SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
WINTER, 2016
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
WINTER, 2016
VOLUME THREE NUMBER THREE
HENRY THREADGILL
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE
(December 3-9)
DEXTER GORDON
(December 10-16)
JEANNE LEE
(December 17-23)
CASSANDRA WILSON
(December 24-30)
SAM RIVERS
(December 31-January 6)
TERRY CALLIER
(January 7-13)
ODETTA
(January 14-20)
LESTER BOWIE
(January 21-27)
MACY GRAY
(January 28-February 3)
HAMPTON HAWES
(February 4-10)
GRACHAN MONCUR III
(February 11-17)
LARRY YOUNG
(February 18-24)
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/macy-gray-mn0000232869/biography
Macy Gray
(b. September 6, 1969)
(January 28-February 3)
HAMPTON HAWES
(February 4-10)
GRACHAN MONCUR III
(February 11-17)
LARRY YOUNG
(February 18-24)
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/macy-gray-mn0000232869/biography
Macy Gray
(b. September 6, 1969)
Artist Biography by Steve Huey
Macy Gray
parlayed an utterly unique voice and an outlandish sense of style into
pop stardom at the turn of the millennium, appealing to audiences of all
colors in search of a fresh alternative to mainstream R&B. After an
accidental entry into the music industry, she reached the mainstream in
grand style with a Top Ten pop hit, platinum certifications, and
several Grammy nominations. Although her pop success dried up, she built
a sizeable and unpredictable discography for a series of major and
independent labels that included gutsy original material and bold covers
that paid tribute to Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, and Metallica. By 2016, she was revisiting career highlights with a jazz quartet.
Gray was born Natalie McIntyre in Canton, Ohio, and grew up a shy youngster frequently teased about her odd-sounding voice. She studied classical piano but also soaked up the music of soul legends like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha Franklin, as well as old-school hip-hop. At boarding school as a teenager, she was exposed to a variety of white rock & roll as well. She moved to Los Angeles to enroll in USC's screen writing program, where one day she agreed to write lyrics for a friend's original songs. A demo session was scheduled to get the songs on tape, and when the singer failed to show up, Gray -- having adopted the full name of an elderly Canton neighbor as her creative alias -- wound up singing on the recordings, in spite of her distaste for her own voice. One of the songs was never overdubbed with another vocalist, and when the tapes started making the rounds of the local music scene, Gray's raspy growl attracted attention. She sang jazz and pop standards with a band that played in hotels around Los Angeles, continued work as a demo singer, and also performed at an after-hours club she organized.
Gray was born Natalie McIntyre in Canton, Ohio, and grew up a shy youngster frequently teased about her odd-sounding voice. She studied classical piano but also soaked up the music of soul legends like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha Franklin, as well as old-school hip-hop. At boarding school as a teenager, she was exposed to a variety of white rock & roll as well. She moved to Los Angeles to enroll in USC's screen writing program, where one day she agreed to write lyrics for a friend's original songs. A demo session was scheduled to get the songs on tape, and when the singer failed to show up, Gray -- having adopted the full name of an elderly Canton neighbor as her creative alias -- wound up singing on the recordings, in spite of her distaste for her own voice. One of the songs was never overdubbed with another vocalist, and when the tapes started making the rounds of the local music scene, Gray's raspy growl attracted attention. She sang jazz and pop standards with a band that played in hotels around Los Angeles, continued work as a demo singer, and also performed at an after-hours club she organized.
All the buzz led to a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Gray recorded an album, but the label declined to release it. Devastated by this rejection and the breakup of her marriage, Gray
retreated to Canton. However, her demo tape continued to make the
rounds, and she returned to L.A. to accept a publishing deal with Zomba.
This in turn helped lead to a new record contract with Epic. Released
in July 1999, On How Life Is won glowing reviews and great word of mouth, but was initially slow to catch on. That changed early the next year, when Gray
received Grammy nominations in the categories of Best New Artist and
Best Female R&B Vocal. That May, "I Try" peaked at number five on
the Billboard Hot 100, and the album went triple platinum by the end of
the year. "I Try" prompted three 2001 Grammy nominations: Record of the
Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal, the last of which she
won.
Gray subsequently recorded with Fatboy Slim, the Black Eyed Peas, and Slick Rick, and made her screen acting debut in the Denzel Washington police drama Training Day. By the time she began work on her second album, Gray
was developing a reputation for surreal public appearances and
interviews, culminating in an August 2001 incident in which she was
booed for apparently stumbling over the lyrics to the national anthem.
Released the following month, The Id was a determined effort to play up the crazy side of Gray's
image. It entered the Billboard 200 at number 11 and quickly went gold
on the strength of lead single "Sweet Baby." In spite of guest
appearances by Erykah Badu and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante, among others, its sales stalled much sooner than expected. Between releases, Gray appeared as herself in the blockbuster film Spider-Man and also guested on Santana's Shaman. In April 2003, her third album, The Trouble with Being Myself, arrived on the shelves and peaked outside the Top 40 -- a commercial disappointment compared to her first two albums. Gray then moved from Epic to Geffen. With a new production team, including will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas and his confederate Ron Fair, Gray returned with a slicker, Tom Joyner-approved version of soul on 2007's Big, but it didn't perform much better chart-wise. The Sellout, a 2010 release for Concord, featured some self-composed songs and an appearance from Bobby Brown. Gray then signed to the 429 label for a pair of albums released in 2012: Covered featured renditions of songs by Metallica, My Chemical Romance, and Kanye West, while Talking Book was a song-for-song tribute to Stevie Wonder's 1972 classic. The Way,
a set of original material, was independently released with help from
rights management company Kobalt in 2014. The singer, backed by a jazz
quartet featuring trumpeter Wallace Roney, then cut Stripped for the Chesky label. That album, Gray's ninth proper studio album, was released in 2016.
http://www.popmatters.com/feature/music-is-up-there-and-you-cant-touch-it-macy-gray-talks-about-her-new/
"Music Is Up There and You Can't Touch It"
Macy Gray Talks About Her New Album 'Stripped'
by Will Layman
3 October 2016
PopMatters
You know Macy Gray. About 15 years ago she was just about everywhere: her cool and raspy voice was the antidote to years of mega-divas like Whitney and Mariah who hit the highest and longest notes in an often too-sanitized way, and her sense of bohemian fashion had a similar loose grace. She did some acting (for example in Training Day with Denzel Washington). She made records, and you knew her immediately.
Her new record is both a stark contrast to her initial burst of pop stardom and a perfect reflection of that alternative she represented: it’s a jazz record made with a quartet of drums, acoustic bass, guitar, and trumpet, recorded with exactly one microphone in a Brooklyn church. It is also a good summary of her career, in its stripped down style — covering old songs of hers (including her first big hit, “I Try”), offering a new track, and creating interesting versions of songs by two heroes: Bob Marley and . . . Metallica.
Talking to Gray about Stripped you get the sense of why something like this makes sense for her but also the way in which she still yearns for the limelight.
The Story Up to Now
Macy Gray appeared on the scene, seemingly out of nowhere, just as the new century appeared. Her debut album, On How Life Iswas a slow burn mega-success, producing a No. 5 hit song on the pop charts in “I Try”, two Grammy nominations in 2000 and then three more in 2001, with Gray walking away with the Best Female Pop Vocal crown.
Looking back on that time today, Macy sounds like a hundred pop divas before. “My first album went so well, and I thought that’s how it would be forever. The first week my record came out, I sold 8,992 records. I jumped all over the place and had parties for two weeks. Then it started selling millions, and I was on the charts. It was all very . . . Wow! because I was not expecting that.”
Before the parties, Gray was like many other musicians in Los Angeles, starting off in jazz and then trying other styles on a local scene. “A friend had a jazz band, and he needed a singer. It was fun. I grew to love it and crave it, and I started to put my whole heart into it. We’d play at clubs and eight people would show up. We had fun. You’d make stickers and use them to promote yourself all across the city. It helped that I was so naive about it. Of course, I wanted my dreams to come true. But I was just doing my thing.”
Gray also played harder rock on the scene. “I had these four guys with long hair banging away on their instruments. That’s where I learned to yell and scream when I sing. Music came at a time when I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. But I stuck with it because it made me happy.”
Gray’s expectations may have been somewhat tempered by a relatively bumpy road to her first recording finding a label and distribution. But, with expectations raised, perhaps they were sure to fall.
