Marshall Jefferson and Byron Stingily revived Ten City after 25 years with a new song 'Be Free': Listen

2021 is already off to a good start since house music pioneers, Marshall Jefferson and Byron Stingily decided to reform their legendary group Ten City after a 25-year-long hiatus and lift our spirits up with a brand new single, ‘Be Free‘, out via Ultra Records.

They simply couldn’t time the release of their new song better during these challenging times, delivering a joyful vocal house track that brings back the soulful spirit of their previous productions. Mixed by Emmaculate and Shannon Chambers, ‘Be Free’ is extremely euphonic thanks to Byron Stingily’s trademark sweet and high tone falsetto and the different layers of musical instruments, which made Ten City so unique back in the 80’s. It is impossible not to groove to the song while you sing along the crucial messages the lyrics want to convey like “the pursuit of happiness is a basic right“, “the right to live with dignity” and “everybody wants to be free” will soak into our minds.

As Byron stated:

“Be Free encompasses the spirit of dance and house music! Many times people focus on our differences but ‘Be Free’ speaks to how we are more alike than different […] It is a song about respecting and appreciating our differences!”

Formerly known as Ragtyme, Chicago’s very own supergroup included vocalist Byron Stingily, guitarist Herb Lawson, keyboardist Byron Burke and Marshall Jefferson on producer duties. When they signed with Atlantic Records, the group picked up the name Ten City after the record company didn’t like their original name. Coming from the word “intensity”, as they stated in an interview, it was a better fit for the group, resonating with Byron’s powerful vocals and the kind of music they made together, and also because number 10 is the symbol of perfection. On that note, they released 4 studio albums during their active years between 1989 and 1996, including notable tracks such as ‘Devotion’, ‘Right Back to You’ and ‘That’s the Way Love Is‘, which hit No. 1 on the US dance chart and No. 8 on the UK Top 40 in 1989, gaining az immense fanbase oversees.

Go back to the source and turn up the volume with ‘Be Free’ by Ten City, reformed by Marshall Jefferson and Byron Stingily!

Image Credit: Ten City Press / Courtesy of Neighbourhood PR