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| Highly-praised Toronto funk/blues vocalist/harp player Suzie McNeil (and erstwhile keyboardist) seems set to cross over into a middle of the road pop sound with KiD, and the project actually works for her, no doubt due to her sparkly-clean image (which, like Tina Turner, becomes unleashed into something a bit more feral onstage) and ultra-cool back-up players (Sean Cotton - lead guitar (ex-The Undesirables), Dave Leitao - keyboards, vocals (ex-Pocket Dwellers), Lisa Duncan � vocals, Roger Williams - bass (ex-Ivana Santilli) and Rich Brown - drums (ex-Big Sugar). Suzie and Sean (a rapidly-rising and respected songwriter-guitarist in the GTA) have released a three-song demo CD, which ought to be seeing rotation on the aptly labeled Mix 99.9, which caters to anybody and everybody, and the numerous other stations, both AM and FM, which are geared towards the younger set. That certainly doesn�t mean that the sound is monotonous, as is so much of today�s music, but it is certainly a �lighter� vocal approach from Suzie�s more blues-oriented musical background with Jerome Godboo. Once you accept the difference, it�s easy to get into the mix of genuine rhythm and blues (in the tradition of The Temptations and Chaka Khan) and modern sensibility via Suzie�s street-smart vocal styling and Sean�s funky instrumental and synthesized wizardry. Although the three tracks, penned by Sean Cotton, all have immense marketability, I figure the �super-hit� is going to be �Somethin� Sweet�, especially since it would appeal to the consumeritis-inflicted teenage generation who tend to think that love can be bought/rewarded with commercial swag. The CD was produced by Greg Fisher and Derek Treffry (a.k.a. �Fish-Fry� � www.fish-fry.com), two former jazz musicians who have composed a 22-minute music video called �speed�s choice�, produced by Street Kids International, and the 60-minute score for �John Nash: A Beautiful Genius�, a documentary on John Nash, a mathematician who was featured in the film �A Beautiful Mind�. At a recent live performance at Healey�s (yes, THAT Healey), the KiD duo was joined by the above-mentioned backing members, and another couple of musicians � Nick Pattison and Jerry Warren � who performed a very appealing version of Marvin Gaye�s �Let�s Get It On�. The band played Sean Cotton�s originals as well as various cover renditions from Tina Turner, T-Bone Walker, Stevie Wonder (with Lisa Duncan on lead vocals on �Very Superstititious�), my favourites being �Who Is He and What Is He to You� (Bill Withers), with Sean Cotton impressing the crowd with his lead vocals and funkadelic guitar work, and �Freedom� (George Michael), a collaborative onstage vocal effort, with Chris Perra stepping in on drums. The KiD outfit will be continuing their live tour at C�est What (19 Church St., Toronto) on October 24/02 and see what develops! |
| "KiD REPRESENTS NEW DIRECTION FOR [SUZIE] MCNEIL" [Published in to-nite magazine - Issue #276 - Oct. 3-9/02] |
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