RhondaNicole.com

"Music is the tie that binds." #BohèmeRockstar

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In 2017, my longtime music partner, Montrose Cunningham, aka Daddy Rockstar, and I were blessed to perform at our friend Anthony Frazier’s annual Prince celebration, Like Minded Individuals, in Houston. Of course it was bittersweet, being a little over a year since Prince’s passing. We performed a selection of tunes by Prince-related artists, including this favorite by The Family, “The Screams of Passion.”

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A re-imagining of my song “Mia,” which originally appeared on my EP ‘Nuda Veritas.’

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The lead single from my 2010 EP, ‘Nuda Veritas,’ “SoulLover”

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Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 30

The History of Black Music Month

On this, the final day of #BlackMusicMonth 2018, it’s only fitting to take a moment to talk about the origins of this national cultural observance, and its significance in an historical context. As much as June is about celebrating the music of the Black American experience and the artists who create it, the reason for the season, as we say, are the architects of the celebration. 

Black Music Month plays a pivotal role in programming across a multitude of major and independent Black media outlets. From traditional radio to Black-owned media platforms and those whose audiences are predominantly African American, this yearly event drives content and brings a rush of Black music scholars, journalists, and aficionados to the surface with opportunity after opportunity to join in the conversation about African Americans’ contribution to global pop culture. From Naima’s Music Sermon on Twitter, to the Grown Folks Music podcasts, to articles, listicles, and photo galleries in venerable publications (print and digital) like Essence, there is no shortage of thumb-stopping content during Black Music Month. And for that, we have a very special group of people to thank.

Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble, ambassadors of the Philadelphia sound. Gamble is one of the founders of Black Music Month

Created in 1979 by Grammy Award-winning songwriter, producer, and pioneering architect of the “Philadelphia sound,” Kenny Gamble (Gamble and Huff), Cleveland radio DJ Ed Wright, and radio, music, and media maven Dyana Williams, Black Music Month was officially recognized that year by then-president Jimmy Carter. However, no actual presidential proclamation recognizing Black Music Month existed until 2000, when Williams went to Democratic congressman Chaka Fattah of Philadelphia and Republican senator Arlen Spector to petition for an official bill citing June as Black Music Month. The bill was passed in Congress in 2000, and in 2009 President Obama changed the name to African American Music Appreciation Month.

Williams (pictured above) has been dubbed the “Mother of Black Music Month” and continues to be one of the observance’s most vocal advocates, not just during the month of June but throughout the entire year. Through her work with emerging artists--helping prepare them for life in the media spotlight, to her encyclopedic knowledge of Black music’s major players on stage and behind the boards (keenly displayed over the years on TV One’s groundbreaking series, Unsung), to her weekly R&B Battles on Philly’s WRNB, the dynamic co-founder of Black Music Month reminds music lovers from all walks of life that “Black music is American music. Never forget that!”

Happy #BlackMusicMonth, everyone. Let’s do it again next year.

--Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 29

Living Colour, Vivid

“This tweet aged well.” You see this comment commonly attached to retweets proclaiming an oft debated or contested outcome, at the point when the original poster’s prediction comes to pass. When we refer to music as timeless, it’s frequently due to the fact that certain elements of the work--its production, sound quality, sense of relevancy right now despite its place on the timeline of history--feel the same today as they did in the past. Nowhere is this idea of timelessness and aging well more evident than in Living Colour’s debut album, Vivid. 

Premiering in 1988, the double-platinum album came at the tail end of Ronald Reagan’s second term, and in the midst of the influx of crack cocaine into primarily under-served Black and Latinx communities, not to mention the rise of more socially and politically urgent hip-hop coming from groups such as Public Enemy and NWA. With the album’s first single, “Cult of Personality,” Living Colour brought the noise through unadulterated, unapologetic Black rock. The band’s members--vocalist Corey Glover, guitarist Vernon Reid, Muzz Skillings on bass, and Will Calhoun on drums--began playing together in the early ‘80s, making the rounds on New York City’s largely underground but extremely fertile Black rock scene (Reid is co-founder of the Black Rock Coalition, along with music journalist and tastemaker, Greg Tate). Reclaiming for themselves a subgenre of rock that had long been occupied by white bands, Living Colour quickly earned a coveted spot in heavy rotation on MTV. And while their audiences skewed mostly white and Black radio offered little, if any, support, the band continued to attract so-called “alternative” Black fans with whom the band’s punk-inspired metal edge resonated.

Living Colour laced Vivid with songs whose themes of dispossession and disillusion (”Middle Man,” “Which Way to America?”), racism and, more specifically, white fear of Black bodies and, even more granularly, white fear of Black men (”Funny Vibe”), and privilege (”Glamour Boys”) are eerily reflective of the conversations we’re continuing to have in 2018. In this current political climate, with a corrupt, racist, fascist, sexist, xenophobic, ableist, and homophobic administration actively and brazenly colluding with foreign governments to oppress pretty much anyone who isn’t wealthy, white, and male, Vivid stands as not only a commentary on late 20th century America but a foreshadowing of the world we would live in 30 years later. And as Black Twitter memeifies the likes of #BBQBecky and #PermitPatty, Vivid’s “Open Letter to a Landlord” encapsulates the era we’re in now, where white re-entry into predominantly Black and Latinx communities they’d initially fled (gentrification) displaces families, drives up rent and home prices, and places far too much reliance on unnecessary and potentially fatal police involvement to corral and control the people who’ve lived in these neighborhoods for decades.

What’s fascinating about Living Colour is that, despite their music being superficially “white,” it’s firmly rooted in the larger Black music tradition. Blending gospel, funk, soul, and even jazz, the band embodies the diversity of the African American lived experience through musical fusions that touch on topics explored in more readily-identified Black musical offerings.

They remain badass, continuing to release a string of critically-acclaimed albums including their latest, Shade.

--Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 28

Heritage Blues Orchestra, And Still I Rise

When we talk about the blues, the conversation typically calls to mind legacy artists such as Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith, or perhaps even B.B. King. And on the other hand, we may more closely associate modern blues with artists like Charlie Musselwhite or Joe Bonamassa. Despite its roots in the Black American cultural experience and musical aesthetic, the blues, not unlike its progeny, rock n roll, has become less and less prominent amongst contemporary Black musicians, bands, singers, and songwriters. That doesn’t mean, however, that African American artists aren’t recording and performing the blues, or that the genre has become completely...er...gentrified.

