” the jazzy “Walk This Road,” and the soulful “Giving My Life to You” that features Russell Thompson on saxophone. “Breaking,” a poem for Phyllis Hyman – written by Mary E. Weems – is a great way to break up the music and a nice added touch as well.

Basically, you can’t put Dr. E in a box. You never know what to expect from her.

Now, the moniker Dr. E isn’t some stage name Richardson simply attached to herself either. It’s a title she’s worked extremely hard to achieve.

Richardson, a professor of Literacy Studies in the College of Education at The Ohio State University, is a distinguished alumnus of Cleveland State University, Michigan State, and a 1978 graduate of East Technical High School.

Additionally, she’s authored two academic books and is currently seeking to publish an autobiography titled PGD to PHD (Poor Girl on Dope to Ph.D).

This street/urban literature, educational memoir is centered on Richardson’s younger life through the neighborhoods of Cleveland and beyond as she battles drugs, alcoholism, abuse, single-parenthood and sexual exploration until she enters CSU, searching for a new identity and struggling to save her life.

Already, it is considered a must read for “at-risk,” urban youth – especially adolescent Black girls.

Musically, she’s performed as opening act for David Hollister and Martha Munizzi, at the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of fame, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of Arts, Ingenuity Festival, The Lincoln Theatre in Columbus and on Fox 8 News in the Morning.

Currently, she’s hosting a series of meet and greets to promote “Elevated.”

A CD Release Concert and Party will be held at Gibbs Lounge, 3560 Severance Circle, in Cleveland Heights on Sunday Aug. 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. Proceeds benefit the East Tech Scholarship Fund.

To learn more about Dr. E visit www.giveusfreerecords.com - Call and Post

Songtress Elaine Richardson, affectionately known as Dr. E, has come a long way from the days of singing in Miss Ross’ talent shows and her personal as well as professional growth becomes overtly apparent in her new CD, “Elevated.”

Just a few years ago, in 2006, Dr. E established herself as an independent recording artistwhen she started Give Us Free Records then released her first CD, “Coat of Flesh” along side the Ohio-based R&B Soul band Fleshcoat.

But, this time, she’s going at it alone and taking her music career to the next level. Dr. E singing.jpgDr. E's voice is comparable to Stephanie Mills, Erykah Badu, and Billie Holliday

With “Elevated,” Dr. E wants listeners to get to know her better as a soul singer. Therefore, this recording focuses on a live sound that features her soulful, jazzy vocals accompanied by some of Cleveland’s finest musicians.

Dr. E’s voice is comparable to the likes of Stephanie Mills, Erykah Badu, Macy Gray and even Billie Holliday. In fact, you hear remnants of all of those artists at some point as she blends a diversity of styles including hints of blues, jazz, gospel and pop.

“Elevated,” the fourth track on the titled CD, is a song you’ll want to play over and over again. It’s very catchy and almost everyone can relate to it on some level.

Others tracks that stand out are the bluesy “Let Me Clear My Throat,” the jazzy “Walk This Road,” and the soulful “Giving My Life to You” that features Russell Thompson on saxophone. “Breaking,” a poem for Phyllis Hyman – written by Mary E. Weems – is a great way to break up the music and a nice added touch as well.

Basically, you can’t put Dr. E in a box. You never know what to expect from her.

Now, the moniker Dr. E isn’t some stage name Richardson simply attached to herself either. It’s a title she’s worked extremely hard to achieve.

Richardson, a professor of Literacy Studies in the College of Education at The Ohio State University, is a distinguished alumnus of Cleveland State University, Michigan State, and a 1978 graduate of East Technical High School.

Additionally, she’s authored two academic books and is currently seeking to publish an autobiography titled PGD to PHD (Poor Girl on Dope to Ph.D).

This street/urban literature, educational memoir is centered on Richardson’s younger life through the neighborhoods of Cleveland and beyond as she battles drugs, alcoholism, abuse, single-parenthood and sexual exploration until she enters CSU, searching for a new identity and struggling to save her life.

Already, it is considered a must read for “at-risk,” urban youth – especially adolescent Black girls.

