Jan 03 01-01-2003 : xpectation

- 2003 -

Jan 03
01-01-2003 : XPECTATION Release (40:53)

Xhalation (2:04) / Xcogitate (3:34) / Xemplify (5:53) / Xpectation (4:01) / Xotica (3:05)

Xogenous (4:12) / Xpand (6:11) / Xosphere (3:34) / Xpedition (8:24)

Xpectation is the 26th full-length studio album by Prince, and the first instrumental album released under Prince's own name. It was released as a surprise mp3 download on New Year's Day, 2003 to members of the NPG Music Club, with no formal artwork (only two weeks after the commercial release of his previous album, One Nite Alone... Live !). Subtitled "New directions in music from Prince," Xpectation is an album of instrumental music with strong jazz leanings. Xpectation was originally conceived of as Xenophobia, which was announced at the "Xenophobia Celebration" in June 2002 as one of the forthcoming albums that NPG Music Club members were going to receive. Some time after this Prince apparently made the decision to remove the title track and retitle the album. "Xenophobia" was included on the One Nite Alone... Live ! set, which probably played a part in the decision to omit it. The album was recorded by Prince with Rhonda Smith (bass), John Blackwell (drums). Candy Dulfer (saxophone), and Vanessa Mae (violin). While Mae was a newcomer in Princes musical world, but she is an established star on the classical music scene. A child prodigy, Mae was born in 1979 to a Thai-Chinese couple living in Singapore. She was raised in London, where she embarked on a classical recording career. In 1994, she moved to a solo career and she has released several albums, which have picked up steam in popular music quarters.

Definitely the year 2002 will have been one year very jazz for Prince. After CD "One Nite Alone" (piano), the round with Candy Dulfer and Maceo Parker, and the box live which followed, Prince delivers to us at the end of the year a new album entitled "Xpectation". The major part of this album was recorded during the winter 2001-2002, just after the exit of "The Rainbow Children". Announced a long time as being the album "Xenophobia" (there even was a Celebration with Paisley Park in June 2002 bearing this name), Prince decided with final to eliminate this title from the concept of the album and to re-elect it "Xpectation". The presence of "Xenophobia" on the box "One Nite Alone... Live" hardly left two weeks earlier is most probably the cause. Indeed, "Xpectation" was placed at the disposal of the subscribers of the NPG Music Club as of January 1, 2003, at exactly midnight and a minute, is very right two weeks after the delivery of the first boxes "One Nite Alone... Live" !! It is shortest interval between two albums of Prince ! It is possible that the laments of the members who related to the contents of the Club into 2002 were heard and that Prince wanted to finish the year in beauty... and to begin the news well in the same way ! This being said, "Xpectation" resembles one "experiment more" (it is besides the word used by the site to present the project) that with a true album. It is rather a collection of instrumental pieces making it possible to emphasize the talents of Candy Dulfer the sax, John Blackwell to the battery and Vanessa Mae to the violin. Small the wonder Chinese brings either a beautiful tonality melancholic person, or of the fantastic flights to certain pieces. The style of play of Candy Dulfer is also very present and one could almost think that it is it the high-speed motorboat of the disc. However Blackwell strikes extremely behind, and it would be said that Prince was erased behind his musicians. Its play of keyboard in particular resembles extremely that of Renato Neto, and much of sounds seem to us familiar. Remain Rhonda Smith which holds the low one, but it is completely eclipsed by the others. Thus, as opposed to what one could first of all think, "Xpectation" does not resemble at all so that Prince made for Madhouse. One finds here sonorities revealed on "The Rainbow Children" and box live ONA, in particular with regard to the keyboards, the saturated piano, or certain guitars. For as much, the music presented here is not truly accessible. One sinks very deeply in the jazz-rock'n'roll fusion with allusions to the funk and jams déconstruits that it is sometimes difficult to follow. The addition of the violin in this context is rather particular. "Xhalation" opens on a bottom of remote keyboard in echo, carried by the violin melancholic person of Vanessa Mae. Of entry of play, the style indicates. One passes almost immediately to "Xcogitate" which remains in a rather slow vein, perfect for a week rainy end. The sounds of keyboard in the style of "MUSE 2 The Pharaoh" supplement this title rather close to the slow fox trots made by Madhouse. It should be noted that the sax is out of Re-recording, it is has to say that Candy played several parts of saxophones mixed at the same time. "Xemplify" is merrier and sounds like the jazz be-bop of the Thirties. With new, one finds this sound of keyboard. The piece grows louder and louder between the solos and the harmonies of each musician. "Xpectation" is a little faster and emphasize well the play of John Blackwell, often accompanied by a guitar to the very strange sound, and keyboards funk. Return to the ballades with "Xotica", rather sympathetic nerve and "Xogenous" which sees Prince taking the guitar for sonorities that one had ever heard as much jazzy at his place. "Xpand" is the title more funky of the album, with a sound of saturated keyboard which brings a good groove to the unit. In the content, one hears like crackings of vinyl. "Xosphere" makes it possible to find at the same time the guitar jazz/soul and the keyboards of "The Rainbow Children". Finally the album finishes in beauty with the length "Xpedition", which is concluded in a brass band with multiple solos. A cry of baby will be the final sound of the album. In the last analysis, here certainly one of the most original and experimental albums of Prince... it had already accustomed us to the odd one but this time it goes really far, and it frankly dissociates pop label which one knew of him at one time. If "The Rainbow Children" and "ONA Live" sounded brilliant but accessible, this album is rough music which it will still be necessary to decode during months. It did not finish astonishing us the Prince !!
In 2003, Prince also put out three original jazz albums: the download-only Xpectation and C-NOTE, followed by the full-scale CD release of an album, N.E.W.S., that served as the follow-up to The Rainbow Children. For jazz saxophonist Frank Griffith, an enormous admirer of the work of Dr Clare Fischer, Prince’s jazz-influenced records are solid and worthwhile, the main influences, he believes, coming from the 1970s. For him, the first release, Xpectation (recorded in 2001, but held back until 2003), is well-played 1970s-influenced fusion – with Candy Dulfer the strongest soloist – although he considers the language and improvisational vocabulary not particularly deep or well-researched. The presence of the classical violinist Vanessa-Mae on the record works particularly well, indicating a continued desire to blend jazz and classical influences in the manner achieved by Clare Fischer. It’s a