With their 2012 album, And Still I Rise, Heritage Blues Orchestra re-introduced the blues to a 21st century audience by way of their fresh interpretations of well-known tunes. The group, comprised of multi-instrumentalist Bill Sims, Jr. and his daughter, singer/songwriter Chaney Sims, and guitarist Junior Mack, formed in 2009. Rounding out the orchestra are drummer Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, Vincent Bucher on harmonica, and sax player Bruno Wilhelm. And Still I Rise explores the intersections of blues, gospel, and classic R&B, taking its queues from a diverse cross-section of distinct styles--from the juke joint to the streets of New Orleans, and from the ancestral wails and calls to the uptown jazz clubs. The album’s title, inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem of the same name, is a fitting nod to resurrection as Heritage Blues Orchestra breathes new life into music at the heart and soul of American history.

The band has toured extensively over the past few years, primarily overseas, but with a decent number of stateside performances. Heritage Blues Orchestra has delivered the African American musical experience to enthusiastic audiences at blues and jazz festivals throughout Canada and Europe, and as far as India. Closer to home, they’ve graced stages in New York City, where they’re based, as well as Baton Rouge, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and San Antonio. They’ve yet to release a full-length follow up to their Grammy-nominated debut album, but their searing live performances are enough to keep us satiated until the next project arrives.

--Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 27

Give the Drummer Some

Yesterday’s #BlackMusicMonth installment paid tribute to (an in no way exhaustive list of) Black women bassists. Today we’re turning our attention to some supabad sistahs who are nice on the kit. Just as female bass players are not necessarily an anomaly, female drummers are also not entirely uncommon. Still, like the bass, the drums tend to be more generally associated with male musicians. These women on the skins bring a passion and ferocity that leaves audiences awestruck. 

Sheila E.

Oakland-raised Sheila Escovedo needs no introduction. Her resumé and longevity in the music business speak for themselves, as does her distinctive signature sound. Pulling from her musical family’s Latin jazz roots, the artist who would come to be known as Sheila E. began her musical journey at the age of 3, when she began mimicking her father’s (legendary Latin jazz percussionist Pete Escovedo) playing. By 5, Sheila had played her first gig, and was quickly developing her skills and technique on drums and percussion. By her teens, Sheila was working professionally not only with her dad, but would go on to share the stage with George Duke, Marvin Gaye, and of course, Prince. With Prince, Sheila recorded her first solo album, The Glamorous Life. She became Prince’s musical director, in charge of his Sign O’ the Times and Lovesexy tours. Post-Prince, Sheila continued to blaze trails as a performer, composer, recording artist, and band leader. Her latest album, Iconic: Message 4 America, is a collection of covers of soulful protest songs from the 1960s and ‘70s, including Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everyday People” and The Staple Singers’ “Respect Yourself.” The album also includes Sheila’s version of Prince’s “America.”

Maria “Poni” Silver

As a founding member of and drummer for the rock band The Ettes, Maria “Poni” Silver set stages aflame during the band’s high-energy live performances. The band, which formed in the early 2000s, includes Silver along with Lindsay “Coco” Hames and Jeremy “Jem” Cohen. The Ettes toured with acts such as the Go-Go’s, Kings of Leon, and The Black Keys, and released a string of full-length albums and EPs throughout the mid-’00s into the early ‘10s. Now based in Nashville, the Dominican-American Silver pivoted from life on the road to fashion, launching her line, Black by Maria Silver, in 2013. 

Cora Coleman-Dunham

Houston native Cora Coleman-Dunham, aka Queen Cora, has blessed the stage with Prince (along with her husband, bassist Josh Dunham), Beyoncé, and jazz greats like Yusef Lateef. She began playing percussion in her early teens and then transitioned to drums, honing her craft at Houston’s Kashmere High School. From there, the queen made her way to Howard University, where she studied with former Quincy Jones collaborator Grady Tate. Her years at Howard also included performances with the Washington Symphony and the Washington Ballet. Coleman-Dunham went on to slay Guitar Center’s Drum Off competition in 2003, and the following year joined Prince’s band as his full-time drummer. She’s continued to rock the house with Frank McComb, Goapele, and Ledisi, among countless others, and is the house drummer for BET’s annual Black Girls Rock! celebration. She’s also launched her sustainable construction company in Houston, Building Simple. 

Cindy Blackman Santana

A master of jazz, rock, funk, and Latin rhythms, drummer Cindy Blackman Santana got her start busking on the streets of New York City. She released her first projects in the 1980s with her band, the Cindy Blackman Quartet, setting the stage for her signature fusion of jazz and rock. Known for her kinetic live performances and sultry cool, Blackman Santana has put in serious time with legends like Hugh Masakela, Pharoah Sanders, Cassandra Wilson, and Angela Bofill, but is probably best known as longtime drummer for Lenny Kravtiz, with whom she recorded and toured for 15 years. She’s also leader of her own band, Another Lifetime, whose 2010 album of the same name is a nod to her friend and mentor Tony Williams.  In 2010, Blackman Santana took up the kit for Carlos Santana, whom she’d met years before while out on the road with Lenny. Shortly after she became his drummer, Santana asked her to be his wife, and proposed on stage during a show. Blackman Santana continues to tour and record with Santana, whose long-running Las Vegas residency picks up again in the fall. She’s also recently released a single, “Fun Party Splash.”    

A special shout out goes to my friend, Danielle “Pockett” Brown, with whom I had the pleasure of performing and recording for more than a decade in Dallas. She’s the one who keeps in funky on my album, Nuda Veritas. 

--Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 26

Sistahs with the Bottom

Bass. It’s essential to the groove. It’s the funk that rattles the windows in your car, the rumble that causes your hips to swivel. It’s the thump, the elongated groan the emerges when fingers slide up and down the strings. It’s often mixed down beneath the other instruments, but it stands on its own as the star of the show in the right hands. And while it is most commonly the domain of male musicians, there are more than a few women--and particularly, Black women--who hold down the bottom.

Esperanza Spalding

Perhaps one of the best-known Black woman contemporary bass players is Grammy Award-winning recording artist Esperanza Spalding. The prodigious musician began playing violin at the age of 5, and quickly picked up guitar and bass. She released her first album, Junjo, in 2006, followed in ‘08 by Esperanza. 2010′s Chamber Music Society is the album which earned her the Grammy for Best New Artist. She was the first jazz artist ever to win the award. After its follow-up, Radio Music Society, two years later, Spalding made a slight pivot from her jazz-forward recordings to embrace her alter ego, Emily, on 2016′s Emily’s D+Evolution. In late 2017, Spalding embarked on an ambitious Facebook Live project, live streaming the writing and recording of her latest album, Exposure, for 72 uninterrupted hours.

Esperanza Spalding has performed all over the globe, at the [Obama] White House, and has shared the stage and studio with Patti Austin, Janelle Monàe, Lalah Hathaway, and Robert Glasper, among countless others. 

