Mama What’s a Cosmopolitan?: If You Got Funk You Got Style!

Imagine you and your significant other getting dressed in your finest evening wear.  Watch, necklace, bracelet, and earrings adorned.  You’re going out tonight!  You head to your car, drive downtown, and enter the premier concert hall of the city.  Everyone is excited and dressed to the nines! This must be the philharmonic’s opening night!  This is a highbrow event!  Together you find your seats just before the lights dim.  In anticipation, you hold your breath.  Your wait is brief.  Suddenly the stage lights shine to reveal the assemblage of . . . wait for it . . .wait for it  . . . Parliament/Funkadelic and a rambunctious funk mob on stage.  They begin to tear shit up (musically speaking of course). You look at your significant other and gleefully discover you are both sporting the same quintessential funk face.  You throw your hand up forming the righteous universal funk symbol and rock out.  Imagine that!

Goin out tonight!
By Joshua Aaron Photography

The night was seemingly set up for a sophisticated event.  Your attire and the venue location suggested as much.  The atmosphere was ripe to embrace a stiff collar crowd.  This was not classical music.  With P-Funk on stage were you truly going to engage in a so-called “highbrow” event?  Of course, you were!  Funk music is everything classical music is and more.

Classical music has certainly achieved, in over three hundred years, a position in our society of reverence and honor.  Its widely known composers Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven are pedestalistic gods and known as such in and out of the genre.  Most often intellectuals and the cultured are drawn to classical music.  Statistics reveal the college-educated and affluent are largely attracted to the genre.  They—“the sophisticated”—not only enjoy and indulge in the accouterments of classical music but it also defines them.  The richly appointed hallowed concert halls, tailored suits, designer cocktail gowns, and opening nights cater to their refined and even snobbish worldly taste.  Classical music is indeed a highbrow phenomenon.  However, it has a younger sibling that mirrors its every move and defines its very own high brow flare.

Sly And The Family Stone. Cosmopolitan at its finest!

Funk music has certainly achieved, in over fifty years, a position in our society of reverence and honor.  It’s widely known progenitors Brown, Clinton, and Stone are pedestalistic gods and known as such in and out of the genre.  While the ‘sophisticated’ who chiefly consume only classical music and little of anything else the rooted funk music consumer is attracted to classical and beyond.  Jazz, r&b, blues, gospel, soul, swing, rock, and metal are often devoured by the funk listener.  Funk music, like classical music, also holds the attention of intellectuals, the cultured, educated, and affluent.  Moreover, it also draws to it the enlightened, the academic, literate, and articulate.  In this way the funk music listener is beyond sophisticated, rather they are ‘Cosmopolitan’—the sharing of all things wrapped in the ONE!  Funk music can be heard in the richly appointed hallowed concert halls as well as in stadiums, arenas, street festivals, parks, backlots, and garages.

Conversely, funk music is defined by the listener.  Unlike classical, which is static in terms of its response to current affairs and its inability to create a space for active audience response during a performance, funk music is qualified by its attention to current affairs and welcomes the immediate response of the audience (call and response).

Clinton in a suit!
By: Marcy Guiragossin

In the end, you can go to a funk music concert in your tailored suit and designer evening gown.  You can listen to EWF at the Chandler, (Sup, L.A.). You can funk out and follow along with intellectuals like Brown and Vincent in the front row as they raise their hand with the righteous universal funk symbol and chant:

If you got funk, you got style

You’re funkin’ and you’re styling all the while

When you got funk, you got class

You’re out on the floor movin’ your ass . . .

Yeah, funk music is everything classical music is and more. Take a listen.

That Time Bluesman Robert Johnson Played Carnegie Hall. Wait, What?

