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Posts tagged as “Lori Lakin Hutcherson”

MUSIC: A Stevie Wonder Sing Off – “The Wonders of A Cappella” Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC: A Stevie Wonder Sing Off – “The Wonders of A Cappella” Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on December 31, 2020

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

Maybe it’s the history of caroling in December. Or maybe its half a dozen years of NBC’s hit musical competition show The Sing Off – which also usually took place in December. In any case, beyond just Christmas music, December has us in the mood for some good a cappella music.

Today is also the sixth day of Kwanzaa where the principle of Kuumba — Creativity — is celebrated. So we’ve taken a different approach to today’s GBN playlist – combining a cappella singing with that superstar with the deep catalog of hits that we saluted here at Good Black News this past spring, Stevie Wonder (after all, we’re still in his 70th birthday year!)

So, if you are still in the mood for something cheery and fun to brighten up the waning moments of 2020 and welcome in the New Year, please check out “A Stevie Wonder Sing Off – The Wonders of A Cappella,” a playlist devoted to Stevie Wonder remakes done with voices only.  Early in the playlist Stevie himself joins the all-male group Straight No Chaser on his iconic hit “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours).”

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With The Sing Off  in the early 2010s, and with hit musical dramedy series Glee and the trio of Pitch Perfect movies, vocal a cappella music hasn’t always been so culturally ubiquitous.

In the late 1970s, there was the famous vocal group Manhattan Transfer – but their hit “Boy From New York City,” while featuring doo wop styles, also featured plenty of instruments playing behind them.  And then there was Bobby McFerrin‘s memorable “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” – which ultimately seemed to be a fun novelty more than a musical movement.

For many of us, though, college was where we were first exposed us to a cappella singing.  It was at a Northeastern campus where this author first met GBN founder Lori Lakin Hutcherson, that we first ran into preppie kids in jackets and ties at Harvard and Yale singing in choral groups on campus that mixed contemporary pop songs with corny classics like “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo.”

Harvard’s Krokodiloes and Yale’s Whiffenpoofs date back to 1946 and 1909, respectively, but the Fisk Jubilee Singers, established in 1871, were among the first American (and African American) college choral ensembles to gain international prominence for their a cappella prowess.

Contemporary versions of the Krokodiloes and Whiffenpoofs are featured in today’s playlist (no Jubilee Singers – they primarily perform traditional spirituals), along with groups from Howard, Dartmouth, Stanford, Syracuse, Duke and MIT and other colleges.

Boyz II Men, the all-Black group Committed (Season 2 winners of The Sing Off) and other non-collegiate a cappella purveyors like The Nylons and Rockapella are also represented.

So, we hope you’re in the mood to take a slightly different approach to the holidays with this uplifting list of year-round classics from Stevie and this list of a cappella masters.  And if you don’t mind just a little more holiday cheer, we couldn’t resist throwing a cappella versions of Stevie’s “What Christmas Means to Me” and “Someday at Christmas” onto the list too.

And, a friendly reminder, for those who still haven’t jumped on the Christmas music train, but want to, you can also check out GBN’s already published holiday playlists:

Enjoy!

MUSIC: “Cool Yule” – GBN’s Jazzy Christmas Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC: “Cool Yule” – GBN’s Jazzy Christmas Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on December 24, 2020

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Whether you are among those celebrating the Christmas holiday with loved ones (via Zoom or in the same room) or doing it solo, you may want some mellow-yet-festive holiday music playing as you spend the day.

Earlier this month, Good Black News offered the comprehensive, 465-song Ultimate Soul of the Season Christmas Soundtrack on Spotify as well as Silver Bells: An Afroclectic Christmastime Playlist for 2020. Today, on Christmas Eve we offer Cool Yule: A Jazzy Christmas Collection.

From Take 6 to Duke Ellington to Geri Allen to Oscar Peterson, this playlist includes vocal and instrumental jazz renditions of traditional and modern Christmas and end-of-year classics for all to enjoy.