Gail Ann Dorsey

Gail Ann Dorsey began her career in London in the 1980s, playing with the likes of Boy George and working as a session musician. The Philadelphia native released her first solo effort, The Corporate World, on Warner Bros. in 1988, and followed it with Rude Blue (Island, 1992) and 2003′s I Used to Be (Sad Bunny Records). In 1995, she teamed up with David Bowie, serving as bass player and vocalist in his band until his passing in 2016. Most recently, Dorsey’s been laying the bottom down alongside Lenny Kravitz, touring with him since 2015. She’s also recorded and toured with Gwen Stefani, Seal, Joan Osborne, Tears for Fears, and a cavalcade of artists across a broad range of styles and genres.

Rhonda Smith

Canadian-born bassist, singer, and songwriter Rhonda Smith is probably best known for her years playing with Prince’s NPG. But her journey began in Montréal, where she began playing around town in local rock bands and eventually with Canadian musicians such as Claude Dubois and Daniel Lavoie. A chance encounter with Sheila E. while at a music conference in Germany set her on her purple path, as she slipped Ms. Escovedo her demo after learning Prince was auditioning musicians for his new band. Not long after, Smith was in Minneapolis to record Prince’s Emancipation album. She also appeared on the NPG’s New Power Soul, and toured with Prince for a decade. While still a member of the NPG, Smith released two solo albums: 2000′s Intellipop and 2006′s RS2. Smith went on to play with Jeff Beck when her tenure with Prince ended, and she continues to tour extensively with Beck’s band. She teamed up with fellow purple university alumna Sheila E., keyboardist Cassandra O’Neal, guitarist Kat Dyson, and sax player Candy Dulfer to form the all-woman power band C.O.E.D., and fronts her own band, Rhonda Smith and Karma Deuce.

Rhonda Smith has been cited as one of the best bass players of all time by a number of music publications, and has graced the cover of Bass Player magazine and been featured in dozens of others.

Nik West

With her signature multicolored bass clef-shaped coif and Labelle-esque costumes, Nik West is as flamboyant as she is funky. Her YouTube videos have garnered millions of views as they showcase her remarkable dexterity with her instrument, not to mention her soulful vocal chops. With a resumé that includes musical gods like Quincy Jones and Prince, and comparisons to Larry Graham and Marcus Miller, West combines exuberant showwomanship, ecstatic funk, and rebellious rock and soul into one concise, disciplined package. West has set stages aflame alongside the one and only Bootsy Collins, country band Sugarland, and Macy Gray, and counts the Eurythmics’ John Stewart and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler among her adoring fans. West struts her stuff with the NPG Hornz in LiV Warfield’s video, “Why Do You Lie?,” and partnered with former Michael Jackson guitarist Orianthi for the tune “My Relationship.” 

Meshell Ndegeocello

Meshell Ndegeocello’s soul-filled, brooding, meditative bass is distinctive. You know her groove when you hear it. Whether it comes in the form of “If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)” or Nina Simone’s “Four Women,” it stops you in your tracks. Meshell has worked with a who’s who of musical luminaries from multiple genres: John Cougar Mellancamp, Sinéad O’Connor, Toshi Reagon, Marcus Miller...the list is seemingly without end. her latest album, Ventriloquism, is a throwback roller skate jam that reimagines some of our favorite R&B songs from the ‘80s and ‘90s. The set features Meshell’s interpretations of Force MDs’ “Tender Love,” George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog,” Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam’s “I Wonder if I Take You Home,” and TLC’s “Waterfalls.” 

--Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 25

Gary Clark, Jr., GC Jr. 

Throughout this #BlackMusicMonth series, I’ve talked at length about the first time I heard a certain artist. It goes without saying that a first encounter with an artist and their music leaves a lasting impression, and sets the stage for the experiences to come as you either commit to following their career as it unfolds or retracing your steps to discover their work prior to your point of entry; or you hang out in their orbit for a bit until something--a change in their sound or look, their disappearance from the scene, other life events--shifts your focus and you find yourself asking one day, “What ever happened to...?” So this piece about the now-iconic Gary Clark, Jr. also begins with an origin story and his song, “Outro.” 

Late summer 2010, I was on a bit of a personal music high myself. My single, “SoulLover,” had been added to the lineup on Dallas’ independent radio station, KKXT, in July; I’d just performed in front of 80,000 people at Michael Franti’s Power to the Peaceful festival in San Francisco; and a week or so after that, I’d randomly wound up being cast in the music video for Franti’s single, “Hey Hey Hey” after Spearhead’s performance at the House of Blues in Dallas. The following week, I found myself once again at HOB, this time to see Citizen Cope. The crowd was relatively thin when I arrived, and although I’d usually take advantage of securing a spot at the front of the stage before the space filled up, for some reason, that night, I decided to hang out by the sound board. The lights dimmed and a small group of musicians began filing onto the stage. Ah, the opening act. Gary Clark, Jr. Who is that? With absolutely not one iota of fanfare, barely an introduction, the band launched into its first song, the aforementioned “Outro.” Off to the side, almost on the periphery of the stage, was a slender Black man on guitar. He was slaying it, in this most unassuming, laid back, as if he really wasn’t there kind of way. I dug it. I dug it so much, I sprinted out into the lobby and immediately bought the CD. Then I slipped back into the theatre, where the band was still in the midst of this languid, bluesy tune. As they band continued to play, I remember wondering who this Gary Clark, Jr. guy was and when he’d come out because this was a really long intro and at some point someone’s gotta step up to the mic and say something, oh wait, is this an instrumental? WAIT. Is he the little kid on the CD cover? Sure enough, after another song or so, the brotha off to the side playing guitar moved to center stage and introduced himself. It was the most anti-rock star moment I’d ever experienced, but it was so badass.

Gary Clark, Jr.’s 2010 EP, GC Jr., kicked off what has become one of the most epic journeys to rock stardom in recent memory. Released on the independent label, Hotwire Unlimited (Clark also released two earlier projects in 2004 and 2008 on the label), the 8-song project included raw, early versions of “Bright Lights,” “Things are Changin’,” “Please Come Home,” and “The Life,” all of which would get a bit of a spit shine for inclusion on his full-length Warner Bros. debut, Blak & Blu, in 2012. The Austin, TX-born musician had already laid a solid foundation beginning in his early teens, making the rounds on Austin’s legendary local music scene and eventually playing with such luminaries as Jimmie Vaughn. By the time GC Jr. came out, he’d already played festivals like the Monterey Jazz Festival and shared stages with blues and rock heavyweights B.B. King, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and fellow Austinite, Doyle Bramhall II. 

This makes Clark’s performance that night at the House of Blues all that more intriguing; after all, he was clearly no novice, having played with a who’s who of rock royalty. Still, the way he took the stage that night, damn near not taking it at all and seeming reluctant to do so, added an element of mystery. Perhaps it was Clark’s way of getting the audience to focus on the music rather than the spectacle. Compared to the John Varvatos threads he’s come to sport in recent years, the Gary Clark, Jr. I saw play that night in 2010 looked like he’d rolled out of a cramped van, coming off of 2 hours sleep. Still, it was enough to grab and keep my attention (and make me shell out cash to buy his EP on the strength of one song). Warner Bros. soon came calling, re-releasing a stripped down version of GC Jr. 