shame that Prince removed the best song from the album, the aforementioned ‘Xenophobia’, which was also the original title of this record, as it might have given it some much-needed bite.

03&04-01-2003 : C-NOTE Download Release (34:03)

Copenhagen (10:07) / Nagoya (8:53) / Osaka (5:53) / Tokyo (5:09) / Empty Room (4:01)

Nagoya was initially released as a members-only download from the NPG Music Club on 3 January, 2003 (along with Osaka, Tokyo and a re-release of Copenhagen, with Empty Room following the next day). As an "experiment", the song was released by an e-mailed link to Japanese members only, as the track was recorded during the Japanese leg of the One Nite Alone... Tour (during a NPG Music Club members-only soundcheck on 29 November, 2002 (the final show of the tour). Empty Room was initially released as a members-only download from the NPG Music Club on 4 January, 2003. As an "experiment", the song was released by an e-mailed link to European members only, as the track was recorded during the European leg of the One Nite Alone... Tour (during a NPG Music Club members-only soundcheck on 25 October, 2002, where Copenhagen was also recorded). The same version was later included as the fifth and final track on Prince's third live album C-Note (a compilation of these five soundcheck tracks). The four instrumentals didn't have titles per se, but were named after the city where the recording took place : "Copenhagen" (October 25th), "Tokyo" (November 18th), "Osaka" (November 28th), and "Nagoya" (November 29th).

Only a couple of days after Xpectation, Prince released his second jazz CD, C-NOTE, which owes something, Griffith believes, to 1970s CTI label influences. Recorded at soundchecks by the One Nite Alone … touring band, the album contains four songs named after the location where they were recorded (Copenhagen, Nagoya, Osaka, Toyko), and curiously, an official release of a live version of the long-lost song ‘Empty Room’, also recorded that year in Copenhagen. ‘Copenhagen’ feels less well thought through than the Xpectation tracks, the record-scratching from Dudley D giving the track an ersatz feel, more ‘Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)’ than ‘Cantaloupe Island’. ‘Nagoya’ has a similar problem, only this time it’s what sounds like a whistle that disrupts the sound. There’s an anxiety in the C-NOTE tracks that betrays the circumstances in which they were recorded: even though the music was performed in front of a sympathetic, fan club-only audience, their presence seems to stop the players going as far as they might. ‘Osaka’ is far better: along with ‘Xenophobia’, it’s one of the highlights of Prince’s jazz recordings, an atmospheric piece with a sense of dread that feels much more significant than the band just warming up. A relatively undercelebrated feature of Prince’s post-2002 shows is the interplay between Prince and Renato Neto, and this is at the forefront here, as the two of them dual on piano and guitar. ‘Tokyo’ has vocals, after a fashion, Prince singing the name of the city in a way that suggests less a shout-out to the audience than an attempt to get the spirit of the city into his music.
01-2003 : Q (UK)
Purple funkster gets good again on live compendium.

By Paul Elliott

Ironic, given Prince's erratic form in recent years, that a box set should see him refocused. A double CD recorded in the US on the 2002 One Nite Alone tour offers esoteric (read : boring) new songs plus classic hits performed solo on piano. CD3, subtitled 'It Ain't Over !', features further live highlights from club dates that accompanied the tour, a blistering 'Joy In Repetition' proving he's the finest guitarist of his generation. But the real treasure is a 10-track studio CD (only available via www.npgmusicclub.com) of piano-and-vocal only recordings, all live takes, including a version of Joni Mitchell's 'A Case Of U' (his spelling) and some of the best songs Prince has written in 15 years
Star Tribune
CJ ponders if Prince's wife Manuela is with child in the new MPLS

A Princely event ?

I've been watching for white smoke at Paisley Park. This week I am again hearing rumblings that Manuela Testolini is looking as though she has put on weight. A musician claims that the consensus among another set of performers is that Prince's wife looks heavier. The musician swore to me that she looks "thicker" and told me to listen for clues on Prince's next release. Since Prince spends so much time in Canada, where Manuela is from, and in Europe, I'm not sure anybody in Minnesota actually remembers what he looks like. For one thing, a couple of people dispute recent Prince sightings at Ping's on the grounds that an employee of the Asian restaurant looks like Symbolina. Then there's the question of whether I really trust some guys to gauge a subtle weight gain. "What, she had PMS and someone thinks she's pregnant ?" said a laughing Melinda Jacobs, who sits next to Prince and the Mrs. when they show for Timberwolves games. "She's tiny. Give her a break. I don't know for sure. Maybe she is." Jacobs says he's great with kids. "My kids [Cole, 12 and Maddy, 10] forget that he's Prince, an international superstar. Cole is more interested in Look out, Prince, I'm sorry you paid $200 a seat, but I need to catch that hat they are dropping from that stupid air balloon thing." If Manuela's pregnant, we'll all know soon, unless Prince keeps her under wraps.
Rock & Folk (FR)
A messenger of God

