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It was a case of old and new Hollywood glamour on a collision course to perfection at last night's gala grand opening of the lavish and luxurious Eleven Spa. That's one better than a perfect 10, folks!
The new super spa -- click HERE for yesterday's advance coverage -- is one platinum palace of pleasures and pampering. Sexy Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and handsome Extra host Mario Lopez flew in on a private jet from Hollywood to support their friend and hairstylist hero to the stars Ken Paves, who opened his salon at the spa in Town Square.
Ken escorted business partner and Eleven Spa visionary Nikki Oden on the red carpet; she wore a stunning strapless black dress by John David Couture. Nikki changed into three outfits during the night, while Eva wore a simple but sexy black dress with towering six-inch stilettos and posed with Mario, dressed in black, as well, for our photos.
Eva and Mario joked around as best of friends while doing red carpet interviews. He played with her hair as she "fixed"? his for the cameramen. At one point, Eva tripped on her pumps, so Mario took off her shoe, showed it to the black tie crowd and teased that she was so short with such big shoes! Click HERE for our affiliate Las Vegas Weekly red carpet coverage by Emily Gimmel.
Old Hollywood was represented by a melee of marvelous models decked out in silver screen outfits as cigarette girls passed out samples of Eleven Spa's secret lotions and potions.
Throughout the night, even when I talked privately with Eva, Mario and Ken in a VIP lounge for our exclusive video report you'll see posted here later, Ken told everyone that Eva was his muse! Naturally, she raved about Ken. They enjoyed a private tour of the spa and a fashion show by John David Couture models and the songs and music of singer JENNIE LAWS. Also spotted at the opening were Jessica Simpson's former personal assistant, CaCee Cobb, and Miss Nevada USA Georgina Vaughan. Jessica is a client of Ken's, and they are partners in his hair-extension products sold on HSN.
Eva held a glass of champagne for the toast I was asked to make in introducing partners Nikki and Ken. But she drank only water all evening, which will add fuel to those pregnancy rumors. The only thing she told me about her romantic life when we chatted privately was that she will be in Phoenix this weekend for the NBA mid-season break with San Antonio Spurs husband Tony Parker.
“We are there for Valentine's Day, but we're not doing anything extra special for the big day because we make everyday of the year a love affair between us, Eva said. "Ken even taught us how to cut each other's hair when he's not around to do it."
Mario confirmed for our Vegas DeLuxe cameras that he's already training for the Los Angeles Marathon and then will compete in an Iron Man triathlon, all to raise funds for the Boys & Girls Club. Then he revealed that he has future political aspirations in California.
After their two-hour visit, the trio took off for Planet Hollywood, where just last month Ken was a judge in the Miss America Pageant that Mario hosted. Mario invited them to Koi, which he'd visited a few times during his Miss America duties. They took over the Fountain Room with its amazing Strip views. Eva ordered the extra spicy tuna with crispy rice, rainbow and tiger rolls, yellowtail sashimi and spicy seared tuna for the party to share. Before they left, they stopped at the Koi bar to watch late-night basketball highlights!
Check out our funny and candid conversations with the stars -- and see what happened as Mario plucked the petals from a rose, saying, “she loves me, she loves me not� with Eva -- here later when our exclusive Vegas DeLuxe video is posted. - Vegas Deluxe
ElevenSpa at Town Square opened last night with Eva Longoria and Mario Lopez coming together on a private jet. Mark-Paul Gosselaar would have come too, but his private Hyundai was in the shop. He needs to get his hands on some of that sweet Miss America money.
Longoria tripped on the red carpet at one point, with Lopez picking up her six-inch heels and teased her about being short. We know. It's just completely adorable. Maybe they'll get their own reality show where they braid each other's hair, too.
The spa, by Hollywood hairstylist Ken Paves and Nicole Oden, also boasted music from JENNIE LAWS and a John David Couture fashion show. Paves is Longoria's stylist. We think Lopez is just way into hair. - dailyfiasco.com
Some of modern day soul's most engaging artists have come from Canada (Amel Larrieux and Glenn Lewis just to name a few). Next up on this growing list is an all around impressive musician named Jennie Laws. Bathed in the spirit of Alicia Keys it seems, Jennie has an impressive soul voice coupled with undeniably robust and heartfelt songwriting skills. Combine this with a dedication to producing, arranging, composing, crowd pleasing, and genre defying intentions and you have a blazing multi-instrumentalist that is on the cusp of winning a VERY strong fan base here in the States.