“My second record didn’t do as well. I didn’t think that was a big deal, but my label and the press made a really big deal about it. I wasn’t expecting people to switch up on me based on my record sales. I was super-naive. I honestly didn’t know what it was all about. I was thinking it was art and we did this cool shit with samples. When we did ‘I Try’ I didn’t think ‘I have a hit.’ But then you feel this pressure to do a certain kind of thing and collaborate with people who are famous. But you really just want to make music.”
Another four albums for Gray would trace an up-down career, but no high hit the peak of the very first one. Her various producers seemed to try just about every approach, including a live album, an album of rock covers, a song-by-song remake of Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book, and a 2014 return to an all-original program, The Way.
Gray’s new recording is the greatest departure of all. Stripped is part of the “Binaural + Series” from Chesky Records, a label that normally records straight-ahead jazz musicians, folks musicians, and the like. Not pop stars. The series features recordings made with a single microphone, no post-produciton editing, and a remarkably spacious live sound.
The band is minimal, just guitar (Russell Malone), bass (Daryl Johns), drums (Ari Hoenig), and Wallace Roney’s Miles Davis-esque trumpet on a few tracks. “The musicians were chosen by the producers,” Gray explains. “They wanted to use musicians in New York because that’s where they record. They were really set on a small band and not having piano. I begged for piano. I usually have say over how I’m recorded. There was a lot of trust involved on my part.”
The result is a collection of music that sounds significantly different than pop, of course, but also different than the basic “jazz album” of 2016. The sound creeps up on you, and Gray’s vocals are blended into the band, sometimes even receding to the back. It feels not merely loose but airy, open, and diffuse. A pop album described that way would be a failure. But this isn’t a pop album.
Stripped
“It’s more of a blues album to me,” explains Gray. As it opens on Gray’s “Annabelle”, Malone is out front with a lick that is more B.B. King than anything else. The tune itself isn’t a blues in structure, but Hoenig gives it a little shuffle feel, and Gray delivers a beautiful lead. When Malone solos, though, it’s on a 12-bar blues form, followed by a call and response between the band’s off-mic vocals and Gray.
The songs from previous Gray recordings are given rhythm makeovers. “The band had gotten together before I arrived in New York and they had worked out the arrangements.” The big hit, “I Try”, is remade with the groove that jazz fan’s will immediately recognize as being from Ahmad Jamal’s “Poinciana”. It gives the familiar tune a nice new hop and sway.
“She Ain’t Right For You” goes in for a reggae feeling. “First Time” retains its vocal punch, but the band makes it a jazz ballad: brushes against the snare, whole-note bass throbs, jazz guitar voicings. “Sweet Baby” rides atop a straight Bo Diddley modified clave, with Roney supplying a tart, muted solo. If you want to find some fault with Stripped, here it is: at times it seems as though the band decided to give these songs a small handful of the most obvious groove treatments, stuff that they could come up with easily and already knew by heart. Not that the playing on Stripped is less than excellent, but it feels as if Macy Gray dropped into a local jazz bar and mushed her songs into a handful of Real Book grooves.
Then there are the two covers of other folks’ songs. “Nothing Else Matters” is the Metallica song, played as a jazz waltz with modern jazz chords, built around catchy five-note riff. It works fine, but it’s one of the songs here that really would have been more powerful with a bigger band: a hard-bop horn section, a piano, something to emphasize the rhythm. Roney comes in at the end to play a lovely, singing, open bell solo, and it may be the coolest moment here. Marley’s “Redemption Song” is played pretty much the way you’re used to hearing it — and for that reason it is a natural, unforced highlight
Gray is at her best on Stripped when she is most conversational. You feel that you are simply in the room with these musicians. Presumably this comes from Gray’s love of Billie Holiday. “A lot of singers were raised in the church and their main influence in gospel and they sing like that. I was totally open. I’d listen to Bob Marley and he would sing his lyrics really subtly. Same with Billie. It was more important for her to get her story out. Nina Simone said she started singing because she had to. I knew I could not be like Mariah Carey and hit all those notes, but I learned about phrasing. Frank Sinatra influenced me.
“Even when Biggie Smalls came out, he had this awesome phrasing. I got focused on singing on the beat. I’m still learning and pick up things from people. I can do a lot with my voice. But I don’t have a pure Whitney Houston voice like like I wish I had.”
The last tune on Stripped is “Lucy”, which was improvised in the studio with the tape rolling. “We were looking for another song, and they just starting playing. I wrote the lyrics on the spot. We did it in just a couple of takes. It was comfortable for me. I was raised on playing live. That’s really how I learned to sing — everything was live.” The band has a syncopated groove set up, Roney starts with a solo, and then Gray comes in with a tale that is sexy and clear. “We don’t have to make it complicated”, she sings. And that might be as good and clear an expression of Stripped as any. Simple is pretty good, even for a pop star.
“I just really enjoy going into the studio and making a record. Of course, everybody wants a big hit. But I really respect music, and I like doing things that are different.
“Music has always been a fun thing for me. I got lucky that my fun turned into a lifestyle and a living. But I still feel like it is something that is in the air — music is up there and you can’t touch it. If you get to play music for a living you’re really lucky.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Will Layman is a writer, teacher and musician living in the Washington, DC area. He is a contributor to National Public Radio and frequently appears as a guest on WNYC's "Soundcheck" as a jazz critic. He plays both funk and jazz in the bars and clubs in and near the nation's capital. His fiction and humor appear in print and online.
http://www.npr.org/2013/06/24/195168366/macy-gray-i-still-see-my-voice-as-odd
Music Interviews
Macy Gray: 'I Still See My Voice As Odd'
10:52
June 24, 2013
NPR Staff
AUDIO: <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/195168366/195194240" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"></iframe>
Macy Gray says being an artist means not having any limits or constraints. Photo Courtesy of the artist
Macy Gray says the whole point of being an artist is not having any limits or constraints — unless you put them on yourself. Many people know Gray for her unique voice and the 1999 hit single "I Try." Now, 14 years later, she's gone multiplatinum, won a Grammy Award, and put out six albums. Her most recent is a collection of cover songs, appropriately titled Covered. She's now touring with Grammy-winning saxophonist David Murray, doing vocals for the title track of his new album, Be My Monster Love.
She spoke with Tell Me More host Michel Martin about how far she's come, and the roots behind her latest music projects.
Interview highlights
On how she feels about her voice
"I still see my voice as odd. It never went away. I'm still in turmoil about my voice, but I feel very blessed that a lot of people like it, and that I'm able to sing at least good enough to, you know, do stuff like 'I Try' and '[Be My] Monster Love.' "
On doing cover songs
"It's something I've been toying around with for a while, like doing a cover album. We did these selective rock tunes and turned them into my own version of a soul song.
"Any time you create something, it's naturally gonna come out as your own or your own style or what you're used to or what you're best at, you know?"
On collaborating with other artists, including saxophonist David Murray
Macy Gray sings the title track of saxophonist David Murray's new album, Be My Monster Love.
Courtesy of the artist
"A lot of collaborations you hear are — you know, they're friends, and they happen to be in the same place, and it all happens really organically. I used to studio hop. I used to hear about people being in-studio, and then I'd run and act like I was in the neighborhood, and then I'd get on the record, you know. [Laughs].
"We [Gray and Murray] did a show in Paris called Afro-Picks. It was a tribute to Fela Kuti and other African artists. And then ever since then, we've been working together. And now I'm doing a full-on tour with him, and we did a record, [Be My] Monster Love, together. So it's just sort of growing at its own pace."
On advice for aspiring artists
"Take the time to get really, really good at what you do, and then put yourself out there. 'Cause once you get really good at what you do, then people find you, you know. Then people start talking about you, and then they come to you. And your life gets a lot easier, you know."
Macy Gray talks 'Stripped' and how Beyoncé has helped artists like her take back control
by Chris Riotta
August 18, 2016
MIC
When Macy Gray dropped her breakout single "I Try" in 1999, something about it immediately captivated the world. Maybe it was her sultry rasp, or the song's air of romantic, melancholy lyrics. Either way, the song has become a classic and a staple of Gray's decades-long career — so much so, the Grammy-winning artist knew she had no choice but to include a new version of the track on her upcoming album Stripped 15 years later.
At 48-years-old, Gray feels she's gained a new sort of freedom within the music industry. She's faced the trials of fame and emerged with a clarity. She's overcome substance abuse, addictions, failed press runs when she would fall asleep from partying too hard. Gray even recalls feeling shocked at the sight of her face from repeated drug binges. Now, she's focused on the rewards — her engaged fan base, and features on songs by artists ranging Ariana Grande to Robert Glasper.
At this stage in the game, Gray says she's only inspired to continue making music for one reason: love.
