Raphael Saadiq 2009 Tour

- Contemporary soul singer Raphael Saadiq's Winter Tour will begin on February 28, 2009. Keep reading to find out more and to see what stops the Grammy nominated singer-songwriter will be making.

NEW YORK, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Contemporary soul singer Raphael Saadiq has announced the initial dates on his heavily-anticipated 2009 Winter Tour, beginning February 28 at the House of Blues in San Diego (please see full itinerary following). Raphael's upcoming performances mark the artist's first full-length headline concert appearances since a series of highly successful dates opening for his Columbia Records labelmate John Legend in December 2008.

Saadiq's forthcoming shows come at a high point for the artist, whose groundbreaking sound combining the best elements of traditional and contemporary Rhythm & Blues has garnered three 2009 Grammy nominations including Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (for "Never Give You Up," a key track from The Way I See It featuring Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton); Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (for "Love That Girl," another deep groove from The Way I See It) and the big one: Best R&B Album for The Way I See It. The 2009 Grammy Award ceremony will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 8, 2009 and broadcast that evening on CBS television (please check your local listings).

Raphael's critically acclaimed latest collection, The Way I See It, was named iTunes #1 Best Album of 2008. With an average customer rating of four-and-a-half-stars, The Way I See It has been praised in an iTunes online review for "inhabit(ing) the atmosphere of late-Sixties Motown and Philadelphia International, incorporating the distinctly echo-laden drum shuffles of Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, as well as the swelling string choruses of the Delfonics and the Stylistics....music pours from this performer as easily as it did from Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder before him."

The Way I See It, chosen by NPR's "World Cafe" as one of 2008's Top 10 CDs, reached #19 on the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums chart and Top 10 (#8) on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart.

About Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq has been playing music since the age of 6, first rising to prominence under the name Raphael Wiggins in the R&B trio Tony! Toni! Tone! in the late 1980s going on to form a second R&B trio, Lucy Pearl, in the early 90s.

Launching his career as a solo artist in the mid 1990s, Raphael earned his first five Grammy nominations -- setting the record for an independent release -- for his 2002 album debut, Instant Vintage. A crossover success, Instant Vintage peaked at #25 on the Billboard Top 200 and #6 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart.

Raphael's collaborated with, and produced records for, a variety of artists including D'Angelo, who won a Grammy in 2000 for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, The Isley Brothers, The Roots, Macy Gray, Snoop Dogg, Devin the Dude, Kelis, Q-Tip, The Bee Gees, Nappy Roots, T-Boz from TLC, Joss Stone, Earth, Wind & Fire and many others. Raphael took home a Grammy for Best R&B Song in 2002 for his work on "Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop)" by Erykah Badu featuring Common.

His latest album, The Way I See It, available in a collector's edition box set of 7" 45 rpm singles as well as on traditional CD, represents the finest example to-date of Raphael's downtown sound, a masterful blend of old and new school sensibilities on tracks featuring artists such as Joss Stone, Stevie Wonder, and Jay-Z.

 Raphael Saadiq - 2009 Winter Tour Dates
 DATE CITY, STATE VENUE
 Sat/Feb 28 San Diego, CA House of Blues
 Mon/Mar-02 Los Angeles, CA House of Blues
 Tue/Mar-03 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
 Thu/Mar-05 Seattle, WA The Showbox @ The Market
 Fri/Mar-06 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
 Sat/Mar-07 Vancouver, BC Richard's On Richards Cabaret
 Tue/Mar-10 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
 Wed/Mar-11 Kansas City, MO Voodoo Lounge @ Harrah's Casino
 Thu/Mar-12 Chicago, IL Park West
 Fri/Mar-13 Minneapolis, MO Fine Line Music Cafe
 Sun/Mar-15 Detroit, MI City Theatre
 Mon/Mar-16 Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Theatre
 Tue/Mar-17 Montreal, QC Cabaret du Musse Juste Pour Rire
 Thu/Mar-19 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
 Fri/Mar-20 Philadelphia, PA Theatre Of The Living Arts
 Sat/Mar-21 NY, NY Fillmore
 Mon/Mar-23 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live!
 Tue/Mar-24 Washington DC 9:30 Club
 Thu/Mar-26 Charlotte, NC Wachovia Atrium
 Sat/Mar-28 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse


 www.raphaelsaadiq.com www.myspace.com/raphaelsaadiq
 www.columbiarecords.com

Source: Columbia Records

CONTACT: Benny Tarantini of Columbia Records, New York, +1-212-833-5858,
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