Howard Hewett

City Winery Philadelphia presents Howard Hewett 2/8 live in concert on February 8th at 7:30pm

With his silky smooth, straight-from-the-heart soulful style, Howard Hewett is gifted with one of the most instantly recognizable voices in contemporary music. A writer for Rolling Stone magazine once described him as “the premier vocalist in the post-Marvin Gaye era of romantic pop.” He began his career as a pre-teen singing gospel music in Akron, Ohio with his older sisters as the lead singer of The Hewett Singers. Hewett’s Mother, Charlena Hewett-Brown, was a major Gospel Promoter in the Akron-Canton area. Nepotism was alive and well in Hewett’s family, so once the group was formed they would open for all the shows his mother promoted, which included performing with Gospel greats such as the Pilgrim Jubilees, James Cleveland, Albertina Walker and the Caravans, Bill Moss and The Celestials, and on and on! At 15, Hewett moved into the R&B field, forming local groups around the Akron area and ending up with a 7 piece funk band called LYFE! Band and Show! He stayed with the band through High School, then set his sights on Los Angeles, CA., finally relocating there in 1976.

Not long after arriving in LA, he was introduced to John and Alonzo Daniels. The Daniels brothers owned a legendary establishment in the Crenshaw District of South Central LA called Mavericks Flat. Open every weekend, Mavericks was one of the hot spots of the Los Angeles nightlife. It was frequented by celebrities like Chaka Kahn, Richard Pryor, Lionel Richie, and members of Earth, Wind and Fire! All the dancers from the hit TV show, Soul Train, would come to Mavericks to work out new dance moves that they would try at the next taping of the show.