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"...a storm of jazzy live action out of LA....solid R&B tinged tracks that remind us of the good old days of The Brand New Heavies and Jamiroquai's first albums and the original Giant Step parties...lots of thick, layered vocals mixed with inner city heat."
- URB Magazine

In the compelling 11-track album called “This Journey In” recorded in the band’s hometown of Los Angeles, The Rebirth matches its musical vitality with a gift for lucid poetry and songwriting, creating a rich sound built on an organic blend of new and traditional soul, hip-hop, jazz and funk. These elements make the group’s music both highly progressive and a throwback to the classic soul bands like: Earth, Wind & Fire, Ramp, Pleasure, Rotary Connection, Side Effect and Roy Ayers. The newest release, “Love Issue EP” is a rich house groove and the last recording with previous lead singer Noelle Scaggs and serves as an appetizer for the final course to come later on this year. The full length release entitled “Being Through the Eyes of a Child”.

At times mystical, always generous, The Rebirth’s strength is not only present in the chemistry provided by the instruments, but also in the group’s dynamic harmonic vocal layering. In this age of sampling and computers, the crafting of the great song and the great record is simply not as common. The Rebirth pays special attention to everything that makes a song find its own greatness. Melody, rhythm, lyrics, instrumentation, arrangement, performance and production are equally emphasized.

Over the last few years, The Rebirth has celebrated the successes of several smashing singles: “This Journey In”, “Every Body Say Yeah”, “Got Your Madness”, and their critically acclaimed cover of The Might Ryders’ “Evil Vibrations” for Ubiquity Records’ compilation, Rewind! 4. Nominated for “Song of the Year” at Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards and concluding in 2004 at #6 on his play list, “Evil Vibrations”, continues to gain accolades for the group as one of the US’ most promising neo-soul collectives. The release of “This Journey In” also quickly garnered airplay on radio stations from Los Angeles to the U.K. and Japan, and appeared on numerous CD’s including: King Britt’s Black to the Future, Gilles Peterson’s Trust a DJ 9 and the Norman Jay MBE compilation entitled Giant 45. In addition, Gilles Peterson included the song on his list of “20 Best in 2003” and Norman Jay called it, “The anthem of the summer 200”. Poignant tracks that appear on This Journey In include “Shake It”, a catchy mid-tempo jam that encourages one to feel uninhibited about getting out to the dance floor to simply let loose and enjoy the moment; the smooth dance song, with a funky base line, “Stray Away”; “Common Ends”, an uplifting track that talks about the experiences in life that unifies people; and the funky, disco-Brazilian inspired song, “Talking Me Down”, plus many other stellar compositions.

“The Rebirth is prepared to fully represent the return of the quintessential soul band”, says Carlos “Loslito”, the leader and creator of the group. The original keyboardist for the L.A. underground funk troop, Breakestra, Loslito has been conceptualizing The Rebirth since the Acid Jazz movement in the early 90’s. Groups like Soul 2 Soul, Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai, Omar and the underrated Young Disciples,” inspired Loslito to write and perform similar soulful music. From this era came the studio project turned live act known as Mesh of Mind. After making their statement around Los Angeles and releasing music on Planet Earth Recordings and Dorado records, the group soon learned that the U.S. wasn’t quite ready for a band of its kind. D’Angelo was just releasing “Brown Sugar” and the Philly sound were still finding its unified voice. The project persevered and while recording the full-length album several key members started a side project that became the Grammy Award winning Ozomatli. In turn, Mesh of Mind went their separate ways and the concept and music had to be put on the shelves, hence The Rebirth. “Though it was hard to let go, I do find solace in my belief that situations happen for a reason,” said Loslito. “Mesh of Mind was the learning grounds for what The Rebirth is today and what it will become. The project has matured and all the current members have synchronicity not only on a performance level, but most importantly on an instinctual level. Leonard Bernstein once said ‘You are the sum of your listening experience’ and in The Rebirth’s case we have been influenced by the same types of music and it helped us to achieve a complimentary state without force in our music”.

