The Progressive Underground Show 200 feat. ALTON MILLER and MAURISSA ROSE
This episode features interviews with Alton Miller & Maurissa Rose who will exclusively premiere their new track on TPU.
On tonight’s The Progressive Underground, we have in-studio interviews with global recording artists ALTON MILLER and MAURISSA ROSE. They will officially debut a new track for worldwide release (we’ll hear it first) as well as help us delve into their respective music catalogs.
Detroit-based producer, singer, and percussionist Alton Miller has been playing a fundamental role in defining Detroit House Music for over two decades.
Born in Chicago and raised in Detroit on Stevie Wonder, Santana, Parliament Funkadelic and the Philly Sound, Alton’s early roots in soul music led to an affinity for clubbing and the perfect storm of music, dance, and skill that is required to create it. Alton began developing his deejaying skills under the electrifying energy of House Music founding fathers like Larry Levan and Timmy Regisford, whereas he was oftenly going to Ron Hardy’s Music Box and Frankie Knuckles’s private loft partie in Chicago with some of his Detroit friends including a certain Derrick May.
A few years after, Alton along with his like-minded friends Chez Damier and George Baker, opened the legendary dance club, The Music Institute in Detroit in 1988. Since then, Alton has lived in Paris and South Africa, where he pursued his musical creativity process while representing the Detroit vibe. His travels allowed him to discover other cultures and to make a name for itself all around the globe. He toured in a lot of countries including Japan, Australia, South Africa, Europe and New Zealand. He has also had the pleasure of recording with some of the best independent labels in the industry, including Defected, Planet E, King Street, Nitegrooves, Trackmode Records, Seasons and Octave Lab.
Alton Miller re-introduced his label InnerMuse Recordings with his own signature sound on “Whereabouts Known.” During Movement 2016 in Detroit, Alton Miller played with Chez Damier for the first time since the Music Institute closed in 1989, during a party organized by fellow DJ Kai Alce. Alton Miller also inaugurated the new Adeen Record label with a first EP, called “More Positive Things”. He released another EP “The Vault” on Italian DJ Volcov’ record label, Neroli late 2016.
RELEASES & COLLABORATIONS
Putting in work in the studio while in South Africa on a four month DJ tour, Alton has completed remixes for South African and international artists such as Ree and Monique Bingham of DJ Christos’s Katsaitis music group. He is currently working on remixes for the U.K. soul singer Omar whose is featured on the tune Benefit from the Boddhi Satva album Transition. Alton is also working on a new remix for his number one Traxsource release from 2010 When The Morning Comes with world renowned artist and Parliament/Funkadelic keyboardist extraordinary Amp Fiddler. Alton has teamed up with Detroit’s own R&B singer Maurissa Rose on the very soulful Bring Me Down due out on Theo Parrish’s Sound Signature imprint later this year.
Last but not least, Alton will release his own album, which has been three years in the making featuring some of South Africa’s biggest names in House music such as KB, Tumelo, Zano and Bantu Soul along with Detroit’s artists Sky Covington, Maurissa Rose and Amp Fiddler.
Maurissa Rose (previously known as Marissa Rose – but now working under this name, although her debut album is still entitled ‘Introducing Marissa Rose’) has a voice as sweet as her surname, but near-miss fame with major record labels almost silenced this songbird forever. Maurissa decided to gamble on herself and created her own Independent label: Bold One Entertainment. The first solo project released was entitled “Introducing Marissa Rose” The singles “Forget About You”, Sweet Memories”, and “Special” were in heavy rotation on Detroit’s WGPR, 107.5. The popularity of the songs on radio and in local clubs gained the attention of National Syndicated radio host Michael Baisden. Baisden featured the single “Forget About You” on his show, and after so many positives phone calls about the song, Baisden invited Maurissa to open for Brian McKnight.
A mystery voice appeared, and blogs compared the voice to Chaka Khan and Toni Braxton. The song, entitled “Tonight” was a duet that featured Maurissa Rose with Universal Motown recording artist Kem. The sultry voice resonated within a scene with Boris Kodjoe in Tyler Perry’s “Madea’s Family Reunion “, and suddenly fans around the world went on a search to find out who the mystery woman was and it was none other than Detroit Diva, Maurissa Rose.
Maurissa has graced the stage with artists: David Peaston, David Sanborn, Stephanie Mills, Angela Winbush, and the incomparable Anita Baker.
As a songwriter she has penned songs with BeBe Winans for the legendary The Clark Sisters, and written one for herself that rose to #11 on Billboard’s Hot Dance 100. She has worked with hit producers Tim and Bob, Dre and Vidal, Marty Sharon, Michael Powel and David Foster, as well as toured with several national musical theater companies. Maurissa won critical acclaim for her role as “Wanda” in the independent film “Project 313” which premiered at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA.
Still making musical magic, and being heralded as the new Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Kem and Maurissa performed on Tom Joyner’s Fantastic Voyage Cruise, and the new duet, entitled “If it’s love” is available on Kem’s “Intimacy” CD. However, the single version appears to have replaced Maurissa with Chrisette Michele
Currently, Maurissa is in the studio putting the finishing touches on her sophomore project ‘The Real Maurissa Rose’, which she describes as authentic and vintage Maurissa, and she is looking forward to re-introducing herself to the thousands of fans who have now fallen in love with her sound. Maurissa says “Music is who I am, it is who I have always been, and I still believe that my Gift will make room for me”.
