Howard Hewett
City Winery Pittsburgh presents Howard Hewett Saturday, March 9th, 2024 6:30 PM
With his silky smooth, straight-from-the-heart soulful style, Howard Hewett is gifted with one of the most instantly recognizable voices in contemporary music. A writer for Rolling Stone magazine once described him as “the premier vocalist in the post-Marvin Gaye era of romantic pop.”
Hewett started doing session work around LA until the end of ‘79 when he got a phone call and was offered an opportunity to join a group called Shalamar. The group had formed while Hewett was touring overseas. They had a single on the charts at the time called “Take That To The Bank” and were currently on a nationwide promotional tour on the East Coast, when their lead singer, Gerald Brown, decided to leave the group. Remembering Hewett from his performances at Mavericks, Jefferey Danial decided to track him down back in LA to offer him the lead singer position of the group. The offer was made on a Friday…Saturday morning Hewett did an audition for Dick Griffey, the owner of SOLAR Records…that night he was on a red-eye flight to New Jersey were he joined his two new band mates, Jeffrey Danial and Jody Watley. Sunday they rehearsed the lip synch and choreography to “Take That To The Bank”, and Monday he found himself in front of a TV camera filming a local dance show in Patterson NJ. This was the start of Hewett’s recording career. Shalamar went on to enjoy success with hits like “Second Time Around”, “Make That Move”; “A Night to Remember”; “Dead Giveaway”; and the now-classic, “This Is For the Lover in You.” Their success on Solar Records made them one of the most popular international groups of the ‘80s.
In 1986, Hewett launched his solo career, scoring an immediate R&B hit with “I’m For Real” (which was co-written by Stanley Clarke, and featured such stellar musicians as George Duke and Wilton Felder of the Jazz Crusaders); followed by “Stay”, “I Commit to Love” and the contemporary gospel classic, “Say Amen.” Other solo hits include “Show Me”, “Once, Twice, Three Times”, “I Can’t Tell You Why” a remarkable cover of the legendary group The Eagles. He has recorded duets with legendary leading ladies of music such as, Anita Baker, Dionne Warwick, Brenda Russell and Stacey Lattisaw. He’s collaborated with artists like George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Kenny Loggins, Gerald Albright and the list goes on. Hewett has recorded on numerous movie soundtracks including the multiplatinum “Footloose” soundtrack and the first “Beverly Hills Cop” soundtrack, which landed him a Grammy for his composition, “Don’t Get Stopped in Beverly Hills”.
