Naturally 7 is an American music group with a distinct a cappella style they call "vocal play," which, according to group leader Roger Thomas, is "the art of becoming an instrument using the human voice to create the sound." They simulate the sounds of an instrumental band using only their voices, mouths and distortion effects. The group was formed in 1999 in New York City. It currently consists of the Thomas brothers Roger (musical director, arranger, first baritone, rapping) and Warren (drums, third tenor), Rod Eldridge (first tenor, scratching, guitar, trumpet), Ricky Cort (first tenor, guitar), Dwight Stewart (second baritone, vocals, trombone), Sean Simmonds (second tenor, harmonica), and N'Namdi Bryant (bass guitar, trumpet).
History
Early years
Naturally 7 was founded in 1999 by brothers Roger and Warren Thomas, from Rosedale, Queens. The brothers recruited five other singers they had come to know over the years of singing around the city. Roger Thomas developed his singing quality after being in and out of several traditional male groups over the years. When the group was invited to sing at a major
a cappella competition in New York City, they won and moved onto the nationals before they took two more wins in the competition. Riding their new-found success and still having made no decision whether to have Naturally 7 as an
a cappella group or a traditional band, Roger had the novel idea that the group would become both.
[ Evan C. Gutierrez, Rovi Naturally 7 - Biography Billboard Retrieved November 15, 2014.][ Naturally 7 Biography Naturally 7 Retrieved November 15, 2014.]
Ready II Fly
Naturally 7 has released a number of albums over the years since the formation at New York City in 1999, including their debut studio album entitled
Non-Fiction released in 2000,
What Is It released in 2003,
Christmas... It's a Love Story released in 2004, and
Ready II Fly in 2006, released through Virginia Records. The group gained success by the partial cover of Phil Collins's "In the Air Tonight", titled as "Feel It (In the Air Tonight)", which contains additional lyrics from the group. The performance of the song at a subway has received over four and a half million hits on YouTube alone, and a number of people discovering the group, which adds to a figure daily. The single itself has turned into a Top 3-chart- success in countries outside North America, such as France, Belgium and South Africa, and also made the single charts in other European countries.
Wall of Sound
In January 2009, the group released
Wall of Sound as an exclusive special album in the United Kingdom and Ireland to commemorate their participation at the Royal Variety Performance. It contains known material from their previous albums, as well as five brand new tracks, which entered the British Album-Charts in the first week after release at #29. The group appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, performing "Stardust" with Michael Bublé. In November 2009, the group travelled to Bermuda, as they took part in
Quincy Jones's 2009 Bermuda Music Festival performing before an enthusiastic crowd.
Vocal Play
The CD/DVD version of
Vocal Play, which was released in 2010, contains original self-made tracks, such as "SOS (Anybody Out There)", the power ballad of "Love Me", the Motown-influenced “Ready or Not”, the Latin 768 and a duet with Michael Bublé on the Dinah Washington classic, “Relax Max”. The DVD includes HD live material from their performance at Madison Square Garden, extensive interviews with each group member, as well as their video clips. In fall 2010, the group, along with American rapper
Ludacris, were featured on a track that appeared in Quincy Jones's album,
Soul Bossa Nostra, which led them to a performance at The View in November, before continuing on touring with Bublé. Naturally 7 contributed a few songs for the soundtrack of the 2010 German/English dub film
Animals United, including "King of the Road", "Splish Splash", "Hokey Pokey", and "Move On Up".
Members
Current
|
|
| Roger Anthony Thomas | 1st baritone, 4th tenor, leader | rap | keyboard, synth, trumpet, strings, wah wah guitar | 1999 ~ present |
| Warren Andre Thomas | 3rd tenor | drums, percussion | trumpet, string, electric guitar | 1999 ~ present |
| Roderick Lowell Eldridge | 2nd tenor | DJ scratching, loop pedal | percussion, electric and rhythm guitar, trumpet, string, flute, keyboard, rap | 1999 ~ present |
| Dwight Martindale Stewart | 2nd baritone, lead vocal | trombone | rhythm guitar | 1999 ~ present |
| Lee Ricardo "Ricky" Cort | 1st tenor, lead vocal | electric guitar | trumpet, strings, synth, rap | Apr 2015 ~ present |
| Sean Anthony Simmonds | 3rd tenor, lead vocal | harmonica | trumpet, rap | May 2018 ~ present |
| N'Namdi Olufemi Bryant | bass | bass guitar | contrabass, bass synth | Aug 27th 2021 ~ present |
Former
|
|
| Armand "Hops" Hutton | bass | bass guitar | contrabass, bass synth | Oct 2006 ~ Dec 2014, Dec 2020 ~ Aug 15th, Nov 6th 2021 |
| Kelvin “Kelz” Mitchell | bass | bass guitar | contrabass, trumpet, bass synth | Jan 2015 ~ Dec 2020 |
| Garfield Rolando Buckley | 2nd tenor | harmonica | trumpet, strings, rhythm guitar | 1999 ~ May 2018 |
| Napoleon “Polo” Cummings | 1st tenor | electric guitar | trumpet, strings, synth | Oct 2010 ~ Apr 2015 |
| Jamal Mackram Reed | 1st tenor | electric guitar, flute, violin | trumpet, synth, strings | 2000 ~ Oct 2010 |
| Andre Edwards | bass | bass guitar | | 2006 ~ 2006 |
| Marcus H. Davis | bass | bass guitar | | 1999 ~ 2006 |
| David LaRoche | 1st tenor | | | 1999 ~ 2000 |
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
|
|
| 2000 | Non-Fiction | — | — | — | — |
| 2003 | What Is It? | 52 | — | 40 | — |
| 2004 | Christmas: It's a Love Story | — | — | — | — |
| 2006 | Ready II Fly | 14 | 64 | — | — |
| 2009 | Wall of Sound | — | — | — | 29 |
| 2010 | Vocal Play | — | — | — | — |
| 2012 | Live | — | — | — | — |
| 2015 | Hidden in Plain Sight | — | — | — | — |
| 2017 | Both Sides Now | — | — | — | — |
| 2018 | A Christmas Xperience | — | — | — | — |
| 2020 | XX 20/20 | — | — | — | — |
| 2024 | Naturally 7 @theMovies, Volume One | — | — | — | — |
Singles
|
|
| 2003 | "Music Is the Key"
(with Sarah Connor) | 6 | 3 | 11 | – | 1 | – | 2 |
| 2006 | "Feel It (In the Air Tonight)" | – | – | 3 | 15 | 55 | 14 | – |
|
Featured songs
Other songs
The following songs are included on the soundtrack for the 2010 German/English dub film,
Animals United:
-
"King of the Road"
-
"Splish Splash"
-
"Move On Up"
-
"Hokey Pokey"
MLK Day performance
In January 2016, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the group performed with
The Maccabeats, a Jewish
a cappella group from Yeshiva University, in a cover of
James Taylor's "Shed a Little Light." The music video was filmed in front of the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.
[ Taylor called the performance "one of the best covers of 'Shed a Little Light' I've ever heard."]
External links