By Alain Orlandini

It was one of those days where we forget the dreary everyday of our disillusioned lives. A whole day dedicated to music - without which, as Nietzsche said, life would be a mistake - and whose program, three-party, would range until early morning.
Zenith, Monday, October 28, 15 h oo

From the start of the afternoon, eight hundred privileged beat the pavement in front of the Zenith grids. Precursor as ever, Prince hosted an intimate before-show. A pre-show rehearsal, indeed, is now available for those who agreed, with the huge outlay of 100 dollars, to join the NPG Fan Club. Prince at the reach of our hand, for a small family warm up : the experience, one suspects, was going to be unforgettable. And there was indeed something profoundly surprising, even terrifying, seeing Prince covering Clinton in a three-quarters empty Zenith. Played in a dead silence, "One Nation Under A Groove" exuded a strange funk radicalism. Parodying Macy Gray hilariously, Prince tried to unleash the audience, but nothing worked. Paralyzed by the exquisitely mournful atmosphere of this mini-party beyond the grave, it was impossible to sketch any gesture. Especially since, suddenly wearing the sombrero from Mountains, Prince seemed to catapult us sixteen years back to the old days of the Parade tour. This appetizer completed, Prince disappeared backstage, "to go and take a bath."

Zenith, Monday, October 28, 20 h 30

Ideally placed in front of the stage and separated from spectators by a small barrier - to those crammed in like sardines, one surprises himself addressing a sadistic smile - then you could fall prey to doubt. Will Prince ham here as in London, with an infamous inaugural show, or would he be affected by this grace which in Berlin, saw him getting close to the gods ? Teleported by the upward jazz-rock Rainbow Children, the unalterable youngster grabbed an old guitar forgotten by Charlie Christian, to immediately cross swords with Renato Neto. To his venomous keyboard scratches, Prince, heavily making use of effects pedals, answered by schizophrenic guitar contortions, thundering recklessly towards improbable jazz galaxies. He reappeared immediately cleaning the ir with a stratospheric Muse 2 The Pharaoh when, on "Xenophobia" Renato Neto summoned again the atonal freak-funk of Sextant, riddling the Zenith canvas with molten glass crusts. "This is my song, Paris ! And this is your song too !" Purple Rain was probably too early, but Prince performed his (our) favorite song in full, then was funky on a much Brownian The Work, providing valuable advice to dancing fans invited to join the stage. Strange Relationship, When You Were Mine, Take Me With You and a Sign O’ The Times full of anxiety, in tune with the shadowy visuals projected on the backdrop screen, reviving the Prince of the 80s. The Everlasting Now, another funky exercise, saw Candy Dulfer and Maceo Parker blow gleaming saxophones, soon joined by an irresistibly swing trombone. A pulsating Strollin’, which seemed to have no end, preceded a Gotta Broken Heart Again pierced by shrill squeals, but brilliantly jazz revisited. We had not seen anything yet. Prince, alone at the piano - The tour is not entitled One Night Alone With Prince for nothing - delivered a stellar Condition Of The Heart. Follow Diamonds And Pearls, Nothing Compares 2 U and The Beautiful Ones, as so many initiatory steps on the way to absolute austerity, before the (convincing) sermonizing of The Ladder, a Sometimes It Snows ln April trembling with emotion, and a final apotheosis in the form of funk, Days Of Wild.

Bataclan, Tuesday, October 29, 2:30

An after-show ? But why ? At the Zenith, Prince had said everything. And in an astonishingly simple way. As if, having reached the age of maturity, he had discovered himself invested with an ultimate mission : to cut his repertoire with any superfluous orchestration to better face the judgment of history. Nevertheless we made the move to Bataclan. On "Bambi", Prince showed again that his guitar playing had nothing to envy to that of Jimi Hendrix. We then thought that Prince, unfathomable mystery block, was a messenger of God. And that as bad as it starts, a world who plebiscite such a genius couldn’t be totally lost and that one day, perhaps, it would be given a glimpse of this saving light that it currently lacks. Unless on this 28 October 2002, this was already done.

10-01-2003 : The Time @ Chicago
14-01-2003 : Purple house demolition permit
A demolition permit is issued for Prince's "purple house" on Lake Riley. His father, John L. Nelson, had lived in the house from 1986 until his August 2001 death. The house was bulldozed in mid-March 2003.
15-01-2003 : The Time @ Minneapolis

18-01-2003 : ♫ BBC – Purple Reign Pt.1(0:44)

Programme One - Saturday 18 January

Mica Paris examines Prince's best releases of the 1980s, from the controversial funk rock of Dirty Mind to the breakthrough success of 1999 and the epoch-defining Sign o the Times. The programme also examines Prince's work as a producer for such artists as Sinead O'Connor, the Bangles and Alicia Keys. The programme features contributions from Chaka Khan, Alexander O'Neal and ex-member of The Time, Jimmy Jam, plus members of The Revolution.