Musically, she’s performed as opening act for David Hollister and Martha Munizzi, at the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of fame, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of Arts, Ingenuity Festival, The Lincoln Theatre in Columbus and on Fox 8 News in the Morning.

Currently, she’s hosting a series of meet and greets to promote “Elevated.”

A CD Release Concert and Party will be held at Gibbs Lounge, 3560 Severance Circle, in Cleveland Heights on Sunday Aug. 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. Proceeds benefit the East Tech Scholarship Fund.

To learn more about Dr. E visit www.giveusfreerecords.com - Call and Post

By Cole Hons - For the CDT
Friday, Sep. 10, 2010

Artist: Dr. E

Album: “Elevated”
dr e CD

View larger

Label: Give Us Free Records

Elaine Richardson has a gripping story to tell and is anything but shy about telling it. Currently an English professor at Ohio State with a half-dozen authored and edited books under her literary belt, the 50-year-old Cleveland native once was a down-and-out streetwalker, drug addict and convict. These days, she dedicates her life to helping others rise above their own circumstances.

“Life is a struggle, and you’re going to fumble. But you still have a chance to better yourself,” she said in an interview featured on her website.

Richardson, who worked a nine-year stint as professor of English at Penn State, records and performs under the name Dr. E. Her path to self-destruction began when she was raped at 13 and became a self-professed “problem teenager.” Her path to redemption and success began when she decided to get clean and get back to school so that she could be a mother to her daughters.

Like her latest book, “PGD to PhD” (PGD means “Po’ Girl on Dope”), Richardson’s latest record, “Elevated,” tells her personal truth straight up without pretense or shame. In the process, she hopes to inspire others to find their own inner strength and achieve their own dearest goals and dreams.

“Elevated’s” opening track, “Dance to my Song,” is the strongest song of the collection. Its bouncy, postmodern funk groove sets the perfect backdrop for the Richardson’s Billie Holiday-influenced invitation to get things moving in the right direction. “I want to go to heaven,” she sings, “but not before I live on earth.”

The practical spirituality vibe is a common thread running through much of “Elevated,” resurfacing poignantly on the mitempo “Walk This Road,” Richardson’s gospel homage “Giving my Life to You” and the slow, simmering soul of the title track.

Musical highlights include the Parliament/Funkadelic inspired production of Cleveland native and Billboard Award-winning songwriter Larry D. Marcus, who nimbly weaves elements of blues, jazz, funk and soul to provide Richardson with plenty of smooth grooves over which to flow. A few surprises are thrown in as well to keep things fresh. The single acoustic guitar of “Your Everything” provides a pop moment, a single jazz piano sets the right tone for the aching ballad “Here’s That Rainy Day,” and the muted, atmospheric spoken-word piece “Breaking” finds Richardson paying homage to the late actress and soul singer Phyllis Hyman.

Richardson can sing. Her vocal style is a rough, unpolished, in-your-face and unapologetic blend of gospel and funky blues. Most of her songs lack the kind of melodic hooks that stick in one’s head, but she’s got heart, soul and authenticity to spare. And to Dr. E., that’s what it’s all about.


- Centre Daily Times

The stereotypical professor knows nothing about drugs, jail or prostitutes.
But Dr. E isn't a stereotypical professor. Dr. E, an applied linguistics and English professor at Penn State whose full name is Elaine Richardson, will perform her brand of soul and R&B at 2:30 p.m. Sunday on the Allen Street Stage as part of the 41st annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.
She said she has been singing since she was a teenager in Cleveland when she was a part of group she formed with her friends called the Shades of Love.
She became entangled in a lifestyle of crime shortly after that, but she said willpower helped her overcome it.
"If you want to overcome certain circumstances you can, if you have your mind made up," she said.
She fronts the group Fleshcoat who released their first album, "Coat of Flesh," in September 2006, but will be performing solo at this year's Arts Festival.
"I have been trying to get into the Arts Festival [music lineup] since I've been in State College," she said. "Finally, the stars lined up, and it was my time."