Her EP Introducing Jennie Laws has a gorgeous blend of her soul-laced talent. The first track, "Heavenly," is an eye-opening offering that could easily fool the ear into thinking it is a new track from Keys. Blending sweet and soft harmonies about a mood invoking acoustic guitar, airy violins, and a bluesy bass, Jennie whips out her flag pole and love flag and confidently embeds it in your heart. This woman is amazing!
Then, just when you think you know her, she whips out "You Choose". Funked out and done as if Nikka Costa had a more studio friendly voice, Jennie struts all over this track. As she does her thing here, you can't help but agree that Prince's former manager was on to something when she discovered this blue-eyed beauty.
But what is so superb are the sultry efforts she delivers later on. As you slowly saunter into "So Deep" you'll shut your eyes and consume a steamy harmony assisted by a stunning flute rounding out the entire effort. Then, without losing the aura she just invoked, Jennie looses "My Soul" as a biographical testament to the core of her musical being. Again setting the tone with a wicked flute, Jennie hugs you over and over as her beautifully arranged notes and harmonies will most assuredly beg for repeat status.
Beautifully talented on top of being simply beautiful, Jennie is definitely poised to tattoo her name in various regions of hearts and souls in massive bunches!
By B.J. Brown
- SoulTracks.com
Editor's review
There's a certain trickle-down economics to R&B. Start with a pitch-perfect voice, and everything else will fall into place. The Canadian musician's pipes are soft as down and sweet as sugar, and a blend of mellow keys and shuffling drums fills out the mix in fine fashion. - download.com
By: Chris Clay
October 6, 2008 05:39 PM - After a quiet acoustic concert in Toronto last month, Meadowvale singer and songwriter Jennie Laws is bringing the whole band for a show tomorrow.
Laws, who sings and plays guitar, will be joined by guest vocalist Chris Rouse, keyboard player Andre Brewster, guitarist Jesse Bear, bassist Andrew Stewart, drummer Sekou Lumumba and percussionist Daniel Stone for the concert at The Supermarket in Toronto. Also on the bill is blueVenus and Taffy.
Laws released the 6-track album Introducing Jennie Laws earlier this year and it includes songs such as Heavenly, I Just Want to Be Close To You, So Deep and My Soul. Several of the tracks can be heard at www.myspace.com/jennielaws.
Fans who purchase a hardcopy of the EP will find the track I'm Falling on It.
Juno Award-winning recording engineer L. Stu Young and Grammy Award-winner Ari Raskin engineered the album.
"It took me a while to realize the music going around in my head ever since I can remember was there for a reason," Laws previously told The News. "As much as it's about entertaining people, it’s also about creating positive energy and spreading love. There’s a purpose to what I do and that’s the most important element of the songs I write and sing."
Show time is 9 p.m.
cclay@mississauga.net - The Mississauga News
The new Laws of soul music
Toronto songstress is attracting big name fans
By Kerry Doole
Originally Published: 2008-08-17
Back in the ’60s, Dusty Springfield proved that blonde white women could sing soul music convincingly. These days, the likes of Joss Stone and Duffy are following in her footsteps, and to those names you can add Toronto’s own Jennie Laws.
Her debut solo album, appropriately-entitled Introducing Jennie Laws, is now out, and attracting real interest on both sides of the border. Some heavy-hitters in the music industry are on her side, including an L.A.-based manager who formerly worked closely with Prince. Morris Hayes, Prince’s keyboardist, is on board as musical director for Jennie’s U.S. showcase gigs (she has one in Los Angeles in two weeks), while admiring peers include Eric Benet, superstar producer/songwriter Narada Michael Walden (Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin), who calls her “The Truth,” and Glenn Lewis, who terms her music “timeless, warm, and soul-stirring.”
In her recent Tandem interview, Laws recounted an encounter with hiphop superstar Kanye West. “I was hanging out with my friend Esthero at her place in L.A.,” says Laws. “She knows Kanye, and he was there when Esthero said ‘play some guitar for us. Sing us some songs.’ I go, ‘O.K.,’ and Kanye was like ‘that’s really nice.’ I was too chicken to give him my card, but two of my friends play in his band so I’ll see him again.”
So what is all the fuss about? Well, a listen to the seven songs on her EP reveals not just a pure and sweetly soulful voice, but a songwriter with a strong melodic sense and a producer of real skill. In an age in which most soul/r ’n’ b singers rely on different songwriting and production teams to create and craft their material, Laws wears all these hats, and even contributes keyboards, guitar, and programming parts. Is she a control freak, we wonder. “I think it’s cool to have the artist do the creative work ‘cause they’re the ones who bring something unique, as opposed to someone who writes for a lot of top artists and you hear that sound everywhere,” Laws explains.
