The vocal duo is something of a rarity. There
have been countless solo stars, trios, quartets and quintets, but the
pairing of equally talented singers isn’t nearly as common. Sam and
Dave, Ashford and Simpson, the Righteous Brothers and the Everly
Brothers comprise a short list of standouts. Enter Myron & E.
Myron (Myron Glasper) was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. He sang in choirs and played piano growing up, and was a star athlete in football and track, but found his calling as a dancer. Working with Rosie Perez landed him on the early ’90s sketch comedy show In Living Color. During those years, however, the streets of South Central were no place to foster creativity, so Myron moved to the Bay and began touring as a backup singer, which is where he met E (Eric “E da Boss” Cooke).
Myron (Myron Glasper) was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. He sang in choirs and played piano growing up, and was a star athlete in football and track, but found his calling as a dancer. Working with Rosie Perez landed him on the early ’90s sketch comedy show In Living Color. During those years, however, the streets of South Central were no place to foster creativity, so Myron moved to the Bay and began touring as a backup singer, which is where he met E (Eric “E da Boss” Cooke).
E, a native of Newark, New Jersey, got his first taste of music by playing records during family card games and fish frys. As a teen, he began collecting records of his own and DJing, hanging at the Music Factory and Rock and Soul in New York City. After relocating to southwest Virginia, he graduated high school and began DJing parties, which allowed him to invest in an Ensoniq ASR-10 keyboard, two Technics turntables and an eight-track recorder.
The two began working together while on the road with the Bay Area’s Blackalicious, and shortly after, E released an independent record as E da Boss. While touring in Finland behind his solo project, E found himself in an impromptu jam session with members of The Soul Investigators, whose work with singer Nicole Willis helped define them as one of Europe's foremost retro-soul bands.
Investigators producer Didier Selin was impressed enough to leave E with several unfinished tracks. Back in the U.S., E recruited Myron as a singing and songwriting partner, and Myron & E was born.
Myron & E and the Soul Investigators released a string of excellent funk 45s on the Timmion label—starting with 2008’s “Cold Game”/”I Can’t Let You Get Away”—before signing with Stones Throw last year. Since then, Myron & E have been focused on building their live performance, which includes sold-out shows before even having a full-length release and a stellar showing at SXSW. “We showed up to show out and that’s what we did,” E says of their SXSW appearance.
Myron & E are proud to be releasing their debut album, Broadway, this summer. For the album, the Soul Investigators provided demos from overseas with the duo stationed on the west coast writing the lyrics and singing all the vocals. E, in particular, has a practice of sending YouTube links of classic soul and R&B songs to the band to provide inspiration for recreating that vibe. One such link was to Edwin Starr’s “Running Back and Forth.” The Soul Investigators responded with “Everyday Love.”
“I don’t really think there’s anybody else that can do it as good as they can,” E says about the band. “They do it like none other.”
—Ronnie Reese, Spring 2013
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