"I'm never in the studio anymore because of pressure — it's because I'm inspired," she said when we connected for a phone interview. "I make music for the love of it."
We discussed Stripped, her upcoming jazz album, set for release Sept. 9 and how Beyoncé's surprise releases have changed the game for artists like her, as well as another studio album she says she's more excited for than anything. "That album is going to have a Macy on it nobody's ever heard before," she said.
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Mic: What inspired you to peel back the layers of music production for your upcoming stripped down jazz album at this stage in your career?
Macy Gray: My label approached me wanting to put together this kind of project, they actually pitched it to me a while ago. It's something Chesky Records does a lot of. So I thought about it, and I had to think about it for a while. But I've wanted to put out a jazz album, and I wanted it to be different, so I went through with it when I was ready.
How exactly was your creative process of putting together Stripped different than your other albums?
MG: Well we got together in an old, abandoned church in Brooklyn, instead of the studio. I brought some songs into it that I really wanted to have on it, some of my favorite songs. The label also wanted a couple songs on there. We recorded the entire album in a couple days. It was a lot more relaxed, without all of the extra input.
MG: They wanted "Redemption Song," which I really didn't want on there. It's one of my favorite songs.
So why didn't you want it on there?
MG: I just feel like that song is untouchable. Like, anyone who remakes that song isn't doing it justice. There are some songs on there I can do in my sleep, but "Redemption Song" is something that really deserves a lot of respect.
You could say the same thing about "I Try."
MG: You can. That song is in a league of its own. It's a part of the public domain now, like "Happy Birthday." And the label actually told me they wanted "I Try" on the album too, but I knew I didn't have a choice for that one. It made sense. And it sounds good, so I didn't mind that one as much.
Does the final product reflect how you wanted it to sound?
MG: It definitely sounds raw, it definitely sounds real. I've grown up in jazz clubs my whole life, and I've always loved jazz, and it definitely reflects all of that. It's so raw that when I called them up a while later asking about what it sounds like after it was mixed, they told me: "What are you talking about? The album isn't getting mixed." Isn't that crazy? The album wasn't even mixed.
What do you think of the whole surprise release phenomena? Has it had an impact on your music?
MG: Now, there's no structure. There's no real right way of doing things anymore. So I go in the studio or make my music when I feel like it, and I release it when it's ready, because that's what I love to do. The studio is definitely where I belong. Beyoncé and artists like her, completely wiped all that away with their releases.
Instead of releasing a couple of hit albums and disappearing, you've maintained a steady stream of album releases over the course of your career. Do you feel a pressure to remain relevant or reach the same level of success you did in the early 2000s?
Like I said, it's different now. When I was starting to become really well known, there was a process to all of this: your label requests an album, you go make that exact album, you do your marketing, you go on some shit tour. But I'm never in the studio anymore because of pressure. It's because I'm inspired. I make music for the love of it.
Macy Gray Is Back and Better Than Ever
September 8, 2016
by Elias Leight
Vogue
Chesky estimates that he has worked on between 400 and 500 recordings, and he adheres to a strict regimen. “We like to record the way people listen,” he says. “They used to put 20 mics in a room—a mic in front of the trumpet, a mic in front of the trombone, a mic in front of the drums. That’s not how people really listen.” So he uses a lone binaural microphone, which mimics human ears, and he does not overdub, so “what you hear is what you get.” To back Gray, he assembled a band of “first rate” musicians: Ari Hoenig (drums), Wallace Roney (trumpet), Russell Malone (guitar), and Daryl Johns (bass). He describes the group as “top at what they do.”
The restrictions imposed by this new method of recording did not hit Gray immediately. “My shock came after the fact,” she recalls. “I don’t think it really sat in my head before I started that I wouldn’t be able to fix anything. When you make records, you can fix it in the mix, tweak it, whatever. [Recording in this way], there’s nothing you can do about it after you put it down. You don’t even mix it—there’s no mix. That really freaked me out.”
She was more comfortable when it came to the material she was singing; most of Stripped is covers—she returns to Metallica and serves up Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”—or her oldies. Gray presents a mini-Chesky version of her catalog, returning to several of the songs she released early in her career, including “I Try,” and reworking them with her jazz ensemble. Since Gray has delivered covers before, and it’s not unusual for singers to take a second crack at older songs—country singer Dwight Yoakam, for example, will reimagine his past work as bluegrass later this month—the three new tunes on Stripped are the ones that catch the ear. The song “Lucy” is particularly arresting. Malone’s guitar creeps forward, lazy and noncommittal, while Hoenig tosses out a restrained, distant beat, like the sound of high heels receding on a deserted street. Gray and Roney trade off: She lets out a subdued cascade of come-ons; he emits gliding, silvery solos.
It turns out that this was the only song composed on the spot during the recording session. “We did it in 10 minutes, literally,” Gray says. (Chesky suggests it took closer to two hours.) “We were trying to find something to sing about. It was so random and pointless. I just remember [Chesky] saying the name Lucy. That’s melodic to sing—it flows off the tongue.” “It was the last song we put down,” Chesky recalls. “We didn’t know what we were gonna get.” He wasn’t entirely sure what to think of the result at first. “It’s an edgy song,” he says. But his engineers were enthusiastic, calling the track “magic.”
“Lucy” is the final song on Stripped, and it ends up being the track that best embodies the freedom Gray loves in jazz. “Hey baby, baby I know the rules,” she sings. “I’m supposed to play games with you / But I’d rather play my cards / Don’t have to make it hard.”
Stripped will be released on September 9 on Chesky Records.
https://mic.com/articles/149421/macy-gray-remixes-her-15-year-old-breakout-single-i-try-as-a-stunning-jazz-standard#.JhXnGKt37
Macy Gray Remixes Her 15-Year-Old Breakout Single "I Try" As a Stunning Jazz Standard
by Chris Riotta
July 21, 2016
MIC
Macy Gray's sultry, raspy croon is a totally unique instrument unto itself. Even 15 years after most first heard it on her iconic single "I Try," there's still no voice quite like it.
Thursday, the singer returned to remind the world just how special her talents are, debuting a reimagined version of her first major hit as a stripped down jazz standard. It sounds as magical as the heart-wrenching original, but with slightly rawer, more candid feel.
The new rendition of "I Try," currently streaming on SoundCloud, is the first taste of Gray's new jazz album Stripped coming in September. "I Try" and the rest of Stripped were recorded outside of the confines of a typical studio environment. Gray and her band "bunkered up in an abandoned church in Brooklyn and just started laying down some of my favorite songs from over the years," she told Elle. The whole album was recorded in two days, with no overdubs, according to a press release.
The album will consist of some of Gray's greatest hits (like "I Try"), some new songs, and two covers: Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" and Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters." Stripped "was such a completely unexpected but refreshing and fun thing to do," Gray said.
Listen to Gray's new remix over at Elle, and check out Stripped's track list below.
1. Annabelle
2. Sweet Baby
3. I Try
4. Slowly
5. She Ain't Right For You
6. First Time
7. Nothing Else Matters
8. Redemption Song
9. The Heart
10. Lucy
Chris Riotta is a culture reporter at Mic, covering news, music and entertainment. He is based in New York and can be reached at criotta@mic.com
Macy Gray (born Natalie Renée McIntyre; September 6, 1967)[2] is an American R&B, jazz and soul singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress, known for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday.
Gray has released six studio albums, and received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one. She has appeared in a number of films, including Training Day, Spider-Man, Scary Movie 3, Lackawanna Blues, Idlewild and For Colored Girls. Gray is best known for her international hit single "I Try", taken from her multi-platinum debut album On How Life Is.
In 2016, Gray made a large artistic leap by changing labels to record an album produced with binaural sound. Stripped (Chesky Records, 2016)[1] marked the singer's first steps into the world of audiophile recordings.