25-01-2003 : ♫ BBC – Purple Reign Pt.2 (0:49)
Programme Two - Saturday 25 January

In this programme we look into the mystery of the most famous non-release of 1987, the Black Album and at the meaning of his favourite word of 1988, Lovesexy. We also look at the souring of his relationship with Warner Brothers in the 1990s when he changed his name to an unpronouncable symbol and went on the road with "slave" scrawled on his face. In 2003 his name is Prince again and although he's without a record deal, he is cultivating a new relationship with his fams (or family). For one week per year he opens Paisley Park to celebrate his birthday and his newfound beliefs. The programme features contributions from George Clinton, Chaka Khan and producer Jimmy Jam.

26-01-2003 : ! Access Hollywood
31-01-2003 : Les Inrockuptibles (FR)
ONA Live

By Vincent Brunner

Almost buried alive a few years ago, Prince seems to have finally reached an agreement with his capricious inspiration and, above all, an armistice with his jazz-funk obsessions too overwhelming so far. Digest and haunted, The Rainbow Children certainly showed him as an applied student of Hendrix or Duke Ellington, but at least we had the impression of being in front of a big mouth with empty ideas. First official live album, the vast One Nite Alone Live ! gives a fair reflection of the 2002tour, quite generous and exciting to play down the usual mistakes. Thus, one of the three volumes of this live, It Ain’t Over, recorded during an after-show, suffers from exhibitionism, Prince, the guitarist, throwing in boring and anonymous demonstrations. In comparison, the two discs supposed to trace the formal concerts quite skillfully tack in a repertoire as wide as the Pleiades. Nevertheless, we especially vibrate when the Supreme Shorty remembers and plays, often with a reduced formation, classics like I Wanna B Ur Lover, When U Were Mine or Sometimes It Snows In April. Not matched yet, the gems of yesterday still shine more than today’s reassuring bubbling.
The Time @ LA

Feb 03
03-02-2003 : SOS To The World

(Mandela / HIV Charity)
06-02-2003 : NEWS session
Prince records the basic tracks for N.E.W.S at Paisley Park with a band line-up of Renato Neto (keyboard), Eric Leeds (saxophone), Rhonda Smith (bass), and John Blackwell (drums). Overdubbing and post-production followed after the initial recording sessions.
North * - N.E.W.S.

East * - N.E.W.S.

West * - N.E.W.S.

South * - N.E.W.S.

16-02-2003 : Basketball game @ Toronto

Prince and Manuela attend the Toronto Raptors versus Orlando Magic NBA basketball game at the Air Canada Center in Toronto.

02-2003 : Rock & Folk (FR)
One Nite Alone… Live !

By Alain Orlandini

The best entertainer ever, Prince didn’t have until this day, and for dark reasons, ever published a live album. As hungry men, the most resolute fans, introduced by the bootleggers, had thrown themselves on the bootleg "City Lights" (an anthology in a few ten CD, of Prince’s performances live between 1980 and 1986) but the other ? Condemned to fold back on a "It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night", recorded in 1986 le Zenith France and inauspiciously stranded on "Sign ‘O the Times", or "The Ride" on "Crystal Ball" album, and particularly a weak version to regarding the tentacular versions of 1995. Therefore, "One Nite Alone... Live !” is destined to them. Afficionados, object that the album makes the beautiful part to the American tour, inferior to the recent European benefits, the presence of a CD bonus exclusively composed of titles played in club is not changing anything, according to them, 'it comes too late'. But what does “One Nite Alone... Live !” sound like ? First, a jazzy Prince. Freak like Herbie Hancock, as in the 'Sextant' time. (the dizzy spatiality of Renato Neto Solo in 'Xenophobia'); orchestral, such like a postmodern Duke Ellington (the coppers of 'Rainbow Children'); irresistibly smooth crooner - arranger (the raspberry mid-tempo of 'the Other Side Of the Pillow'); or under ascendancy blues, paying its debt to Billie Holiday ('Avalanche'): strong of an encyclopedic learning, Prince cruise the waters of jazz in relaxation, and it is tasty. But another Prince, high in voice, splash all his astral class the three disks of this set. He sings the disappointment in love (the broken voice of 'Nothing Compares To U') or the turgescent desire (the winged coloratura of 'Do Me Baby'), Prince appears again as an immense singer, centering the ebullient flux of his mad expressivity by a disarming technical virtuosity. On the guitar side, Prince is not in rest. It obviously sounds like Carlos Santana ("Xenophobia"), he likes to go deep down in excessiveness (in the Hendrix Sly Stone and Zeppelin way in "Family Name") when he doesn’t spill blood in the James Blood Ulmer way ("Rainbow Children"). But all this is nothing compared to the final medley, sumptuous coronation of a glaring set. Disgraced yesterday, the old index, decorated of the virtues of the spoliation "Prince is alone to the piano" sparkles of one thousand colors. And the charm of such "Adore", "Free" or "the Beautiful Ones" to operate again. When will the solo of apocalyptic guitar of "Joy In Repetition" have sounded (recorded live in "the World" NY-NY, and indisputably the summit of this album), one spacy "Girls And Boys" crossed of thechno loops, and a fabulous "We Do This", a funk look of the "Willie the Pimp" from Frank Zappa (all three extra to the summary of the third CD "It Ain’t Over"), how much will they be again to question Prince’s genius ? How much will they be to refuse to see in Prince’s work the surest Wall against the artistic uselessness of the contemporary world ?

Vibe
One Nite Alone... Live !