Warner Bros. soon came calling, re-releasing a stripped down version of GC Jr. The original version of the EP, however, is where we truly see Clark’s mastery not only of blues and rock, but of soul and R&B, all in one. Clark’s Texas roots are on full display throughout the record, offering a strong reminder of the state’s unique influence on Southern rock n roll.   

Clark continued to tour and collaborate with other artists, such as Alicia Keys and Sheryl Crow, and Rolling Stone named him “Best Young Gun” in its Best of Rock issue in 2011. When Blak & Blu premiered in 2012, Clark was well on his way to becoming a household name.

Clark has released a steady stream of albums since GC Jr. and Blak & Blu, including a variety of EPs and mixtapes based on Blak & Blu, live albums, and 2015′s The Story of Sonny Boy Slim. He blazes the stage at Harlem’s Paradise in season 2 of the Netflix Marvel series, Luke Cage.  

--Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 24

Vintage Trouble, The Bomb Shelter Sessions

In 2012, just a couple months after quitting my job of nearly 9 years as Tom Joyner’s personal assistant to strike out and pursue my music career full-time, I decided to spend a week in New York to celebrate my birthday--as one does when they’re newly unemployed. My sojourn began with Joan Osborne at City Winery, followed by a night of theatre to see my dear friend, Cedric Neal, in Porgy & Bess; I had a gig on my actual birthday, performing at Marcos Luis’ One Mic Nite; I treated myself to an unexpectedly expensive but well-worth every dime night out at the Carlyle to see Bettye Lavette; took in an off-Broadway play with a friend; and by week’s end, was ready to rock out with Van Hunt at the Studio at Webster Hall. That night, I met up with another musician friend who happened to be in town from Dallas, and we waited patiently for the show to start, chatting about upcoming gigs, shows we were going to see, songs we were working on, etc. The opener was a band called Vintage Trouble, and while neither of us was familiar with them, we figured they had to be good if they were warming up the stage ahead of Van. 

We. Were. Not. Ready.

The band damn near exploded onto the stage, kicking off their set with an insanely frenetic number and keeping the same energy throughout their entire performance. We were floored, and immediately smitten. When the band finished their set and announced that we were all officially TroubleMakers (their name for their fans), my friend and I cheered like fools. And then we tried to figure out whose idea it was to have that band open for Van Hunt, because the dynamics were so vastly different.

The LA-based collective, comprised of guitarist Nalle Colt, Richard Danielson on drums, and Rick Barrio Dill on drums, is fronted by a lightening bolt in human form, Ty Taylor. With their undeniable nods to rock n roll’s roots, Vintage Trouble kicked down the doors with their 2011 debut, The Bomb Shelter Sessions. Taylor’s gravelly, soulful voice makes him a bit of an heir apparent to Living Colour’s Corey Glover, fusing the screams, shouts, runs, and croons handed down from Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Chuck Berry and James Brown. Their unique brand of rhythm and soul-filled rock also places them alongside classic rock acts such as the Rolling Stones, and their throwback sound drips with sweaty sensuality, not unlike that of the band’s Black rock and soul forebears. Vintage Trouble’s look is decidedly hipster, but not in the eye roll-inducing way you may imagine; their slim suits and string ties belie the relaxed, welcoming vibe the members exude, and certainly don’t prepare you for their high-octane live performances. 

Still from the 2017 John Varvatos Spring/Summer campaign

The guys began playing out together around LA in 2010, after a short string of rehearsals to work out material. The Bomb Shelter Sessions, recorded over a three-day period, was the result of these rehearsals and early performances. The album opens with the first single, the wild “Blues Hand Me Down,” demonstrating the band’s dexterity with classic blues and rock. The album produced two additional singles, the pensive “Nobody Told Me” and “Nancy Lee,” Taylor’s tribute to his mother as told by his father’s recounting of the moment he fell in love with her. Other notable tracks on the album are “Jezzebella” and “Total Strangers,” both of which pull Vintage Trouble’s sexual playfulness to the surface. 

Vintage Trouble is nice with the slow jams, too, with songs like “Gracefully” and the politically-charged “Not Alright By Me.” The jewel in The Bomb Shelter Sessions’ crown, however, is “Run Outta You,” an eight-minute jawn that finds Taylor wailing, begging, and pleading, and Colt’s guitar riffs almost giving Prince’s a run for their money. If you can listen to this song without hollering, “Sang, Ty!,” then you need a pulse check. Stat.

Vintage Trouble followed their breakout debut with an ever-evolving tour schedule that placed them in the heart of music festivals around the world, appearances on late night television, opening for the Stones and The Who, and headlining their own sold-out shows throughout the states as well as overseas. In 2015, they dropped their sophomore LP, 1 Hopeful Rd., and continue to make trouble on stages this summer in Europe. Their U.S. dates are few and far between at this point, but if they happen to roll through your city, it’s guaranteed to be a show you won’t want to miss. Ty Taylor’s solo project, Nouveau Mid-Century Romance Songbook, was released earlier this summer and features Taylor’s original take on mid-century jazz standards.

--Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 23

Seal, Human Being

If you were alive and moderately conscious during the early 1990s, you couldn’t escape the pop phenomenon that was Seal’s “Crazy.” The first single from the British singer/songwriter’s 1991 eponymous inaugural album was produced by Trevor Horn and became an immediate summer hit. With a brooding melody and pulsating pop/rock rhythm, the song was appropriately introspective for the time, said to have been inspired by both the fall of the Berlin Wall and the murders of Chinese citizens in Tiananmen Square. The song’s video featured a stark white backdrop with Seal dressed in all white, his gorgeous skin standing out against it with almost a bas-relief effect. In other scenes, he’s dressed in all black, still against the same background, with a multicultural group of dancers who look like they’ve just stepped off the set of Madmax Beyond Thunderdome running across the screen. “Crazy” went into heavy rotation on MTV and made the London-born artist, née Henry Olusegun Adeola Samuel, a bonafide rock star. 

Seal’s second album, Seal II, released in 1994 and produced the singles “Prayer for the Dying” and “Newborn Friend.” Also on the album was “Kiss from a Rose,” which received a bit of a facelift and was placed on the soundtrack for the feature film, Batman Forever. In its second iteration, the song bested “Crazy” as Seal’s most commercially successful single and earned him a Grammy for Record of the Year.   