Natalie McIntyre was born in Canton, Ohio,[3] the daughter of Laura McIntyre, a math schoolteacher,[4] and Otis Jones who left when she was a baby.[5] Her stepfather was a steelworker, and she has a sister who would become a biology teacher.[5] She began piano lessons at age seven.[6]
A childhood bicycle mishap resulted in her noticing a mailbox of a man
named Macy Gray; she used the name in stories she wrote and later
decided to use it has her stage name.[5]
Gray attended school with Brian Warner (later known as musician Marilyn Manson) although they did not know each other.[6] She attended more than one high school including a boarding school which asked her to leave due to her behavior.[6]
She attended college at the University of Southern California and studied scriptwriting.[5]
In 2001, Gray won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I Try", which was also nominated for "song of the year" and "record of the year".[23] She then collaborated with Fatboy Slim, the Black Eyed Peas, and Slick Rick (on the song "The World Is Yours", from the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack), as well as acting for the first time, in the thriller Training Day.[24] In August 2001, Gray was booed off the field at the Pro Football Hall of Fame exhibition game after forgetting the lyrics to the American national anthem.[25]
Gray's The Id featured appearances by John Frusciante and Erykah Badu on the single "Sweet Baby" (which was co-written with longtime collaborator Joe Solo).[26] The album peaked at number eleven on the Billboard 200.[27] It fared even better in the UK, where it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold by the BPI.[28] The underperformance in the United States, compared to her debut album, may have been due to The Id being released just a week after the September 11, 2001 attacks.[29]
In 2002, she appeared in Spider-Man and contributed a remix of her song "My Nutmeg Phantasy" to its accompanying soundtrack. Gray also worked with Santana on the track "Amoré (Sexo)", for his album Shaman.[30][31]
Also in 2002, she appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD in tribute to Nigerian Afropop pioneer Fela Kuti, Red Hot and Riot. She appeared on a remake track of Kuti's classic, "Water No Get Enemy" alongside prominent neo soul, hip hop and R&B artists, D'Angelo, the Soultronics, Nile Rodgers, Roy Hargrove, and Kuti's son, Femi Kuti.[citation needed]
She recorded a duet with Zucchero called "Like the Sun (From Out of Nowhere)", which featured Jeff Beck on guitar released in 2004 on Zu & Co., a duets collection.[32][33] Her song "Time of My Life" was included in the soundtrack to 8 Mile.[34] A cartoon based on Gray's childhood was being developed, but it never came to fruition.[14][31]
In 2003, Gray released her third studio album, The Trouble with Being Myself, to rave reviews.[citation needed] The lead single, "When I See You", became a radio hit in the US and a top forty hit in the UK, although the album was not as well received by fans.[35] Nevertheless, it became Gray's third top twenty album in the UK.[36][37] A greatest hits collection and a live album were subsequently released: The Very Best of Macy Gray (2004) and Live in Las Vegas (2005). Additionally, Gray was featured on Marcus Miller's 2005 album Silver Rain, on a cover of Prince's 1986 song "Girls & Boys". She also appeared on the soundtrack to the film Chicago with Queen Latifah and Lil' Kim on "Cell Block Tango/He Had it Comin'."[38]
Gray began 2007 by being kicked off-stage at a concert in Barbados for profanity (which was part of the show), but she was not aware that it was against the law in that country.[39] She gave a public apology that night to avoid arrest.[40]
In March, Gray released her fourth studio album (sixth overall), Big.[41] Two singles, "Finally Made Me Happy" and "Shoo Be Doo", were released from the album.[40] "What I Gotta Do", another track from the album, is featured on the Shrek the Third soundtrack. It has been considered Gray's comeback album, after a four-year hiatus since her last studio album.[42] The album was critically acclaimed and seen by some as her best work to date.[43] It features collaborations with Natalie Cole, Fergie, Justin Timberlake, and will.i.am, who co-executive produced the album with Gray. It was moderately successful in the US, where it debuted and peaked at number 39 on the Billboard 200, becoming Gray's highest-charting album since The Id.[44] Big reached number 62 on the albums chart in the UK,[45] her lowest-charting UK album, but it achieved some success in several other countries, including Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Finland, reaching the Top 40 on their album charts.[46]
PBS's Soundstage live concert series premiered a Gray concert on July 5.[47]
On July 7, 2007, Gray performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[48] Gray and her band members wore clothes bearing political messages. Gray's dress carried the message "Darfur Red Alert".
In 2008, Gray launched a new campaign under the name " Nemesis Jaxson", with the single, "Slap a Bitch".[49]
Early in 2009, Gray recorded the song "Don't Forget Me" for the soundtrack of Confessions of a Shopaholic.[50]
Upon its release, The Sellout received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. Metacritic gave it an average score of 57, based on 15 reviews;[51] Andy Gill of The Independent gave it three out of five stars; while AllMusic writer John Bush shared a similar sentiment and panned Gray's songwriting.[52]
However, The Boston Globe's James Reed commended its production,[53] and Jeremy Allen of NME gave the album a 7/10 rating.[54]
In 2011, Gray signed a deal with 429 Records and started recording a series of covers for her next studio album Covered. The album was officially released on March 26, 2012. The album's first single was "Here Comes the Rain Again" (originally performed by Eurythmics).[55] On February 16, 2012, Gray participated in the Sanremo Festival as a guest, performing alongside Gigi D'Alessio and Loredana Berte.[citation needed]
For the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Stevie Wonder album Talking Book, Gray covered the entire record and released her Talking Book as a tribute.[56]
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey's Where Are They Now, Gray opened up about her problems with drug abuse, stating that she was ill-prepared for the level of fame she received. The interview coincided with the release of her album The Way, released in October 2014 on Kobalt Records. A world tour was announced shortly after its release.[57]
In 2002, she was the voice for Seeiah Owens in the video game SSX Tricky.[59][60]
Gray sang the theme song for the Nickelodeon animated series As Told by Ginger, composed by Jared Faber and Emily Kapnek.[61]
In August 2008, Gray headlined at the 2008 Summer Sundae music festival in Leicester, England, performing cover versions of Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?", Deee-Lite's "Groove Is in the Heart" and Radiohead's "Creep".[62] For the gig, her band wore pink Andy Warhol wigs.[63]
On September 28, 2008, Gray sang the American national anthem as part of the Israeli flag-raising ceremony at the Israeli consulate of Los Angeles.[64][65]
In 2008, Gray collaborated with Australian DJ and singer Kaz James on the song "Can't Hold Back". The single was released in early 2009 in Australia and is credited to Kaz James featuring Macy Gray.[66]
In 2009, Gray briefly competed in season 9 of Dancing with the Stars with professional partner Jonathan Roberts. They were eliminated in a double elimination in week one.
In 2012, she performed the Michael Jackson song "Rock with You" for a special performance of the West End musical Thriller – Live for BBC Children in Need Pop Goes the Musical.
In 2015, Gray was featured on the song "Into the Deep" by Galactic.[67]
Also in 2016, Gray released Stripped,[1] her first album with Chesky Records.
After her quick rise to fame as a musician and songwriter, Macy Gray
was featured on television and feature films, performing her music
and/or appearing as herself or in cameos. However, she also began acting in small roles as well.
Along with her unusual voice, she has a distinctive appearance. Standing 6 feet (1.8 metres) tall, she has also worn her hair dramatically and for some part of her career was known for noticeable and creative wigs.[5]
She opened the Macy Gray Music Academy in 2005.[68]
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"'Time of My Life' on 8 Mile (album, cd) by Macy Gray (artist)". nuTsie.com. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
Daniels, Karu F. (February 5, 2007). "MACY GRAY: Back Into the Swing of Things – Entertainment Newswire". BlackVoices.com. AOL. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
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http://www.popmatters.com/feature/music-is-up-there-and-you-cant-touch-it-macy-gray-talks-about-her-new/
"Music Is Up There and You Can't Touch It"
Macy Gray Talks About Her New Album 'Stripped'
by Will Layman
3 October 2016
PopMatters
MACY GRAY
You know Macy Gray. About 15 years ago she was just about everywhere: her cool and raspy voice was the antidote to years of mega-divas like Whitney and Mariah who hit the highest and longest notes in an often too-sanitized way, and her sense of bohemian fashion had a similar loose grace. She did some acting (for example in Training Day with Denzel Washington). She made records, and you knew her immediately.
Her new record is both a stark contrast to her initial burst of pop stardom and a perfect reflection of that alternative she represented: it’s a jazz record made with a quartet of drums, acoustic bass, guitar, and trumpet, recorded with exactly one microphone in a Brooklyn church. It is also a good summary of her career, in its stripped down style — covering old songs of hers (including her first big hit, “I Try”), offering a new track, and creating interesting versions of songs by two heroes: Bob Marley and . . . Metallica.
Talking to Gray about Stripped you get the sense of why something like this makes sense for her but also the way in which she still yearns for the limelight.
The Story Up to Now
Macy Gray appeared on the scene, seemingly out of nowhere, just as the new century appeared. Her debut album, On How Life Iswas a slow burn mega-success, producing a No. 5 hit song on the pop charts in “I Try”, two Grammy nominations in 2000 and then three more in 2001, with Gray walking away with the Best Female Pop Vocal crown.