By Aidin Vaziri

Not so long ago, the only thing more awesome than seeing Prince in concert would have been the opportunity to bring the orgiastic thrills home in a three-CD box like this. But then, around the same time he mangled his name and cut his major-label ties, the man with the cheek-a-boo trousers decided to stop playing his hits. Barnstormers like Let’s Go Crazy and Purple Rain were shelved in favor of extended jams at the hands of his slick, note-perfect band, the New Power generation – people who are allergic to melody. So instead of vintage housequaking Prince, most of the rambling, brass-heavy material here comes from recent spiritual-minded CDs like The Rainbow Children and Crystal Ball – albums that few bought. When Prince does briefly revisit his past, it’s as if the skies part. His run through When You Were Mine proves that underneath it all, his lovely falsetto and raw showmanship remain as whip smart as ever, while his condensed version of Diamonds And Pearls is easily the most compelling 41 seconds in this set. Purple lace and sex-kitten heels have never been so sorely missed.
20-02-2003 : Time Café (NY)
Prince was in NYC last night. Ironically enough, he was at Fez....except it was the Time Cafe in the Village on Lafayette (not Uptown). Londell McMillan threw a little party with Prince. Not sure exactly what it was for, but it seemed to be more of a networking pre-Grammy thing. I didn’t go myself, but I was just talking to a few people who went, and one who sat down and talked to P for a minute. The hosts from BET's 106 & Park were there, etc etc.

22-02-2003 : Regent Wall Street (NY)

Prince participates in Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy Awards party at the Regent Wall Street ballroom in New York. Other guests at the star-studded party included Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Rod Stewart, Lou Reed, Carly Simon, Naomi Campbell, P. Diddy, Jimmy Jam, and Kid Rock. Prince slinked in with Manuela and a few bodyguards. When Davis introduced him from the stage, Prince took a standing ovation.
23-02-2003 : Hilton Hotel (NY)

Prince attends a “Grammy Brunch” hosted by the Artist Empowerment Coalition (AEC) and ASCAP, honouring the Grammy nominees, at the Hilton Hotel Mercury Ballroom in New York. The AEC was established to protect artists’ long-term investments, health insurance and other benefits, rights to terminate contracts, and promote “positive music.” BET showed footage from the ceremony on their news programme. Prince was seen sitting with Roberta Flack and chatting some with Jill Scott.

27-02-2003 : ScreamingMedia
Prince Stands Strong Against Alcohol

Eccentric pop star Prince has such a strong stance against drinking alcohol he's even banned his entourage from guzzling any during a night out. The Alphabet Street rocker showed up at New York hot-spot Rehab recently, when the club's owner sent over several magnums of Veuve Clicquot champagne. But non-drinker Prince refused the bubbly not only for himself, but for the 50 pals he'd brought with him. According to American website Page Six, after Prince insisted all alcohol be removed from their tables, the whole crew drank bottled water. Also at Rehab - but not part of the prohibited pack - were Mariah Carey and Wyclef Jean.

