Garland Green @ Dig Deeper 28/2/09

Dig Deeper is a monthly 60's Soul Party in Ft. Greene, Brooklyn at the Five Spot Soul Food Supper Club (459 Myrtle Ave). Hosted by Mr. Robinson and DJ Honky, on the fourth Saturday of the month, with the dancefloor primed with the finest funk and soul records anywhere in the world from their collections and a live performance each month at midnight from a legendary soul / funk artist that we particularly treasure.

We are ecstatic to welcome Chicago soul legend Garland Green back to NYC for his very first show in the New York area since his last Apollo Theater performance over 35 years ago, this time backed by the Sweet Divines and the Divine Soul Rhythm Band. Garland's next performance after his small club show at Dig Deeper will be to perform for 4,000 people in Germany.

Born in Dunleath, Mississippi, Garland Green headed to Chicago at the young age of 16 in search of better education and a better life, and ended up at the same high school that Gene Chandler and some of the Chi-lites attended.

After a few years of singing in talent shows (and consistently winning), in 1966, he was discovered at a competition belting out Chuck Jackson's "I wake up crying" by none other than Jo Armstead, who signed him on the spot to her fledgling startup label Gamma. After Garland's first single "Girl I love you" (which now sells for upwards of $400) became a local hit in Chicago, he began recording for MCA labels like Revue and Uni.

His string of singles for those two labels ultimately were compiled on his classic "Jealous Kind of Fella" album - the title track of which sold a million copies, but where the money went unfortunately remains a bit of a mystery. It was around this time that Garland made his trek out to NYC and performed at the Apollo Theater with Joe Simon.

Since then, Garland recorded a number of singles on Cotillion and Spring and several LPs which have been beloved by soul fans around the world - and late last year, Kent Records in the UK compiled "The Very Best of Garland Green", which contains his hits from across his career.

Check out Dig Deeper MySpacefor ticket details.