Maxwell started out singing in front of Sade (the band), basically. I dunno if he still works with them. But how come he ain't never did a duet with Ms. Adu?

(and the black dude who sings 2nd vocal with them when they tour)

Closest you'll get is Leroy Osbourne who is part of her touring band who typically does secondary vocals.
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cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

And Max and Sade are smart enough to know as much.


os·ti·na·to
/ˌästəˈnädō/
noun
a continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm

http://austinato.bandcamp.com

https://www.discogs.com/lists/Favorites-of-2017/332378

Max worked with Sweetback on one track on their debut album.

Then Stuart Matthewman has production credits on Max's first two albums, but hasn't worked with him since officially.

Max and Sade might have never even met for all we know. At the end of the day their tenuous connection is one track he sang on for Sweetback, and a total of six tracks Matthewman worked on on his first two albums.

They each have their own team and are going their own way. Add into that the fact that Sade only puts out music once a decade anyways, and it's easy to see them NOT connecting.
______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

>Then Stuart Matthewman has production credits on Max's first
>two albums, but hasn't worked with him since officially.
>

He's listed on all of his albums. He's not really involved?

they've had far more than just a loose connection. that's a pretty consistent working relationship. Stu produced 2 tracks on "blackSUMMERS'night" that came out just last year. there was "Softly, Softly" on the Sweetback album. and Stu also co-produced "Seguranca" from Red Hot + Rio.

V.

>
>Then Stuart Matthewman has production credits on Max's first
>two albums, but hasn't worked with him since officially.
>


os·ti·na·to
/ˌästəˈnädō/
noun
a continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm

http://austinato.bandcamp.com

https://www.discogs.com/lists/Favorites-of-2017/332378

"No One Else In The Room" >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CLBbKzuRx0. i was almost convinced he never would. just never seemed like he wanted that to be part of his mythos. very Sadeish in that way (and as Sade has Leroy Osbourne, Max has LaTina Webb, at least as his consistent touring singing collaborator).
my theory is he's very protective of his 'brand'. he talked about it last yr i think, about how he has a very lengthy vetting process for his music cos shit essentially has to have a timeless vibe. i was slightly worried when he said he was gonna be collabing with Alicia Keys, but that shit turned out to be pretty hot. best Alicia song too.
but one bad collab can fuck it up (similar to how that Jermaine Dupree rmx of "Lifetime" left me with a shitty taste in my mouth).
last point: dude has weaved an ongoing narrative through all his albums, or at least into two distinct trilogies (UHS + Embrya + Now & the current BSN threeo). dude's been at high nerdery levels with maintaining a certain narrative throughout all his shit (music, visuals, wording, art etc). i always got the feeling him collabbing would detract from building up his own story and myth.

V.

Maxwell isn't the type to do collaborations vocally with other artists other than the people he's worked with from the beginning and even then that's just background & chorus singers but him doing a song with another vocalist isn't his steeze.

But he has done songs with Alicia Keys (in concert/live) but not in the studio type steeze, and the song with Nas seemed forced to me, plus he's done vocals for a french rapper too.

what i was getting at was it took him a longass time to even consider doing any kind of proper collaboration outside of background vocalists. "Fire We Make" is actually a really dope tune. i rekn Alicia and her team stepped it up a notch production-wise just for Max.

oh yeh, another random collab he did was with Alchemist & Twista for "Smile" (2009) >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snfTQA3F6mw.

V.

Mike's been behind the boards on every single Sade AND Max album. can easily see Stu hooking that collab up. so i'm sure Max and Sade's paths must've crossed at SOME point. but they're both from that same school of living in their own worlds, retaining the same players and collaborators for pretty much their entire careers, therefore not relying on trends and making their own shit their own way. as much as a collab would make perfect sense and potentially sound awesome, neither seem to give a fuck about collabs enough to really make it happen. they probly don't see it as a necessary thing either.

V.

or even better, a tour.

us Aussie audiences got to experience that for sum reason over everyone else lol, but it was amazeballs. they didn't get on stage together which was a shame, but the lineup was D' as 2nd-to-last act and Max to close out the show (fest also featured Com, Mos, Musiq Soulchild, Angie Stone, Anthony Hamilton).
D stays quiet about their connection but Max has praised him a few times on social media over the years. there's a dope pic he posted of the two of em from '98 recently on IG >>> https://www.instagram.com/p/BU8lgcclIJz/?taken-by=maxwell.
i think i'd be more jazzed over a D and Max collab than a Sade and Max one tbh.

V.

.

i would have dug if Sade had have worked with either Luther Vandross or Al jaareau or that project that George Michael had called Trojan Horse especially when GM did "Cowboys and Angels" or i would have dug
Sade working with Level 42 or Simply Red.

Maxwell missed out on that Daft Punk "Get Lucky type of steeze on the real real IMO. he needed some musical punch
and not no trying to be a mystery with a bottle of wine
and his Uncle Skillets three piece hand me down suits to sing outside in the summer to.

maxwell also should have done a whole album with either R.Kelly or a Kid Creole type of Project.

his voice loaned it to something along those lines.

he missed that boat.

Uncle Skillet's three piece suit...

thank fuck they're smart enough to maintain quality control and keep their legacies and discographies intact.
& thank fuck you're not in a position to advise artists of ANYthing.
u fucking lunatic.

V.