With his unique approach to pop and rock and occasional comparisons to fellow British artist, Sade, Seal’s next album, 1998′s Human Being, seemed to take the contemplative nature of his songwriting to an even more profound level. Never one to veer into the happy-go-lucky bubblegum end of the spectrum, this third studio release maintained the energy of the first two albums and added more vulnerability to the mix. The title track was reportedly inspired by the soul-crushing murders of Tupac and Biggie. The album’s cover art presents Seal in profile, nude, hunched over with his arms and hands extended almost as though he is mimicking a supernatural being. It’s visually and energetically dark, enigmatic, somber. 

Human Being is rumored to be largely about Seal’s breakup with supermodel and business mogul Tyra Banks; whether that part is true or not, the album absolutely tugs at the heart and finds Seal in conversation about the myriad aspects of loving and losing and the tension between holding on and setting free. More than anything, the album encapsulates the notions of human frailty, fragility, and uncertainty. Nowhere is this more evident than on tunes like “Lost My Faith,” where he sings, “a stranger, so it seems/I lie here for your touch/but what I’d like to know/is why do I want you so much?” before wailing, “all through my life I have waited for you!” Elsewhere on the album, Seal rips his heart open and spills its contents onto the table with “When a Man is Wrong.” Sweeping and dramatic, the song’s simple chorus, “when a man is wrong, facing all the mistakes that he’s done/there can be no right” plays as both an admission of the aforementioned frailty, fragility, and uncertainty and a plea for forgiveness. As he croons “oh, my friend, I sometimes get things wrong to get things right,” it’s a testimony to which we’re all a witness. 

By far one of my favorite songs on the album is the stunningly beautiful “Just Like You Said.” My first encounter with the song came in 2004 via Amel Larrieux, who performed it during her set at the Blue Note in NYC with her daughter, Sky. A few years later, Montrose and I added the song to our acoustic set, playing it often during our late night gigs at Dallas’ Absinthe Lounge. Pensive and soulful, Seal sings of being “so unsure,” and “loving you even if it’s a fool that waits in vain.” If you’ve never been in this space he so eloquently describes, keep living, and loving.

Seal’s continued to build a discography that expands upon his earlier works while remaining true to the sound that established him from the very beginning. His critically-acclaimed volumes of soul and R&B tunes (Soul and Soul 2), along with 2017′s Standards, demonstrate the artist’s mastery of arranging and reinterpreting well-known songs. His post-’90s self-titled albums (Seal 7 being his most recent, appearing in 2015), explore familiar territory anew with original material. Still, Human Being remains Seal’s most raw, unfiltered outing.

--Rhonda Nicole 

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 22

Corinne Bailey Rae, Corinne Bailey Rae

Music sets a place, establishes a time, cements a moment. For so many music lovers, a certain song triggers memories so vivid and clear, it’s as though they occurred just yesterday when, in reality, years may have passed since. Such is the experience I have every time I hear Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Like a Star.” It was spring of 2006, one morning as I was getting ready for work. My eldest sister, Dawn, whose birthday is today, had had surgery and so my mom and grandmother and I essentially wound up moving in with her over the course of several weeks while she healed. I had taken up residence on the couch in her living room, so when I awakened in the mornings I’d click on the TV at the lowest volume possible, flipping between GMA and usually VH1 Soul while I got dressed. 

One particular morning as I was putting the finishing touches on the day’s look, I was struck by this soft, tender voice wafting from the TV. On the screen was a lithe, curly-haired woman with doe eyes and delicate hands. As she sang and strummed her guitar, she smiled, eyes closed as though she were being transported to another time. The song itself was beautiful–soulful, intimate, slowly moving with a pace not unlike that of lovers rustling underneath covers at first light. As the video ended, I jotted down the artist’s name and, not long after I arrived at my desk, made my way to Amazon to order her debut, self-titled CD.

To my delight, the CD arrived within days and I immediately declared it my new favorite thing. What I didn’t know at the time was that I had actually ordered an earlier version of the album that had been shipped from the UK; after its initial debut and exceptional performance, the album was re-packaged and re-released to even greater critical acclaim, and a newer, slicker version of the “Like a Star” video followed. 

The British singer/songwriter grew up singing in church (albeit, not necessarily the Black gospel tradition so often associated with Black artists), and eventually formed a rock group, Helen, with a group of young women. Inspired by women-led bands like Veruca Salt and L7, Rae and Helen performed in and around her hometown of Leeds in hopes of picking up enough momentum to land a record deal. They came close, but ultimately the opportunity evaporated and the band broke up. Rae returned to the drawing board and, some years later, caught a second wind when she signed with Global Talent Publishing. After releasing a duet with Mark Hill of Artful Dodger, “Young and Foolish,” Rae found herself once again on the precipice of something big and this time, the door opened and she walked right through. Corinne Bailey Rae debuted at #1 on the UK charts and soared to #4 on the Billboard 200, where it stayed for nearly 2 years. Rae earned four Grammy nominations for her first album, including Best New Artist, and while she didn’t take home any trophies, she no doubt made a major impact.

Corinne Bailey Rae delivered three additional singles: the chart-topping “Put Your Records On,” “Trouble Sleeping,” and “I’d Like To.” The latter two singles performed moderately well, but “Put Your Records On” remains Rae’s biggest hit. 

Other standout tracks on the album include the sultry, meditative “Til It Happens to You,” ‘70s throwback “Call Me When You Get This,” and the hopelessly romantic “Breathless.”

It would be nearly 4 years after the release of her first album before Corinne Bailey Rae returned with a second; following her contribution to Herbie Hancock’s Joni Mitchell tribute River: The Joni Letters (for which Rae won a Grammy), and the sudden death of her husband, Jason Rae, in 2008, Rae retreated somewhat. She emerged anew in 2010 with The Sea, songs deeply influenced by her journey through loss, grief, and renewal (the album also came on the heels of my sister Dawn’s death at the end of 2009, making it yet another of Corinne Bailey Rae’s albums I associate with her). 2011′s The Love EP, with its Grammy Award-winning cover of Bob Marley’s classic, “Is This Love,”  followed. Rae’s most recent album, 2016′s The Heart Speaks in Whispers, is an effervescent collection of songs about love that pushes Rae into a new creative space with vivid visuals and an even more passionate approach to songwriting.

–Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 21

Sly Stone

Any conversation about modern American music--and distinctly Black music genres like funk, soul, rock, and R&B--that doesn’t include Sly Stone is egregiously incomplete. In fact, one can’t discuss the Summer of Love, Woodstock, or even the advent of hip-hop and not include Sly and the Family Stone as a pivotal presence in these historic moments. And although the band is often noted for its multicultural, multi-ethnic, mixed gender make-up, it’s important to remember that the music they created is firmly rooted in the African American cultural and musical aesthetic.