Looking back on that time today, Macy sounds like a hundred pop divas before. “My first album went so well, and I thought that’s how it would be forever. The first week my record came out, I sold 8,992 records. I jumped all over the place and had parties for two weeks. Then it started selling millions, and I was on the charts. It was all very . . . Wow! because I was not expecting that.”
Before the parties, Gray was like many other musicians in Los Angeles, starting off in jazz and then trying other styles on a local scene. “A friend had a jazz band, and he needed a singer. It was fun. I grew to love it and crave it, and I started to put my whole heart into it. We’d play at clubs and eight people would show up. We had fun. You’d make stickers and use them to promote yourself all across the city. It helped that I was so naive about it. Of course, I wanted my dreams to come true. But I was just doing my thing.”
Gray also played harder rock on the scene. “I had these four guys with long hair banging away on their instruments. That’s where I learned to yell and scream when I sing. Music came at a time when I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. But I stuck with it because it made me happy.”
Gray’s expectations may have been somewhat tempered by a relatively bumpy road to her first recording finding a label and distribution. But, with expectations raised, perhaps they were sure to fall.
“My second record didn’t do as well. I didn’t think that was a big deal, but my label and the press made a really big deal about it. I wasn’t expecting people to switch up on me based on my record sales. I was super-naive. I honestly didn’t know what it was all about. I was thinking it was art and we did this cool shit with samples. When we did ‘I Try’ I didn’t think ‘I have a hit.’ But then you feel this pressure to do a certain kind of thing and collaborate with people who are famous. But you really just want to make music.”
Another four albums for Gray would trace an up-down career, but no high hit the peak of the very first one. Her various producers seemed to try just about every approach, including a live album, an album of rock covers, a song-by-song remake of Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book, and a 2014 return to an all-original program, The Way.
Gray’s new recording is the greatest departure of all. Stripped is part of the “Binaural + Series” from Chesky Records, a label that normally records straight-ahead jazz musicians, folks musicians, and the like. Not pop stars. The series features recordings made with a single microphone, no post-produciton editing, and a remarkably spacious live sound.
The band is minimal, just guitar (Russell Malone), bass (Daryl Johns), drums (Ari Hoenig), and Wallace Roney’s Miles Davis-esque trumpet on a few tracks. “The musicians were chosen by the producers,” Gray explains. “They wanted to use musicians in New York because that’s where they record. They were really set on a small band and not having piano. I begged for piano. I usually have say over how I’m recorded. There was a lot of trust involved on my part.”
The result is a collection of music that sounds significantly different than pop, of course, but also different than the basic “jazz album” of 2016. The sound creeps up on you, and Gray’s vocals are blended into the band, sometimes even receding to the back. It feels not merely loose but airy, open, and diffuse. A pop album described that way would be a failure. But this isn’t a pop album.
Stripped
“It’s more of a blues album to me,” explains Gray. As it opens on Gray’s “Annabelle”, Malone is out front with a lick that is more B.B. King than anything else. The tune itself isn’t a blues in structure, but Hoenig gives it a little shuffle feel, and Gray delivers a beautiful lead. When Malone solos, though, it’s on a 12-bar blues form, followed by a call and response between the band’s off-mic vocals and Gray.
The songs from previous Gray recordings are given rhythm makeovers. “The band had gotten together before I arrived in New York and they had worked out the arrangements.” The big hit, “I Try”, is remade with the groove that jazz fan’s will immediately recognize as being from Ahmad Jamal’s “Poinciana”. It gives the familiar tune a nice new hop and sway.
“She Ain’t Right For You” goes in for a reggae feeling. “First Time” retains its vocal punch, but the band makes it a jazz ballad: brushes against the snare, whole-note bass throbs, jazz guitar voicings. “Sweet Baby” rides atop a straight Bo Diddley modified clave, with Roney supplying a tart, muted solo. If you want to find some fault with Stripped, here it is: at times it seems as though the band decided to give these songs a small handful of the most obvious groove treatments, stuff that they could come up with easily and already knew by heart. Not that the playing on Stripped is less than excellent, but it feels as if Macy Gray dropped into a local jazz bar and mushed her songs into a handful of Real Book grooves.
Then there are the two covers of other folks’ songs. “Nothing Else Matters” is the Metallica song, played as a jazz waltz with modern jazz chords, built around catchy five-note riff. It works fine, but it’s one of the songs here that really would have been more powerful with a bigger band: a hard-bop horn section, a piano, something to emphasize the rhythm. Roney comes in at the end to play a lovely, singing, open bell solo, and it may be the coolest moment here. Marley’s “Redemption Song” is played pretty much the way you’re used to hearing it — and for that reason it is a natural, unforced highlight
Gray is at her best on Stripped when she is most conversational. You feel that you are simply in the room with these musicians. Presumably this comes from Gray’s love of Billie Holiday. “A lot of singers were raised in the church and their main influence in gospel and they sing like that. I was totally open. I’d listen to Bob Marley and he would sing his lyrics really subtly. Same with Billie. It was more important for her to get her story out. Nina Simone said she started singing because she had to. I knew I could not be like Mariah Carey and hit all those notes, but I learned about phrasing. Frank Sinatra influenced me.
“Even when Biggie Smalls came out, he had this awesome phrasing. I got focused on singing on the beat. I’m still learning and pick up things from people. I can do a lot with my voice. But I don’t have a pure Whitney Houston voice like like I wish I had.”
The last tune on Stripped is “Lucy”, which was improvised in the studio with the tape rolling. “We were looking for another song, and they just starting playing. I wrote the lyrics on the spot. We did it in just a couple of takes. It was comfortable for me. I was raised on playing live. That’s really how I learned to sing — everything was live.” The band has a syncopated groove set up, Roney starts with a solo, and then Gray comes in with a tale that is sexy and clear. “We don’t have to make it complicated”, she sings. And that might be as good and clear an expression of Stripped as any. Simple is pretty good, even for a pop star.
“I just really enjoy going into the studio and making a record. Of course, everybody wants a big hit. But I really respect music, and I like doing things that are different.
“Music has always been a fun thing for me. I got lucky that my fun turned into a lifestyle and a living. But I still feel like it is something that is in the air — music is up there and you can’t touch it. If you get to play music for a living you’re really lucky.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Will Layman is a writer, teacher and musician living in the Washington, DC area. He is a contributor to National Public Radio and frequently appears as a guest on WNYC's "Soundcheck" as a jazz critic. He plays both funk and jazz in the bars and clubs in and near the nation's capital. His fiction and humor appear in print and online.
http://www.npr.org/2013/06/24/195168366/macy-gray-i-still-see-my-voice-as-odd
Music Interviews
Macy Gray: 'I Still See My Voice As Odd'
10:52
June 24, 2013
NPR Staff
AUDIO: <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/195168366/195194240" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"></iframe>
MACY GRAY AND DAVID MURRAY
Macy Gray says the whole point of being an artist is not having any limits or constraints — unless you put them on yourself. Many people know Gray for her unique voice and the 1999 hit single "I Try." Now, 14 years later, she's gone multiplatinum, won a Grammy Award, and put out six albums. Her most recent is a collection of cover songs, appropriately titled Covered. She's now touring with Grammy-winning saxophonist David Murray, doing vocals for the title track of his new album, Be My Monster Love.
She spoke with Tell Me More host Michel Martin about how far she's come, and the roots behind her latest music projects.
Interview highlights
On how she feels about her voice
"I still see my voice as odd. It never went away. I'm still in turmoil about my voice, but I feel very blessed that a lot of people like it, and that I'm able to sing at least good enough to, you know, do stuff like 'I Try' and '[Be My] Monster Love.' "
On doing cover songs
"It's something I've been toying around with for a while, like doing a cover album. We did these selective rock tunes and turned them into my own version of a soul song.
"Any time you create something, it's naturally gonna come out as your own or your own style or what you're used to or what you're best at, you know?"
On collaborating with other artists, including saxophonist David Murray
Macy Gray sings the title track of saxophonist David Murray's new album, Be My Monster Love.
Courtesy of the artist
"A lot of collaborations you hear are — you know, they're friends, and they happen to be in the same place, and it all happens really organically. I used to studio hop. I used to hear about people being in-studio, and then I'd run and act like I was in the neighborhood, and then I'd get on the record, you know. [Laughs].
"We [Gray and Murray] did a show in Paris called Afro-Picks. It was a tribute to Fela Kuti and other African artists. And then ever since then, we've been working together. And now I'm doing a full-on tour with him, and we did a record, [Be My] Monster Love, together. So it's just sort of growing at its own pace."
On advice for aspiring artists
"Take the time to get really, really good at what you do, and then put yourself out there. 'Cause once you get really good at what you do, then people find you, you know. Then people start talking about you, and then they come to you. And your life gets a lot easier, you know."
