THE DEFINITION OF COOL: Calvin Richardson

By: Kathy Harris

The one element that is hard to come by in the entertainment industry is star quality. It is true that with the slew of reality competition shows, everyone has a shot at their 15 minutes of fame. The desire to be famous is driven by a multitude of motivations, both good and evil. However, there are still artists who are driven strictly by the need to create great timeless work. Calvin Richardson is the definition of what it means to be a great artist. He’s gifted, humble and determined. The music of today is missing true artistry, and the artists of today rarely possess star quality—Calvin Richardson, however, has both. His sultry voice is one that keeps the hope in music alive. This self-proclaimed “soul brother” took time to talk to J’Adore about his past, his present, and his upcoming projects.

Calvin Richardson is a Grammy-nominated artist, songwriter and producer from Monroe, North Carolina. He gathers vocal inspiration from artists such as Sam Cooke, Betty Wright, Donny Hathaway, Otis Redding and Bobby Womack, just to name a few. He hails from a musical background. His mother sang in a gospel choir, The Willing Wonders, which he would later sing in. It’s also a coincidence that Calvin was good friends with Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey and Joel “JoJo” Hailey, one half of the R&B group Jodeci. When a person is surrounded by everything music, he is sure to be influenced heavily by it. With a bit of southern soul intertwined with city boy swag, Calvin is as down to earth as anyone can be. “People need real songs and music with substance in their lives,” explains Calvin.

“It definitely gets hard not being mainstream and it’s hard not getting support from the label because of it. Instead, I got involved with the attention from being an entertainer.” This is what Calvin expressed of his past and where he found the inspiration to write his single, “Sang No More” from his 2008 album, “When Love Comes.” This song expressed a lot of emotions on what it feels like to be knocked down so hard that you don’t want to get back up. His voice conveys his pain bittersweetly. “I am my music and if you know my music you know me,” says Calvin. Recently, he indirectly collaborated with another industry veteran Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds to write Charlie Wilson’s 2009 number one hit, “There Goes My Baby.” Calvin expresses, “I’ll write for anybody, but they have to have soul or I can’t do it.”

The best attribute to having celebrity status is the voice of influence a person has with people. A person could say something intellectual or small minded and people will listen. Fortunately, Calvin Richardson is using his voice for good, not evil. He conducted a concert and additional events to help find bone marrow for Organization Jasmina. Organization Jasmina is named for 6-year-old Jasmina Anema who is fighting (NK) Natural Killer Cell Leukemia, a rare and especially fatal form of cancer. She was in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. With his efforts and the tireless help of others, Jasmina found a bone marrow match and received a transplant on June 11, 2009. The transplant has since “officially” engrafted. Calvin shares, “I have a son and I love the ground he walks on. If it was my son in the same predicament I would want people to help me, and I am happy to be helping her.”

Calvin Richardson is definitely a busy man. In the midst of humanitarian efforts, fatherhood, and songwriting, he has managed to produce “Facts of Life: The Soul of Bobby Womack,” an album featuring his interpretations of songs by Bobby Womack, the legendary singer, song writer, guitarist and producer known as the “street preacher.” Revered by many and recently elected to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, Bobby Womack helped define soul music. “Bobby Womack to me is a pioneer who is very important to the type of music that I do,” states Calvin. “He’s a great artist who I have great respect for, who I built my sound around and as a result I feel I have a direct connection with him. He sang about things I want to sing about. I feel like he is definitely less appreciated than he should be, although he is a Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee. It was an honor to pay tribute to him … I’ve stood on Bobby’s shoulders my whole career.”

It has been one year since the release of his last album and Calvin Richardson continues to produce strong, memorable, soulful music. He is the essence of what music is missing today. He is soul music. His presence and his mission go beyond music, and the fans are allowed to see that in him because Calvin allows that in his music and his actions. He is the definition of cool.

For more information on Calvin Richardson’s upcoming projects, please go to www.iamCalvinRichardson.com.

For more information on Calvin’s fight for Jasmina and how you can donate bone marrow, visit  www.oneforjasmina.com.