With their 1968 hit “Dance to the Music,” Sly and the Family Stone made it known that they had come to take us higher with music that not only addressed the social and political urgencies of their era, but to uplift audiences around the world with songs whose messages of peace, love, and empowerment weren’t lost in their irresistible rhythms and melodies. Emerging onto the San Francisco music scene at the height of protests against the ongoing war in Vietnam as well as the Civil Rights Movement, Sly and the Family Stone disrupted the flower power movement that situated white artists at its core with pure, uncut funk. Their 1969 debut album, Stand!, was like nothing anyone had ever experienced before.

Punctuated by Larry Graham’s rich baritone and thunderous bass playing; Cynthia Robinson’s piercing trumpet sounds; Gregg Errico’s pocket-tight drumming; Jerry Martini’s soul-filled, jazz-influenced sax; his brother, Freddie Stewart, on guitar and sisters Rose and Vanetta Stewart on vocals, Sly and the Family Stone pushed their agenda of racial unity with songs like “Everyday People” and “Everybody is a Star.” And songs such as “Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey” became a rallying cry of sorts that galvanized both Black and white audiences around this notion of tolerance and acceptance, and blazing new trails in civil and political discourse.

While earlier albums teemed with optimism that countered the social and political upheaval happening across the globe, 1971′s There’s a Riot Goin’ On marked a significant turning point for Sly and the Family Stone. Sly had long been the subject of criticism by some members of the Black Power movement, who took issue with the fact that he included white musicians in his band and pointed to his predominantly white audience. The band had, by that time, begun to rupture internally, as increased drug use, interpersonal conflicts, and creative differences frayed the members’ relationships. As a result of these issues, There’s a Riot Goin’ On wound up being almost exclusively Sly, with minimal input and performances from the other band members. Despite the band’s unraveling, personnel changes, and rapidly declining reputation as various members--Sly included--began to miss performances or, if they did show up, barely put on anything resembling a decent show, Sly and the Family Stone released two more albums (Fresh and Small Talk) before finally calling it quits in the mid-’70s.

With the Family Stone no longer recording as a unit, Sly Stone released a slew of solo albums on Epic and Warner Bros. in the late 1970s; however, his drug addiction continued to derail his career. A collaboration with George Clinton in the early ‘80s promised to open new avenues for Sly, but was ultimately cut short when Clinton and P-Funk parted ways with Warner Bros. Sly eventually faded from the scene, emerging every now and then for guest appearances (Jesse Johnson’s “Crazay”), but rarely surfacing long enough to re-establish himself. He released a handful of singles towards the end of the 1980s, but hasn’t released any new music since.

In 1993, Sly and the Family Stone were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and myriad hip-hop, soul, R&B, pop, and rock artists have covered and sampled the band’s music throughout the decades. After years spent in relative obscurity, Sly joined the band in a performance at the 2007 Grammys, sporting a mohawk and shiny suit perfect for a man whose musical gifts seemed extra-terrestrial. A few years later, Sly and George Clinton were honored at the MojaMoja Pre-Grammy Brunch, each awarded with the Vanguard Award. 

--Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 20

Bilal, 1st Born Second

A bit of a confession. I first paid attention to singer, songwriter, composer, and producer Bilal because he reminded me of my best guy friend: deceptively calm and reserved demeanor, but wildly intense, vivid, and bright, with clear brown eyes that conveyed even more than the words falling from his mouth. In the summer of 2001, 7 months into my year-long adventure in Osaka, Japan and after having read profiles about him in Vibe and other reputable music mags of the day, I finally had a chance to experience in totality what the album’s inaugural single, “Soul Sista,” had hinted at just months before.

Trained in jazz and classical music performance at New York’s prestigious School of Jazz at the New School, Bilal began making the rounds in the late ‘90s, slipping into the burgeoning Roots Crew’s jam sessions in Philadelphia and quickly establishing himself as an intoxicating, unpredictable performer. This was the era of D’Angelo, Badu, Jill Scott, Dilla, and countless others leading the charge in the early days of neo-soul, and while Bilal was a bit younger than his musical contemporaries he was no less determined to claim as much territory for himself as possible. This wouldn’t be an impossible feat; Bilal demonstrated mastery of his craft early on, even as subsequent years as a professional recording artist would lead to even greater artistry and discipline.   

1st Born Second arrived in summer 2001 to critical acclaim and signaled a promising debut for the artist. Guest appearances from some of hip-hop’s finest, such as Common and Mos Def (”Reminisce”), and production by Dr. Dre (”Fast Lane,” “Sally”) and the aforementioned J-Dilla, not to mention Raphael Saadiq, fueled the project’s momentum and earned Bilal a steadily growing and loyal audience. Comparisons to Prince, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, and other legacy artists were unavoidable but not completely unwarranted. Bilal’s expert incorporation of tension as a songwriting and performance tool shines through on “When Will You Call,” and “Queen of Sanity” would have been at home on disc 2 of the Purple Yoda’s Emancipation.

For better or worse, one of the album’s standout tracks and a favorite amongst Bilal’s longtime fans is “Sometimes,” penned by Bilal, Questlove, and James Poyser. A dramatic, somewhat comical journey through a man’s inner monologue that emerges via his outside voice, “Sometimes” captures the restraint, loss of control, love, borderline hate, frustration, and elation most couples experience. It’s the theme song for the relationship dynamics that govern sex, commitment, lives shared and sometimes unbalanced. 

Despite the overall critical and commercial success of his first album, Bilal would find himself in the all too familiar quagmire that is creative conflict with his label, Interscope. His highly-anticipated second album, Love For Sale, never received proper promotion and, although leaked on the internet and swiftly downloaded by those in the know, wasn’t officially released. Setbacks be damned, Bilal continued to perform as a solo artist and has to hold some kind of record for the projects he’s appeared on with other artists (Zap Mama, Solange, The Roots, Robert Glasper, Kendrick Lamar [which scored him a Grammy], and the list goes on and on...and on). 

Because the universe is occasionally merciful to us mere mortals, Bilal returned in full form with 2010′s Airtight’s Revenge, followed by 2013′s A Love Surreal and his latest, 2015′s In Another Life.  

1st Born Second’s ambitious mix of R&B, soul, hip-hop, funk, jazz-inspired elements, and more than a passing nod to gospel remains a timeless foreshadowing of what would come from this dynamic, ever-evolving music creator who leaves you pondering what he will do next.

--Rhonda Nicole 

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 19

Texas Musicians

June 19, commonly known as Juneteenth, marks the date in 1865 when enslaved African Americans in Texas received word of Emancipation--which, of course, had happened two years prior. The Union Army arrived in Galveston, TX to announce that Lincoln had abolished slavery, ending the nearly 3-year stand-off of sorts that had kept Blacks in the state enslaved due to there not being a pronounced Union presence in the area. It wasn’t until General Lee’s retreat that the Union soldiers were able to establish themselves more forcefully there. As news spread that freedom had finally come, reactions ranged from celebratory to anxious, with men, women, and children who had no claim to property unsure of where they would--or could--go. Juneteenth was first recognized by the state of Texas as an official holiday in 1980, thanks to state representative Al Edwards. The date is widely celebrated not only in Texas and neighboring Oklahoma, but also in cities like Oakland, LA, Vegas, and Washington, D.C., and the ABC comedy Black-ish dedicated an entire musical episode to the holiday. 

