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    0 8 Super Songs for 2008

    Classic soul is more than just music that was produced during a period of time that's passed us by, it's a style that lives now through contemporary performances by today's artists. Some of the "now" artists were around during the golden years too. The point is, you don't have to look far to find a lot of people who have planted the R&B flag on their own 2008 turf. The following 8 songs ranked in order all do an excellent job of blending great singing, good arrangements, quality lyrics, and old school street cred to bubble up our list as the best of the past year (November, 2007 - November, 2008). "Roll Out" - LaBelle. This is not even the best song from their new album, Back To Now, however, "Roll Out" is a classic. Mostly Patti LaBelle, less Sarah Dash & Nona Hendryx, and perhaps too much Miss Patti on the vocoder (an electronic device that makes the human voice sound like a robot with perfect pitch). Featuring Wyclef Jean joining in and repeating the hook, "Roll Out" - it's one of the best songs of the year. Terrific pop music. "Teenage Love Affair" - Alicia Keys. A song about the youthful pleasures of raging hormones. This tune has a sixties rhythm that bounces along to the sweet and innocent charm of a fun-filled girl meets boy story. "I Am A Fire" - Donna Summer. It's tough when you are treated strictly as a nostalgia act. "I'm A Fire " is as good as the best Donna Summer back in her heyday. When a zillion dj's compete for who can come up with the best remix of a song as they did with this one, people get confused. The album version is the best. Hot, hot, hot. "Superwoman" - Alicia Keys. Poor Alicia Keys, can't she get any more respect? Even though this song turned up on TV to promote the 2008 summer Olympics, it's a nice anthem for the ladies in our lives who are our unsung heroes. B+ for "Superwoman." "Disrespectful" - Chaka Khan and Mary J. Blige. Not for Grandma. "Disrespectful rocks with Kahn and Blige pushing the soul energy to a climactic eruption. On Chaka's Funk This CD. "Stay Down" - Mary J. Blige. It's heavy on the melody and dramatic build, somewhat light on the lyrics, but satisfying in the delivery. When you can include a reference to The Jeffersons (George & Louise), in your song, you can do no wrong. Mary J. has crossed over to respectville. "100 Days, 100 Nights" - Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. It's a humorous riot reading people's written thoughts as they debate whether this group is "real" soul. Sharon Jones deserves much credit for putting her singing career into overdrive with her biggest break coming after the age of 40. She's the real deal. Focus on her voice. "Just Stand Up" - Beyonce', Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Natasha Bedingfield, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Keyshia Cole, LeAnn Rimes, Ashanti, & Ciara. People can't seem to stomach too much of these "We Are The World" type benefit collaborations (with the proceeds of sales going to charity). This one spotlighted the cause of cancer research. The ladies get into it, but at times you strain to identify who is singing (unless you have seen the video). Yes it's commercial, and yes it sounds like some other stuff, but it's a worthy medium to uptempo effort, and an entertaining one too. Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Miriam Makeba's Global Crusade for Justice