28-02-2003 : The Time @ NY (2 shows)
Mar 03
01-03-2003 : The Time @ NY (2 shows)
Hello everybody, I would like to share with you comments of Gi Dussault about the latest show of the very famous and talented group THE TIME. This group worked very closely with Prince, the famous artist, during several years. Their very last show took place on Saturday, March 1st, 2003 at the B.B. KING Blues Club, located in Time's Square, in New York City and Gi Dussault, the co-host and co-producer of the well-known radio show, "THE UPPER ROOM WITH JOE KELLEY", attended the concert. She tells us about this unforgettable show that she had the chance to experience in the company of Joe Kelley. This I can only approve for the reason I also had the very great pleasure of attending the same show myself, last year. Thanks to my two great friends, Joe and Gi. I shall get back at you later on with my comments about this show of last year. Gi tells us her evening : "We prepared ourselves to go and see THE TIME at B.B. King's, located in Time,s Square in New York City. We are going there with a group of friends. Mystic Bowie, Electric Man and his wife, Robin." Arriving at B.B. King's, we had to wait until the brother of Morris Day, who is the manager of THE TIME, to bring the guest list in order to be able to take our seats inside. Finally, the list is brought. We are placed at a super table. We really have an extraordinary view, not far from the stage. We are all very anxious that the show starts. We are very excited. It is the first time for Mystic Bowie and Robin to see them live. They look excited. Therefore, we decide to raise their level of excitement by purposely telling them about other shows which we had gone to see. We even talked about our friend Gamillah (alias Jean-Yves, myself) who had the chance of being selected last year, to go on stage to dance with them. Gamillah told us that it was a true dream come true for him. Well, Joe and I, we were really glad to be part of this dream. We were really happy to see Gamillah there among these stars, of which he was dreaming about since a long time. The five of us are still sitting awaiting anxiously for the show to begin. And then all the lights are shut off and we suddenly hear "tic tic tic". WOW ! Here they are. This is them. True insane girl. Everytime I go to their concert I am so happy. I do not know how to express this joy. And here they come on stage, all aligned there, and they do all at the same time a dance and people are all filled with enthusiasm and shout. Yes I believe that I shout myself too. Hahahaha. I looked at my friends sitting at the table to see whether they are also having fun... and what do I see ? Mystic Bowie shaking himself from side to side. Robin clapping her hands and shouting. Electric Man giving me elbow blows and Joe who is practically climbing on his seat. Hahaha, I say yes, my friends are really having fun. And there come the tunes; one after the other : What Time is It ? / Wild and loose / 777-9311 / The walk / Gigolos get lonely too / The stick / The bird / Jungle Love and many others which I can't remember any more. And then, Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin comes and plays a super solo of guitar for us. WOW ! There we are all filled with goose bumps. This guy is a genius with the guitar. WOW. Then came the moment when Jerome Benton comes among the crowd to make his jokes. Worse it is then he stops at our table and why did I have the feeling that he was to tease me ? And so my feeling was good :-))) He asked me whether I was having a good evening. I answered him ohhh yeah. He says to me, that shows up; you already have the very red nose of excitement. Hummm.... :-))) If ever somebody has the video of this show, well you'll see. There, I am :-))). The show was excellent. We all had fun. Then we went backstage, because Monte Moir said to us : "Come to see us, we'll be waiting for you after the show". We thus went to meet with these guys, who, in my opinion, are big stars, but who can nevertheless keep all their simplicity in their personality. I do not like the backstage room at B.B. King's. It is too small and everyone wants to meet the artists at the same time. Therefore I waited with Mystic Bowie in the corridor. He didn't not want to enter either. Finally the guys start to come to see us, one after the other. Monte arrives. Always so nice and friendly. Very very nice. Then arrives Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin, this tall guy. I always feel so small besides him. Yes, he is tall. Hahaha. We talked also. Then who's coming ? Jerome. He sees me sitting there in the corridor. What do you think he does ? Well, yes, he comes to see me and he excused himself just in case he would have embarassed me and he kisses me on the nose. Hahahaha. He did that a few times while talking to me. Hahahaha. Very nice this guy. I saw Morris Day. He was very busy. Therefore I was not likely to approach him. Then Stanley 'Chance' Howard arrives. Oh boy... I tell you that he was in good form. A joke did not wait the other. A good guy. He made me laugh quite a bit. :-))) The only one who did not come outside and I waved at him at the door. This is Jellybean Johnson, the drummer. He was very tired and moreover, they had another show to perform that evening. But we yelled a few words and he was glad to see me. It was fun. Freeze arrived and he said a nice hello to everybody. While talking, I had the chance to meet Sonny-Boy, a super funk music singer. I also met George Benson's son. Then, I see somebody passing by with quite a flashing suit. Immediately Monte leans and says to me (he told me his name but I can't remember it for the time being) : this guy, he is the former hairdresser, make-up man and stylist of Prince. I know that it is foolish what I will say, but I look at him as if I was looking at Prince himself. Hahahaha. It was a superb evening, as with each time we are likely to meet THE TIME. They are super good guys in addition to being incomparable artists. Jellybean also plays the guitar and co-produces Ronnie Baker Brooks who will be in Montreal next week. He also wrote and produced songs for Janet Jackson. Monte also wrote songs for Janet Jackson. I try to remember which ones because I know you know them all, but the titles do not come out for the time being. Sorry. They are all people very full with talent. We returned by train and we were all happy of our evening. We already look forward for the return of THE TIME on the East coast. And this is it with regards to Gi Dussault's report of THE TIME's show at BB King's. [...] Should you ever have the opportunity to see THE TIME giving a show somewhere, do not miss it... You will never regret it. I am telling you : "It's really worth the price."
03-2003 : Vogue Paris (FR)
Prince speaks to you.

