I Am Taliah – From Dallas

As mainstream culture dominates the music world, sometimes genres like R&B and Soul take an involuntary backseat to the jumpy, bouncy beats of pop music. However it’s when we hear the intersection of these genres that the instinctual head-nodding and swaying kicks in; catchy beats meet with emotional style to create a masterful combination. That’s what we can hear when we listen to Taliah Areesah Gipson, self-branded as “I Am Taliah,” a singer and songwriter stationed in Dallas, Texas.

Gipson grew up singing with her sisters and performing in many gospel choirs. She picked up the pencil to write while she was a teenager, but a moment in her life inspired a creative side and segwayed into her songwriting. After she lost one of her sisters, she used songwriting as a type of therapy, and the songs just began to flow. Gipson’s writing bloomed from therapy into a true passion. In her final year of college, she came out as a singer, and with help from friends, was able to begin performing. Since then, she has developed immensely both as an artist and a performer. Watch this quick clip of her performing “Who I Am” at a live concert in 2016.

Who I Am #clip2

Posted by Taliah Areesah Gipson on Friday, June 10, 2016

Since she broke into the songwriting world, she has been experimenting in different genres and mediums for her work. She worked on some gospel music for her brother in law, and was given the opportunity to sing background vocals on his debut album. Taliah also got out of her comfort zone a little bit, and wrote music for some other aspiring singers. Most recently, Gipson came out with Who I Am, her EP containing ten songs of varying energy and sound. They are all emotional and soulful and have enough beats to make you tap your foot along with her strong melodies and delicate background vocals. She is happy to be at this place in her journey and has had a chance to share her music with the world through the internet, as well as some notable performances. In addition to the many other performances she has done, Gipson performed at an release party for her friends’ Soul EP, as well as the House of Blues in Dallas. Watch her performing at the release party, with a long list of her Who I Am songs.

Be sure to check out Taliah’s Gigmor page, as well as her social media accounts. Also, go and head over to her Soundcloud and Youtube to be able to hear more of Gipson’s EP and other works as well. Listen for her dominant voice coming hot out of Texas, as it might very well soon be showing up at the front door steps of your own city! 

Watch her sentimental music video for “Official.” 

Pianos Can Sing Too: A Quick Look into Pop Piano Covers

It’s not every day that we get to hear piano renditions of hit songs. All we hear on the radio these days in the way of individual instrumental solos are classical pieces or a 10-second solo in another song. That’s why you should check out these two accomplished Gigmor pianists, Michael Bogomolny and David Galvan, both experienced cover artists, in their fantastic covers of popular songs. First, here is a stylish video of Bogomolny covering Santa Esmeralda’s “You’re My Everything.”

Now, watch Galvan in his impressively multi-dimensional take on Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book, in the form of a medley. Not only does he make it sound as though there are four hands playing the piano rather than two, he also manages to capture the essence and bounce of Chance the Rapper’s style and sway. Somehow, he manipulates the keys, adds his own style and rhythms, but never steers to far from Chance’s iconic beats. Galvan’s seemingly effortless performance is bound to make you do a slight double take.

Now, let’s bring it back to Bogomolny. With this song, you might remember it the best as a soulful, powerful John Legend hit – maybe one of his most famous and well-known. It graced the hit radio stations for months and got stuck in the heads of many, many, people at some point in time. However, here we have something different. Bogomolny captures the style of Legend in this cover of “All of Me,” but adds his own style to deepen the experience of a piano cover of a pop song. The emotion from the original lyrics sings through his hands, and tells its own story of the overwhelming pain of love – all vibrating up from the keys.

If that was not enough, take a look at one more great cover by David Galvan. He covers Drake’s “Too Good,” but takes it to a whole new level. Not only does he radiate Drake’s sounds, but he adds a completely new dimension only achievable by closely examining the melody on piano. Listen as he, like in the other videos, manages to sing the lyrics through his emotive playing and passionate rhythmic precision.

If you enjoyed that or are interested in more of their works, please check out both David and Michael on Gigmor. Hopefully you got a small taste of the world of pop music brought down to basics by some sweet, simple strokes of the keys.

Gigmor’s Saxiest Videos

Saxophone is my favorite instrument that I, sadly, cannot play. Today I want to highlight some of the best sax players Gigmor has to offer. Whenever saxophone is added to a group’s dynamic, it is a surefire way to add some spirit to your performance and some soul to your sound. Adding a saxophone player might be the perfect one-up your band needs so check out a few of our favorite videos featuring musicians performing brass-wind.

 

First up is Peter Van Siclen, an extremely talented songwriter/composer. Peter got his Masters in Jazz Composition from UMass Amherst. Check out his looping cover of “The Damariscotta Shake” on sax and his wind synth. This guy is seriously talented and looking to compose and perform more so be sure to shoot him a follow and reach out.

 

 

Next up is a 15 year old Collin Logatto, better known to Gigmor as MrSaxMusic. A Long Island teen, Collin is extremely talented for his age. He has played at CitiField during a Mets game, as well as all over New York. Enjoy the young talent’s solo from Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” and be sure to follow his page on Gigmor.

 

 

Willie Moore is proud to call himself a saxophone player. He hopes to meet more people across the industry who can push him to become as good of a musician as he can possibly be. Willie specializes in Soprano sax and loves to play jazz and neo-soul. Check out his smooth sounds below and be sure to follow his page and reach out.

 

 

Written by Gigmor guest blogger: Ari Kapner