Biography
Vivian Sessoms was born and raised in Harlem, New York to a former session & jingle singer and a well known flautist and percussionist who worked with James Brown and a number of other notable artist's throughout his career.
She received classical voice and piano instruction from the age of 9, and thereafter won a scholarship to the highly acclaimed Eubie Blake AMAS Repertory Company headed by the late Rosetta Lenoire. There, she trained in theatre, dance, and music. This led her to radio and television voiceovers. She’s been the voice behind such products as Campbell’s Soup, Hershey’s Chocolate, Coke a Cola, Walt Disney and most recently the theme for the popular animated television series 'As Told By Ginger'. Vivian has performed with Stevie Wonder, P-Diddy, and Sinead O’Connor to name a few. She has also recorded with Michael Jackson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Cher and Gavin Degraw.
While working in New York, Vivian began writing her own music and caught the attention of a Virgin publishing exec who paired her with a number of up and coming young writers which eventually led to her being sought out by K.G. of Naughty By Nature whom she signed with as an artist and staff writer though a record was never released. Some of Vivian’s publishing credits include 'Take My Love' for David Morales, 'A Day in the Park' for Ryuichi Sakamoto, and 'Time After Time' & 'Happy' for Towa Tei.
Chris Parks, the other half of Albright, grew up in the Bronx, NY and attended John F. Kennedy High School where he studied guitar and bass. After high school Chris received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. While studying at Berklee, he picked up the bass and began playing keyboards as well, rounding out his musical education and earning him the reputation of multi instumentalist. He began performing on the Boston scene and was subsequently awarded two Faculty Performance Awards. In addition to his academic work at Berklee he studied privately with the "Tonite Show's" musical director, Kevin Eubanks.
A self-taught engineer, Chris has created soundscapes, programmed and composed for a variety of music and interactive gaming companies including: Ensoniq, Korg, Sony and MOTU (Mark of the Unicorn).
From 1990 to 2004 Chris was the musical director for recording artist Lalah Hathaway. Chris has also performed live with Amel Larrieux, Rashaan Patterson, George Duke, Joe Sample, and David Sanborn to name a few. As well, he’s produced and worked on remixes for artists Paula Cole, Brandy, Tamia, and Taylor Dayne. Chris has produced and co-written with jazz artists Dianne Reeves, Reuben Wilson and Nelson Rangell.
Chris and Vivian’s collaboration began in 2000 with a project proposed by Vivian. The organic chemistry between them and the music they began to create subsequently led them to build SuprDupr Sound Studios; located in Brooklyn’s D.U.M.B.O neighborhood. SuprDupr Sound is a fully equipped ProTools facility; encompassing a 1000 sq ft live room and sweeping views of New York Harbor.
Since their alliance, Vivian and Chris have formed Blackcherri Music, their joint production company and have also gone on to write and produce for Lalah Hathaway, American Idol contestant Mario Vazquez, Star Search contestant Freedom Bremner, and jazz artist Khani Cole amongst others. Their commercial productions include jingles for Volvo, Subaru, Dark & Lovely, and Planned Parenthood as well as interactive gaming projects and music for various cable networks.
Vivian recently completed a world tour performing with P!nk on her 'I'm Not Dead' tour, Chris recently took up the bass chair for artist Deborah Cox and the two recently released their debut cd 'Sunny One Day'.
Instrumentation
Vivian Sessoms - Lead Vocals
Chris Parks - Bass/Guitar/M.D.
Sherrod Barnes - Guitar/Bg Vox
Casey Benjamin - Keys/Bg Vox
Eric Brown - Drums/Bg Vox
Cole Williams - Bg Vox
Chevis Packer - Bg Vox
Mike Hammond - Bg Vox
Discography
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO - SWEET REVENGE - GUT RECORDS
Sentimental/ Duet/ 94
Moving On/ BgVox/ 94
Pounding At My Heart/ Ld& BgVox/ 94
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TOWA TEI - SOUND MUSEUM - EAST/WEST JAPAN
Happy/ Writer& All Vox/ 97
Time After Time/ Writer& All Vox/ 97
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A Day In The Park/ Ryuichi Sakamoto/ Writer & All Vox/97
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Take My Luv/ David Morales/ Co-Writer& LdVox/ 04
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LALAH HATHAWAY-OUTRUN THE SKY-MESA BLUE MOON
Admit It/ Prod& Co-Writer& BgVox/ 04
In The End/ Prod& Co-Writer& BgVox/ 04
Back Then/ Prod& Co-Writer& Bg Vox/ 04
Links
| http://albrightmusic.com |
| Albright on Youtube |
| Albright on Myspace |
| Albright on CDBaby |