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MUSIC MONDAY: Black History Month 2021 Tribute to African American Music Through the Centuries (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: Black History Month 2021 Tribute to African American Music Through the Centuries (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on February 8, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Last week our fearless leader here at GBN, Lori Lakin Hutcherson, suggested a playlist celebrating Black History Month. I joked that every Music Monday at Good Black News is celebrating Black history.

Though a free-wheeling offer celebrating a century of Black music is definitely the thing to do. Here is a collection of African American music ranging from Mamie Smith to Marvin Gaye to J. Cole – from gospel, to hip hop, to jazz, to blues – and all points in between.

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As is our wont here on Mondays, this playlist is hours long and will take you on a journey of classics and deep cuts. I hope you all enjoy it.

Next week we’ll celebrate the 76th anniversary of Bob Marley‘s birth with a heaping serving of roots reggae. Until such time, have a great week.

And as always stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “Daydreaming” – Massive Attack and the Birth of Trip Hop (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Daydreaming” – Massive Attack and the Birth of Trip Hop (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on February 1, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Massive Attack was formed in Bristol, England, in the late 1980s, coalescing out of a sound-system culture of D.J.s and musicians.

It is hard to overstate the impact his collective, originally known as The Wild Bunch, would go on to have on electronic and popular music. They would knit together previously disparate styles of hip-hop, post-punk, dub reggae, electronica and just enough pop to provide melodic discipline and skeletal structure.

Their first three records Blue Lines, Protection, and Mezzanine were part of the vanguard of artists that created the “Trip Hop” movement. The group launched Tricky and collaborated with others like Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins and the reggae songwriter Horace Andy.

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This collection is devoted to their work and to those that have in many ways come through the proverbial door that they kicked open.

Enjoy. Stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “Lean on Me” – Playlist Honoring Artists Who Passed in 2020 (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Lean on Me” – Playlist Honoring Artists Who Passed in 2020 (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on December 28, 2020

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Here’s a playlist of music artists who died this year. Although their beautiful voices and talents were lost in 2020, we can enjoy them for years to come.

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Musicians are often our collective voices, sharing ideas and feelings through their lyrics and melodies that the rest of us struggle to express. It’s why the deaths of musicians are often difficult to process.

It’s hard to say goodbye to the people who made the art and culture that define our times and speak so directly to us. This collection features soul, hip-hop, country, jazz, and other artists that have been taken by COVID-19, long illness, natural causes, gun violence, and overdoses.

There’s only one way into this world, yet they keep making up new ones to take us out. But I digress. Please enjoy this collection of music that will resonate for eons by folks we’ve lost on this trying trip around the sun.

An early Happy New Year to you all. I can’t scrape 2020 off the bottom of my proverbial shoe fast enough.

Stay safe, sane, and kind you all.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: An Afroclectic Holiday Playlist for 2020 (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: An Afroclectic Holiday Playlist for 2020 (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on December 14, 2020

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Holidays, in this fifth day of Chanukah. I’ll keep it brief this time. Other contributors are also offering Christmastime collections.

Though as is my style, this one is pretty free-wheeling. This collection has Soul, Reggae, Gospel, Ska, and Jazz Christmas tracks. (I included a few Christmas songs by the late Charley Pride too.)

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There are Yuletide classics from legendary artists like Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye, to recent cuts by Lil Nas X, Daveed Diggs and Sharon Jones.

I have again included tracks about food, cold weather, and songs like Love’s “Alone Again Or” that is particularly apt for Christmas 2020.

I hope these collections have been as sustaining for you to listen to as they have been for me to make them. Please enjoy this Afroclectic playlist selected for this holiday season.

There are a couple of funky Chanukah tracks include, not only because they are great, but this year in particular the Festival of Lights that celebrates a small victory in the midst of battle, has a lesson and meaning for us all.

Whatever lights you have in your window this year, it is a stalwart signal of joy and tenacity in these toughest of times.

As always stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “One Nation Under a Groove” – Celebrating the Sounds George Clinton (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “One Nation Under a Groove” – Celebrating the Sounds George Clinton (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on December 7, 2020
by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

George Clinton, along with James Brown and Sly Stone, is one of the foremost innovators of funk music. And the originator of P-Funk, “uncut funk, the bomb!”

The Parliament-Funkadelic collective he lead championed an influential and eclectic form of funk music drawing on science fiction, outlandish fashion, psychedelia, and surreal humor. This work, Clinton’s solo career, and artists he’s championed have impacted, been sampled, and covered by funk, rock, and hip-hop artists.

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George Clinton officially retired from touring in 2019 and has shown up on recordings in 2020. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, with 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 2019, he and Parliament-Funkadelic were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Starting in the 1960s as a staff songwriter for Motown, Clinton eventually developed a sound once called “The Temptations on acid.” Just listen to Funkadelic’s “I”ll Bet You” and that comparison will be clear.

George Clinton has produced a diverse discography, with over 40 R&B hit singles (including three number ones) and three platinum albums.

Here are Clinton’s best songs and those of many of his protégés. I’ve also included covers of his tunes, tracks that sample his work, and tracks he has produced for other artists. Please enjoy.

Next week I’ll offer my Afroclectic Christmas collection. Until then, stay safe, sane and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “Be Thankful For What You’ve Got” – Thanksgiving Playlist for 2020 (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Be Thankful For What You’ve Got” – Thanksgiving Playlist for 2020 (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on November 23, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving, you all!

This is certainly a trying and unique one. Most of us aren’t doing what we traditionally do. And many of us are missing people at the table in 2020.

As is my wont, here’s a Monday playlist to take you into this year’s day of thanks. This collection ranges from songs about food, to family, to longing, to of course giving thanks, and back again.

