KBLX Presents Benjie Ross with special guests Nikki Thomas (KBLX Morning Show) and Arlington Houston Quartet with Valinda Love

July 15, 2009

8pm show $15

Benjie Ross (songwriter, producer, artist)
The Biography
(www.benjertainment.com)

If you have ever heard of M.C. Hammer or Tony Toni Tone´ then you are probably familiar with the songwriting, music production and artistic talent of Benjie Ross.

Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, the Oakland, California native was captivated and nurtured by some of the greatest music ever recorded. Influenced by countless legends (including Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway & Babyface), he slowly developed his unique personal style and dreamed of one day making his mark.

Fast forward to 1990 and armed with a business degree from Morehouse College, Benjie set his sites on breaking into the music industry and started BSR Productions. His hard work and
determination would eventually pay off, as he quickly developed strong relationships and marketed his talents at a feverish pace. His first ever composition, entitled “Please Stay” caught
the ear of D’Wayne Wiggins (of Tony Toni Tone´) whose adaptation (“Slow Wine”) was featured on their classic Sons of Soul album, selling over 2 million copies. The buzz was rapidly growing,
earning Ross a recording / production contract with M.C. Hammer’s RWI Entertainment. It was there where he began to spread his wings and finally make his mark - writing, producing and arranging selections for a strong stable of artists (including M.C. Hammer) and the #1 Billboard ® hit for D.R.S., entitled “Gangsta Lean”.

Two years and thousands of countless, passionate hours later, Benjie’s BSR Productions had contributed to over 8 million units in album sales, globally. This began his epic journey to create
and fine-tune his personal full-length masterpiece (code-named) The Jedi - the highly anticipated album (over 10 years in the making).

The current single “The Calling” (from The Jedi ) has all the elements of greatness fused into one dynamic message. With its unique blend of genres (funk, soul, gospel, r&b, pop and rock) this self - written / produced gem has got to be one of the most uplifting and infectious pieces in years. The track features two of the greatest voices in the business (Grammy ® award winner Ms. Mone’t and Todd Brown) both delivering unforgettable, earth-shattering performances. Simply
stated, “The Calling” is incredible - an absolute smash.

If this is an indicator of what to expect from Benjie and his forthcoming project, we should all be prepared to hear from him for many generations to come.

Benjie not only wants his work to penetrate the globe, he wants to give back to his community that made it all possible - donating 10% of all net proceeds to the Oakland Unified School District.
(www.benjertainment.com)

The world is now officially on notice.

Say no more.

Nikki Thomas

KBLX News Director/Morning show co-host Nikki Thomas brings her mix of news and wacky morning banter to the Bay Area every morning from 5-10am as part of the "Kevin Brown Morning Show." Born and raised in New Orleans, LA, she has been on the airwaves for over 17 years!

She graduated from Xavier University, and credits a radio production class for piquing her interest in being a personality. She is also an aspiring TV personality and actor.

Nikki enjoys reading, writing, singing, yoga, hanging out on the internet, spending time with her daughter, and decorating. She is a die-hard Prince fan. Besides The Purple One, she loves to listen to Sade, Maxwell, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and Cameo, just to name a few. She'll bring all the influences together as she branches out into the world of music!

Arlington Houston
Bassist, Composer, Arranger, Bandleader

Bassist, Arlington Houston attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, when he returned to the Bay Area, he began freelancing with legendary sax man John Handy and performed extensively with him and his group “Class”. Arlington recorded his first record with John Handy entitled “Center Piece” on Milestone records. He also freelanced with Jules Broussard, Calvin Keys, Faye Carol, David Hardeman, Jeff Narell, E.W. Wainwright and Bill Bell to name a few.

In 1991 Arlington formed his own band and performed at, Jazz on The River, Berkeley Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, SF Jazz, Yoshi’s on Claremont The Downtown, Seventeen, The Palace Hotel, Club Jazz Nouveau, Enrico’s, The Essex, and Kimball’s East. The group had a cameo appearance in an Independent film “Jujuluv”, which premiered at The Mill Valley Film Festival, and was also at the Oakland Black Film Festival and the Nigerian Film Festival under the title “Sisters of Mercy”.

He recorded his debut CD “Cool Casual” under his own label Arllingtonia Music
which features Javon Jackson & Michael “Patches” Stewart, the CD is a mix of Jazz and Latin. Arlington continues to perform at festivals, clubs and concerts, plays both Acoustic & Electric Bass.

Arlington is currently working on his next CD “Two City’s in Texas”