Alicia Michelle 'Miki' Howard was Born in Chicago, IL, in 1960 to two well-known
gospel singers, Clay Graham (Pilgrim Jubiliees) and Josephine Howard (The
Caravans).
In her teens she moved to L.A. with her mother and was spotted by Side
Effect's Augie Johnson in a teen beauty contest when she was 16 and was later
to join Side Effect in 1978 to replace Sylvia St. James. She had a
relationship with Johnson and they had a child together.
Whilst with Side
Effect she also did backing vocals for Wayne Henderson, Roy Ayers and Stanley
Turrentine, amongst others, and in 1985 decided to go solo and secured a
contract with Atlantic. Her debut album "Come Share My Love" was released in
1986 and she had her first hit single with the title track.
She has continued to record albums in every decade since, with 3 in each
of the 80s, 90s, 00s and her last in 2015, although since the 90s most of
the albums consisted mainly of cover versions and many of them of jazz
standards. It is, therefore, no great surprise that her latest single
,"Throw It Away" (released 4 Jul 2022), is reminiscent of a something you
might expect to hear in a smokey jazz club.
It's a song written and
recorded by Abby Lincoln in 1980 and featured on her "Painted Lady" album,
but I have to say it sounds a lot older and she recorded from the 50s so
perhaps it was an old song even in 1980? She re-recorded it in 2007
and Miki's version is more in line with that version than the 1980
original which Miki has updated further.
It is obviously a bit of a jazz standard as SecondHandSongs lists 89 versions of it! Just about the only name I recognise on the list is Cassandra Wilson who did it in 2003.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
Click icons below for further information or to connect with the
artist.
| Rating: | 8 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Soul Jazz |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | Justice Records |
| Cat No: | None |
| Date: | 04/07/2022 |
| Key/BPM: | 2A/58 |
| Price: | £1 |
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