A strong academic background has proved invaluable. She took guitar, piano, voice and dance lessons from a young age, and was soon performing in recitals and musicals. As a musically eclectic teenager, she performed with vocal group Keyfest Quartet and jazz trio Blue Avenue, toured in the U.S. with vocal jazz/R&B groups Corner Market and Audio Radiance, sang in chamber and classical choirs, and played guitar in jazz quartet Ritmico Mundo. - Tandem
Now LA-based, Toronto R&B songstress Jennie Laws is back home for an acoustic show at the Gibson Guitar Showroom. A graduate of the famous Berklee College of Music. Laws said her aim is a "timeless classic vintage vibe." On the strength of her intriguing debut recording "Introducing Jennie Laws" - which she wrote, arranged and produced - the performer, who has played guitar and sang in jazz and classical ensembles, deserves an in-person look. Reggae singer Dylan Murray and poet Dwayne Morgan round out the bill. - Toronto Star
Discography
2008:
"Introducing Jennie Laws" EP
Jennie Laws
Cartouche Music/Down 2 Earth Music
Photos
Bio
With distinctive and dynamic vocal artistry, unique and original songwriting skills and wide range of influences and inspirations, Jennie Laws has emerged as a beautiful and brilliantly talented new arrival on the cutting edge of today's music.
Yet for all her extraordinary gifts, the Toronto-born singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist is perhaps most notable for her ability to bring it all together in one accessible and appealing package. Small wonder word of mouth has been spreading steadily since Jennie Laws first began recording and performing, both in her hometown and for a growing fan base from New York to Los Angeles and beyond.
It's a buzz that's about to grow a lot louder with the release of her debut EP. Featuring such Laws originals as "Heavenly", "I Just Wanna Be Close To You", "So Deep" and "My Soul",? it's a collection that effortlessly spans musical genres while at the same time laying claim to a style that is wholly and completely her own. Mixing contemporary urban grooves with folk-flavored nuances and jazz-tinged flourishes, Jennie Laws has fashioned an alluring soundscape that draws on a lifetime of music making and points to a promising future for this passionate and polished young artist.
'It took me a while to realize that the music going around in my head ever since I can remember was there for a reason," says Jennie. "As much as it is about entertaining people, it's also about creating positive energy and spreading love. There's a purpose to what I do and that's the most important element of the songs I write and sing."
It's a purpose to which Jennie has been wholeheartedly committed ever since she can remember. "Music has always been there,"? she explains. "Some of my first toys were musical instruments and although I experimented with acting and dancing and athletics, by the time I got into my teens I realized that music had a special place in my life."?
It did indeed and with characteristic determination, Jennie pursued it wholeheartedly, joining a series of singing groups, studying classical guitar and, at age sixteen, recording early originals on a four-track machine. "My influences are literally too numerous to mention,"? she laughs. "It begins with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Louis Armstrong and then carried on to artists like George Michael and Michael Jackson. By the time I got to college, it was like I was carrying a musical encyclopedia around in my head; everyone from Duke Ellington and Miles Davis to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder. I've also always admired artists like Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper and Lenny Kravtiz for the way in which they were able to build a solid base, one fan at a time."?
It was at the Southwestern School for Musical Vocations in Iowa where Jennie plunged into an intensive study regimen that included courses in arranging and conducting as well as ample opportunities to perform with fellow students. "I toured with school jazz vocal and instrumental groups,"? she remembers, "and in between I was getting a great classical education. But the most important lesson I learned at the time was to never settle, to always strive to make the most beautiful music I possibly can without letting the ego get in the way."
It was a realization that she would carry with her into the next stage of her musical apprenticeship, when she received a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee School of Music. "It all came together there,"? she continues. "My natural inclination was toward a very earthy, gypsy style, which got filtered through the World Music, I was exposed to Latin, Indian and African as well as hip-hop and R&B and even some classical influences like Ravel and Debussy." ? Jennie absorbed it all and, in the process, began to fashion a sound that, while mixing and matching a broad range of approaches, was still unmistakably her own.
The result is Jennie Laws' stunning debut EP. Showcasing her evocative and emotionally resonant singing and songwriting, the collection also boasts a impressive roster of supporting talent, including engineering by, among others, Grammy-winner Ari Raskin, and Juno-winner L. Stu Young.
Through it all, Jennie Laws had maintained her belief that music can bring wholeness and healing to the world. "My goal is simple,"? she concludes: "To make the best music I can." It's a goal she's reached and exceeds on her debut EP.
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