Macy Gray talks 'Stripped' and how Beyoncé has helped artists like her take back control
by Chris Riotta
August 18, 2016
MIC
When Macy Gray dropped her breakout single "I Try" in 1999, something about it immediately captivated the world. Maybe it was her sultry rasp, or the song's air of romantic, melancholy lyrics. Either way, the song has become a classic and a staple of Gray's decades-long career — so much so, the Grammy-winning artist knew she had no choice but to include a new version of the track on her upcoming album Stripped 15 years later.
At 48-years-old, Gray feels she's gained a new sort of freedom within the music industry. She's faced the trials of fame and emerged with a clarity. She's overcome substance abuse, addictions, failed press runs when she would fall asleep from partying too hard. Gray even recalls feeling shocked at the sight of her face from repeated drug binges. Now, she's focused on the rewards — her engaged fan base, and features on songs by artists ranging Ariana Grande to Robert Glasper.
At this stage in the game, Gray says she's only inspired to continue making music for one reason: love.
"I'm never in the studio anymore because of pressure — it's because I'm inspired," she said when we connected for a phone interview. "I make music for the love of it."
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Mic: What inspired you to peel back the layers of music production for your upcoming stripped down jazz album at this stage in your career?
Macy Gray: My label approached me wanting to put together this kind of project, they actually pitched it to me a while ago. It's something Chesky Records does a lot of. So I thought about it, and I had to think about it for a while. But I've wanted to put out a jazz album, and I wanted it to be different, so I went through with it when I was ready.
How exactly was your creative process of putting together Stripped different than your other albums?
MG: Well we got together in an old, abandoned church in Brooklyn, instead of the studio. I brought some songs into it that I really wanted to have on it, some of my favorite songs. The label also wanted a couple songs on there. We recorded the entire album in a couple days. It was a lot more relaxed, without all of the extra input.
Macy Gray
Source: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Source: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
What songs did the label want on there?
MG: They wanted "Redemption Song," which I really didn't want on there. It's one of my favorite songs.
So why didn't you want it on there?
MG: I just feel like that song is untouchable. Like, anyone who remakes that song isn't doing it justice. There are some songs on there I can do in my sleep, but "Redemption Song" is something that really deserves a lot of respect.
You could say the same thing about "I Try."
MG: You can. That song is in a league of its own. It's a part of the public domain now, like "Happy Birthday." And the label actually told me they wanted "I Try" on the album too, but I knew I didn't have a choice for that one. It made sense. And it sounds good, so I didn't mind that one as much.
Does the final product reflect how you wanted it to sound?
MG: It definitely sounds raw, it definitely sounds real. I've grown up in jazz clubs my whole life, and I've always loved jazz, and it definitely reflects all of that. It's so raw that when I called them up a while later asking about what it sounds like after it was mixed, they told me: "What are you talking about? The album isn't getting mixed." Isn't that crazy? The album wasn't even mixed.
What do you think of the whole surprise release phenomena? Has it had an impact on your music?
MG: Now, there's no structure. There's no real right way of doing things anymore. So I go in the studio or make my music when I feel like it, and I release it when it's ready, because that's what I love to do. The studio is definitely where I belong. Beyoncé and artists like her, completely wiped all that away with their releases.
Instead of releasing a couple of hit albums and disappearing, you've maintained a steady stream of album releases over the course of your career. Do you feel a pressure to remain relevant or reach the same level of success you did in the early 2000s?
Like I said, it's different now. When I was starting to become really well known, there was a process to all of this: your label requests an album, you go make that exact album, you do your marketing, you go on some shit tour. But I'm never in the studio anymore because of pressure. It's because I'm inspired. I make music for the love of it.
Culture
Macy Gray Is Back and Better Than Ever
September 8, 2016
by Elias Leight
Vogue
Macy Gray is still best known for “I Try,” the loping, lovelorn soul single that won her a Grammy in 2001. But it sometimes seems as if she has spent the past decade trying to avoid the specter of that track; she recorded an album largely produced by the Black Eyed Peas’s will.i.am, released a song-for-song tribute to Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book, and put out another project that included covers of Metallica and My Chemical Romance. According to this narrative, embracing a jazz label and jazz musicians for her new album, Stripped, seems like yet another direction change in a career full of zigs and zags.
But in a phone conversation this week, Gray positions Stripped in a different light, as a return to the genre that helped launch her career. “I really started out in jazz,” she explains. “That’s how I learned how to sing: jazz standards at clubs. When I was growing up, jazz was still really popular. It wasn’t such a small world as it is now.”
Gray sees pop and jazz as “two different planets,” she says. “In pop, it’s verse, chorus, verse, chorus. The chorus has to be really big. Then you do a bridge. You gotta put an 808 in there. In jazz, you do whatever you want,” she continues. “In jazz, no one cares what the person looks like. They can be 200 years old, 300 pounds, bad acne—people still go see them.” That’s an appealing dichotomy, but it doesn’t explain Stripped. Despite Gray’s association with jazz and autonomy, this album is a purist’s experiment, and purists live and die by rules: One microphone was used for the entire recording process, which took just 48 hours. “Back in the old days, that’s how they made records,” coproducer and Chesky Records cofounder Norman Chesky explains. “It’s a very natural sound. It’s for people who are music aficionados—audiophiles.”
For Chesky, Stripped was a chance to work with a voice he’d long admired. “Of course, when she came out with ‘I Try,’ I was a big fan,” he notes. “I’ve always felt for years, if we could record her our way, it would be great. We have a wish list. We’re always trying to connect with artists. We reached out and started a dialogue.” Gray is more blasé: “Chesky Records approached me about doing a record with them, and I thought about it, and I decided, Fuck it, let’s try it.”
But in a phone conversation this week, Gray positions Stripped in a different light, as a return to the genre that helped launch her career. “I really started out in jazz,” she explains. “That’s how I learned how to sing: jazz standards at clubs. When I was growing up, jazz was still really popular. It wasn’t such a small world as it is now.”
Gray sees pop and jazz as “two different planets,” she says. “In pop, it’s verse, chorus, verse, chorus. The chorus has to be really big. Then you do a bridge. You gotta put an 808 in there. In jazz, you do whatever you want,” she continues. “In jazz, no one cares what the person looks like. They can be 200 years old, 300 pounds, bad acne—people still go see them.” That’s an appealing dichotomy, but it doesn’t explain Stripped. Despite Gray’s association with jazz and autonomy, this album is a purist’s experiment, and purists live and die by rules: One microphone was used for the entire recording process, which took just 48 hours. “Back in the old days, that’s how they made records,” coproducer and Chesky Records cofounder Norman Chesky explains. “It’s a very natural sound. It’s for people who are music aficionados—audiophiles.”
For Chesky, Stripped was a chance to work with a voice he’d long admired. “Of course, when she came out with ‘I Try,’ I was a big fan,” he notes. “I’ve always felt for years, if we could record her our way, it would be great. We have a wish list. We’re always trying to connect with artists. We reached out and started a dialogue.” Gray is more blasé: “Chesky Records approached me about doing a record with them, and I thought about it, and I decided, Fuck it, let’s try it.”
Photo: Norman Seeff
Chesky estimates that he has worked on between 400 and 500 recordings, and he adheres to a strict regimen. “We like to record the way people listen,” he says. “They used to put 20 mics in a room—a mic in front of the trumpet, a mic in front of the trombone, a mic in front of the drums. That’s not how people really listen.” So he uses a lone binaural microphone, which mimics human ears, and he does not overdub, so “what you hear is what you get.” To back Gray, he assembled a band of “first rate” musicians: Ari Hoenig (drums), Wallace Roney (trumpet), Russell Malone (guitar), and Daryl Johns (bass). He describes the group as “top at what they do.”
The restrictions imposed by this new method of recording did not hit Gray immediately. “My shock came after the fact,” she recalls. “I don’t think it really sat in my head before I started that I wouldn’t be able to fix anything. When you make records, you can fix it in the mix, tweak it, whatever. [Recording in this way], there’s nothing you can do about it after you put it down. You don’t even mix it—there’s no mix. That really freaked me out.”
She was more comfortable when it came to the material she was singing; most of Stripped is covers—she returns to Metallica and serves up Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”—or her oldies. Gray presents a mini-Chesky version of her catalog, returning to several of the songs she released early in her career, including “I Try,” and reworking them with her jazz ensemble. Since Gray has delivered covers before, and it’s not unusual for singers to take a second crack at older songs—country singer Dwight Yoakam, for example, will reimagine his past work as bluegrass later this month—the three new tunes on Stripped are the ones that catch the ear. The song “Lucy” is particularly arresting. Malone’s guitar creeps forward, lazy and noncommittal, while Hoenig tosses out a restrained, distant beat, like the sound of high heels receding on a deserted street. Gray and Roney trade off: She lets out a subdued cascade of come-ons; he emits gliding, silvery solos.
