Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is proud to present the debut appearance of the legendary 90’s R&B SOUL groups MINT CONDITION and TONY! TONI! TONÉ! in concert on Saturday, May 30th, 2015 at 8pm. Hosted by Shaila from WBLS. Produced by Lehman Center.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for 90’s R&B SOUL on Saturday, May 30th, 2015 at 8pm are $75 VIP Seating, $65, $60, $50 and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718-960-8833 (Monday through Friday, 10am–5pm, and beginning at 12 noon on the day of the concert), or through online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Low-cost on-site parking available for $5.
MINT CONDITION was formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in the mid 1980s by Central High School music classmates Stokley Williams (vocals & drums), Homer O’Dell (guitar), Larry Waddell (keyboards), Jeff Allen (sax & keys), Keri Lewis (guitar & keys) and Rick Kinchen (bass guitar) and are known for their diverse R&B sound with elements of rock, funk, Latin and jazz stylings. Having built a following as a result of their energetic live shows, it was a gig they played at the now-famous First Avenue Club that caught the attention of The Time’s former members turned super-producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who had just launched their own label, Perspective Records (a subsidiary of A&M). The group had their first runaway smash hit when Washington, D.C.’s famed Howard University college radio station WHUR-FM broke their ballad “Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)” which went Gold, staying on the charts for 34 weeks, rising to both #3 (R&B) and #6 (Pop) on the charts. Also included on their 1991 debut album Meant To Be Mint was their second hit single “Forever In Your Eyes”. Their next release, From the Mint Factory (1993), contained the hot hit songs “U Send Me Swingin’”, “Someone to Love” and “So Fine”. 1996’s Definition of a Band was even hotter – going Gold while earning the Soul Train Music Award nomination for best R&B/Soul album. It spawned the hits “What Kind of Man Would I Be” which went Gold after 41 weeks on the Billboard R&B chart rising to #2 and “You Don’t Have to Hurt No More” (#10 R&B).
Back three years later with 1999’s Life’s Aquarium, they had another hit single “If You Love Me” which stayed on the R&B Charts for 31 weeks, rising to #5. In the early 2000s, the band took a break from their non-stop touring & recording schedule, returning in 2005 without keyboardist Keri Lewis, who was now working as a producer for other artists, including his wife Toni Braxton. Mint Condition’s most recent albums include E-Life (2008) which debuted at #8 on the Billboard R&B album chart and 2012’s Music At the Speed of Life. In December of 2012 the group was inducted into the SoulMusic Hall of Fame.
TONY! TONI! TONÉ! crashed out of their Oakland, California neighborhood with their 1988 Gold debut album Who? which spawned the #1 R&B hit “Little Walter”. Composed of brothers D’Wayne Wiggins (vocals & guitar) and Raphael Saadig (lead vocals & bass) and their cousin Timothy Christian Riley (drums & keyboards), the group’s first record also contained three additional R&B top ten hits: “Born Not to Know”, “For the Love of You” and “Baby Doll”. Their second album The Revival was released in 1990 to both critical and popular acclaim, garnering Platinum status with the #1 R&B hits “It Never Rains In Southern California”, “The Blues”, “Whatever You Want” and “Feels Good” which went Gold and won the ASCAP Award. This album also included the song “Me & You” which was featured in the movie Boyz n the Hood. In 1991 they won the Vocal Group of the Year NAACP Image Award and the American Music Award for Favorite R&B/Soul Group. Without slowing down, the group’s third record Sons of Soul (1993) went Double Platinum, charted at #3 (R&B) and included the hits “Anniversary” (#2 R&B), “(Lay Your Head On My) Pillow” (#4 R&B) and “Of I Had No Loot” (#7 Hot 100). That year they also contributed songs to the movie soundtracks of House Party II, Jason’s Lyric, The Mask, Panther and Poetic Justice.
1996 saw the release of House of Music that also went Platinum and contained the hits “Thinking of You” and “Let’s Get Down”. In 1998 another cousin, Amar Khalil, became the group’s lead vocalist, replacing Saadig who left to pursue his own recording career and work as a producer for artists like D’Angelo, TLC, Mary J Blige and The Roots. In 2003 Tony! Toni! Toné! were guest artists on The Diary of Alicia Keys, contributing the top ten hit song “Diary”. Their much anticipated fifth album is scheduled to be released in 2015 and features collaborations with Beyoncé Knowles and Keyshia Coles as well as other artists. The first single to be released from the new album is “It’s A Beautiful Thing”.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council. The 2014-2015 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and through corporations, foundations and private donations.
For high resolution photos, click these links:
Mint Condition
http://lehmancenter.org/?p=2383
Tony! Toni! Toné!
http://lehmancenter.org/?p=2386