The one which was one of the last incarnations of the musical genius in XXth century is always there, with, in its drawers, what to astonish (or disconcert) the world during two more or three decades. First, he found love and God. At the end of october 2002. The untameable force of nature (sometimes) known as Prince has not placed any album in the world charts for several years and does not have any large discographic structure to distribute his records, but the six thousand and some witnesses run to the Zenith in Paris find from the start linked by a submerging obviousness, they attend the performance of a true magician, the most gifted musician currently in activity on this planet. Dressed of an elegant surprisingly discrete black suit, the tiny performer, after having guided his excellent new group through several complex musical sequences, danced with the agility of a young James Brown and carried out a guitar solo that let us breathless, he decides to communicate in a more direct way with the extatic crowd massed in front of him : "How much among you are disciples ?" while a sea of hands is agitated in front of him. "And now, how many leaders are there ?" Some individuals raise the hand timidly, but everyone knows that only one leader occupies the place this evening. Mick Jagger is recently resume the state of mind of the disciples of Prince while declaring : "He has always been a brilliant artist. He is very prolific, he vacuum-cleaned many traditions and invented a lot of of new styles. He composes in exceptional manner and eclipse everyone on scene. I place him all in top, at the top.” And what about Miles Davis which, just before his death, recorded with Prince and write in his autobiography "he is a little genius... he can do everything. For me, he is the new Duke Ellington." Prince himself agrees entirely with these high opinions : "Did I saw one potential rival these twenty last years ?", repeating the question which I have just asked him. "You must be joking. Nobody is as good. Nobody comes higher than my ankle" This faith without fault in his artistic capacities characterizes Prince since the end of the Seventies, when he signed for the first time a contract for seven albums with Warner Bros and obtained a total control on all the aspects of musical creation. Prince wrote all the songs, played and sang each note, produced and took part in the recording session. He also builds a reputation of blazing performer and, in 1982, joined international public with the ambitious double funk-pop album, "1999". Two years later, he became, with Madonna and Michael Jackson - the most significant superstar in the world with the simultaneous triumphal movie Purple Rain (a hardly disguised autobiography) and 13 million soundtrack albums sold. Prince said he thought that, at this time of his career, he could pay a hard tribute to this commercial phenomenon. "I realized that it was impossible to remain at this omnipresent point for a long time — beeing all, for everyone. And I knew that I have to evolve ant that would not be a piece of cake." However, he do something more than evolve and the marvelously eclectic albums that he published in the end of the 80's like "Parade" and "Sign O' The Times" are considered as the most brilliant albums ever. At the same time, his glory seemed to insulate him, turns him more and more parano and obsessed by the wish to be in total control. According to one of his employees, "Prince never spoke. He communicated with his crew by small words. No one was authorized to look at him or to speak to him. I saw him fired a guy which had dared to launch a glance to him." Then came the Eighties and, for Prince, a lot of professional problems. Initially, the film Graffiti Bridge collected, then the musician who had just renewed his contract with Warner Bros, discovered that he still did not have the rights of his music, which made him change his name several times and to trott itself in public with the word "slave" writes on the cheek. Not to hold the rights of his recordings always turns him nuts : "the law does not have any direction for me. I create : that belongs to me. It is a point of divine law, I cannot help from thinking of a certain form of racial discrimination. David Bowie has his catalogue, but look at the naked terrible battle the family of Hendrix had to carry out before obtaining the rights of his work. In quantity, I have more than five times the work of Jimi and I want that all belongs to me before my death." Prince entered the new millenium by taking again his old patronym and while moving away still more from the usual practices of musical industry, he publishes from now on his recordings (latest to date, the jazzy conceptual album "The Rainbow Children"), through his own NPG internet support. Sales figures of his recent albums prove obviously disappointing compared to those of the 80s, which did not prevent him from proudly points out that he makes more money with the modest sales of Rainbow Children (which he owns 100%) than with the twelve million copies of Purple Rain sold by Warner Bros. Seated in front of me in a room with dim lights, he seems more Puerto Rican than black; his skin is golden beige, his ebony hair parted down the middle covers his ears and neck. He has huge doe eyes and a cartoon character mouth highlighted by a neat little goatee that makes his chin pointed. I probably exceed his height by thirty centimeters, but he manages to look down to me : the chair-throne he occupies is specially designed for this purpose, and he wears heels at least twelve centimeters high. He is dressed in pure Prince style: surrounded by a emerald green bolero, he looks like a psychedelic pixie who spent too much time in the sun. He also features, rather theatrically, a wooden stick placed under the chin – which he sometimes caress to emphasize the wisdom of his words. I had not imagined to find an interlocutor as stimulating and eloquent. Once launched, Prince speaks as if he was on stage – rolling his eyes, changing voice and multiplying gestures. He also remains a staunch devotee ready to convert everyone in no time. It’s also one of the great ironies of the 80s : during this decade, everyone has one day imagined what unique experience it would be to get personally in touch with the magical Michael Jackson or suave Prince, not realizing that reality would resemble more likely to inviting for tea the guy who fills your mailbox with pamphlets in praise of the Lord. According to Prince, the human being ramps in darkness or bathes in light, and if he feels that you belong to the first category, he doesn’t have anything to do with you, even if you are a family member. He abhors drugs and alcohol, and speaks of people who have not accepted God into their lives as cripples. His religious fervor has grown with the arrival of the new millennium. Guided by Larry Graham, the former bassist of Sly & The Family Stone, with whom he started working five years ago, he decided never to play old "blasphemous" songs as Jack U Off or Sexy MF live again. And while at the end of last century, he socialized with Donatella Versace and Prince Albert of Monaco, he obviously prefers now the company of his Jéhovah Witnesses friends. He still lives in Minneapolis, one of the likely reasons for the failure of his marriage in the 90s with dancer Mayte Garcia (She preferred Spain). He and his ex-wife had a son in 1997, but the baby died a month later before being released from the hospital. That thought in mind, I ask him if it already happened to him to doubt God he never stops praising in his songs ... His answer is immediate, he proclames it without blinking. "Never I always knew that there was a God. Since the age of 5, I know he exists." When the couple appeared on the cover of Vogue in 1999, it were already over. Mayte lives with Tommy Lee, the ex of Pamela Anderson, in California. Prince, meanwhile, was photographed last October in Paris, a brunette beauty at his side. "The public - it's her my wife now," he declared several times during the interview. As for what marriage has taught him about love : "Now I know that on one side there is love and on the other, trust, and if we love someone without trusting him/her, it’s doomed." Five years earlier, in a television interview, he confided to Oprah Winfrey that therapy had revealed him that he had created an alternative personality at the age of 5. Many believed detecting here the official admission of schizophrenia, accredited by the pseudonymous mania. Recalling that statement, he seems slightly offended. "That's how language imprisons us, I do not believe in schizophrenia. Prince and I are the same person. It's not like I had all these different personalities to control. I never tried to reinvent myself as David Bowie did, from one year to another being Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. I'm no different from Muhammad Ali. Was it because he was schizophrenic that he decided not to be named Cassius Clay anymore ? Certainly not. I'd like to see you ask Ali if he’s schizophrenic – he’d probably send you more quickly to the carpet than Joe Bugner" He's right, of course ! Still. multifaceted, exceptionally talented, planted with determination on the less traveled paths of art and business, Prince : not koo koo, just special.
07-03-2003 : Greazy Meal @ Cabooze (Minneapolis)
Prince checks out Greazy Meal at the Cabooze in Minneapolis.
08-03-2003 : Jazzmagazine.com (FR)
There’s an article about Prince performing at Paisley Park (supposed fake) on http://www.jazzmagazine.com/ March, 8. The article is in French so I translated it so that you can read it. Here it is :
“A journalist from Saint-Paul Peter Cato attended a Prince concert at Paisley Park on March, 8. He says he was baffled by the concert and that the performance was tremendous. The show began at 11PM in front of about 200 people. Renato Neto was on keyboards, Rhonda Smith on bass, John Blackwell on drums, the Hornheads on horns, Esther Godinez (friend of Sheila E’s and ex-drummer for George Benson), Eric Leeds on sax and a new guitar player from Los Angeles Ella King. Apart from a few recent tracks : Avalanche, Mellow, Family Name, The Work and Have a Heart, Prince only played new songs which may be on his next album that is said to be called “2000 Free : The Revelation Year”. Funk and blues influences were even more present than on the One Nite Alone Tour. The concert started with a completely changed version of Kiss which sounded like a blues with a lot of horns. Also a alternative version of Shy with an accelerated beat. He performed other songs that he strongly having rewritten : Dark, I Wish U Heaven, Walk Don’t Walk, Willing And Able, Come, When U Love Somebody, I Feel For You, Little Red Corvette, Moonbeams Level and Paisley Park. He also covered three songs : Love Is The Answer by Todd Rundgren, Jesus by Curtis Mayfield and Too High by Stevie Wonder. Then he played six new songs entitled The War Script (a very political song in which Prince says how much he is strongly opposed to George W. Bush, a very rock even hard rock track), Love Stories (weird and sad electronic love song), I Ain’t No Fool (more RnB, talking again about American domestic policy), Incantation ( a three-part instrumental song with once more very strongly engaged lyrics laughing at Black and White American paranoia), The Silent Majority and Wow (a gospel pop song close to Forever In My Life). The concert ended at 01:15AM. Peter Cato doesn’t know whether Prince upcoming concerts will sound the same, with the same setlist and even if the musicians will be the same… However he learned that the NPGMC is currently “under reconstruction” and that the new album is finished and should be out in June.”
14-03-2003 : Estaire Godinez concert @ St Paul
Prince attends a concert by Estaire Godinez at the Artist’s Quarter in St. Paul. Her band includes Eric Leeds and former NPG guitarist Mike Scott. John Blackwell guested on drums.