It turns out that this was the only song composed on the spot during the recording session. “We did it in 10 minutes, literally,” Gray says. (Chesky suggests it took closer to two hours.) “We were trying to find something to sing about. It was so random and pointless. I just remember [Chesky] saying the name Lucy. That’s melodic to sing—it flows off the tongue.” “It was the last song we put down,” Chesky recalls. “We didn’t know what we were gonna get.” He wasn’t entirely sure what to think of the result at first. “It’s an edgy song,” he says. But his engineers were enthusiastic, calling the track “magic.”
“Lucy” is the final song on Stripped, and it ends up being the track that best embodies the freedom Gray loves in jazz. “Hey baby, baby I know the rules,” she sings. “I’m supposed to play games with you / But I’d rather play my cards / Don’t have to make it hard.”
Stripped will be released on September 9 on Chesky Records.
https://mic.com/articles/149421/macy-gray-remixes-her-15-year-old-breakout-single-i-try-as-a-stunning-jazz-standard#.JhXnGKt37
Macy Gray Remixes Her 15-Year-Old Breakout Single "I Try" As a Stunning Jazz Standard
by Chris Riotta
July 21, 2016
MIC
Macy Gray's sultry, raspy croon is a totally unique instrument unto itself. Even 15 years after most first heard it on her iconic single "I Try," there's still no voice quite like it.
Thursday, the singer returned to remind the world just how special her talents are, debuting a reimagined version of her first major hit as a stripped down jazz standard. It sounds as magical as the heart-wrenching original, but with slightly rawer, more candid feel.
The new rendition of "I Try," currently streaming on SoundCloud, is the first taste of Gray's new jazz album Stripped coming in September. "I Try" and the rest of Stripped were recorded outside of the confines of a typical studio environment. Gray and her band "bunkered up in an abandoned church in Brooklyn and just started laying down some of my favorite songs from over the years," she told Elle. The whole album was recorded in two days, with no overdubs, according to a press release.
The album will consist of some of Gray's greatest hits (like "I Try"), some new songs, and two covers: Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" and Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters." Stripped "was such a completely unexpected but refreshing and fun thing to do," Gray said.
Listen to Gray's new remix over at Elle, and check out Stripped's track list below.
1. Annabelle
2. Sweet Baby
3. I Try
4. Slowly
5. She Ain't Right For You
6. First Time
7. Nothing Else Matters
8. Redemption Song
9. The Heart
10. Lucy
Chris Riotta is a culture reporter at Mic, covering news, music and entertainment. He is based in New York and can be reached at criotta@mic.com
THE MUSIC OF MACY GRAY: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH MS. GRAY
Macy Gray - "I Try":
Macy Gray - "Still":
Macy Gray - "Why Didn't You Call Me?":
Macy Gray Live at Java Soulnation 2013:
Macy Gray live at Java Soulnation Festival 2013, Sunday October 6th - Istora Senayan Jakarta, Indonesia.
Macy Gray Recorded Live at the Canyon Club on November 11th, 2014
Agoura Hills, California:
Macy Gray sings "Creep" on David Letterman (May 8, 2012):
Macy Gray "A moment to myself":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macy_GrayMacy Gray
Macy Gray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Macy Gray | |
|---|---|
Gray performs in Memphis, April 2011
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Natalie Renée McIntyre |
| Born | September 6, 1969 Canton, Ohio, United States |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | macygray |
Macy Gray (born Natalie Renée McIntyre; September 6, 1967)[2] is an American R&B, jazz and soul singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress, known for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday.
Gray has released six studio albums, and received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one. She has appeared in a number of films, including Training Day, Spider-Man, Scary Movie 3, Lackawanna Blues, Idlewild and For Colored Girls. Gray is best known for her international hit single "I Try", taken from her multi-platinum debut album On How Life Is.
In 2016, Gray made a large artistic leap by changing labels to record an album produced with binaural sound. Stripped (Chesky Records, 2016)[1] marked the singer's first steps into the world of audiophile recordings.
Contents
Early life
Gray in 1995
Gray attended school with Brian Warner (later known as musician Marilyn Manson) although they did not know each other.[6] She attended more than one high school including a boarding school which asked her to leave due to her behavior.[6]
She attended college at the University of Southern California and studied scriptwriting.[5]
Musical career
While attending the University of Southern California, she agreed to write songs for a friend. A demo session was scheduled for the songs to be recorded by another singer, but the vocalist failed to appear, so Gray recorded them herself.I started forming bands and writing songs just for fun and then I really got into it and got attached to it. Then a friend of mine asked me to be a singer in his jazz band. He gave me all these jazz CDs and I studied all these different singers and I kind of taught myself how to sing for a gig, but I didn't take it seriously until later.[6]She then met writer-producer Joe Solo while working as a cashier in Beverly Hills.[7] Together, they wrote a collection of songs and recorded them in Solo's studio. The demo tape gave Gray the opportunity to sing at jazz cafés in Los Angeles.[8] Initially, Gray did not consider her unusual voice desirable for singing,[6] Atlantic Records signed her. She began recording her debut record but was dropped from the label upon the departure of A&R man Tom Carolan, who had signed her to the label.[9] Macy returned to Ohio but in 1997 Los Angeles based Zomba Publishing Senior VP A&R man Jeff Blue, convinced her to return to music and signed her to a development deal, recording new songs based on her life experiences, with a new sound, and began shopping her to record labels.[10][11] In 1998, she landed a record deal with Epic Records.[12] She performed on "Love Won't Wait", a song on the Black Eyed Peas' debut album Behind the Front.[13]
On How Life Is (1999–2001)
Gray worked on her debut album in 1999 with producer Darryl Swann.[14] Released in the summer of 1999, On How Life Is became a worldwide smash.[15] Despite the first single "Do Something" stalling on the charts, the release of the second single "I Try" made the album a success for Gray.[16] "I Try" (which was originally featured in Love Jones and the Jennifer Aniston-starring romantic-comedy Picture Perfect in 1997)[17] was one of the biggest singles of 1999,[18][19] and subsequent singles "Still" and "Why Didn't You Call Me" ensured the album became triple platinum in the US,[20] quadruple platinum in the UK,[21] and in Canada.[22]In 2001, Gray won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I Try", which was also nominated for "song of the year" and "record of the year".[23] She then collaborated with Fatboy Slim, the Black Eyed Peas, and Slick Rick (on the song "The World Is Yours", from the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack), as well as acting for the first time, in the thriller Training Day.[24] In August 2001, Gray was booed off the field at the Pro Football Hall of Fame exhibition game after forgetting the lyrics to the American national anthem.[25]
The Id and The Trouble with Being Myself (2001–2005)
Gray visiting the Astrodome as a volunteer, in Houston, Texas, September 3, 2005
In 2002, she appeared in Spider-Man and contributed a remix of her song "My Nutmeg Phantasy" to its accompanying soundtrack. Gray also worked with Santana on the track "Amoré (Sexo)", for his album Shaman.[30][31]
Also in 2002, she appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD in tribute to Nigerian Afropop pioneer Fela Kuti, Red Hot and Riot. She appeared on a remake track of Kuti's classic, "Water No Get Enemy" alongside prominent neo soul, hip hop and R&B artists, D'Angelo, the Soultronics, Nile Rodgers, Roy Hargrove, and Kuti's son, Femi Kuti.[citation needed]
She recorded a duet with Zucchero called "Like the Sun (From Out of Nowhere)", which featured Jeff Beck on guitar released in 2004 on Zu & Co., a duets collection.[32][33] Her song "Time of My Life" was included in the soundtrack to 8 Mile.[34] A cartoon based on Gray's childhood was being developed, but it never came to fruition.[14][31]
In 2003, Gray released her third studio album, The Trouble with Being Myself, to rave reviews.[citation needed] The lead single, "When I See You", became a radio hit in the US and a top forty hit in the UK, although the album was not as well received by fans.[35] Nevertheless, it became Gray's third top twenty album in the UK.[36][37] A greatest hits collection and a live album were subsequently released: The Very Best of Macy Gray (2004) and Live in Las Vegas (2005). Additionally, Gray was featured on Marcus Miller's 2005 album Silver Rain, on a cover of Prince's 1986 song "Girls & Boys". She also appeared on the soundtrack to the film Chicago with Queen Latifah and Lil' Kim on "Cell Block Tango/He Had it Comin'."[38]