    South Africa's musical giant, Miriam Makeba, passed away Monday, November 10, 2008, at the age of 76. This vinyl album, Makeba!, Reprise 6310, is a USA import released in 1967 and was issued in either South Africa, or Venezuela. Miriam was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her anti-apartheid activism will share equal billing with her musical legacy. The singer appeared at the United Nations in 1963 to condemn apartheid and it's evil of racial separation. She spent 30 years in exile after her passport was revoked by the South African government. Her biggest hit was 1967's "Pata Pata." Miriam is one of the artists credited with creating the genre called 'world music.' She's one of the biggest names to emerge out of South Africa. I've included this second shot from the back cover of Makeba! The 11 tracks are listed, along with some very comprehensive liner notes written by A.B. Spellman (included on the back cover). Here are A.B. Spellman's complete comments... "Unlike most of our African brothers, South Africans living in the United States usually merge immediately with the Afro-American community. It is because we are the same men, have been similarly uprooted and dominated by European technological society, our ancestors reburied and our gods raped. and now we fight the same war. It is no accident, then, that we love each other's music. The brilliant South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsi le wrote: John Coltrane, John Coltrane, tell the ancestors We listened, we heard your message Tell them you gave us tracks to move, Trane, and now we know The choice is ours... I am told a new Miles Davis record that reaches Johannesburg or Capetown is treated like a rarer-than-diamonds jewel. I also know that there is a great body of South African music that never reaches us here in the States. But we have a small but growing colony of South African musicians who do very well among us. The leading flame of that colony is, of course, Miriam Makeba, easily one of the world's premier singers. But we should never forget, even when digging a record as exquisitely truthful as this one, that the tradition runs from Makeba and Letta Mbulu to the Dark City Sisters and from Hugh Masekela to Dollar Brand; that there have been innumerable geniuses in the genre who never escaped Johannesburg. Certainly, sister Makeba has this aura of beauty around her entire persona, and that is not a learned thing. It is not merely that she has a beautiful voice, looks good and has a sweet personality - there are innumerable soft brown birds who get that together- but that Makeba has an added quality to her presentation, a touch that gets inside us and makes us stronger. It may be several things. It may be that she was the first to make the South African-Afro-American synthesis and therefore has a greater element of originality in her work; it may be only that she is especially gifted (at the time the film which launched her, Come Back Africa, was made, she was already the brightest young star in South Africa). But it seems to me that there is another element to Miriam's singing style and feminine persona that makes us react more deeply to her singing than we would to most. It is that the sister is what she sings, and what she sings is never trite. She is the soft, resilient fiber of nature as woman. She carries the image of African womanhood, the gentle assegai that lets us know we are warriors. When she sings of the white-blown evil windspirit (Umoya) that cuts into the inner landscape of her people, she is the counterbreath of liberation that, quiet as it's kept, is blowing in South Africa today. The song is a spirit rhythm that rises in your chest and carries you out to action. My brother Steve Mncube tells me that the song floats on several levels of double entendre. This is a defense mechanism that has been creeping into the Bantu languages since the defeat of Cetshwayo in the Zulu War of 1879. Steve explained to me the word iliwizwe, integral in the proverb from which this song was made. It is more than land, more than soil, more than the earth that no man can possess. It existed even before the earliest ancestors; and children, as the ongoing fruits of nature, own it more than the man who farms it. Then this fixed ownership concept is itself an evil Moya (Spirit-wind) of European origin, and must be destroyed. Miriam Makeba prods her menfolk gently in Magwala Ndini and Singa Madoda, both traditional men's songs, and strengthens the warrior in us. Steve says the kind of man the word Madoda describes practically sleeps with his weapons, that he would fight bullets with an assegai. Yes, says the sister's versions of Magwala and Madoda, you are the men and must carry the man's weight, but if you don't carry it correctly, and bravely, there'll be a lot of answering to do when you get home in the evenings. The range of material, ideas, and vocal treatment in this record is incredible, yet it is integrated. With one rhythm Miriam pushes the recreant to be more manly, with another she invokes the Xhosa clairvoyant (U-mngoma) or calls the farmers to prepare next year's harvest in the face of this year's famine (Asilimanga). In Iphi Ndilela her voice rises bravely above a lachrimose chorus to say goodbye to her homeland, friends, and family as she goes far, far away across many mountains and rivers, to find another life. Then in Sibongile, dedicated to President Sekou Toure of Guinea, she thanks President Toure for making her an honorary citizen and, implicitly, for giving aid and assistance to South African Freedom Fighters. There is much, much more to this deep and subtle record. I am tempted to call this her best record, but Miriam Makeba is so consistently good that there is no point in trying to decide which is best. I will say that this is by far the most African of her recent releases. Here she is working in a purely African environment, and all the elements of her style are brilliantly focused. "Black is Beautiful" goes a current slogan, and Miriam Makeba is beautifully black." Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Beyonce' Is Queen of Chess Movie & New Album

