Well, it is always African American Music Appreciation Month (aka Black Music Month) around these parts! We celebrate Black music every week here at Good Black News.
It’s been more than a year since I started making weekly playlists honoring African American music in its many forms.
If you’ve been tuning in with any regularity, you know I am no stranger to a free-wheeling and hours-long playlist.
When it comes to a collection that tracks Gospel, Blues, Jazz, R&B, Rock, Hip-Hop, and everything in between, this one was bound to be a long one:
Have a great week.
Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
[Editor’s Note: ICYMI, below are links to some of Marlon’s most popular playlists from 2020. Enjoy!]
Happy Memorial Day, you all. I also need to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the Black Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Last week included the 95th anniversary of the birth of Miles Davis. His hometown of East St. Louis, Missouri was the site of another race massacre in 1917.
So much has been written about Miles Davis. Including is his own autobiography. There have been documentaries long and short about him, so I won’t go on.
At over 10 hours this collection is still the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes his creative output. Miles was a giant in American music, and one of this nation’s most iconic and influential figures in music and culture.
In a career that spanned five decades, he kept at the forefront of many major stylistic developments in jazz. From being of the vanguards of bebop and blazing the trail of electric jazz.
The list of his collaborators is far too long, but here are just a few: Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, Max Roach, Gil Evans, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, and Joe Zawinul.
Miles Davis gave many of these now-legendary artists, who all appear on this playlist, their first break. Davis was tough as nails from all reports, though he seemed more than willing to imbue great vulnerability and tenderness in his playing.
Happy Monday from your friend and selector, Marlon. This collection features Calypso classics from the late 1930s to the 1960s, where this musical style reached many through the internationally popular recordings of Harry Belafonte.
I have included many of his predecessors: Attila the Hun, Roaring Lion, The Mighty Sparrow and Lord Invader to name but a few. Lord Invader’s “Rum and Coca-Cola” was covered with great success by the Andrews Sisters.
Another “Lord,” Lord Kitchener, was one of the longest-lasting calypso stars in history. He continued to release hit records until his death in 2000.
The roots of Calypso music started in 17th century Trinidad. The Africans brought to toil on sugar plantations, were stripped of all connections to their homeland and family, and not allowed to talk to each other.
They used calypso to mock the slave masters and to communicate with each other. It is characterized by highly rhythmic and harmonic vocals and is usually sung in a French creole and led by a griot.
While Calypso is most often danceable, there often much social commentary, and innuendo laced in the lyrics.
Hope you enjoy this collection of music that would go on to influence Ska, Rocksteady, and Reggae.
Have a great week! And as always stay safe, sane, and kind.
Today being her birthday would have been reason enough to honor the life and career of the one and only Janet Jackson.
But in 2021, it’s also turned out to be once-in-a-lifetime event — the weekend Ms. Jackson has decided to sell over 1,000 personal and professional items viaJulien’s Auctions to fans and collectors alike — and donate a portion of the proceeds to children’s charity Compassion International.
(Sunday, May 16 is the last day to watch and/or bid during the auction. You can do so here.)
As a personal fan who lives in Los Angeles, I was able to go to the public display prior to the auction. Seeing her iconic outfits and costumes along with personal items from her childhood and homes was, in a word, mesmerizing.
If you’ve grown up with her like I and a lot of GenX has, it’s easy to take Janet’s legacy and prowess for granted. But when you look at the history, the music, the videos, her eras across the decades and the impact of them all represented in one place, you fully realize what a uniquely innovative, influential artist she has been, is, and always will be.
With producing partners Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Jackson has crafted some of the most insightful and inspirational — and hey, let’s say it, danceable — issue-oriented songs ever.
Today, we celebrate her contributions to elevating our consciousness and calling for action on topics such as discrimination, poverty, racism, illiteracy, domestic violence, depression, sexism and homophobia with the playlist “The Knowledge” – Janet Jackson Social Justice Music:
“Rhythm Nation” is not only represented on this list by its titular track, but also by “The Knowledge,” “State of the World,” “Livin’ In A World (They Didn’t Make)” and its connective tissue interludes, but also by “The Skin Game,” a track about racial discrimination from that didn’t make the album but was a B-side to its “Come Back To Me” single.