Music is by far one of Texas’ most important contributions to American and global culture, and Black Texas artists and musicians have historically blazed trails across multiple genres. Pop culture tastemakers like Dallas’ Erykah Badu and contemporary gospel pioneer Kirk Franklin, and Houston natives Beyoncé and Solange certainly come to mind; Austin’s Gary Clark, Jr. has moved from local obscurity into international limelight; Ft. Worth native Leon Bridges is at the center of the soul revolution; and Geto Boys, Chamillionaire, and Pimp C established Houston as a bonafide hip-hop mecca, with Khalid, Travis Scott, and Christian artist Lecrae following close in their footsteps. 

Celebrate the musical greatness that emanates from the Lone Star State with a closer look at a few of Texas’ most notable artists.

Archie Bell and the Drells

Originating from Houston, Archie Bell and the Drells were soul staples signed to Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International Records, and hit it big in 1968 with their song “Tighten Up.”  

Roger Boykin

Jazz, blues, and soul musician and educator, Roger Boykin, has performed with some of the biggest names in jazz, including David “Fathead” Newman. In 1967, Boykin founded Soultex Records, and was one of the local artists responsible for creating a viable space for Dallas-area Black musicians to perform, record, and distribute their music. As an instructor at the famed Booker T. Washington High School for Performing and Visual Arts (alma mater of Badu, Roy Hargrove, and yours truly, among others), Boykin has molded hundreds of aspiring instrumentalists, songwriters, and composers, gifting them with discipline and confidence.

RC & the Gritz, Kirk Thurmond and the Millennials, and Raphael and IvorY JeaN

As a Dallas native, I first began my journey as a professional singer/songwriter performing at various spots around the city with my music partner, Montrose. When we weren’t playing our own gigs, we occasionally had a chance to check out some of our fellow local artists, like RC & the Gritz and Raphael and IvorY JeaN.  Kirk Thurmond & The Millennials emerged on the local scene a few years later, and all three bands continue to make noise within the city limits and well beyond.

N’Dambi

As Erykah Badu’s star began to rise in the mid-’90s, so did that of her background vocalist and collaborator, N’Dambi. With a rich, sultry voice that served as a perfect counterpoint to Badu’s signature twang, N’Dambi released her debut album, Little Lost Girls Blues, in 1998. Tunin’ Up and Co-Signin’ followed in 2001 and an EP, Weird Kinda Wonderful, in 2005. Her 2009 release, Pink Elephant, spurred the single “Can’t Hardly Wait,” and her latest project, Air Castle, is a collaboration with Atlanta-based collective All Cows Eat Grass.

Ornette Coleman

Hailing from Ft. Worth, saxophonist Ornette Coleman is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. As the creator of the free jazz movement, which encouraged a looser, less rigid style of composing and performing than traditional jazz, Coleman became known for his unorthodox, avant-garde approach to jazz.

--Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 18

Charles Bradley

It was sometime in 2010 or 2011, and I was putzing around my house in Dallas, doing who knows what of significance. As was often the case, my TV was turned to VH1 Soul, and I’d let it play in the background and, occasionally, be distracted enough from my whatnotting to stop and pay attention to what was happening on the screen. One such moment in time when I was stopped in my tracks came on an ordinary afternoon, the day I was introduced to Charles Bradley. 

I remember glancing up at the screen to see a man whose face seemed to hold myriad stories walking towards me, as though he may step out of the frame and into my den. His voice was that of a man who had already lived 1,000 lives or more before ever setting foot in this one. And his brand of soul--that distinct throwback sound with a modern twist, as heard through Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones, and Bettye Lavette--set him apart from the neo-soul set. He sang plaintively about the world going up in flames, offering little in the way of saccharin, Hollywood-ending hope but instead, keeping the lyric and melody focused on the pain, disappointment, heartache, and desperation we all experience in our lifetimes.

Bradley’s story begins in Gainesville, FL, where he was born, and transports us to New York City, where he moved with his mother as a young child. An auspicious visit to the Apollo Theater exposed the young Bradley to the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, and sparked his interest in music and performing. Bradley fashioned his early stage presence after Brown, and he  performed as a sort of JB look-and-sound-alike on and off for many years. 

Despite his obvious talent and passion for music, Bradley’s life was often unstable, with bouts of illness and unemployment, so staking a solid claim as a serious artist was challenging, to say the least. After spending time on the west coast, Bradley returned to New York in the early ‘90s. By 1996, he had begun working as a James Brown impersonator under the name Black Velvet, and was finally beginning to experience some semblance of success. But how long could he sustain a career in Brown’s shadow? As fate would have it, he wouldn’t have to pretend to be the Godfather of Soul much longer. Daptone Records co-founder Bosco Mann got hip to Bradley, signed him to the label, and, in 2002, released a vinyl EP of Bradley’s original songs.

Charles Bradley’s first official full-length album came in 2011. No Time for Dreaming thrust the then-63-year-old artist into the spotlight, just in time to join the soul music resurgence that had begun in earnest just a few years prior. A documentary about his life, Charles Bradley: Soul of America, premiered at SXSW in 2012, and pulled the curtain back on the charismatic but sometimes soft-spoken man who’d come to be called the Screaming Eagle of Soul.  

With a solid album, documentary film, and a slew of festival performances under his belt, Charles Bradley was finally getting his moment in the spotlight, as himself. His second album, 2013′s Victim of Love, arrived to critical acclaim as its restrained yet expressive vision of soul music continued the narrative initiated with his first album. 

His third album came in April 2016. Entitled Changes, the album’s title track is a cover of Black Sabbath’s song of the same name. Not unlike his first two releases, Changes was met with critical acclaim. Unfortunately, it would be his final album. Charles Bradley died of stomach cancer in September 2017, at the age of 68.

For a man whose commercial career was relatively short and whose personal life was fraught with hardship and struggle, Charles Bradley managed to create music filled with heart and brimming with soul. Watching him perform at Byron Bay Bluesfest in Australia in 2015, I was struck by the pure joy that poured from every inch of his being as he sang and danced before an audience of adoring fans. His eyes glimmered, and I can’t help but imagine what he may have been thinking as he peered out across the crowd gathered at the lip of the stage, and moving further and further back into the shadows. Charles Bradley’s dynamism may have been inspired by James Brown, but he infused his brand of soul music with a spirit that was uniquely his own.

