Newstimeslive.com Teddy Riley: New Jack swinger hits = Foxwoods

By David Friedman

NEWS-TIMES MUSIC WRITER=20

Guy=E2=80=98s = classic lineup,=20 from left, Teddy Riley, Aaron Hall and Damion = Hall, will=20 headline a New Jack Swing revival show Jan. 7 at = Foxwoods Casino. The reunited group = hasn=E2=80=98t toured in 14=20 or 15 = years.

The=20 only job Teddy Riley ever held outside of the music = industry=20 was working on a demolition crew to clear a space on = which to=20 build Brook Fashion's new offices. He quit after = hurting his=20 hand on his first day on the job.

In sharp contrast, Riley's contributions to the = music=20 business over the past 20-plus years have been = monumental. As=20 a producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, he has = brought=20 out the best in top hip-hop and R&B acts, = including two of=20 his own =E2=80=94 Guy and Blackstreet.

Riley, who recently reunited both seminal acts, = will=20 perform sets with each Jan. 7 at Foxwoods Casino in=20 Mashantucket. The third group on the bill, longtime = Riley=20 associates SWV, rounds out a lineup of New Jack Swing = legends.=20 The genre, which Riley started in the mid-'80s, = combines=20 soulful vocals with hip-hop beats, mixing in elements = of=20 R&B and funk.

While Riley is recognized as the king of the genre, = the=20 term comes from a 1991 film.

Miller/ZUMA=20 Press

New = Jack Swing=20 stars Blackstreet, best known for their Grammy=20 Award-winning smash hit, "No Diggity," will = perform with=20 Guy and SWV at Foxwoods. The reunited lineup = includes=20 veteran members, from left, Mark Middleton, = Teddy Riley=20 and Eric Williams. They=E2=80=98ll be joined by = newcomer Sherman=20 "J-Stylz" Tisdale.

"It was given to me by Barry Michael=20 Cooper, who wrote 'New Jack City,'=C5=B8" Riley = said in a=20 Dec. 19 interview from his home in Virginia Beach, Va. = "He=20 thought the movie and the music was something that I = designed=20 because I'm from the New Jack City and I was the first = New=20 Jack swinger on the block. So he said, 'Take this name = and run=20 with it. This is your music.'

"It was something I thought was very sophisticated, = young=20 music and music people designed their lives around," = he added.=20 "The Guy stuff, we were a culture. We were a big = influence on=20 the streets, on the ghetto, on the hood. The music = made people=20 happy, made people cry, made people do everything. It = designed=20 their dress styles. Guys didn't think it was cool to = dress=20 jiggy or dress fly and wear suits again to a party, to = wear=20 silk shirts and different things like that. We started = that=20 culture."

Born Oct. 8, 1967, Riley grew up in Harlem, N.Y. = His mother=20 sang with a gospel group and in church. His uncles = played=20 guitar. Meanwhile, Riley wanted to do it all. By age = 8, he had=20 learned to play drums, guitar, trumpet and piano. His=20 influences included George Clinton, Miles Davis, = Stevie=20 Wonder, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Rod Stewart, = Phil=20 Collins, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra.

Damion = Hall, Teddy=20 Riley and Aaron Hall, collectively known as Guy, = pioneered the musical genre known as New Jack = Swing in=20 the mid-1980s. The group will share a bill with=20 Blackstreet and SWV on Jan. 7 at Foxwoods=20 Casino.

When Riley was 14, he began to learn songwriting = and=20 recording from Royal Bayyan, whose brother, Amir, = played in=20 Kool and the Gang. Five years later, Riley began = producing for=20 rappers Kool Moe Dee, Classical Two and Doug E. Fresh.

"And then my first R&B act was Keith Sweat," = Riley=20 said. "It was cool because it was something I always = wanted to=20 do. I always thought doing it all was an adventure for = me."

In 1987, Riley started the rap group = Wreckx-N-Effect, which=20 featured his younger brother, Markell. Teddy Riley, = who also=20 has an older brother, David, collaborated with the = group on=20 1992's platinum "Hard Or Smooth" LP, which featured = the No. 2=20 urban hit "Rump Shaker."