“Like so many Black people, I have my own stories of being profiled — of being stopped, searched and frisked twice in the same month by cops skeptical about a Black woman driving a fancy car. And you have to think, if the cops stop me, how much worse must it be for others?” she wrote. “Yet we go on.”
Janet recently revived “Skin Game” during at her State of the WorldTour, at the 2018 Essence Festival and during her Global Citizens performance in 2018. Check out the kick-ass opening sequence below:
On her 1993 Janet. album, Jackson offered “New Agenda” with Public Enemy’s Chuck D, “This Time” about domestic violence with opera singer Kathleen Battle.
On 1997’s The Velvet Rope, Janet tackled self-esteem and self-worth on “You,” the unhealthy reliance on connections made through the internet on “Empty,” feelings of depression and worthlessness “Special,” homophobia on “Free Xone” and overcoming racial and gender discrimination on the hidden track “Can’t Be Stopped.”
The depth and breadth of this album’s themes are discussed deftly by Ayanna Dozier in her book on The Velvet Rope from the acclaimed 33 1/3 series about music’s most impactful albums.
“Got Til It’s Gone” (seen below) and “Together Again” are also included because visually, this pair of Afrocentric videos were all about self-possession, expression and finding joy in the most difficult of circumstances — in South Africa during apartheid in “Got Til It’s Gone,” and healing oneself through the acknowledgement of the importance of lives of those who passed from AIDS and need to celebrate not stigmatize their lives in “Together Again.”
“What About” mixes the softness of her sweetest love songs with a hard rock edge reminiscent of “Black Cat” as she delivers a tour de force on domestic violence.
Jackson’s performance at the 1998 VH1 Fashion Awards was poignant, powerful and unforgettable:
Rounding out the playlist are the songs “Black Eagle” and “Shoulda Known Better” from her number-one album from 2015, Unbreakable, which acknowledge the work that still needs to be done, how difficult it is to overcome the complex issues of racism and abject poverty and how heart-breaking they are, but why it’s still worth trying.
Though not released as a single or official video, “Shoulda Known Better” was used by a fan to make a video tribute to the victims of the Orlando shooting in 2016, and Janet Jackson shares it as part of her official YouTube channel:
I hope I get to add new songs to this list later this year, if Janet resumes the Black Diamond Tour and releases the Black Diamondalbum, both postponed from 2020 due to the global pandemic.
Or even if she records an entirely new project, I have no doubt that in some form, Ms. Jackson’s outspoken caring and compassion for the world will come through once again.
As any regular (or even new) follower of Good Black News may have noticed, we really love music here. Its creators, its history, its present and its future. And days like today – the 71st birthday of musical legend, genius and icon Stevie Wonder – are some of the most exciting, because we get to think of new ways to share about an artist who has given so much to the culture and community.
Last year, in honor of Stevie’s 70th, GBN published a month of differently-themed Stevie playlists, (links to all below). But for the generations who didn’t grow up on Stevie Wonder — particularly the 10-and-under set — where to start? How about right here, with our curated, kid-friendly playlist “Stevie For The Sweeties”:
I remember exactly when I took my children’s musical education and exposure into my own hands — April 21, 2016 — the day Prince passed. My kids didn’t understand why Mommy was so upset and was playing Prince music all the time — in the car, in the house, on the TV, for weeks — because they didn’t know who he was or why his music was important.
It was a wake-up call for me to make a conscious effort to introduce them to the musical greats. Since they were 8 and 6 at the time, I started putting together kid-friendly playlists on iTunes (the very first I called “Prince for My Patooties”) that they could listen to on their own, with friends, or at school during breaks, without any worries about playing any songs that could be objectionable for language or subject matter, and sequenced in a way to keep their interest.
“Stevie For The Sweeties” starts with “Fun Day,” moves into “Sir Duke” (which has been a magic tonic to my sons ears since he was a toddler, and where Stevie himself does some hat tipping to generational forebears by name checking Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and of course, “Sir”Duke Ellington), “I Wish” (which I remember me, my sister Lesa and my cousins David and Darryl singing to as little kids while we played “Three Flies Up” in my Auntie Brenda’s front yard), and “Fingertips Pts. 1& 2”, where Stevie himself was barely double digits in age.
