Rj Temple

ARS NOVA: Just The Beginning
Written by Mike Parker
Thursday, 22 March 2007

Ars Nova – A Musical Beginning
by RJ Temple
DRT Music

Ricky R. Temple, Jr., known professionally as RJ Temple, is billed as a ‘holy hip-hop’ artist. Okay, maybe RJ can hip and hop with the best of them, but for my money what sets his sophomore project, Ars Nova – A Musical Beginning, head and shoulders above his counterparts is his phenomenal ability on the jazz piano.

But it’s not just his improvisational skills that wow the ears; it is his knack for infusing the music with subtle shadings frequently overlooked by aficionados of the genre. “Toco El Piano� sports a light and airy Copacabana feel, while “Instrumentation� is pure American piano bar fare. “Beyond My Faults� stretches the boundaries beyond the Solar System to incorporate some spacey sounds before settling back into a peace-evoking arrangement of the old Dottie Rambo classic. This is a tune that truly allows Temple to show off his classical piano skills.

The title cut has more of a classic jazz ensemble feel, heavy on the percussions, while “Muthority� meanders playfully around the edges of fusion. “No One Compares� features some tasty acoustic guitar strumming mixed in with a subdued gospel choir to add to the diversity of this project.

I could go on and on. Ars Nova provides Temple with an ideal platform to explore the breadth and depth of his talent, and he never repeats himself on any song on the project. Fans of light jazz, mellow piano, and soothing dinner music will dig this album. I know I do.

www.rjtemple.com

- Buddyhollywood.com

RJ Temple is a Savannah musician who wears a lot of different hats. He is the music director at his father's church, Overcoming By Faith, where he plays jazz and funk with a full band; he performs music and puppetry with his kids' show RJ and the Upbeats; and he also performs hip-hop and electronica. But no matter what role or genre he's playing, the one certain thing is that he is a passionate performer who comfortably crosses style boundaries effortlessly.

On Friday, Temple will be joining local guitarist Michael Maddox at the second installment of The Listening Room for an eclectic double bill at the S.P.A.C.E. Gallery. Temple, who will be performing a mix of jazz, funk and electronica for this show, caught up with DO by phone last week to talk a little bit about his various projects and the release of his upcoming album Music Machine later this year.

DO: How did you start playing music?

RJ Temple: I started when I was 5. I played drums first. Then I moved to the saxophone when I was in the second grade. Then I moved to my primary instrument, the piano, when I was 16 and never had real lessons. I played by ear. I got into piano, so I wanted to go to school for music. I applied to Georgia Southern, and I had some issues there because I couldn't read music, but I got three tutors who would work with me on the weekends to get me up to the college level. A lot of people didn't believe in me, and said it would take me 6 or 7 years to graduate from college, but I graduated in four, and ended up being the lead piano player for the Georgia Southern Jazz Band in 2002. Now I'm the music director here at my dad's church.

DO: How did you get started with the kids' series?

Temple: I was always very interested in puppetry ever since I was a kid, and back in 2002 our church here had a puppet department that had been dormant for about 10 years, and they asked if I wanted to try it out. They gave me some scripts and everything, and I looked them over and said 'this stuff isn't funny, nobody is gonna laugh at this.' You've seen those corny puppet shows where they've got a little sock and they say some corny jokes. I was like 'let me see if I can do my own twist on this,' and I developed this skit around this character whose name was Jeremiah "JerryCurl" Johnson. He's a very outspoken character who I debuted in this presentation during one of the services at the church and the place just roared with laughter. Ever since then I've been writing skits and people have been coming out to it.

DO: What can people expect from your live show?

Temple: I have three different faces. I do jazz, I'm a jazz piano player. I listen to Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Art Tatum, and I love it. I also do hip-hop and the kids' stuff. At this particular presentation, I'm doing exclusively jazz, funk and electronica. I love all different types of music. If I'm into something, I'll listen to the best of the best in that genre and build on top of that.

DO: What's going on with your new album Music Machine?

Temple: It's been delayed. It'll be out no later than fall. I'm putting out a mix tape called Trash Tracks Vol. 1, and I'm getting that posted on CDBaby.com by the end of march. That will be the open door to the big album that will come out in the fall. But it will be available at the concert next week as well as my Ars Nova CD.

DO: How often do you play around town?

Temple: It's off and on. The hard part of being a musician is finding gigs. Especially with me doing three types of stuff. Usually I get more gigs with the Upbeats, but lately I've been picking up more with jazz and hip-hop. Last year was all Upbeats stuff, and this hopefully will be me doing the music that I love to do. I'm trying to put together a tour right now called "Music for the Masses," and that tour will give the venue or event planner three options depending on whether they want a jazz experience, a hip-hop experience or a kids experience.
- Patrick Rodgers

Thursday October 30, 2008 at 12:30 AM

UpBeats Puppet Ministry performs an original skit written and produced by RJ Temple during "Schools In, Stand Out" presented by Overcoming by Faith at the Savannah Civic Center on Wednesday. Hunter McRae/Savannah Morning News

check it out at and more pics at:

http://savannahnow.com/node/605092
- Hunter McCrae/Savannah Morning News

Come to Puppet People Studio, 3119 Furber Avenue,
Thunderbolt (one block North of Victory Drive
between Mechanics &Whatley Avenues) at 7:00pm,
Thursday, Nov 13th for our first meeting of the 2008-
2009 year. We’ll discuss what we want to do for the
year and get things rolling!We already have a puppet
making booth scheduled for River Street the first
weekend in May. And Yostie Ashley will give a
workshop later this year for our Guild.
At this meeting we will learn how to put on
a Puppet Slam. The Guild did several of these at The
Sentient Bean threeyears ago which were lots of fun.
We had a great turn-out, but haven’t done one since.
We also had one this summer during Puppet Gumbo
that was held at Cardinal Arts Louisville Road venue
- it was incredible! So, are we ready to do it again???
Plenty of talent here in Savannah that we can draw
from... and it’s always great fun to see how creative
people are!
Ricky (RJ) Temple, a Savannah producer,
songwriter and musician will be our special guest at
the Guild meeting to discuss puppet ministry. He
works with the group RJ& the UpBeats, a puppet
ministry aimed at presenting creative approaches to
spreading the gospel. You may have seen his picture
in the Savannah Morning News October 30th with
his original show, “School’s In. Stand Out.”, part of
the Fall Festival at the Civic Center. RJ&the
Upbeats is part of Overcoming By Faith, which bills
itself as an organization dedicated to evangelizing,
educating, elevating and embracing those in need.
www.overcomingbyfaith.org
See you at the meeting!
P.O. Box 15102
Savannah, GA 31406
Chartered by:
Puppeteers of
America

- Kathy Bolch (Vol.28, No.1)