Art by Gary Kelley

In November 1936, in San Antonio Texas, traveling Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson entered the Gunter Hotel where a makeshift recording studio lay in wait. Johnson, who was well known up and down the Mississippi Delta, had only the slightest public existence beyond the backwood barrooms, juke joints, cotton fields, dirt roads, and sharecropping plantations. Johnson, a dark slender man, dressed in black slacks held up by dark suspenders that wrapped around his shoulders and white oxford shirt, cautiously entered the hotel “studio.” His look was refined by a well worn, short-brimmed black hat, and stiff-soled Sunday best shoes. He paced the sparse makeshift studio, finding only a chair, which sat adjacent to a microphone attached to the top of a mic stand in the middle of what was once was a hotel bedroom. Johnson sat, pulled his guitar to his lap, which he had been holding under his arm for most of the day, and began to quietly hum and tune his instrument. The studio where Johnson sat adjoined another room, which was filled with recording equipment. In this room, sound engineers Vinnie and Ralph plugged microphone cables and turned knobs. Heading up this entire operation was Don Law, a British salesman for the American Record Corporation who was also the talent scout manager and producer for their small music recording outfit Vacalion. Vinnie and Ralph were set. Don moved to the doorway, which separated the rooms and asked Johnson if he was ready to record. Johnson, saying nothing, stood up, grabbed the microphone stand, and placed it in the corner of the room. He then lifted and spun the chair around so it faced the stand in the corner. Johnson sat again, facing the corner, with his back toward Don, Vinnie, and Ralph. Don closed the door, but could still see Johnson through its glass window. He motioned to Vinnie and Ralph to begin recording. Johnson tapped his Sunday’s best in time, strummed his guitar, and began to sing the blues. This is the true account of the recording session that captured the sound of the greatest blues artist on earth.

Most likely born in the small town of Hazelhurst, Mississippi on May 8th, 1911, Johnson was the illegitimate and 11th child born to Julia Noah. As a child, he learned to play harmonica before moving on to the guitar. Johnson followed and prodded older musicians around town to hone his skills on the guitar. By the spring of 1931, Johnson, 20, was widely known as a wayfaring musician, who had been married twice, divorced once, buried a child, and ultimately disappeared from the Delta area and the music scene. In just a few short months upon returning to the Delta, everyone realized Johnson had changed. He evolved from a run of the mill musician to a remarkable virtuosic blues artist. He exhibited exceptional skill in playing the guitar. The blues, which flowed from him, was matchless. In time, a rumor sprang forth that Johnson surely made a deal with the devil to achieve such a state of mastery in such a short amount of time.

Art by Gary Kelley

Johnson displayed his superior command of the genre as he traveled throughout the Delta wowing audiences at every venue. Eventually, Johnson’s blues caught the ear of traveling record salesman Ernie Oertle, a bonafide Delta blues music fan. He approached Johnson to suggest he record with a fellow salesman and friend Don Law. Johnson agreed and the resulting recording sessions in both San Antonio and later in Dallas yielded twenty-nine iconic blues songs—these are the only known songs Johnson recorded in his career. Robert Johnson’s records were not heard by many and thus not very popular. Amid an era of swing bands and jazz groups, Delta blues was not highly sought after in the mainstream. It was a specific genre with a specific audience who foraged for its unique sound.

A year and a half after Johnson’s session with Law, his music crossed the path of Columbia Records talent scout John Hammond, Jr. Hammond who by the mid-’30s had discovered musical luminaries such as Billie Holiday and Count Basie to name a few. He would go on to discover more great artists, like Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan. Once Hammond heard Johnson’s songs he knew what he was hearing was something special. Hammond who regularly created musical showcases and concerts to introduce up and coming artists planned, in early August of 1938, an ultimate concert to introduce the stiff collar folk to Black roots music. His concert, which he called From Spirituals to Swing, was to be presented at Carnegie Hall on December 23. Hammond wanted to tell the story of Black music from its beginnings to the current musical phenomena of swing. He assembled an assortment of artists to achieve his goal. A few artists scheduled to appear in concert were The Count Basie Orchestra, Albert Ammons, Joe Turner with Pete Johnson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Jimmy Rushing, The Golden Gate Quartet, and . . . Robert Johnson. Without acquiring a confirmation by Johnson, Hammond placed him on the bill as one of the artists to appear on the advertising for the December concert. Hammond searched for more music and the artist himself, however neither were to be found. While planning the concert, Hammond was able to make contact with Ernie Oertle, who found Johnson in the back juke joints of the Delta. He made an urgent request to find and bring Johnson to New York City. Oertle searched for Johnson throughout the Delta. Shortly thereafter, word reached Oertle that Robert Johnson, the blues prodigy had died on August 16. He was 27!