Stacey Federov - The Daily Collegian (Jul 11, 2007)
- Collegian

By Vivian L. Sharp (4-22-10)
COLUMBUS - "Mature music for the indie soul" Dr. E is rising to the top of the charts with her soon to be released, first ever independent album- "Elevated." With musical influences ranging from Chaka Kahn, to Phyllis Hyman, Michael Jackson and even Frank Sinatra- Dr. E, a Cleveland Ohio native, is taking the industry by storm. Dr. E is not just another Ohio native singer but an eclectic singer-songwriter, producer, scholar and author of the forthcoming street-lit/ educational memoir PGD to PhD, about her life from the streets to professor at The Ohio State University. Dr. E's music also benefits the children of Mpeasem, Ghana. Her CD release party will donate a portion of its revenue to the Cynthia B. Dillard preschool of Mpeasem, Ghana. Her release party will be held at Von Jazz on July 25, 2010. Come and celebrate as Dr. E performs a few hits from the new album "Elevated" with special guest Russell Thompson, former saxophonist of Gerald Levert. Visit www.giveusfreerecords.com for detailed information about Dr. E's upcoming album release party.
http://www.citynewsohio.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=102645&sID=1000017&ItemSource=L - CityNews

Saturday, July 24, 2010 02:52 AM
By Kevin Joy
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Elaine Richardson at Vonn Jazz, where she will perform Sunday
FRED SQUILLANTE | DISPATCH
Elaine Richardson at Vonn Jazz, where she will perform Sunday
Richardson in 1993, upon completing her graduate studies at Cleveland State University
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Richardson in 1993, upon completing her graduate studies at Cleveland State University

Elaine Richardson still tears up at the memory of calling the ambulance.

So high on cocaine at nine months' pregnant that she assumed the fetus inside her 27-year-old body had no chance, she had reached the point of wishing to go to jail for the umpteenth time to save herself - and her unborn baby - from destruction.

She remembers the warning issued by the emergency-room doctor in Cleveland: If we find any drugs in your infant, we can press charges and take away the child.

"I was almost dead," said Richardson, now 50. "I was disgusted with myself. I wanted to get out, but I didn't know how."

Amazingly, her baby girl - her second child - was born healthy, providing motivation enough for her to ditch drugs and alcohol for good and to abandon a turbulent past littered with abusive men and scores of jail stints for prostitution.

Richardson did more than get clean.

At 36, she earned a doctorate in English from Michigan State University. She later wrote two books, and co-edited three others, on academic studies of American black-language patterns. She taught for nine years at Penn State University, taking a tenured position in 2007 to teach literacy studies in the College of Education at Ohio State University.

"She had a spark, ... (and was) imaginative, funny - a leader," said Ted Lardner, an English professor at Cleveland State University who served as Richardson's thesis adviser during her graduate studies in the early 1990s. "If Zora Neale Hurston had a goddaughter, she could be Elaine - a deep student of life, studying it up close and unguarded."

In between academics, Richardson escaped into music, singing with various ensembles and composing jazzy original fare, including some that was later featured on All My Children and Dharma & Greg.

On Sunday, she will perform in the Far North Side venue Vonn Jazz to celebrate the release of her first full-length solo effort, a culmination of two years spent crafting motivational tunes inspired by her metamorphosis.

Onstage, she uses the name Dr. E - a nod to hard-earned redemption and the fruits of a better life.

The album's title: Elevated. - COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Professor juggles music career

By Rick Schanz

schanz.5@osu.edu

Published: Thursday, January 28, 2010

Updated: Thursday, January 28, 2010
professor

As students patiently waited for their Applied Linguistics for Teachers course to begin, Dr. E entered the room with the greeting: “My hands are cold, no reflection of my heart.”

Elaine Richardson, better known as Dr. E, is an Ohio State professor in the School of Teaching and Learning, but there is another side of her unknown by most students.

Dr. E released a jazz and soul record in November and is working on her next album “Real Life,” which will be released in the spring. As the lead singer of the band Fleshcoat, she writes and sings her own lyrics about a life of hardships. One of those hardships is her past drug addiction, which she reflects on in her song “Elevated.”