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Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne, Betty Carter, Dianne Reeves, Etta James, Dinah Washington, Esperanza Spalding and Billie Holiday are among the female jazz vocalists represented on “Cool Yule,” with Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole, Leslie Odom, Jr. and Louis Armstrong lending their deeper pipes to the playlist.

Also represented are jazz titans Miles Davis, John Coltrane, the Count Basie Orchestra, Benny Carter, Kenny Burrell, Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, the McCoy Tyner Trio, Jimmy Smith, the Elvin Jones Quintet and the Ramsey Lewis Trio.

Wishing you all the best tomorrow and in the coming new year. Enjoy!

#DionneTurns80: Happy 80th, Dionne Warwick! “Dionne Through The Decades” Playlist and Tribute (LISTEN)

#DionneTurns80: Happy 80th, Dionne Warwick! “Dionne Through The Decades” Playlist and Tribute (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on December 12, 2020

[Photo: Dionne Warwick via commons.wikipedia.org]

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

One of my most indelible musical memories as a child is riding in the back of my mom’s silver Cadillac Seville, listening her harmonize with a singular, sophisticated voice asking and answering the compelling question: “What do you get when you fall in love? A guy with a pen to burst your bubble – that’s what you get for all your trouble.”

When Mom (and Dionne) sang these words with biting, philosophical wit and charm I’d learn in my teens was more succinctly known as irony, I was instantly intrigued and couldn’t wait to hear them again and again. Especially on that “get enough germs to catch pneumonia” line. That was the best.

When Ms. Warwick and Ms. Lakin told me to take a “Message to Michael” to “Walk on By” or would ask me “Do You Know The Way to San Jose?” — I was riveted by the evocative, worldly wisdom washing over me.

Nobody on the radio sang like this. Told stories like this. Skillfully navigated between grit and grandiosity, poise and pressure, emoted the expansive sound of je ne sais quois like this. I have been a Dionne Warwick fan ever since.

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What I didn’t know then but learned later is most songs sung by that mesmerizing voice were singles from the 1960s and early ’70s written by legendary songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David, two men who grasped the women’s perspective on the pain and futility of many a romance.

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)
“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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ELECTION DAY: Change Is Gonna Come… If We Vote!

By goodblacknews on November 2, 2020
GBN Co-Editor Lesa Lakin and Editor-in-Chief Lori Lakin Hutcherson voting in 2020

We have been living through the 2020 pandemic, protests, economic crisis and all too real and recent attempts at voter suppression happening across the U.S.

And the last thing anyone needs right now is another long article on the importance of voting. So here it is as succinctly as we can put it:

VOTING the one thing we can do to help ourselves and to help others.

To create the opportunity for change that embraces and includes instead of divides and excludes.

GBN supports the Biden/Harris ticket, because they are about embracing, including, bettering.

The other is not.

So if you haven’t already, please, get to a voting center… and help! (IWillVote.com can tell you where if you don’t know)

Onward and upward,

The Good Black News Editorial Staff

 

“Dear Lori”: Did Your White Friend Ever Respond? He and I “Do The Work” on a Podcast (LISTEN)

“Dear Lori”: Did Your White Friend Ever Respond? He and I “Do The Work” on a Podcast (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on October 8, 2020

Before I answer today’s query, I need to thank everyone for all the positive feedback on my debut “Dear Lori“ column. I appreciate the responses, the encouragement and yes, the new questions! I plan to answer them as soon as I can.

Now, I’ll get to the number-one, hands-down, most-popular question I’ve been asked for over four years ever since my original 2016 post about Jason’s white privilege Facebook question to his Black and biracial friends…

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[All letters are published verbatim and without corrections. Only the names have been changed.]

Dear Lori:

Hi! I just read your article about the facebook post. I GOTTA know if the white friend responded and if so, what did he say? Would you mind making a post/article about that? LeKeisha

Dear LeKeisha:

Thank you for writing in! You are far from alone in wanting to know if Jason responded and if so, what he said. There’s a reason why I’ve never really answered that question until today though — I didn’t have one.