Tales of Robert Johnson’s demise are legendary. Rumors flourished in the years following his death. They ranged from as mundane as he drank bad moonshine, he had the flu, to more nefarious activities such as he was poisoned by his lover, poisoned by the husband of his lover, stabbed by his lover, possessed by spirits and died howling at the moon, and some claimed to have seen him yanked out of a club by the devil himself and dragged to the crossroads to settle his debt. Regardless of how Johnson died, his being dead posed a problem for Hammond’s concert.

From Spirituals to Swing. Johnson’s Name appears on the bill.

Hammond filled Johnson’s vacant spot with fellow Delta blues guitarist and singer Big Bill Broonzy. No changes were made to the advertising bill. Robert Johnson’s name continued to appear. On the evening of December 23, 1938, John Hammond’s concert From Spirituals to Swing at Carnegie Hall was sold out. Upper crust society in black tie showed up to bathe themselves in Black roots music.

The lights dimmed, the crowd hushed, and a spotlight found Hammond approaching a microphone on the stage. He greeted and thanked the crowd and rattled on about the story of black music and the artists he assembled to tell its tale. He then eagerly introduced them to the greatest blues musician they never heard. Quickly describing Johnson as a musical genius and the very progenitor of Delta blues he then ended his description with a few of the swirling rumors of his death— alcohol, women, devil, and all. He then happily proclaimed regardless of his death, Robert Johnson will grace the stage of Carnegie Hall tonight. Hammond motioned for two stagehands who quickly rolled out a record player then set up a microphone just inches away from the player’s speaker. He set the record in place, faced the audience, and simply stated, “Here’s Robert Johnson!” Robert Johnson’s voice and guitar filled the space of Carnegie Hall. Hammond played one song (Preachin’ Blues: Up Jumped the Devil) and then another (Walkin’ Blues). Johnson’s seldom-heard music was front and center in the most well-known venue in America. The black-tie and white faced audience erupted in applause after Johnson’s post mortem virtual performance. Hammond proudly applauded as well. Johnson had just made his debut at Carnegie Hall.  

Art by Gary Kelley

That evening, on stage at Carnegie Hall, the music of Robert Johnson was elevated out of the backwoods, juke joints, dirt roads, and sharecropper plantations of the Delta. The same can be said about Robert Johnson the person. He was elevated from the Delta carrying a string of stories about his unexplained finesse of the blues, as well as the gripping and daunting tale(s) of the ending moments of his life. Although not supremely popular after Carnegie Hall, Johnson and his music began to slowly grow to exist far beyond the Delta. In time blues connoisseurs began searching for his 29 songs. In amazement, artists began playing his music. The impossibleness of his music is in constant discussion. Johnson and his music today inform artists on how to make it to the stage of Carnegie Hall which may or may not include a deal with the devil.

Illustrations by Gary Kelley are found in J. Patrick Lewis’s book Black Cat Bone: The Life of Blues Legend Robert Johnson

AAMAM: Remembering B.B. King! Part 13 of 30

Thirty days ago today we lost a blues legend B.B. King.  Since his passing we have been reminded of his surely earned accolades; revisited our favorite song of his; watched his live performances on YouTube; wondered what will become of his guitars; marveled at his longevity; tuned into his life celebration and home going ceremony; and are currently watching the aftermath of his passing among his family—those who loved him the most and have experience his love—are struggling to find reason and understanding of his death.

