Names and faces

Earth, Wind and Fire initially wanted to release its new album around the 2012 presidential election, but the band realized it wasn’t satisfied with the songs it created. “We have a lot more bells and whistles in place now and the record is better,” singer Philip Bailey said in a recent interview. Now,Then & Forever, the group’s first album in eight years, will be released Sept. 10. Bailey said the band called co-founding member Larry Dunn and others to help produce its latest sound. “I said, ‘Let’s go back to the drawing board,’” he recalled. “It’s a great representation of who Earth, Wind and Fire is now, but not departing from the classic sound.” Bassist Verdine White added, “It doesn’t sound like we’re trying to be anyone other than Earth, Wind and Fire.” The band - which includes founder Maurice White and Ralph Johnson - has worked on the album for two years. Its new single, “My Promise,” was released Monday and was co-written by Academy Award nominee and Grammy winner Siedah Garrett. Fans who pre-order the album will have their names put in the album packaging. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are currently on a tour. Bailey said he enjoys having his son, Philip Bailey Jr., on the road and as a writer and producer on the new album. “It’s a great experience to the say the least. I spend so much time away from my family and kids … [that this is] bonding like never before,” he said. “He has the same passion.”

Actress Angelina Jolie made her debut before the United Nations’ most powerful body as a special envoy for refugees and urged the world’s nations to make the fight against rape in war a top priority. She told the Security Council on Monday that “hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of women, children and men have been raped in conflicts in our lifetimes.” But Jolie said, “The world has yet to take up war-zone rape as a serious priority.”“You set the bar,” she told the Security Council. “If the … council sets rape and sexual violence in conflict as a priority, it will become one, and progress will be made. If you do not, this horror will continue.”

Front Section, Pages 2 on 06/25/2013

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