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Posts tagged as “Deniece Williams”

“Surprise! We’re Still Making Great Music!” – Playlist of New Songs to Savor from 30 R&B/Soul Favorites (LISTEN)

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

Many of our Spotify playlists on Good Black News celebrate the songs of years past – but today we’re going to twist it up a little.

With our Surprise! We’re Still Making Great Music playlist, we’re going to spotlight 30 favorite artists from throughout the years who you maybe didn’t know had something new to offer.

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With major record companies so focused on the youth/hip hop market, it’s often just part of the accepted path of a musician that after the hit-making years are over, an artist’s career shifts – sometimes concerts/touring, sometimes acting/performing in musicals, sometimes just retiring or changing careers.

But as the technology for recording gets less expensive, and the ability to distribute music electronically becomes simpler – more and more favorite acts are deciding to record new music.  However, just because they’ve made new music, doesn’t mean its been easy for us to find out about it.  Not many radio stations play new soul from veteran artists, and on the streaming services, these tracks are often not well-promoted – even to their likely audiences.

So we started exploring, and we’ve stumbled across dozens of fresh recordings from artists that we haven’t checked out in awhile, often in decades! Some artists have been recording all along – and we didn’t realize it. Some seem to be testing the waters – can they reignite their fanbase? And, this year in particular, with musicians stuck at home – and with news events and protests inspiring the artistic desire to say something, many are using their art to address the politics of today.

So, here are 30 favorite artists (+ one bonus artist) – a mixture of men, women, and groups with recent music from the last couple years you can check out now electronically.  Let us know in the comments who you are happy to see back in action behind the mic:

MUSIC: “Grown Folks Vacation” – Smooth Jazz Covers of Classic Soul and Soft Rock by Shanachie Records Artists (LISTEN)

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

It’s the middle of August and five months into the coronavirus pandemic – is anyone longing for that summer jazzfest they haven’t been able to attend?

With today’s GBN playlist, which we’ve dubbed “Grown Folks Vacation,” you can press play, imagine yourself slipping into your backyard hammock with a glass of wine, and let a wave of classic songs and sounds wash over you (with a twist) – hopefully getting a little bit of relaxation in these stressful times.

Today, we’re celebrating music coming from the independent New Jersey-based label Shanachie Records, which, for more than 20 years, has been keeping veteran artists and favorite songs alive after many major labels have passed them by.

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Shanachie was born in the 1980s as a niche independent label focusing on Celtic, folk, reggae and other branches of world music that the big companies usually ignore. But by the late ’90s, with expansion of the Quiet Storm and Wave radio formats, Shanachie expanded into a new area of music with releases from smooth jazz saxophonists like Walter Beasley and Kim Waters.