Soul music doesn't better than seventies Aretha Franklin , and we follow that goodness with emerging Cape Verdean chantuese Mayra Andrade , and close out with 24 versions of Duke's great "Prelude To A Kiss" featuring Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Sarah Vaughan, McCoy Tyner, Nnenna Freelon, Ben Webster, Billie Holiday, Sir Roland Hanna, Carmen McRae, Ellis Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, Brad Mehldau, Singers Unlimited, Roy Haynes Trio, Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra, Tito Puente, Mel Brown Quartet, Roberta Flack, Miki Hayama, Andy Bey , and Tommy Smith .
It's deep. My love for Duke Ellington's music. Here's a sublime song from 1938, over seventy years ago that is recorded in this new millennium as a jazz standard, rather than as a hoary classic of days gone by. You can play it with a "now" sound and it remains as fresh as when it first blossomed from the pen of Mr. Ellington. Here is a double dozen of interpretations. Consider it a spray of roses of varying hues, intensities and shades of red and the aroma, my god the fragrance alone will whisk you off into a [...]
I've yet to figure out how the two small countries of Cape Verde and Cuba produce so many talented musicians. Now along comes Mayra Andrade and she further complicates my confoundment. Mayra was born 1985 in Havana, Cuba to parents from Cape Verde. After a divorce, her mother married a man who was a member of the Cape Verdean independence movement and subsequently became an ambassador. Although Mayra would spend a month or two in Cape Verde every year or so, Mayra grew up in Senegal, Angola and Germany. She currently resides in Paris. In a sense she [...]
Most music lovers have a favorite song or two (or five or however many) by Aretha Franklin. This Mixtape is not simply about my favorite Aretha Franklin songs. Aretha Franklin was the best known and best selling female soul singer of all time but this is not an Aretha's greatest hits Mixtape. What this is, is a look at one particular time in her career, a time that has proven to be the zenith of her recordings: the seventies. I remember Aretha from her early Columbia recordings, especially "Runnin' Out Of Fools," "Lee Cross," and [...]
We kick the week into action with New Orleans' funkiest, The Meters , and then chill and dance to the grooves of Les Nubians , and close out with thirteen takes on "Killing Me Softly With His Song" featuring Roberta Flack, Jimmy Smith, Amii Stewart, Blue Mitchell, Omara Portuondo, The Fugees, Kermit Ruffins, Lauryn Hill, Studio Allstars, Roland Hanna, Inspiration, Luther Vandross , and Voices Unlimited .
There's not much of a back story. "Killing Me Softly With His Song" was written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox. It was first recorded by Lori Liebermann. Depending on one's age, most of the world knows the song because of Roberta Flack or Lauryn Hill. "Killing Me Softly" was a major hit for both Flack and Hill (who at the time was a member of The Fugees, hence the song was listed as a group effort). The lyrics seem made for the sonic silk that is the sonority of Roberta Flack's [...]
It is easy to underestimate the cool, to think soft lacks substance. We are led to think: they are sexy so they must be senseless. As if beauty automatically means no brains, as if attractiveness automatically means they are there simply for the pleasure of consumption. Rather than a commercial contrivance, I think they are centered in the reality of who they are; they are at peace with being themselves even as they recognize we are at war with systems of oppression. Listen to "I Disagree" from their Echos album. It is sung in English. Listen closely to [...]
(left to right) Leo Nocentelli, Zig Modeliste, Art Neville, George Porter Jr. I have reason to hate Zig, aka Zigaboo, i.e. Joseph Modeliste, the drummer with the Meters. He snatched the drum sticks out of my hands. Well, he wasn't the only one, just one of the main culprits (for the record the other two percussion thugs were James Black and Smokey Johnson). What had happened was I was just out the Army. It was June 1968 and was supposed to be visiting my family for a week, may 10 or 12 days [...]
We start the new year off with classic material from The Pointer Sisters , followed by romantic electronic dance music from Vikter Duplaix , and concluding with 19 versions of "Pata Pata," a song made famous by Miriam Makeba .
Although often attributed to Miriam Makeba, and sometimes even erroneously credited to Miriam Makeba and Jerry Ragovoy, "Pata Pata" was actually written by legendary Zimbabwe-born (1935), South African-educated, vocalist Dorothy Masuka. "Pata Pata" was first recorded in 1956 or 1957 in South Africa. In an interview Ms. Masuka recalls, "During the struggle in 1954 I penned the song Pata Pata, and then Miriam went to America in 1958 that's when she did Pata Pata." In 1967 "Pata Pata" became a hit in the U.S. for Miriam Makeba [...]