Those great songs and so many more classics to enjoy with the younger set like “Do I Do” (featuring trumpet-great Dizzy Gillespie on an effervescent solo), “I Love Every Little Thing About You,” “Isn’t She Lovely” (which Stevie wrote about his first-born daughter Iesha), “Bird of Beauty” and “You Are The Sunshine of My Life” are part of “Stevie For The Sweeties.”
I hope you enjoy with the sunshines and lovelies in your life, and thank you, thank you, thank you, Stevie Wonder, for your incredible music and life. We love you. Happy Birthday!
Happy Monday, you all. This week’s offering is a soulful collection of cover tunes and original versions of songs that went on to become hits for other folks.
The Pointer Sisters‘ version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire” and Whitney Houston’s take on Dolly Parton‘s “I Will Always Love You” are examples of covers that are as famous as the originals.
There’s Otis Redding’s live version of “Respect” where he explains how “This girl, she just took this song” to an amused audience. I’ve included Prince’s demos for “Manic Monday” and “Glamorous Life”, each went on to become hits for the Bangles and Sheila E., respectively.
Sorry, not sorry for this more than a workday’s worth of rump-shaking tunes. Perhaps some of you are at stand-up desks and can get that groove on.
This week’s offering is devoted to Funk music. In the words of Parliament/Funkadelic, “Uncut funk, the bomb.” This mixture of soul, gospel, jazz, and rhythm, and blues was started in the mid-1960s by the “Godfather of Soul” James Brown.
Funk had its hey in the 1970s and ‘80s, though its impact is still felt around the world. Funk grooves have been sampled by hip-hop artists and rock bands alike.
If you’re like me, you’ll be thrilled to know there’s plenty of new funk music being created today. Lady Wray, Yola, Anderson.Paak, and others will make you a believer.
This collection is devoted to funk masters like James Brown, Sly Stone, George Clinton and Lyn Collins, and new practitioners like Tank & The Bangas, Emily Wright, Thundercat, Los Coast and others.
Have a great week. And as ways stay safe, sane and kind. More soon.
I have done a few playlists, so far devoted to specific cities. Chicago,New Orleans, and DC are among them.
My own hometown, St. Louis, doesn’t get the same props as many other musical towns. Though from Josephine Baker to Chuck Berry to Donny Hathaway to Nelly, descendants of The Gateway City have made their mark.
This collection brings together artists across several genres that are from, based, or got their start in St. Louis. Though Ike Turner was from Mississippi and Tina Turner was from Tennessee, it was during a gig at St. Louis’ Club Manhattan where Tina, then Anna Mae Bullock, first grabbed Ike’s microphone on stage and their tumultuous path to fame began.
From the advent of ragtime at the turn of the 20th century to hip-hop at the turn of the 21st, though, St. Louis has always profoundly impacted the direction of American music.
As always, stay sane, safe, and kind. “See” ya next week.
Happy Music Monday, you all. As promised a couple of weeks ago, this collection is devoted to live jazz performances.
April is also Jazz Appreciation Month, so this playlist is arriving not a moment too soon. For many of us, live jazz is the best way to enjoy jazz. The unbridled spontaneity of top-notch musicians at the very top of the game, improvising and spurring each other on to greater creative heights is the essence of the art form.
I’ve gathered performances from nearly 100 years of jazz music. Big band, Be-Bop, Avant Garde, Soul Jazz, and so many other styles are present. There are recordings from Massey Hall, the Village Vanguard, the Newport Jazz Festival, Birdland, and many other iconic venues.
Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, Geri Allen, and dozens of other greats are included in this over 13-hour collection of stunning performances. While the sound quality in some venues isn’t as good as that of a state-of-the-art recording studio, and post-production is not on the table, the improvisatory nature of jazz makes live performance the quintessential way to experience the music. Do enjoy!
And as always, stay sane, safe, and kind. “See” ya next week.
PS: This is another one to set that crossfade, on Spotify, at 12 seconds if you are listening on a computer.