Early 2003 : Musicology sessions

Musicology * - Musicology

Reflection * - Musicology

Although Prince released two albums and multiple downloads during 2003, Reflection is the only studio track to include vocals released during 2003. The album version of Musicology includes a segue at the end of the track involving a radio changing between stations (similar to a Segue on Carmen Electra's album Carmen Electra). Each station is playing a Prince song, and included are clips of If I Was Your Girlfriend, 17 Days, Kiss, Sign O' The Times and Little Red Corvette. Spoken over it are lyrics to Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance, the following track on the album.

Apr 03
09-04-2003 : Star Tribune

Review : ‘Possessed : The Rise and Fall of Prince’

By Jon Bream

From Prince’s legal adversary to his biographer. That’s the leap that Alex Hahn is trying to make. The Boston lawyer’s claim to fame is that he successfully defended Uptown, the respected Prince fanzine, in a 1999 lawsuit brought by the Purple One. He handled that case pro bono for the Sweden-based magazine, which is still publishing. Now he’s looking for his payday with “Possessed : The Rise and Fall of Prince.” The book reads like an in-depth fanzine written by a voracious researcher/fan : Lots of facts (most of them previously reported, some new, including Prince being hospitalized at Fairview Southdale in April 1996 for heart palpitations and vomiting); lots of gossip (including women Prince bedded, according to “a knowledgable source,” Hahn writes) and tabloid-like coverage of the death of Prince’s deformed baby in October 1996. Hahn interviewed several key figures in Prince’s life and career, including former managers Bob Cavallo and Arnold Stiefel; former band members Dez Dickerson, Matt Fink and Rosie Gaines; publicists Howard Bloom and Bob Merlis, and road manager and Paisley Park executive Alan Leeds. Hahn also relied heavily on interviews conducted by others, chiefly Per Nilsen, Uptown contributor and author of the 1999 book “DanceMusicSexRomance : Prince, the First Decade.” (Nilsen is credited with interviewing 30 sources, Hahn with 19.) In his introduction, Hahn cited Nilsen’s book and my 1984 biography, “Prince : Inside the Purple Reign,” as sources. Hahn never contacted me. In the first noteworthy Prince book by a U.S. author in two decades, the Boston lawyer/writer also lists people who turned down his interview requests, including Vanity, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Sheila E., Morris Day and Madonna. Apparently, he did not seek an interview with Prince. “Possessed” does not offer a serious analysis of Prince’s art. Rather, this book chronicles the ups and downs of his career, with plenty of pseudo-psychoanalysis of the shortcomings that eventually toppled him from the top of the pops. Hahn portrays Prince as a self-indulgent, obsessive, demanding, capricious, promiscuous, uncaring, petulant, spoiled brat/genius/workaholic. This is not a Kirby Puckett-type situation where the public and private images don’t jibe. Prince-ophiles have known of these dubious qualities. It’s just that no book author has gone where lawyer Hahn has : printing the rumors and whispers. With all his digging, Hahn tells us that a trip on the drug Ecstasy is what prompted Prince’s short-notice cancellation of the release of “The Black Album” in 1987. The author’s unnamed sources suggest that Prince’s use of the prescription painkiller Percodan contributed to his erratic behavior circa 2000. “Possessed” too often seems secondhand and gossipy. Reading it, you wonder if Hahn has ever seen Prince in concert. Could he see the purple through the pain ?
10-04-2003 : NPGMC