By this time, Riley had made a name for himself as = a=20 performer with his New Jack Swing group, Guy, which = also=20 featured brothers Aaron and Damion Hall. Formed in = 1985, the=20 group released its self-titled, double platinum debut = in 1988.=20 It included the hits "Teddy's Jam," "I Like," "Groove = Me" and=20 "Spend The Night."

"=C5=B8'Spend The Night' was (about) being with the = mother of my=20 kids today," Riley said. "She's in that song when = Aaron says,=20 'Teddy, meet Donna. Donna, meet Teddy.' It really = brings back=20 a lot of memories."

Guy followed with 1990's platinum "The Future" LP,=20 featuring the Top Five hits "Let's Chill," "Do Me = Right" and=20 "Wanna Get With You."

"My favorite from 'The Future' is 'Let's = Chill,'=C5=B8" Riley=20 said. "What made me write that song was I was dealing = with a=20 lot of relationships and females and I just said, 'You = know=20 what? I've gotta chill. I've gotta settle down.' And = it just=20 made me do that for a while.'=C5=B8"

Soon=20 after releasing their second album, Guy parted ways. = Riley,=20 who had already worked on albums with Bobby Brown, = Debbie=20 Harry, Billy Ocean, Boy George and Big Daddy Kane, = continued=20 to add to his resume.

He produced for childhood hero Michael Jackson on = 1992's=20 Grammy-winning "Dangerous" LP, 1995's "HIStory" LP and = 2001's=20 "Invincible" album.

"It was hard at some points, but a great = experience," Riley=20 said. "It was fun because he is such a fun guy. And = after a=20 little while, he made life easy. It was the greatest=20 experience and he made me step up my game."

In 1994, Riley released the platinum, self-titled = debut by=20 his second New Jack Swing outfit, Blackstreet. The = album=20 featured the hits "Before I Let You Go," "Booti Call" = and=20 "Joy."

Its follow-up, 1996's "Another Level," went = four-times=20 platinum and featured the No. 1 hits "Don't Leave Me" = and "No=20 Diggity," the latter a Grammy winner featuring Dr. = Dre.

"Dr. Dre asked us to be on the record," Riley said. = "He=20 loved it so much that he was like, 'Could you tell = Teddy to=20 put me in the video for this one?' And I said, 'Well, = let's do=20 better than putting you in the video. Why don't you = come and=20 be on it?'=C5=B8"

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At Foxwoods, Guy = will=20 feature its classic lineup of Riley and the Hall = brothers.=20 Meanwhile, Blackstreet, which had a number of lineup = changes=20 over the years, will feature Riley and "Another Level" = group=20 members Mark Middleton and Eric Williams. Fourth key = member=20 Chauncey "Black" Hannibal will be replaced by newcomer = Sherman=20 "J-Stylz" Tisdale.

"He's really incredible =E2=80=94 a great addition = to the group,"=20 Riley said. "He's the perfect match. All of the guys = who are=20 not with us, he fulfilled their part in a big way. In = fact, if=20 I had to do it all over again, he would be one of the=20 members."

Riley, who plans to move to the Virginia = countryside, has a=20 daughter, Nia, 16, and cousins who lives in New Haven. = Never=20 married and single for the past eight months, Riley = declined=20 to say how many children he has.

Regardless, he's excited about the Foxwoods show. = SWV will=20 open, followed by Blackstreet, which last toured in = 2002.=20 Riley said he gets three minutes to change his outfit = before=20 taking the stage with headliners Guy, a group that = last toured=20 14 or 15 years ago.

"I like performing and being behind the scenes," = said=20 Riley, who is working on a new joint album with Guy = and=20 Blackstreet. "Both of them are great experiences. = Sometimes I=20 want to be out, sometimes I don't.

"What I like the most about being onstage is I get = to show=20 and share the music that I've done for so long and = (see)=20 people still loving it," Riley added. "It's a great = feeling=20 that people are singing your songs and half of the = time you=20 don't have to sing the words or anything because = people are=20 singing them."

=C3=A4

The show begins at 9 p.m. in the casino's Fox = Theatre on=20 Route 2. Tickets are $60.50 and $49.50. Call (800) = 200-2882.