Where were you?

I remember where I was.  Plainfield, NJ.  I was embarking on yet another step towards my destiny.  My music career needed another jolt.  When Phyllis Hyman died, about 5 or 6 years before, I felt a sense of loss, too.  When I heard the news, my first instinct wasn't to check what was trending on Twitter, or to see if anyone on Facebook had heard yet ( like I do now).  Instead, I relied on radio reports which stated that "they" got it from a good source. 

How could it be that someone so lovely and sweet.....on verge of making musical history be gone? So soon? I had already been playing her CD on repeat. Probably one of the last CD's I bought and listened to from beginning to end.  

Click below to buy:

http://amzn.com/B00005LMJU

The Newark Branch of ACTSO had a skating party planned that day.  The kids were asking me if it was true. I said I didn't want to believe that it was, but it appeared so.  The day was also to be the last time I would see those students that I had grown so fond of during the time we mentored them.  I was moving back to Cali to try to rejuvenate myself and care for my mom who was having some health issues.  Although I wanted our last time together to be a happy one....a celebration of accomplishments and new chapters, it was truly a sad day.

I watched the funeral services on TV as many of us had, trying not to be bitter because the TV Journalist just didn't understand the outpouring of love for "our angel".  The loss felt like our sister, cousin, and best friend was taken from us abruptly and it hurt.  It still hurts. 10 years later.  To this day, I have not watched the last film she appeared in, "Queen of the Damned".  I couldn't.   It seemed too raw at the time.  Although chronologically it has been 10 years....it still feels like yesterday when I got the call "Did you hear....?".

Sadly, I ALSO remember how cruel certain DJ's on HOT 97 were in creating what they thought would be a "joke" on the Monday after her death.  Star's actions were disgraceful in his decision to be so insensitive.  A petition was circulated for his removal. It took some time, however he is no longer on that station. I remember listening to Angie Martinez that day and hearing Q-tip call in, distraught over the poor choice.....and obviously the pain we all felt, stating that his "boy....just lost his girl".  Referring to Dame Dash. 



Her spirit lives on in her music, in her infectious smile, her silliness (I still remember from footage from MTV Diary) and the Haughton Family.  To the Haughton Family, I'd like to say thank you for sharing "Baby Girl" with us. 

Check out this remix by Ahmed Sirour (Eric Roberson, Teri Tobin, Lenore Jaye, Cleveland Jones)


   Aaliyah - One in a Million (Ahmed Sirour remix) by Ahmed Sirour

So, where were you when you heard?

Brush With Greatness #1

I've been asked how I got started in the music business and every time I smile at the thought of how blessed I've been to have my first "real" background vocal gig was for Jeffrey Osborne.  To be selected to be apart of the children's choir to sing on "Soweto" was truly a dream come true. 

I remember walking into the Lion Share Recording Studio feeling like I walked into some sort of royal palace. It was the old ABC Records Studio but was purchased by Kenny Rogers in 1981 and was one of the first at that time to offer an all digital and editing computer system.  Of course, millions of folks now have some sort of "Garage Band-like" software in their homes, whether they are professional or just do it for fun but that was a major advancement for those times.  To be able to begin my musical journey in the same studio where "We Are The World" was recorded and to later discover that it was also where one of my all-time-favorite-movies/soundtracks was recorded. (When I finally saw Barbra Streisand's Yentl, the theme of a woman wanting to set out and make her mark in the world in spite of adversity, made me take on that lyric "....nothing's going to stop me now" from the closing song "Piece of Sky"....that's a WHOLE other blog entry in itself.) 

Once I walked into the sound booth, I had forgotten how awkward I felt as an adolescent.  I even forgot that my secret crush didn't know I was alive.  In this room there was a community that I seemed to belong in, by default. His more "seasoned" background singer Portia Griffin  (Kenny G, Aretha Franklin, CeCe Winans, Donna Summer) being there to help us know what our cues were.  She was such a sweetheart. I remember thinking that she didn't treat us like we were "just kids".  Some of the girls and I were even making up choreography to the song, daydreaming that someday we would hit the road with Mr. Osborne.  

So my memory doesn't serve as well on the names of everyone that was in the choir with us, but I do believe Shanice Wilson (I Love Your Smile) and Monica Calhoun (The Best Man, The Players Club, Diary of Single Mom) were among us. #Good Times


I remember the first and only time I heard the song on the radio.  My friend's mom was taking us to school and it came on and I was trying to stay cool even though I wanted to yell out the window "Hey, I'm on this song!".  Frankly, no one would believe me especially since it was a "choir" setting on most of the parts and it's not like you could hear my voice peeking out of the others. (Although, my mom swears "she" could here me.) 

I find it interesting that the lyrics in his song are about "freedom" and my first single was " Free". Given the current racial climate in North London [London riots: update - The Big Picture - Boston.com]; Jackson, Mississippi [White Teens Run Over Black Man In Surveillance Video - ABC News].....the violence in other areas of the world.... continued famine........we all are still seeking freedom in some sort of way.  The words to the song, written by Elizabeth Lamers, Frank Musker, Hamish Stuart  still ring true for all of the various places mentioned. 

"....I can't believe the things my eyes have seen...I only have a dream..(we shouted) FREEDOM!" - Jeffrey Osborne - "Soweto"

Teri Tobin | Free (feat. Dash) | CD Baby

Here's praying that we can find worldwide peace.....

I found HIM ......

After what seems like an eternity....I resurface from some great experiences along my journey.  In brief, during a quick stay in Seattle/Tacoma  I witnessed God's creation in a whole different way. Evidenced by these pictures. 

Just breathtaking. All right here in the U.S.  

How many times I have neglected to admire His work....right under my nose?  The birds that sing outside my window each morning.....the butterfly that crosses my path.....the landscape of the mountains near my "own" backyard.  Ok....I'm paying attention now.  Take time to enjoy the view takes on a whole new meaning for me now.