    Contemporary audiences know that Motown, Stax, Atlantic, and Philadelphia International Records provided a promotional gateway for what would later become the broad social acceptance of the beat of rhythm and blues. Take the R out of R&B, and the beaming B becomes a beacon for the relatively unknown shadowy story of the business of blues record labels. Leonard Chess was an entrepreneur who was in the right place at the right time during the day when blues was king. In the 1950's and 1960's, his Chicago based Chess Records is credited with launching the electrified careers of many blues artists. Etta James is one of them, and Beyonce' will star as Etta in Cadillac Records, a new movie coming soon about how Chess Records ruled the sound of electrified blues. Other notables in this flick include Mos Def, who plays Chuck Berry, and Cedric the Entertainer, who will portray bluesman Willie Dixon. 1968's Electric Mud, by blues icon Muddy Waters, is the sole Chess album in my personal collection. Muddy was cast in an unusual role on this record performing trendy psychedelic blues ditties. Although I enjoyed it, the album was universally panned, but it's a good example of how Chess Records tried to keep in step with the changing music tastes of the time. Beyonce' is one of the biggest stars in Cadillac Records. Her presence should drive interest into this historic record company (Chess). Jumping from the past to the present: on October 7, 2008, two new songs, "If I Were A Boy," and "Single Ladies" will be available to radio from Beyonce's forth coming third studio album, which will not be released by Music World Music/Columbia Records until Tuesday, November 18th. Beyonce' has co-written and co-produced all of the tracks on (as of this date) the untitled new album. Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 50 Ways To Love Michael Jackson

    If 50 is the new 40, then the decade defying young at heart Michael Jackson has a lot to celebrate during many fun filled years to come. The media certified tabloid musical giant, lovingly crowned, "The King of Pop," turns 50 years old on August 29, 2008. Jacko joins Madonna, who also turns 50 on August 16, 2008, as another new AARP recruit (formerly American Association of Retired Persons). Barring any health issues, I believe that Michael Jackson will eventually make a notable comeback. In honor of his 50th birthday, here is my endearing timeline list of 50 Ways to Love Michael Jackson: 1958 - Michael Jackson is born (August 29th) 1968 - The Jackson 5 are signed by Motown Records 1969 - Motown releases Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5 album 1970 - "I Want You Back" - Jackson 5 #1 song in January 1970 - "ABC" - Jackson 5 #1 in April 1970 - "The Love You Save" - Jackson 5 #1 in June 1970 - "I'll Be There" - Jackson 5 #1 in October 1971 - "Never Can Say Goodbye" - Jackson 5 #1 in May 1972 - "Got To Be There," MJ's first solo album is released 1972 - "Ben" becomes a hit single and album. (Rat power movie theme)! 1972 - MJ scores with the top 2 hit "Rockin' Robin'," a remake of the 1958 Bobby Day smash 1974 - "Dancing Machine" - Jackson 5 #1 in May 1976 - The Jacksons release The Jacksons on Epic Records produced by Philadelphia's Gamble & Huff 1977 - MJ begins preparing for his role in the movie The Wiz 1978 - The Jacksons release the critically acclaimed Destiny album 1979 - MJ releases Off The Wall produced by Quincy Jones 1980 - MJ scores a #1 song with "Rock With You" 1982 - MJ duets with Paul McCartney on Thriller with "The Girl Is Mine" 1982 - MJ writes and produces "Muscles," a top 10 Diana Ross hit 1983 - The Jackson 5 reunite for Motown's 25th Anniversary show in Los Angeles featuring a moonwalking MJ 1983 - Thriller conquers the charts 1983 - MJ duets with Paul McCartney for "Say Say Say," spending 6 weeks at #1 1984 - MJ wins 7 American Music Awards 1984 - MJ wins 3 MTV Music Video Awards 1984 - MJ receives 2nd degree burns on the set of a Pepsi commercial 1984 - MJ sings "State of Shock" with Mick Jagger on the Jacksons album Victory 1985 - MJ buys the publishing company owning the rights to 250 Beatles songs for $47.5 million 1985 - MJ and Lionel Richie write "We Are The World" and record the song with 43 stars to benefit USA for Africa's efforts for famine relief 1986 - MJ gets wacky with Bubbles the chimpanzee, Crusher, his 300 pound snake, and cocoons in a hyperbaric breathing chamber for shots of hyped oxygen 1987 - MJ's "Bad" tops the charts (R&B and pop) 1987 - MJ reaches #1 (pop & R&B) in Britain with the Siedah Garrett duet, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" 1988 - MJ buys Sycamore Ranch in California - the future Neverland Ranch 1988 - "Man In The Mirror" become a #1 song 1990 - MJ wins the Entertainer of the Decade Award from the America Cinema Awards Foundation 1991 - MJ signs what is called a billion-dollar entertainment deal with Sony Music 1991 - The Dangerous album is released 1992 - MJ is interviewed by Ebony Magazine 1992 - The Jacksons: An American Dream debuts on national television dramatizing the story of the famous Gary, Indiana family 1993 - MJ performs during halftime at Super Bowl XXVII (27) 1994 - MJ retains attorney Johnny Cochran and settles a 1993 child molestation charge out of court for a reported $20 million dollars 1995 - MJ and sister Janet Jackson sound off on the song "Scream" 1995 - MJ and wife Lisa Marie Presley call it quits 1995 - HIStory: Past, Present, and Future , Book 1 MJ's double album of past hits creates some buzz and becomes a #1 best seller 1996 - MJ marries Debbie Rowe 2001 - Invincible CD is released 2006 - MJ escapes to the island of Bahrain, off the coast of Saudi Arabia, to rebuild his career 2007 - MJ is interviewed by Ebony magazine 2008 - 25th anniversary version of Thriller is released 2008 - MJ's plastic surgeon checks into a California psychiatric hospital 2008 - Rumors fly that MJ will make a comeback at a Las Vegas casino hotel Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Rudy Ray Moore Plays it Raw, Rude & Real