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Soul, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Gospel, Reggae, and more are included in this playlist to celebrate this most special and taxing of Thanksgivings.

While this has been the worst year on record for many of us, it has not been without its bright spots and reasons to be thankful.

One such personal reason for the thanks of the request to contribute weekly playlists from my friend Lori Lakin Hutcherson. She is a sista that I have not seen in person in nearly decades, but has become a wonderful social media friend and the gig of making these collections for GOOD BLACK NEWS and been the brightest of Covid era silver linings.

I don’t know if these are enjoyed by dozens or thousands but it has been an honor and delight to compile them on the weekly.

Whether you are safely gathering or going it alone on Thursday, here’s hours of music to sustain and nourish your ears and soul.

Stay safe sane, and kind you all. “See” ya next week.

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “Bustin’ Loose”: A Celebration of D.C. Go-Go Music (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Bustin’ Loose”: A Celebration of D.C. Go-Go Music (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on November 9, 2020

[A child holds a billboard for Memorial Day shows at the Howard Theatre, featuring Trouble Funk and Experience Unlimited. Photograph by Thomas Sayers Ellis, used with permission.]

I can not imagine Washington D.C. was is not awash in its funnest export these days: Go-go. This subgenre of funk originated in and around D.C., during the late 1960s and remains popular to this day as a uniquely regional music style.

Singer-guitarist Chuck Brown and several bands are credited with having developed the style including Young Senators, Black Heat, and Trouble Funk.

Chuck Brown playing at a block party (photo via Flickr)

Go-go is primarily a dance hall music with an emphasis on live audience call and response. It has endured to include hip-hop influences recently and been around long enough to have retro adherents.

In February 2020, go-go was named the “official music” of Washington D.C. in a unanimous vote by the District’s city council. Please enjoy this dose of D.C. funky stuff.

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“See” ya next! And of course, stay safe, sane, and kind.

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
“Black Americana”: Traditional and Modern Takes on Patriotic Songs by African American Artists (LISTEN)

“Black Americana”: Traditional and Modern Takes on Patriotic Songs by African American Artists (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on November 8, 2020

[Photos: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock; Marian Anderson at Lincoln Memorial; Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV]

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Yesterday was a good day. As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris became President-Elect and Vice President-Elect of the United States of America, in several cities across the nation literal dancing broke out in the streets. So many people from all stripes of life — Black, Brown, white, Asian, Indigenous — were together exhibiting their joy at the victory.

The massive turnout — in the middle of a surging pandemic, no less — to celebrate the repudiation of the path towards division and exclusion in favor of the path towards inclusivity and diversity was the most patriotic thing I’ve witnessed on a national level in a long time. And so many were carrying and waving American flags.

It’s being acknowledged in the media – as well as in President Elect Biden’s speech – how vital the African American community was in saving this nation’s democracy.  The visuals and the fireworks brought home for me just how much at heart Black people are patriots.

Even though from jump we have been treated unjustly, cruelly, unfairly — we have worked tirelessly to fight for the ideals America is supposed to stand for. Justice. Freedom. Equality. Perhaps we believe in democracy the most because we have always been the most vulnerable when it doesn’t exist.

Hearing Vice President-Elect Harris strut out to Mary J. Blige‘s “Work That” and President Elect Biden sprint out to Bruce Springsteen‘s “We Take Care of Our Own” before their respective speeches, then enjoy the crowd and fireworks to some Jackie Wilson, Coldplay, Hall & Oates and Tina Turner, made me think about some of my favorite takes on patriotic American songs by African American artists that could have been cool to play as well. (My most recent favorite from the past few years? Jon Batiste‘s inventive, unexpectedly moving version of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”)

When my sister Lesa texted me a song she’d been listening to all day — “This Land Is Our Land” by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings — my thoughts turned to action and I started making the playlist below I call “Black Americana” for inspiration now and in the months to come:

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MUSIC MONDAY: “In The Heat of the Night” – A Celebration of Black Film Music (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “In The Heat of the Night” – A Celebration of Black Film Music (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on November 2, 2020

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Hello, again! Here’s a collection of Black composers of film music. There are a few iconic songs from films included here, but the playlist is mainly devoted to scores.

As usual, this is a varied group of artists. They come from Jazz (Herbie Hancock and Duke Ellington), popular music (James Brown, RZA and Pharrell Williams), Rock (Barry Adamson), and of course, Classical ( Michael Abels and Kathryn Bostic).

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This collection spans decades of work from the 1930s to very recent releases. Hope you enjoy the wide-ranging collection of film music.

“See” ya next week. And was want is always my wont, please stay safe sane, and kind And VOTE!

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC: “That’s The Way Love Goes” – End of Summer Celebration of ’90s Slow Jams (LISTEN)

MUSIC: “That’s The Way Love Goes” – End of Summer Celebration of ’90s Slow Jams (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on September 4, 2020

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)

As we head into Labor Day Weekend, the unofficial end of Summer, it’s one more chance to relax a little amidst such a stressful year for so many of us.

We’ve had such a great reaction here at Good Black News to so many of our Spotify playlists, including our decade-spanning slow jam playlists that we made for the ‘70s (Ultimate ‘70s Slow Jam Summer) and the ‘80s (Ultimate ‘80s Champagne Slow Jams).

So it only made sense, in time for the long weekend, to unveil our playlist of slow jam faves from the ‘90s – entitled Ultimate ‘90s Sunset Slow Jams, available at this link here, and of course you can listen to or access below. All you ‘90s soul music fans, it’s time to favorite this playlist and represent!

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R&B music in the ‘90s underwent a true sea change that had been slowly building up through the prior decade. If ‘80s slow jams were the sound of lushly-produced, upscale elegance via superstar duets from well-dressed veteran singers, the ‘90s tossed a lot of that in the rearview mirror.