Vikter Duplaix is a club musician specializing in romantic house music. Say what Kalamu, how you put "romantic" and "house" together? Well, that's why I'm featuring Vikter. The easiest way to describe his music is drum heavy with smooth melodies floating on top of hot rhythms. What I like most about Duplaix's music is the variety both in terms of themes but also in terms of arrangements and especially in terms of the rhythm bottoms. Most club music, especially house music, is a numbing, constant thudding four on the floor beat. Duplaix doesn't just sample a catchy rhythm [...]
The Oakland, California-born Pointer Sisters produced a bunch of classic music back in the early to mid-seventies. Their career lasted well into the new millennium but for now I focus on when they were a quartet: Ruth, Anita, Bonnie and Jean. By 1976 they became a trio when Bonnie left. The trio took a more contemporary and rock-influenced direction. Eventually only Anita and Ruth of the three singers billed as the Pointer Sisters were original members. The third singer was Issa, who was Ruth's daughter, and for a New Year's Eve gig, December 2010 in Singapore the [...]
Take a taste of Billie Holiday during the Verve phase of her career, enjoy the multi-faceted Cuban vocalist Lucrecia , and bring in a funky New Year with 18 versions of Herbie Hancock 's "Watermelon Man."
Yes, yes yall, it's Herbie Hancock with his funky "Watermelon Man" song, flipped and tripping out 18 different ways PLUS a short interview segment in which Herbie talks about the second of three major hit versions of the song. Hit version number one was on Herbie's first release as a leader. Hit number two was by Mongo Santamaria. Herbie explains how that came about right before we hear Mongo tear it up at Montreaux. Hit number three was Herbie and the Headhunters. The original 1962 version opens the Mixtape, Herbie's interview is in the middle and [...]
Latin music devotees have been searching for the successor to the queendom previously governed by Celia Cruz. There have been a number of vocalist touted as the next empress but alas no popular acclimation has been enjoyed by anyone. Some of us think Lucrecia has a credible shot. Lucrecia Pérez Sáez was born in Havana but now makes her home in Barcelona, Spain. As a pre-teen Lucrecia was convinced that music was fate. She began formal study before she was ten and by the time she was a teenager she was winning contests in Cuba. She attended major [...]
Last week we considered Lady during her stint at Decca where the label hoped to turn her into a popular music star during the last half of the forties ( here ). In the fifties she moved on to Verve Records, which was a straight ahead jazz label. There were two releases on Columbia and one on MGM shortly before she died, however the major portion of her fifties recordings were on Verve and they are stunning. The last two on Columbia, Lady In Satin and The Sound Of Jazz are considered essential [...]
The quintessential Lady Day, aka Billie Holiday , kicks us off in style. We journey back to Cuba to catch pianist Roberto Fonseca in concert. We conclude with some late night/early morning Sextapes from Marsha Ambrosius .
I am ambivalent about this week's covers Mixtape. Sometimes the clash between my critical assessment and my personal tastes are too complex to allow for a simple yes or no, include or exclude sort of decision. In general I only go with what I like or what I think has major relevance within the music as a whole but sometimes—and this is one of those "sometimes"—sometimes I go back and forth. In one sense it started with up and down opinion of Floetry. Then after their breakup my general opinion was neither partner was as interesting on their [...]
Last week when we featured Cuban vocalist Danay Suarez, I made special mention of pianist/producer Roberto Fonseca. This week the spotlight is fully on Mr. Fonseca. The man is a monster pianist. Roberto Fonseca has six studio albums available but it's his live material that really, really moves me. He plays like a brother from another planet who splashes down and gifts us with other worldly energy, except the other world is Afro-Cuban. Though he is Caribbean born is music is from that other world the African diaspora knows about, the world whose entrance is through [...]
She will always be our first lady of song. Philadelphia-born, Baltimore-reared Elnora Fagan, better known to the world as Billie Holiday, set the tone for modern jazz vocalists—indeed, over fifty years later her work is still the standard by which singers are measured. Sure Aretha Franklin was ultra popular for a decade or two, and of course Nina Simone is enduring, but few singers emulate Franklin or Simone, while nearly all jazz singers owe a little something to Billie. Recognizing Billie's massive influence takes nothing away from Franklin's well-earned popularity or Simone's enduring artistry but how often is [...]
breath of life
Beck – I Just Started Hating Some People Today
Princesse - Tell Me | MP3
iamamiwhoami: kin - Teaser
