Reggae Legend Beres Hammond releases new album twice! – A Moment In Time Hits Web Today
MIRAMAR – One of Jamaica’s most soulful music legends, Grammy nominated Beres Hammond will have his new album, A Moment in Time released not once but twice.
The album will be available digitally today August 19, 2008 and then in-stores on CD with accompanying DVD on October 14, 2008. Both releases will be on VP Records.
The digital release date was moved to coincide with Beres’ current North American tour which has been generating excitement among reggae enthusiasts along with quick demand for the album. “We had planned for one worldwide release in October,” says Cristy Barber, VP Marketing & Promotion/VP Records, “but quickly decided to make the album available digitally with all the requests we’ve been getting. Both the tour and the recent airplay on the single made us readdress our retail plan.”
Exploring an array of topics from love to self-reflection, this carefully compiled 14 track LP A Moment in Time features Beres’s honey-smoked vocals coasting over smooth melodies; produced mainly by the man himself.
Beres’s daughter Nastassja Hammond also shares production credits on the jazzy bass-driven title track where Beres unveils the simple yet profound truth that “It takes just one moment in time to change your life forever/It takes just one moment in time to put it all together.” This is one of his many thought-provoking pieces. On the soulful reggae groove “Friends,” he questions the meaning of companionship, and on “Cry No More” he uses real life experiences to find revelation (both cuts produced by Beres). However, a Beres album would not be complete if it did not have its dose of stirring love songs; Beres can’t resist temptation on the tender ballad “No I Can’t” explaining all the reasons why he could never leave his woman alone. On “I Feel Good,” the album’s first single by esteemed producer Donovan Germain, Beres paints a picture of an intimate dance while riding a saxophone driven melody. The single quickly went to #1 on the US Media Guide Chart for the reggae category and has remained there for the past two weeks.
Beres Hammond
Meanwhile, Beres has been selling out venues across the US. Beres is schedule to perform in South Florida at the Central Broward Regional Park 3700 NW 11th Place on Saturday, August 23 at the Summer Blast 2008 Concert – “A Moment In Time Tour”.
Critics call him “the Luther Vandross of Jamaica” (Virginia Pilot, 8/11/08) and say he is “one of most underappreciated reggae artists of his time…a soulful crooner indebted to classic rocksteady and American R&B, one who prefers live instrumentation and writes much of his own material.” (KGO Radio 8/2/08)
Known to many as the originator of “Lover’s Rock” Beres Hammond has been writing, producing and pouring out his smoky-sweet voice over every kind of riddim track for over 30 years. From his early days as the lead singer of the ‘70s funk-reggae infused band Zap Pow, Beres has consistently produced hits and number one singles.
From his first studio album, SOUL REGGAE in 1976 spawning the number one hit “One Step Ahead” to his 2001 hits “They Gonna Talk” and “Rock Away” from his Grammy nominated album MUSIC IS LIFE, Beres Hammond has collaborated with Reggae’s elite—Marcia Griffiths and Buju Banton who are virtually staples on any Beres tour—and has worked with legendary producers Willie Lindo, Steely and Clevie, and Philip “Fattis” Burrell, to name a few. In 2003 VP Records released THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION: CAN’T STOP A MAN to commemorate Hammond’s career, and in 2004 his album LOVE HAS NO BOUNDARIES .
While newcomers today are searching for a breakthrough hit and old timers are plotting their comeback, Beres is a study in longevity.
Whether it is romance or reflection, A Moment in Time reveals a new chapter for the renowned reggae icon.