Well, not a good one, at least in my estimation. Because the only response from Jason I ever saw was an indirect one in my feed when I shared a link in 2016 to an “answer blog” published in Huffington Post to my White Privilege piece. One friend commented:

“I’m glad that your thoughtful post got the attention it deserved. A lot of my friends shared it after I shared it — you delivered your message in a very “hearable” and moving way. You made it into a teaching moment, and I think those are rare.”

Under that Jason replied:

“It certainly taught me… 😉“

And that was it. That’s all I got.

I knew it would anger or sadden some readers to know that after I spent a large chunk of my time crafting a reply (not to mention considerable emotional labor), all I got back was four words and a wink emoji. It would seem to affirm no matter how much Black people extend ourselves to help white people understand, it’s not worth the effort because they really don’t want to hear or engage with the answer even when they’re the ones who asked in the first place.

For other readers, they likely wanted to hear a happy ending – that my response transformed Jason’s thinking, finally made him understand white privilege and systemic racism, and that he was now fighting the good fight like any good-hearted, newly-aware person would do. I didn’t want to upset those readers either, even though — let’s be real — there’s no magic post anywhere that’s going to do all that.

But I’ll admit, a deeper response from him would have been nice for me to hear, too.

Today, I am happy to finally be able to share that deeper response — in the premiere episode of Do The Work – a new podcast hosted by Brandon Kyle Goodman all about having these conversations.

The producers reached out to me and Jason this summer after my piece went around again post-George Floyd and the nationwide protests, and we finally came together to have the conversation we’ve never had. So instead of having me tell you his response secondhand, you now can hear it directly for yourself. Hope it satisfies!

Take care and all best, Lori

 

“Dear Lori”: My Black Answers to Even More Questions About White Privilege

“Dear Lori”: My Black Answers to Even More Questions About White Privilege

By goodblacknews on September 25, 2020
by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Editor-in-Chief

Before I get started with the Q&A, I’m going to share some backstory behind why I’ve decided to create this “Dear Lori” column for Good Black News:

Four years ago I wrote an essay called “What I Said When My White Friend Asked for My Black Opinion on White Privilege” that ended up going viral and getting re-published by several large outlets in 2016, 2017, 2018, and once again this summer.

Each time my white privilege piece circulates, I get a rush of emails, posts, messages, comments, tweets and DMs from new readers. Most are positive, some negative, some hilarious (between “laugh or cry,” I choose “laugh”) and inevitably, some questioning. I try my best to respond individually, but sometimes it’s way too overwhelming a task. Like during the last rush right after Christian Cooper, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and the nationwide protests.

I did find the energy in late May to write “A Letter to Friends Who Really Want to End Racism” on my personal Facebook page in an attempt to share my thoughts on how to move forward pro-actively. My sister (and GBN co-editor) Lesa encouraged me to publish it on GBN as well. I did, and that piece had its own extra flutter of internet life, too.

I texted Lesa to say her instincts were right again (in 2016 she predicted “What I Said…” would go viral before I posted it) and she responded in spotty text talk: You speak super Black pride and really wanna be woke white — needs to be shared!

Her words gave me a much-needed chuckle during a fraught pandemic shopping trip in a bare-shelved Whole Foods. They also helped crystallize my thoughts on what I might be able to uniquely contribute to the movement for equity and justice.

Regina King, Issa Rae, Billy Porter, Zendaya Among Record Number of Black Emmy Awards Nominees for 2020

Regina King, Issa Rae, Billy Porter, Zendaya Among Record Number of Black Emmy Awards Nominees for 2020

By goodblacknews on July 28, 2020

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson; FB: lorilakinhutcherson)

Record numbers of Black talent have been nominated by The Television Academy for the 72nd Emmy Awards. According to Variety.com, 34.3% of the nominees in the acting categories alone are Black.