    Rudy Ray Moore, also known as the Mighty Dolemite, is another superfly player, who like Blowfly, has a somewhat ignominious reputation for his own series of rowdy party platters. Moore has recorded at least 15 albums during a career that spans 4 decades. His first record, Eat Out More Often, hit the streets in 1970. Even more graphic than Blowfly, Rudy Ray Moore's pulsating collection of steamy hot wax spawned a cast of characters who carried melodrama to hilarious heights. Between Moore and Blowfly, you'll get all you can handle from a couple of outrageous guys who filled a void with enterprising musical soul-comedy few others were willing to match or touch. Some elements of today's hip hop can credit the 'no holds barred anything goes style' pioneered by Moore and his contemporaries, exemplified by free flowing, uncensored, musical verse. October 21, 2008 update: Moore passed away at the age of 81 in Akron, Ohio. Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Classic Soul Icons: Cooke, Benton, & Eckstine

    The modern style of soul that morphed out of popular 1950's R&B was partly created by pioneer Sam Cooke. Cooke's 1957 smash, "You Send Me," was a #1 R&B hit for six weeks, and a #1 pop favorite for three weeks. The entire Cooke story is revealed in Dorothy Ferebee's review of Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. Not everyone followed Cooke's mainstream cross-over appeal...       Brook Benton came close. "It's Just a Matter of Time" was a 1959 hit for Benton, a guy who started his career writing songs recorded by Nat King Cole and Clyde McPhatter (of the Drifters). The Barry White of his era, Benton had seven #1 R&B songs including "Rainy Night in Georgia," a #1 R&B song in 1970 (#4 pop). Benton's distinctive baritone was his trademark. Billy "Mr. B" Eckstine, another crooner with a magnificent voice, entered the R&B hit parade in 1946 with "Prisoner of Love," later reworked by James Brown. Eckstine also recorded "Blue Moon" in 1949, a song that would be taken to a new level by the Marcels with their 1961 hit.       This 45 rpm picture sleeve photo of Eckstine, (from the PowerhouseRadio.com archive), is from a 1976 session produced by Quincy Jones and Herb Alpert. Eckstine, solidly rooted in popular jazz, never significantly crossed over into the contemporary soul scene. As with singer Arthur Prysock, attempts by producers to blend Eckstine's style into youth oriented rhythms just never clicked. That's not to sell their vocal talents short. Billy Eckstine, Brook Benton, and especially Sam Cooke all deserve their place in the sun as classic soul icons who pioneered the genre. Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Janet & Michael Jackson Share #1 at Billboard

    While I've been listening to Janet Jackson's new CD Discipline, trying to decide what if any of the collection I like, the release has quickly skyrocketed to the top of the Billboard 200. It's been a long time since Janet rose to #1. Then, I tried to figure out, when was the last time, if any, both Janet and Michael Jackson had #1 Billboard albums at the same time. Thriller 25, just released with plenty of remixes, is also slotted at #1 in the pop category for the Billboard publication issue of March 15, 2008. Superstition says beware of the Ides of March! That's the day Emperor Julius Caesar met his doom (March 15). For Janet and Michael however, it looks like this is their lucky day. Now known in the music biz as classic soul "legacy artists," Michael and Janet don't get as much airplay as in the past. # 1 chart positions for both of these records simultaneously in 2008 is quite a feat. I'll have much Janet's Jackson's Discipline soon. Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 10 Glamorous and Gritty Grammy Highlights