--Rhonda Nicole

[rhondanicole]

Black Music Month: Artists and Albums that Matter to Me

June is #BlackMusicMonth, an annual celebration of African Americans’ innumerable contributions to the American–and global–musical landscape. Each day this month, I’m highlighting some of my favorite artists and albums.

Day 17

Father’s Day

It’s Father’s Day, a day when we’re celebrating dads, daddies, pops, papas, granddads, grandpas, fathers-in-law, step fathers, father figures, and all the men who make up the villages that raised, nurtured, protected, provided for, and loved us. But it’s still Black Music Month, which means today’s even more special as we shine a spotlight on a small and certainly not exhaustive group of musical fathers.

Thomas A. Dorsey, the Father of Gospel Music

Born in Georgia at the end of the 19th century, Thomas A. Dorsey is regarded as the founding father of gospel music. Beginning as a blues pianist, Dorsey blended blues and jazz with traditional Christian praise music to create a new style that began gaining popularity in the early ‘30s. Pulling from ancestral spirituals, call and response, and the moans, yells, and hollers that came to symbolize the Black religious experience in America, Dorsey ushered in a new, modern sound that took churches across the country by storm and laid the foundation for today’s contemporary gospel. His most famous composition, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” became the golden standard as performed by Mahalia Jackson.   

WC Handy, the Father of the Blues

Blues music finds its roots deep in African musical and cultural aesthetics, field/work songs, ancestral spirituals, and European folk music. Its popularity began to increase, according to some accounts, following Emancipation, and at the dawn of the 1900s, had established itself as a staple in Black households. WC Handy would come to be one of the most accomplished and esteemed blues composers, and called the Father of the Blues. Handy is best known for harnessing the power of the Delta blues and unleashing it on an international audience through songs like “Beale Street Blues” and “Saint Louis Blues,” the latter of which was recorded in the 1920s by Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. 

Scott Joplin and Buddy Bolden, the Fathers of Ragtime and Jazz

Although typically associated with New Orleans, ragtime actually originated in the 19th century in the midwest. Actor and singer Ernest Hogan was among the first Black performers to bring ragtime, which is characterized by syncopated rhythms and shares DNA with cakewalks, folk, and marches, to a wider audience. The style was further popularized by composer Scott Joplin. His song “The Entertainer” is one of the most recognizable ragtime tunes. Joplin’s compositions formed the basis for many other ragtime musicians, and in the early days of jazz, ragtime continued to influence a new cadre of players.

When ragtime made its way to the Crescent City, musicians there began to add their own layers of flavor to the sounds Joplin pioneered. Key among them was Buddy Bolden, a cornet player whose New Orleans band is thought to be the first to incorporate brass instruments into blues compositions, somewhere around 1900. Bolden’s career was relatively short, due to illness, but during his time he cultivated a style that pulled from ragtime, blues, and spirituals, creating the fusion that would come to be known as jazz.

Louis Jordan, the Father of R&B

Rhythm and blues, aka R&B, was coined by record labels in the 1940s as a way to define music intended to be sold to Black audiences. Identifying blues and jazz-based compositions with particularly persistent rhythmic patterns as such, R&B bands typically involved piano, guitar, drums, and bass, and brass and/or woodwinds. Lyrically, R&B focused on relationships, sex, and everyday life. Musician Louis Jordan is credited as being one of the pioneers of R&B, popularizing the sound with tunes like “I’m Gonna Leave You on the Outskirts of Town” and “Five Guys Name Moe.”

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul

Mr. Brown really needs no introduction, but this list of Black musical fathers wouldn’t be complete without the Godfather himself. Soul music mixes R&B, gospel, and rock, and in the 1960s became nearly synonymous with the Black experience in America. Whereas R&B tended to focus on interpersonal relationships and happenings on the home front, soul took a more outward perspective, offering commentary on what was happening in the community and in the world at large. James Brown’s brand of soul music was unapologetically Black and proud, and his complex arrangements and irresistibly danceable jawns would go on to pave the way for funk and hip-hop. 

Fats Domino, Ray Charles, and Chuck Berry, the Fathers of Rock n Roll

Building on blues, gospel, folk, and country, rock n roll’s origins couldn’t be further away from metal hair bands and Seattle grunge. While numerous sub-genres would emerge from rock n roll over the decades, it is absolutely, without a doubt, derived from the Black American musical movement. And although it can’t be attributed to just one musician as its founder, three of the genre’s most influential artists are New Orleans musician Fats Domino; blues, jazz, and soul legend Ray Charles; and the man whose kinetic style of playing brought legions of white teens to fever, Chuck Berry. These musicians, along with Little Richard, Ike Turner, Bo Diddley, and countless others are the ones to whom we owe the deepest gratitude for the attitude that would birth Jimi, Prince, and Lenny, not to mention Living Colour, King’s X, Fishbone, Robert Randolph, Ben Harper, and many, many, many more.  

George Clinton, the Father of Funk

Funk can be somewhat hard to define and yet, when you hear it, you know it. Funk makes your face curl up like you smell something stanky, makes your neck snap back and forth on the downbeat, and is often delivered in the key of E flat minor. Funk is the hybrid of everything that came before, leaning more assertively into the groove--that bass line, them drums. And no one does funk better than the one and only Dr. Funkenstein, George Clinton. To look at Clinton in his signature space age pimp get-ups, with colorful ribbons and yarn dangling from his head and the most outrageous costumes one could barely imagine without adequate amounts of ooo-wee and who knows what else, you’d be hard pressed to believe he started out as a doo-wop singer. That group, The Parliaments, eventually morphed into Parliament and Funkadelic (P-Funk). Stacking Afrofuturism and a fascination with sci-fi on top of R&B, soul, and rock n roll, Clinton fashioned funk that, on the surface, seemed to be mostly about the booty shake, but that also touched on substantive topics.

DJ Kool Herc, the Father of Hip-Hop

Undoubtedly the most influential musical genre to come out of the Black music movement is hip-hop, whose origins are traced precisely to one date, one place, and one person: August 11, 1973, 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in The Bronx, DJ Kool Herc. On that night in that spot, the Jamaican-born deejay introduced a room full of revelers to what would eternally be known as the break, birthing a movement that would, at first, be dismissed as non-music adored only by Black and brown people, only to become the top-selling genre of modern music, worldwide. Employing two turntables playing the same record, Herc developed a style of playing that allowed him to isolate specific rhythms or rhythmic patterns. He looped these parts so they played over and over, sending dancers into a frenzy and electrifying the room. Scores of young African Americans and Latinxs began not only consuming this new style of music, but creating it, along with fashion, vocabulary, and a lifestyle that, today, is holistically identified as hip-hop culture. Despite how hip-hop has morphed in the decades since that fateful night in The Bronx, hip-hop is, at its core, one simple thing: The break. It’s the heart and soul of Gen X, and every generation to come.

--Rhonda Nicole