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um,um,um. Feelin something at the back of your throat? Wanna gag? GOOD!!!!!! I wanted the stank-o-meter of your souls to be in the right place for what I got for you.
Ya know how when you read about the history of late 20th century popular music in one of those books authored by a former employee of Rolling Stone Magazine, they always refer to this somewhat mysterious musical genre known as "jump blues" as being one of the precursors of Rock n' Roll? I suppose them mean for "jump blues" to be some sort of a "missing link" or "rossetta stone" holding the key to the true primordial forces that created "Rock n' Roll". For a more accurate depiction of what "jump blues" might be, go back and look at the movie "Lackawana Blues" and study the house party scenes.
I didn't forget the 64th Birthday of Jimi Hendrix. In fact I celebrated it in GRAND STYLE on 11/27 in NYC at a local Times Square "tourist trap", filled to capacity @ the Jimi Hendrix Birthday Tribute Show.
The performance space of the "University of the Streets" is located in on the second floor of a tenement style walk up on E. 7th street in NYC's Lower East Side. The space features stadium style bench seating, creaky 50 year old hardwood floors, high ceilings, exposed pipes and no heat. I arrived late, right before the stat of the very first song, where I was warmly greeted by Soul-Patroller Rob Darnell. I walked inside I quickly found a seat next to our own Baron Keels. As I smiled and looked around, I half expected Lenny Bruce, Jack Keuroac, Alan Ginzburg and Manaryd G. Krebbs to walk in the door....lol
Mike took the stage (with bass in hand) at the SOLD OUT Germantown/Philadelphia nightspot known as "North by Northwest". He started right off with some STANK NASTY Miles Davis/Sun Ra type inspired instrumental tracks just to warm things up. Michael Henderson is one of the baddest bass players in the history of our music. The way he opened up the show served as a reminder of that simple fact.
Soul Music for Soul Folk was the mantra for tonight. The Winter Soulstice event at Franks Lounge was Soul event not to be missed. Soul greats both performed and came out to support soul music. Tonight was a gathering of some of the best of the soul scene.
Tonight's performers included Marlon Saunders, Allison Crockett, Angela Johnson and Russell Taylor. In the crowd showing their support was Shelly Nicole, Monet, Abby Dobson, TN'T, and Rogiers. The soul music community was present and accounted for on this special night....(
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I just confirmed with our friend Patrick Adams via telephone that Tony Silvester (of The Main Ingredient) passed today. No further details are available at present...
I just confirmed with Maxine Pickney via telephone that Ruth Brown passed today.
I started geting phone calls at about 2pm on Friday November 10. The first one was from Cleveland (SP Coordinador Iris Smith) and then they continued all afternoon and into the evening. At first the calls were to inform me of the passing of Gerald Levert. Later the calls were from people who were close to him, expressing pain and shock. By the time I was able to reach a computer my inbox was full of notifications about the passing of Gerald Levert. Next came the emails from people wanting to know when Soul-Patrol is going to have a tribute posted to Gerald Levert?
Back in the 1980's from a musical perspective, I was totally consumed by a wonderful discovery that I had made in the early in the decade. I was living at that time in Houston Texas, a 23 year old "Mr. Know It All" from NYC with a big fro' and a "disco groove", who still had quite a bit to learn about life. You see I was a transplanted northerner who was about to be taken to school with respect to the culture and lifestyle of the American South. You see I had started hanging out with some older Black men, and they introduced me to
Blues music, and I fell in love with it.
In some ways there isn't much to write about this new release called Jazz-Funk-Hip-HoPoetry by west coast artist Paradise Freejahlove Supreme, In most every way the title of this album speaks for itself. However I'm not going to stop there, because I belive that this album will ultimatly be of historic importance, so therefore it's important to connect a few dots from the past as we look towards the future. It is indeed one of the most compelling pieces of music that I have heard in the year 2006. You owe it to yourselves and your children to have a copy of it in your home.
We talk quite a bit about the seeming disappearance of something called the "Black Male Vocal Group Harmony Tradition". And when we talk about it, we are usually thinking about the disappearance of new music from artists like Blue Magic, Chi-Lites, Delfonics, Dells, Black Ivory, O'Jays, Ray, Goodman & Brown, etc from commercial "knee-gro radio stations". Seems like somewhere around the late 90's it completely disappeared and was replaced by the "Boy Bands" which in an example of pure culture banditry, simply hijacked the structure of the "Black Male Vocal Group Harmony Tradition", .and replaced it with a white face. However often left out of this conversation is that during the late 80's - mid 90's there was a brief resurgence in this sound via artists like Boyz To Men, New Edition, Solo and of course Silk. Unfortunately that sound was often drowned out by the emergence of rap music during the same period and then ultimately left for dead by the "Boy Bands". Silk had a MONSTER hit record with the song "Freak Me" back in the early 90's that made us all smile for a moment and then they disappeared.
Now they are back and with any luck at all they should do quite well with their new album "Always and Forever" on the Shanachie label. Personally I think that they picked some excellent artists to cover in Earth, Wind and Fire, Prince, Heatwave, Blue Magic, etc. By dong so they are demonstrating to the "old headz" that the talent that they showed during the 1990's was no illusion at all. They are also going to introduce their own generation to some classic music from the previous generation. In doing so they are not only extending this music forward, but also demonstrating that they need to be mentioned when you talk about the great vocal groups of all time. And why is that?
In the liner notes for "Master of the Game" it says:
"For their Delta Groove debut the tight as a drum road tested band entered the studio at the height of their powers. "Master of the Game" showcases a set of powerful Payne/Edmonson originals augmented by fresh arrangements of great songs by the likes of Johnny Taylor and Bobby Bland. "
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