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It's no coincidence that the album is titled Perseverance. Demetrius had to overcome numerous personal adversities during the pandemic, and the general living conditions such as racial oppression and police violence were not exactly conducive to his development. However, the completion of his new album illustrates his staying power. Numerous musician friends have supported him in realizing his musical dream. The extensive list is noted in the credits. I hope the musicians involved will forgive me if I don't mention everyone in detail. Most of the songs are penned by Demetrius, some with the participation of other musicians. The album also includes a cover version of Stevie Wonder's Overjoyed. The album opens with Prelude 2014, a bombastic introduction comparable to the style of George Duke's Genesis. This is followed seamlessly by Funk InFusion, which rightly bears this name. Robert "Rob Bass" Skinner's bass sets the pace, which is precisely followed by keyboards and horns. Demetrius, Gary Johnson und Jeffrey Ponders provide exquisite short solos. Sensuality combines a lovely melody with appealing playing style featuring Randy Scott on sax. As a treat Krayon presents us brilliance on the synthesizer. Into The Light revels in the unison of flute and piano presenting the enchanting Althea Rene on flute. On Too Comfortable Demetrius performs with Detroit singer Anesha Birchett, who composed the R&B song together with Demetrius and is also responsible for lyrics and vocal arrangement. We already had the pleasure to listen to her voice on Randy Scott's Tempo from the album Elevation. Get On The Floor has the typical nest smell that we know from the original Funk from the 70s. On the one hand we have Volley Craig's fulminant bass and on the other hand the voice of Marcus "Daheatmizer" Devine alienated with Talkbox to thank for that. Stevie Wonder has written the hit Overjoyed for his album In Square Circle (1985). The song was often covered by well known interprets like Stanley Clarke, Diana Ross, Jane Monheit, Grover Washington Jr., Blake Aaron or Nathan East. Demetrius's rendition impresses especially with the vocalist Doobie Powell, who revives the original spirit of the song with precise diction and warm timbre. Sugar Love offers an exquisite horn arrangement by Kris Johnson with Jeffrey Ponders as soloist on sax and Demetrius Nabors in absolute mastery on the keys. On Shine Randy Scott joins the party and gives the song its own drive with passionate fervor. With the title song, Demetrius makes a strong case for his own assertiveness in adverse circumstances. Final tune is the reprise of Get On The Floor, a short take to remember. Demetrius Nabors has made a clear exclamation mark with the new album Perseverance. Involved as a brilliant studio musician on numerous releases by musicians such as Althea Rene, Lin Rountree, Randy Scott and Ron Otis, he also shows his own strength as a composer with this masterpiece.
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Album Information
Title: Perseverance |
Pianist,
composer, producer and arranger Demetrius “Krayon” Nabors has a
reputation of being very well-known in the Detroit music sector.
It is high time that his level of awareness also rises
nationwide. The albums The Journey Within Part I
(2011), Christmas with Krayon (2012) and The
Journey Within Part II (2014) have been released by him so
far. His newest project is Perseverance (2021).