The additional lead vocalist of The Rebirth is newest member, J. Mitchell. Her sensual or soulful sounds add a new dimension to the band’s well-known vocal tapestry. She was discovered by Carlos singing back-up in a friend’s band. Born in Seoul, Korea, J. Mitchell made her way to Los Angeles after growing up in Colorado. At a very age J. Mitchell began writing poetry and songs as her musical desires emerged catching the eyes of music fans everywhere. Mitchell cites as her inspiration jazz greats Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nina Simone, Jimi Hendrix, Shuggie Otis, Eryka Badu, Dilla She credits these artists with musically uprooting her creativity and enjoyment of her talent.

The original member of the group is drummer Chris “C-Quest” Taylor. Chris has been playing drums since the age of five. Music is in his blood. You can call it divine intervention that Chris is in The Rebirth because he is the son and nephew of members of the 70’s R&B super group, The Newbirth. Chris has always been around great musicians. In many ways this explains Chris’ creative prowess and his love for The Rebirth’s style. Chris met Loslito in one of the original jam sessions in 1995, with a group of guys that morphed into Breakestra. Chris and Loslito have been playing together since.

The guitarist of the group is Patrick Bailey. Patrick is a truly skilled guitarist; his signature sound has long been an integral part of the Rebirth. He cites Chicago session guitarist Pete Cosey, Hungarian jazz great Gabor Szabo, and James Brown’s stable of guitarists as his biggest influences. Patrick also moonlights as the guitarist in the L.A. hip hop-influenced funk ensemble Breakestra, and also performs regularly with a wide range of artists including singer-songwriter Charlie Wadhams(who penned songs for the movie “Walk Hard”), and Doodlebug of the Digable Planets, for whom Patrick acted as musical director. He also finds the time to lend his six-string skills to the world of television advertising, the most notable being a collaboration with producer Raphael Saadiq and Joss Stone on a cover of the Nat King Cole standard “L-O-V-E” for a 2007 Chanel ad campaign.

On bass is Washington D.C. native Daniel Seeff who wasn’t the first of The Rebirth’s bass players, after losing a bass player to Robin Thicke. Mark Cross discovered Daniel while playing with Optic Nerve. In the 90’s Seeff joined the world music group, Wozani and has worked with hip-hop producer DJ Khalil and can be heard on numerous hip-hop recordings including Jay-Z’s “Kingdom Come,” Xzibit’s “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” and The Game’s “Doctor’s Advocate.” He joined the group on a West Coast tour in 2006 and has been playing with The Rebirth ever since. As a bassist, Seeff’s plays electric and upright bass and is influenced by Aston Barrett of the Wailers, Motown bassist James Jamerson and fusion icon Jaco Pastorius. He has contributed music for Warner Bros. shows “Extra,” “The Tyra Banks Show,” “The Ellen Degeneres,” and “Slamball” and the Lifetime Original Movie “The Haunting of Sorority Row.”

On percussion and one of the newest members is Panamanian born Nakeiltha “Nikki” Campbell. While adapting to a new culture and language, she discovered her talents and passion in playing the drums. Nikki has studied the ancient art of Guinean West African drumming, Latin Jazz and Afro-Cuban folklore. She has appeared on Latin television such as Cuanto Cuesta El Show, Despierta America, Primer Impacto, and others shows such as KCET Women in Jazz, KCET Dorothy Chandler Christmas Celebration, the 2005 NAACP Image Awards, and 2007 Image Awards. She has collaborated with many renowned musicians most notably Candy Sosa, Ozomatli, Marcus L Miller, Tita Lima and Sy Smith. In addition to The Rebirth, she is currently exercising her creative talents as a music supervisor in the film industry.

Rounding out the band is keyboardist Mark Cross, whose keyboards are essential to creating the exploratory Rebirth sound. To capture the full spectrum of the recordings, it was necessary to add a player that can not only compliment Los’ style, but help take the sound to the next cosmic level. He does this and also contributes the fourth vocals needed to perform the rich layered harmonies. Mark is not only an accomplished musician but has more than 20 years experience as a producer, writer and vocalist. He has also performed and recorded with Snoop Dogg, Tre from Pharcyde, Macy Gray and GURU and was a member of the defunct outfit, Weapon of Choice.

Instrumentation
Producer/ Vocals/Keys:
Carlos “Loslito” Guaico

Lead Vocals:
J. Mitchell

Additional Vocals/ Keys:
Mark Cross

Guitar:
Patrick Bailey

Drums/Additional Vocals:
Chris Taylor

Bass:
Daniel Seeff

Percussion:
Nikki Campbell

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