On Saturday, August 3rd, CD Enterprises, Inc. will present Summer Spirit Festival 2019 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. This year’s festival will feature some great artists from multiple genres (Soul, R&B, Go-Go Hip-Hop and Jazz) and will be headlined by Anthony Hamilton, Raphael Saadiq and Jhene Aiko. All artist photos copyright and courtesy of David Dixon.
Anthony Hamilton is a Soul/R&B legend and GRAMMY award winner that has sold over 50 million albums in his career. A native of Charlotte, NC, Anthony’s career spans over 20 years, which includes being a featured vocalist for other artists, until his second solo album, Comin’ From Where I’m From, was released in 2003. That album turned out to be an instant classic and his career skyrocketed from there. He has consistently put out quality albums and his fan base has consistently grown as a result. Anthony puts on a great show with a special emphasis on songs you can ‘feel”. He has a strong, loyal following (especially among the ladies) and his unique soulful voice combined with his talented band and backup singers is guaranteed to please the Summer Spirit Festival crowd.
Raphael Saadiq started his long and illustrious career with as the leader of the legendary R&B group Tony! Toni! Tone’!. A native of Oakland, CA, Raphael was the lead singer, bass player writer and producer of many of the group’s hits, which featured his brother and cousin, among others. When Tony! Toni! Tone’ disbanded, Saadiq joined forces briefly with Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest and Dawn Robinson from En Vogue to form the group Lucy Pearl (which only released one album, Lucy Pearl in 2000). He then embarked upon a very successful career as a solo artist and producer. Raphael won a GRAMMY in 2004 for his song “Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip-Hop)” from the Brown Sugar soundtrack and been nominated many times his solo albums Instant Vintage and Stone Rollin’. Raphael has an album coming out soon (Jimmy Lee) and he is sure to perform a few songs from the album in addition to his many solo and Tony! Toni! Tone’! hits.
Jhene Aiko is a tremendously talented singer and songwriter with a smooth and distinctive voice. Aiko is a native of Los Angeles, CA and comes from a musical family, having sung with two of her sisters as part of the group Gyrl. Aiko was first was introduced as a featured vocalist for the group B2K. Jhene also collaborated as a featured vocalist for many other artists, before releasing a mixtape called Sailing Soul(s) in 2011. Aiko wrote all the songs on the project, which included collaborations with Drake, Gucci Mane and Kanye West. After the success of Sailing Soul(s), Jhene was signed to Def Jam records. Since then, Aiko has released one EP, Sail Out (2013), which was nominate for a GRAMMY, and two albums, Souled Out (2014) and Trip (2017)and her unique vocal style is in consistent demand as she has continued to collaborate with hip-hop artists such as Drake, Big Sean, and Childish Gambino.
This year the festival will also put the spotlight on DC’s homegrown genre, Go-Go, with performances by Be’La Dona (featuring the legendary Sugar Bear from Go-Go legends Experience Unlimited), The Backyard Band, and Sirius & Company (Ms. Kim & Scooby). Rounding out the festival lineup are the group DVSN (consisting of producer Nineteen85 and singer Daniel Daley), keyboardist PJ Morton and singer Kyle Dion.
Be sure to pick up tickets for this Saturday’s Summer Spirit Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion and enjoy a day of great music! Click here for tickets!