As time marches on, we remember B.B. King in so many ways.  I have a special and fond memory of King in a recording studio.  I was lucky enough to have had the privilege of watching him record a song.  As luck would have it, my good friend Alma Ramirez, who has work in the production end of the music business with many notables, was project coordinator on B.B. King’s 37^th studio album Let the Good Times Roll: The Music of Louis Jordan.  Knowing I was a fan she invited to come and witness King in action. Once I arrived, I quickly found out that King wasn’t the only legend in the studio.  There I witnessed King in conversation with Dr. John, drummer Earl Palmer, and saxophonist Hank Crawford! Needless to say I was floored. I watched them interact for a while. In time they moved to their places—Dr. John slid behind a piano, Palmer climbed behind his drum set, and Crawford disappeared behind a sound partition were his sax and an expensive mic awaited his presence. Before you knew it there was a quiet count in and they began to record the Louis Jordan song “Jack, You’re Dead”. I was amazing and I watched it all happen before my eyes.

To watch legends work out their craft in the studio is a rarity for most of us and to have seen King lead Dr. John, Palmer, and Crawford is something I will never forget. Thanks Alma!

Listen to what I had the great luck to see!

Enjoy AAMAM!

AAMAM: Sorrow, Memory, and Poetry Part 4 of 30

Recorded on April 20, 1939 Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” spoke of the haunting imagery all to familiar to African Americans especially in the South. Holiday’s voice and cadence embodied the sorrows, horrors, loss, and spiritual pain that was lynching.  The lyrics of “Strange Fruit,” which became Holiday’s signature song, was written as a poem by Jewish writer and teacher Abel Meeropol in 1937.  He responded in poetry to a photo image of a lynching.  Meeropol hoped his poem would add voice the atrocities of lynchings and help further the campaign of antilynching laws, which were vigorously shot down in the Senate during era of the song’s popularity.

This is AAMAM. Listen to remember and be well.

Sometimes You Gotta Scream To Get Into the Conversation

This post is a bit more than a photo of Michael Jackson and his sister Janet.  Although a lot could be said about the photo above that could range from the perils of a dynastic family to androgyny to nepotism and on and on . . . However this post is a video presentation.  Below you will find Michael Jackson’s 18 year-old “Scream” video.  This video, in my opinion, is one of the best videos ever filmed.  The video’s imagery hinges itself on classic escapism; Michael and Janet are literally escaping unknown ills in search of solace and unfettered leisure all within a futuristic setting.  The video is the suggested remedy to the song “Scream.” Michael’s song as announced by critics during the time of its release was a critical, angry, and vengeful response to his treatment in the media and his proclamation of frustration, social and personal injustice.  Michael was simply tired of it all.  The pairing of the song and video is a wonderfully awesome account of call and response between sonic and image.  The analysis of this fact would be amazing, but as Sweet Brown said, “ain’t nobody got time for that!”  To do it right one would have to explore the very nature of social injustice, resentment, the realities and purpose of pop culture in the media, fame, race, responses to stress, dance as celebration and of course the future; space travel, weightlessness, spaceship aesthetics (and connect it to Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey and might as well add in Star Wars and Star Trek while your at it), not to mention sibling rivalry and support and finally, why is it in black and white?

In the end, this amazing video allows Black artists through R&B and Soul to continue their sentimental conversation of life in America, which began in the sorrowful hums and moans while crossing the Atlantic to the Southern field hollers and ring shouts to the first utterance of a Blues riff in a juke joint.  This is Black music! Black music, since its beginning has always told a story of sentiment with emotion.  Listen to the conversation and have a great BMM!

Turn it up!

I, Too, Sing America!

Welcome to Black Music Month (BMM) on Justsoulyouknow.  All month long I will be posting photos that are both historic and iconic as well as cool and awesome.  Every other day or so, I will feature an amazing photo then give a little detail about that photo or the individuals contained in the photo.  I intend to connect you to the amazing history of Black Music as well as demonstrate why Black Music maters.

Patti wasn’t the first to kick off her shoes and sing a verse!