    The 50th Annual Grammy Award telecast was a surprising winner. Great music performances overshadowed the disbursement of awards. There was so much eye-candy going on during many of the performances that you could mistake the jamming for a Hollywood musical. In order, here are my 10 Glamorous and Gritty Grammy Highlights: Beyonce' & Tina Turner's tag-team performance of "Proud Mary." Rihanna & Morris Day (pictured above) along with the Time delivering a seemingly well-rehearsed showstopper. Aretha Franklin's gospel tribute along with a cast of "thousands." Kanye West's acceptance speech for Best Rap Album. He refused to take the hook and get off the stage as he saluted the memory of his late mother. The "Rhapsody in Blue" jazz/classical tribute to George Gershwin featuring Herbie Hancock. Alicia Keys singing duet with a digitally recreated Frank Sinatra video. Good tape editing on Frank to pull this off! Amy Winehouse's mystical comments live from London for winning Record of the Year for "Rehab." George Lopez urging Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to select "a Mexican" running mate for vice president. Herbie Hancock winning the Grammy for Album of the Year...River: The Joni Letters. A real surprise. Mary J. Blige sticking out her rear end (and never facing the camera) while pimping for Chevrolet in the best commercial of the evening. Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Grammys Sing for 50 Golden Moments this Sunday

    Do you have the patience? Do you have the stamina for another gut wrenching marathon of garbled gab, glittering bling, boring back stories, and haphazard harmonies from stars who may or may not have ever sung with each other? This is the promise of the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, this Sunday, February 10th, from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. CBS Television is promising an 8 pm - 11:30 pm Eastern show, but look for the live event to run over in it's time slot, as usual. Some of the planned artist collaborations look frightening. Many are quite a stretch. However, look for the Grammys to go all out for their 50th anniversary show. A soulful highlight may be Rihanna teaming up with a reunited 'the' Time for a special 50th anniversary segment. The music industry is in turmoil because of the expectation by a new generation of fans that tunes should be free. Look for the performers to put their best game face on in an attempt to drive casual and passionate viewers alike to create some buzz about the 50th Anniversary Grammy beat...and to seek out the music. Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Musical Men Missing from NAACP Image Award Nominations

    Mary J. Blige, Beyonce', Alicia Keys, and Jill Scott lead the nominees in the female music category for the 39th Annual NAACP Image Awards. The awards honor projects and individuals that promote diversity in the arts, television, music, literature and motion pictures. "Stand Up and Be Counted" is the theme of this year's show. In the music category, is the NAACP missing the boat among younger male artists? Or, in the age of hip hop, is there a reason that the modern R&B genre is being dominated women? Only Prince is represented in the Outstanding Male Artist category. You can watch the NAACP Image Awards live on Valentine's Day, Thursday, February 14, 2008, 8:00-10:00 pm Eastern on Fox. Here are the nominees in the Recording Category: Outstanding New Artist: Corbin Blue - Walt Disney Records J. Holiday - Capitol Sean Kingston - Sony Outstanding Male Artist: Prince - Columbia Records Outstanding Female Artist: Alicia Keys - J Records Beyonce' - Columbia Records Jill Scott - Hidden Beach Recordings Mary J. Blige - Geffen Outstanding Duo or Group: Stephen Marley & Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley Outstanding Jazz Artist: Kirk Whalum - Rendezvouz Entertainment Patti Austin - Rendezvouz Entertainment Outstanding Gospel Artist - (Traditional or Contemporary): Marvin Winans - Pure Springs /EMI Gospel Sounds of Blackness - Sounds of Blackness Records Outstanding World Music Album: Angelique Kidjo - "Djin Djin"- Razor & Tie Various Artist - "Putumayo Presents: World Hits" - Putumayo Outstanding Music Video: "Beautiful Liar" - Beyonce' - Columbia Records "Just Fine" - Mary J. Blige - Geffen "Like You'll Never See Me Again" - Alicia Keys - J Records Outstanding Song: "Beautiful Flower" - India.Arie - Universal Republic "Just Fine" - Mary J. Blige - Geffen "Like You'll Never See Me Again" - Alicia Keys - J Records "Umbrella" - Rihanna feat. Jay-Z - Island Def Jam Outstanding Album: Alicia Keys - "As I Am" - J Records Mary J. Blige - "Growing Pains" - Geffen Previous Post | Next Post

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