As a little girl growing up in “the hood” in Cleveland, she sang in school choirs and at church, she said. She joined a quartet and made it in a prestigious Cleveland talent show. It was at this talent show that she met some of her current bandmates.

“The quartet was our whole life,” Richardson said. “We practiced all the way home from school, and sometime practiced three to four hours a day.”

Her parents raised her around the legendary voices of Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Nancy Wilson. While Dr. E still channels these singers, she tries to emulate a lesser-known inspiration.

Jean Gates, a woman who sang in front of Dr. E’s congregation, “would make people scream and cry,” Richardson said. “She was so wonderful, and was the most beautiful thing I ever heard.”

Dr. E and Fleshcoat have performed at the Wexner Center for the Arts, weddings and various private gigs. Although she recorded her first song “It’s On When You Get Home,” in 1994, she does not believe her professional singing career started until 2006.

“I hope we can travel around the world someday,” Richardson said. “I want people to feel and connect with my music no matter what language or other differences we have.”

Richardson decided to start going by Dr. E in emulation of a Michigan State University professor known as Dr. G.

“She was my role-model,” Richardson said. “Dr. G was just so cool and down-to-earth.”

Dr. E is planning on taking some time off from her music career to go to Ghana next week to learn about their educational systems. She has taught at Ohio State since 2007.

“I love her as a professor,” said Stacy Chen, an OSU graduate student in education. “I had no idea she was a jazz singer!”

Jen Wilson received her undergraduate and graduate degree from Ohio State. She is in Dr. E’s class with Chen, and is striving for her reading endorsement. The reading endorsement is designed for teachers who wish to add to their skills regarding writing and reading education.

“It’s interesting when thinking about Dr. E’s other qualities,” Wilson said. “I think it’s cool.”

Dr. E’s music can be heard online at giveusfreerecords.com. - The Lantern

By Camille Yvette Welsch, for the CDT

In August, Atlanta hosted the first annual Soul Music Summit, an attempt to bring artists of neo-soul together to make connections, make music and make history. The summit also tried to discover artists to bolster the scant number of soul musicians in the mainstream, such as Angie Stone, Jill Scott and India.Arie. Indeed, lovers of soul have to look hard to find acts bands worthy of the soul title.

Thankfully, Fleshcoat Featuring Dr. E, a band fronted by Penn State associate professor of English and applied linguistics Elaine Richardson, has taken up the torch, paying homage to legends such as Patti Labelle and Donny Hathaway while keeping pace with newer artists.

A cross between Chaka Khan and Scott, Fleshcoat Featuring Dr. E is all about "grown folks' music," tunes for adults that's light on violence, candy-coated lyrics and overt sexuality, and heavy on slow grooves for late-night dancing and funk for long drives with the windows down.

Gifted with a voice that bends to a throaty, womanly purr or high, Erykah Badu-like top notes, Dr. E leads the band through songs that praise God, children and love.

In "Back to Work," Dr. E and her co-writer-producer, James D. Johnson, penned an anthem for the everywoman who just wants to stay home and enjoy a little more time with her man, her family, her real life. The chorus sticks in the head and encourages chair dancing and singing along. The choruses generally fall within the vocal range of the average person, making them perfect songs to sing along to. After three listens to the album, you'll have the whole thing on the brain.

"Losin' It" sounds like a lost Chaka Khan track, and "I See Heaven" returns listeners to funk with a sexy bass line and a smoky delivery by Dr. E, truly "grown folks music" as track two claims.

Fleshcoat answers what some might call a niche market of music for adults without being easy listening. For adults who still have some swing to their hips and a desire for smart, sexy tunes, here's a match. Almost every song on the album is catchy and funky with lyrics that most people can relate to, whether it is wanting to avoid work or praise God.

The name Fleshcoat, rather than being an unsavory euphemism, reflects Johnson's belief that human beings are, as Richardson described it, "spirit constrained in flesh."

A way to release that constraint, to discover your own identity, is through music. This philosophy drives the album, and hopefully, it should drive sales. - Centre Daily Times