News

Blue Note Records to reissue classic titles on vinyl (November 25, 2024) Blue Note Records has announced the next run of titles in the Classic Vinyl Reissue Series, which presents all-analog 180g vinyl reissues that are mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes and manufactured at Optimal. Curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman, the series continues its exploration of the extensive Blue Note […]

First Listen: Will Downing slows down a classic 80’s jam (November 25, 2024) Like me, Will Downing was in his late teens and technically a man when Junior’s “Mama Used to Say” was released in the spring of 1982. Like all young people, Downing was ready to experience all that adulthood had to offer and not always […]

(November 23, 2024) Sade’s career is a testament to the virtue of choosing words carefully and speaking sparingly. That virtue is certainly validated when if the speaker has something profound to say and the words are stated with beauty. Sade always has something profound words and the voice singing those lyrics is always poignant, insightful and […]

(November 22, 2024) They are a legendary act that has been part of our lives for over a half century — or as they would say, “We Go A Long Way Back.” We have long celebrated the greatness of the group Bloodstone, but today we mourn the passing of founding member Harry Williams (seated center in the photo), […]

(November 20, 2024) Angie Stone can rightly say that she’s been a trailblazer since making her mark in the rap group The Sequence. That groundbreaking group recorded the first rap single by an all-female group. Stone has been making good music ever since, as a member of groups like Vertical Hold or as a neo-soul, Southern Soul […]

(November 19, 2024) Tonight we say a sad goodbye to singer extraordinaire Diva Gray.  Gray was a powerhouse vocalist and performer whose golden voice graced some of the most iconic disco, soul, and pop hits of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Gray’s cause of death has not been announced. Born and raised in New York City, […]

(November 16, 2024) Setoria has made a name for herself in the Washington, D.C. area as a topflight R&B, contemporary jazz and soul singer. Her repertoire includes interpretations of hit songs, as well as her originals such as “Spell on Me” and “Say My Name.” She recently returned to the studio to record the holiday love song […]

For a period in the 1980s, Rodney Franklin was among the most popular jazz pianists around, and with good reason. As the talent behind more than a dozen albums, he helped to usher in the period where R&B and jazz were blending into a tasty stew. Born in Berkeley, California in 1958, Franklin was a […]

(November 11, 2024) When it comes to living musical legends, there are few that are as universally respected as singer and songwriter Brenda Russell. An artist who has created five decades of memorable music for herself (including the charttoppers “So Good (So Right) and “Piano In The Dark”), for other artists (such as Oleta Adams’ smash “Get […]