There were 102 acting nominees this year for lead, supporting and guest categories for drama, comedy and limited series/TV movie. Black actors earned 35 of those slots (notably, Maya Rudolph earned two in the same category – nominated in the Guest Comedy Actress category for both “The Good Place” and “Saturday Night Live”).

Black nominees across all acting categories include Cicely Tyson, Billy Porter, Angela Bassett, Sterling K. Brown, Zendaya, Mahershala Ali, Anthony Anderson, Don Cheadle, Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, Andre Braugher, Giancarlo, Esposito, Regina King, Jeffrey Wright, Uzo, Aduba, Samira Wiley, William Jackson Parker, Phylicia Rashad, Jeremy Pope, Yvonne Orji, Wanda Sykes, Ron Cephas Jones, Thandie Newton, Laverne Cox, Eddie Murphy, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jovan Adepo, Tituss Burgess, Kenan Thompson, Louis Gossett Jr., Octavia Spencer and Kerry Washington.

In 2019, Black actors received 19.8% of the nominations, down from 2018’s 27.7%  — which was the previous highest percentage in the Academy’s history.

But the journey towards parity is far from over. In the group writing categories, the Outstanding Comedy, Limited Series and Variety Sketch Series only offered one nominee each, respectively, (“Insecure,” “Watchmen,” “A Black Lady Sketch Show”) for staffs with significant African-American representation. It’s worth noting that all three are HBO shows.

Black writers nominated in the individual writing categories include Dave Chappelle in the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special category (“Dave Chappelle: Sticks and Stones”) and Cord Jefferson (who shares the nomination with “Watchmen” co-writer Damon Lindelof) in the Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series category.

The individual directing categories fared better, with Stephen Williams nominated in the Directing, Drama category for “Watchmen,” Dime Davis in the Directing, Variety Series category for “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” Stan Lathan in the Directing a Variety Special category (“Dave Chappelle: Sticks and Stones”) and Nadia Hallgren (“Becoming”) in the Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/NonFiction Program category.

Other African-American nominations include Jemel McWilliams for Choreography (“The Oscars”); “Becoming” and “The Apollo” in the Documentary or Nonfiction Series category, “Kevin Hart: Don’t F**k This Up” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked” in the Unstructured Reality Program category; Karamo Brown (“Queer Eye”), Nicole Byer (“Nailed It”) and RuPaul (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) for Reality Host and double nominee Victoria Thomas for Casting, Comedy Series (“Insecure”) and Limited Series (“Watchmen”).

Those honored in the Cinematography Multi-Camera Series, Single Camera Series and Nonfiction categories, respectively, are John Simmons (“Family Reunion”),  Kira Kelly (“Insecure”) and Nadia Hallgren (“Becoming”).  It’s also worth noting that in the Outstanding Narration category, four of the five nominees are Black: Angela Bassett, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Chewitel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong’o.

The 72nd Emmy Awards show will air on ABC on September 20th. To see the full list of 2020 Emmy nominees, click here.

GBN’s Month of Stevie: Stevie Wonder’s Protest Music (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on May 31, 2020
Stevie Wonder takes a knee at Global Citizens Festival 2018 (photo: YouTube)

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Good Black News has been honoring Stevie Wonder‘s 70th birthday with posts and playlists all month long (links below). On this last day of May and in light of this past week’s events, GBN finds it only fitting to close out our celebration with some of the most powerful, enduring, soul-stirring music Stevie’s ever created and offered to this world – his protest music.

From “Living For The City” to “Big Brother” to “Black Man” to “Love’s In Need of Love Today” to “Happy Birthday” to “Pastime Paradise” – even his early covers of “Blowin’ in The Wind” and “A Place In The Sun” – Stevie Wonder has always used his artistry to protest racism and injustice while striving for healing, equity, love and “Higher Ground.”

Thank you, Stevie Wonder for using your heart, mind and genius to speak for the voiceless and fight on behalf of the oppressed. May your music continue to help fortify us for the long journey ahead:

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