Return to music and Big (2007–2010)
Gray performing in Toronto, July 23, 2008
In March, Gray released her fourth studio album (sixth overall), Big.[41] Two singles, "Finally Made Me Happy" and "Shoo Be Doo", were released from the album.[40] "What I Gotta Do", another track from the album, is featured on the Shrek the Third soundtrack. It has been considered Gray's comeback album, after a four-year hiatus since her last studio album.[42] The album was critically acclaimed and seen by some as her best work to date.[43] It features collaborations with Natalie Cole, Fergie, Justin Timberlake, and will.i.am, who co-executive produced the album with Gray. It was moderately successful in the US, where it debuted and peaked at number 39 on the Billboard 200, becoming Gray's highest-charting album since The Id.[44] Big reached number 62 on the albums chart in the UK,[45] her lowest-charting UK album, but it achieved some success in several other countries, including Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Finland, reaching the Top 40 on their album charts.[46]
PBS's Soundstage live concert series premiered a Gray concert on July 5.[47]
Gray performing at the Live Earth Brazil concert at Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro on July 7, 2007
In 2008, Gray launched a new campaign under the name " Nemesis Jaxson", with the single, "Slap a Bitch".[49]
Early in 2009, Gray recorded the song "Don't Forget Me" for the soundtrack of Confessions of a Shopaholic.[50]
The Sellout (2010–2011)
The first single from Gray's fifth studio album The Sellout, "Beauty in the World", is featured in the final sequence of the series finale, "Hello Goodbye", of the ABC television series, Ugly Betty. "Beauty in the World" was also used as the theme in multiple videos created by Microsoft to promote Internet Explorer 9.[citation needed] Both singles released from the album ("Beauty in the World" and "Lately") were top 10 hits on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs Chart.[citation needed]Upon its release, The Sellout received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. Metacritic gave it an average score of 57, based on 15 reviews;[51] Andy Gill of The Independent gave it three out of five stars; while AllMusic writer John Bush shared a similar sentiment and panned Gray's songwriting.[52]
However, The Boston Globe's James Reed commended its production,[53] and Jeremy Allen of NME gave the album a 7/10 rating.[54]
Covered, Talking Book, and The Way (2011–2015)
Gray performs live at the 54th Ljubljana Jazz Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on July 6, 2013
For the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Stevie Wonder album Talking Book, Gray covered the entire record and released her Talking Book as a tribute.[56]
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey's Where Are They Now, Gray opened up about her problems with drug abuse, stating that she was ill-prepared for the level of fame she received. The interview coincided with the release of her album The Way, released in October 2014 on Kobalt Records. A world tour was announced shortly after its release.[57]
Stripped (2016)
In 2016 Gray began her career with Chesky Records. Stripped was released September 9, 2016 and garnered unanimous praise from critics. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard Jazz Chart.[1] Earlier that year, she featured on Ariana Grande's song "Leave Me Lonely" from her third studio album Dangerous Woman.Other work
Gray appeared in the eighth season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, playing for Habitat for Humanity. She finished in third place.[58]In 2002, she was the voice for Seeiah Owens in the video game SSX Tricky.[59][60]
Gray sang the theme song for the Nickelodeon animated series As Told by Ginger, composed by Jared Faber and Emily Kapnek.[61]
In August 2008, Gray headlined at the 2008 Summer Sundae music festival in Leicester, England, performing cover versions of Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?", Deee-Lite's "Groove Is in the Heart" and Radiohead's "Creep".[62] For the gig, her band wore pink Andy Warhol wigs.[63]
On September 28, 2008, Gray sang the American national anthem as part of the Israeli flag-raising ceremony at the Israeli consulate of Los Angeles.[64][65]
In 2008, Gray collaborated with Australian DJ and singer Kaz James on the song "Can't Hold Back". The single was released in early 2009 in Australia and is credited to Kaz James featuring Macy Gray.[66]
In 2009, Gray briefly competed in season 9 of Dancing with the Stars with professional partner Jonathan Roberts. They were eliminated in a double elimination in week one.
In 2012, she performed the Michael Jackson song "Rock with You" for a special performance of the West End musical Thriller – Live for BBC Children in Need Pop Goes the Musical.
In 2015, Gray was featured on the song "Into the Deep" by Galactic.[67]
Also in 2016, Gray released Stripped,[1] her first album with Chesky Records.
Acting career
![[icon]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} |
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2017) |
Personal life
Gray was married to Tracy Hinds, a mortgage broker, for about four years, but they divorced when her career was about to begin.[5] They have three children:[21] Aanisah, Mel, and Happy.[5]Along with her unusual voice, she has a distinctive appearance. Standing 6 feet (1.8 metres) tall, she has also worn her hair dramatically and for some part of her career was known for noticeable and creative wigs.[5]
She opened the Macy Gray Music Academy in 2005.[68]
Discography
Main article: Macy Gray discography
Studio albums- On How Life Is (1999)
- The Id (2001)
- The Trouble with Being Myself (2003)
- Big (2007)
- The Sellout (2010)
- Covered (2012)
- Talking Book (2012)
- The Way (2014)
- Stripped (2016)
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Ally McBeal | Herself | Episode: "Hope and Glory" |
| 2000—2001 | Saturday Night Live | Herself | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | SSX Tricky | Seeiah Owens (voice) | Video game |
| 2001 | Training Day | Sandman's Woman | |
| 2002 | MDs | Jess | Episode: "Wing and a Prayer" |
| 2002 | Spider-Man | Herself | Cameo |
| 2003 | Scary Movie 3 | Herself | Cameo |
| 2003 | Gang of Roses | Assassin | |
| 2003 | When I Was a Girl | Herself | Episode: "Singers" |
| 2004 | Around the World in 80 Days | Sleepy Frenchwoman | |
| 2004 | Lightning in a Bottle | Herself | Cameo |
| 2004 | American Dreams | Carla Thomas | Episode: "Real-to-Reel" |
| 2004 | That's So Raven | Rhonda | Episode: "Taken to the Cleaners" |
| 2004 | Blue's Clues | Herself | Episode: "Bluestock" |
| 2005 | Lackawanna Blues | Pauline | TV movie |
| 2005 | The Crow: Wicked Prayer | Carman | |
| 2005 | Shadowboxer | Neisha | |
| 2005 | Domino | Lashandra Davis | |
| 2005 | Duck Dodgers | Diva (voice) | Episode: "Diva Delivery/Castle High" |
| 2005 | American Dragon: Jake Long | Trixie's Grandmother/Miss Jenkinks (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2005 | 1-800-Missing | Cleo | Episode: "A Death in the Family" |
| 2006 | Idlewild | Taffy | |
| 2007 | Macy Gray's Big Special | Herself | |
| 2009 | Dancing with the Stars | Herself | Contestant on season 9 |
| 2009 | Head Case | Herself | Episode: "The Wedding Ringer" |
| 2010 | For Colored Girls | Rose/Lady in Pink | Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble |
| 2012 | Percentage | Mama Cash | Post-production |
| 2012 | The Paperboy | Anita Chester | |
| 2013 | Mama Black Widow | Hattie Mae | Announced |
| 2014 | The Grim Sleeper | Margette | |
| 2015 | Brotherly Love | Mrs. Taylor | |
| 2015 | November Rule | Aunt Hildi (Hildiguard) | |
| 2015 | "Where Children Play" | Helen Harrold | |
| 2016 | Fuller House | Herself | Episode: "Funner House" |
| 2016 | Papa | Agent Sterling | |
| 2016 | Cardboard Boxer | Den Mother |
Awards and nominations
Gray won five of seventeen nominations, including Grammy Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and Brit Awards.| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Eminem | MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist for "I Try" 2000 | Succeeded by Alicia Keys |
| Preceded by Natalie Imbruglia | Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist 2000 | Succeeded by Madonna |
| Preceded by Natalie Imbruglia | Brit Award for International Breakthrough Act 2000 | Succeeded by Kelis |
| Preceded by "I Will Remember You (Live)" by Sarah McLachlan | Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I Try" 2001 | Succeeded by "I'm Like a Bird" by Nelly Furtado |
References
Born: Canton, Ohio, 1967; Soeder, John. "Macy Gray is philosophical about slumping sales". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
Ohio drivers-license records indicate she was born Sept. 6, 1967, making her 36.
- "Macy Gray Opens Her Own Music School". Contact Music.com. October 20, 2005. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
External links
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