Maze Feat. Frankie Beverly | Before I Let Go (Change Request ReVision)

For this ReVision—my third one from this same group—I chose an iconic song that has had a great influence on me and my artwork throughout my lifetime. Featuring groove-intensive rhythm and blues, combined with a west coast-style songwriting balladry, their sound was something I immediately connected with from the very first time I heard “Joy And Pain” on the radio as a child. 

Often referred to as the “Black Grateful Dead” for their loyal cross-generational fanbase, Maze was formed in San Francisco, California in the late 70s, fronted by the Philly-raised songwriter and former gospel singer, Frankie Beverly. 

Originally called Raw Soul, the group changed their name to Maze upon the recommendation of Beverly’s mentor—as well as a major catalyst for their meteoric ascension in popularity—Marvin Gaye. 

Written and produced by Frankie Beverly and released on their 1981 Live In New Orleans recording, "Before I Let Go”, is the quintessential Maze record. Peaking at number thirteen on the Billboard R&B chart in 1981, this masterpiece would later go on to define the group, achieving iconic status as a cross-generational cultural benchmark of contemporary Black American Music.

“It was about somebody who was really having trouble letting go of something”, states Beverly of the “ode to a love lost” that helped inspire the song's lyrical content. Initially written in a slower tempo, the members of Maze developed the song into the seductive groove that cemented its musical legacy.     

Featuring conventional instrumentation of this era for an R&B ensemble—live percussion, Electric Bass, Guitar, and Fender Rhodes—I replaced the Electric Guitar lead parts with standard polyphonic synth choices for that period, including Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 bright brass pad, layered over a saturated Oberheim OB-X brass tone, for harmonic texture. 

For as much as they have written and recorded timeless songs and records, you really have not fully experienced their spiritual mastery until you've seen Maze Feat. Frankie Beverly live in concert.

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Maze Feat. Frankie Beverly | Before I Let Go (Change Request ReVision)

Andrew Emil // Change Request 

A preeminent artist of Chicago's 3rd wave, Andrew Emil is one of house music’s most staunch stalwarts. A concert-trained percussionist since age 11, he earned a chair in his native Kansas City Symphony before eventually moving to Chicago. 

As a traditional musician, Andrew Emil has worked as a keyboardist, arranger, and an orchestrator on recording sessions and productions, cutting his teeth at the former Chicago Trax Recording Studios. 

Credited on over 200+ recordings, his composition and studio productions have ranged from concert works and sound design to film scoring stages and hundreds of releases of electronic music productions. 

After a life in live music performance, from orchestra percussion sections to punk rock ensembles, he crafted a reputation for House Music productions in Chicago under his own name, as well as Broadway & Wilson, and Uptown Tones. 

One of the earlier innovators of the “Jackin House” genre under the Broadway & Wilson moniker with Jeff Bloom, Andrew is never content to stay in one place or style of musical thought for very long. 

He is the only recording artist to do production work simultaneously for Derrick Carter’s Classic Music Company, Mark Farina’s Great Lakes Audio, Gene Farris’ Farris Wheel Recordings, and four-time GRAMMY nominee Steve “Silk” Hurley’s S&S Records.

A string of double-digit singles for prominent labels, including remixes for artists such as Common, Kanye West, Little Louie Vega, Jamie Principle, Steve "Silk" Hurley, Iz & Diz, Fast Eddie, Shalamar, Roland Clark, David Morales, Colette, Amp Fiddler, JT Donaldson, and Gene Farris, to name a few. 

2012 saw the emergence of his epithet, Change Request, with the Change Theory EP on four play music. This new persona allowed the freedom to explore hybrids of mid-tempo live instrument focused jazz-dance-fusion. 

Following this release was “After All” on Seasons Recordings, with another single thereafter featuring house music icon, Chez Damier, “I Wanna Go Back”, including a remarkable rework from Glenn Underground, on Glenview Records. 

The ever-growing collection of songs and musical dialogue eventually led to the conceptual album series from Change Request. Each full-length effort containing a completely separate story and scored via its own unique incidental subtext. 

Emil created AstraVox Music with the award-winning Los Angeles-based composer, Mr. Nathaniel, as a home for his increasing catalog of incidental dramatic musical compositions. 

www.andrewemil.com