First up is this amazing photo of Mahalia Jackson and Dean Martin sharing a good hearty laugh together.  Life Magazine’s Allen Grant took this photo on Oct 1, 1958 during rehearsals for Bing Crosby’s new T.V. show called The Bing Crosby Show: Presented by Oldsmobile.  During the time of this photo Mahalia Jackson was at the top of her game.  She had just recorded her latest gospel album titled Live at Newport ’58, where she was part of the first ever Gospel Showcase of the Newport show.  Her album was released in early ’59 and would later be consistently touted as one of the greatest live gospel albums ever recorded.  Jackson was riding high on her new found fame as a singer/actor on the silver screen as well.  Her performance in the film St Louis Blues, where she beautifully sang and acted, garnered great reviews from critics.  Her appearance on the Bing Crosby’s show, which brought her image directly into the living rooms of America, was risky and bold.  America was in the midst of an epic battle, which involved African Americans attempt to gain inclusion in American society while powerful whites labored to hold onto a segregated America.  Jackson’s appearance threatened the national sponsorship of the show because America had yet to fully embrace an integrated performance on TV.  However, as history has informed us, it was in part though the power of Black music that the civil rights struggle changed minds and freed a nation.

Check out the result of their rehearsal below:

The POTUS and His Vinyl Close Up

Album covers, since their inception, have always been a great sign-post of the climate of our times.  Their images are visual cues that direct everyone from the culturally focused individual to the political astute citizen to the casual music listening fan toward the current grand social narrative of the day.  Savvy musical artists in cahoots with photographers and visual artists (in this new era of entertainment it is most likely the director of artist branding) design their album covers to attract and stimulate interest in their content.  Some of these efforts have been regrettable and forgettable, while others have been remarkably memorable and remain culturally relevant decade after decade.

So, what kind of visual cues are being made about the grand current social narrative when dime-a-dozen digital artists place the POTUS,  Barack Obama, on the cover of iconic album covers?  Does Obama’s presidency serve as the musical content in which the dime-a-dozen digital artist is trying to attract and stimulate the culturally focused individual and the casual political fan?  Either way, the following album covers containing the image of the POTUS are indeed memorable and culturally relevant . . . at the moment.  And if anything, are too cool to be regrettable.

[Try to make out some of the original album covers and artists]

Ndegeocello Sings Simone!

I confess I’ve been a fan of bassist/singer/songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello since she dropped her first album Plantation Lullabies in the early 90s.  I’ve watched her perform in L.A. several times and once in Atlanta in 2007, which was memorable I must say.  However, even more memorable than that was when I saw her years earlier live at the Virgin Mega store in Hollywood.  Ndegeocello played a small in-store set then signed copies of her second released Peace Beyond Passion (96).  I clearly remember asking her, as she signed the cover of my freshly bought CD, “Where’d you get that funk from?” like the P-Funk lyric.  She smiled and said, “Yes, right there!”  Wow! I just had a brief moment with Meshell Ndegeocello, whoa!

Over the years I’ve enjoyed the limitless range of Ndegeocello’s music.  As a serious soul music lover, I’ve especially relished in her exploration of the many nuances of soul. Ndegeocello and her music easily moved beyond the essentialist theory of the black artist.  She approached several other genres of music in her own unique way.

Art by Giorgio Casu (click here)

So, when I heard she was in the process of recording an album of Nina Simone songs I was excitedly perplexed (this is a good thing).  What would it sound like? Would it be funky with heavy bass lines? Or would the songs be reconfigured in emotion filled ballads with spoken word-like delivery? (You know how she does).

Nina Simone and Meshell Ndegeocello, on the one hand, are quite unique in their own right who together share some similarities.  Scholar Salamishah Tillet suggests, “Ndegeocello, like Simone, has dared to cross musical boundaries, express bold politics and be a steadfast presence as an African American woman instrumentalist in a male-dominated music scene.”  Also their similarities continue in terms of their fitting into socially comfortable places in America.  On the other hand, they are opposites in terms of the musical RESPONSE to their perspective eras; Simone confronted racial inequality amid social and civil unrest while Ndegeocello struggled in a post civil rights climate with her personal sexuality within rigid cultural mores.  A struggle afforded her by the work of Simone, in all seriousness.

Ndegeocello’s new album, Pour Une Âme Souveraine (For A Sovereign Soul) was released in October and is a wonderfully crafted tribute to Simone.  First and foremost, Ndegeocello’s voice is perfect for the songs she sings while her musical approach is spot on.  She organically moves away–though not far–from the musical intention of Simone certainly due to the contemporary climate of the times. Ndegeocello finds a laid back groove for each song that departs from what NPR calls the “urgent” tone of Simone.  Her small group of musicians recorded the album with an obvious audible post soul aesthetic that is undeniably Ndegeocello.  She invited vocalist/musicians such as Cody ChesnuTT, Toshi Reagon, Sinead O’Connor, and Lizz Wright to join her on this tribute to Simone.  Collectively they sing with heartfelt respect for Simone whom Ndegeocello calls “royalty.”

This tribute album is a way to remember the indescribable force that was Nina Simone. Ndegeocello stated in a recent interview she hopes, “to get more people interested in her, check out her catalog and sort of revive it, and also use her story and learn from her story.”  After hearing the album it is clear to me that Ndegeocello was the perfect person to put forth this stellar tribute. Yes, Ndegeocello sings Simone!  In the end, I have to agree with Dr. Tillet when she suggests, Ndegeocello “has always been Simone’s heir apparent.”

Your Sunday iPod add: Michael Kiwanuka: Raw Soul Folk

Here is your Sunday iPod add . . . any song form Michael Kiwanuka’s debut album Home Again.  For months now I have seen Kiwanuka’s face on the sidebar of my facebook page staring at me suggesting I should click on his image to hear his new music.  I’ve also seen his image on the bottom of my iTunes in a star-studded line up of what other listeners bought.  For months I have pass over his image and move on the next artist that caught my interest.

Well, today, after church and my daughter’s long rehearsal for a play, I headed home and I logged on.  There he was Michael Kiwanuka staring at me.  While eating my corndog I clicked on his image.  Wow! What took me so long to do this? What was I waiting for? Kiwanuka’s music combined the essential elements of acoustic soul and folk in the best way.  My musical taste are admittedly broad so, I listen to just about anything (I merely talk about the soul I listen to on this blog) and it’s been a quite along time since I’ve listen to some good contemporary acoustic folk music, rather, acoustic soul folk music.

I listened to a few of his songs and videos on youtube with amazement.  Kiwanuka, a 25 year old Brit with roots in Uganda has manage to capture a unique musical rawness of a generation and a half ago.  A recent USA Today article described his music as “warm and familiar as Sunday morning” and make sensible vocal comparisons to “Otis Redding” and “Bill Withers.”  However, I’ll take it a step further and easily compare him to the likes of badass guitar slingers and song poets such as Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and Richie Havens without reservation. He’s that good! His music is soulful and righteously folk yet contain just enough blues to elicit a mystical wonder that conjures images of deals being made at a Mississippi crossroads.

Listen to Michael Kiwanuka! Don’t sleep on MK! Don’t be like me and pass on him.

Add his album to your iPod and you will thank me later.

Check his videos below:

You gotta check out his version of Hendrix’s “Waterfall”

Your Sunday iPod add: Cold Specks

Why aren’t you listening to Cold Specks?  Hello! She’s only a click away.  Her music is probably better than anything you listened to today.  Trust me, she sings what you like.  You like Dylan?  You like Nina Simone? You like Sting?  You like Stevie Wonder?  You like the blues?  You like folk music?  You like coffee shop ditties on guitar?  You like turn of the century Southern gospel???  Chances are you said yes to one or all of these questions.  Why aren’t you listening to Cold Specks?  Besides having one of the coolest stage names in show business today, Cold Specks owns the most unique voice you’ve ever heard.  It’s slightly raspy yet soft enough to draw you near your speakers.  Also, her voice is magical.  It’s infused with the sound of wisdom–a wisdom far beyond her age of 24.  Her voice seems to come from a guitar strapped centenarian storyteller bent on telling you one more tale.  When I look at her face and hear her sing I am easily perplexed.  When was the last time an artist did this for you? 

A Canadian who now hails from London and a nominee of the 2012 Polaris Music Prize, Cold Specks has upped the ante on the expectation for the human voice.  So, again, why aren’t you listening to Cold Specks?  Now that you know about her you have no excuse.  Watch her videos below, add her to your iPod, and buy her album, titled I Predict a Graceful Expulsion.  You will thank me later.

Cold Specks is on tour. Check her out at a venue near you.