Billy Cobham, born May 16, 1944 in Panama, is one of the world’s most influential drummers, best known for his jazz fusion in the 1970s, with John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, where he pioneered a powerful style of drumming with jazz, rock and funk influences.
He is the first drummer to unseat Buddy Rich in the Down Beat music polls....
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American music impresario, musical arranger, record producer, and film composer.
During 50 years in the entertainment industry Jones’ work has earned him more than 70 Grammy Award nominations, more than 25 Grammy Awards, and a Grammy Legends Award in 1991. He is best known as the producer of two of the top-selling records of all time: the album Thriller, by pop icon Michael Jackson, and the charity song “We Are the World”. Also known for work with Frank Sinatra....
After a lengthy gap of nearly five years, Jackson had to pull something out of the bag. BAD was, after all, a difficult act to follow, and the press were trying to prove he was bonkers. This was a pretty decent attempt and fell in with the hard dance beat of the early 90s. “Heal The World” was much like the old melodic Jackson, and it became a major hit. “Black Or White” was the best of the rest, a well-constructed song in which he attempted to repeat “Ebony And Ivory” in the context of 90s dance music....
This deluxe edition of WHAT’S GOING ON includes a 20-page booklet with
complete lyrics, never-before-published photos from personal family collections and an essay by David Ritz.
Recorded live at The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. on May 1, 1972.
Originally released in 1971, WHAT’S GOING ON remains a landmark album, one that redefined music with powerful, anthemic songs that remain pertinent to this day. Before WHAT’S GOING ON, R&B albums were collections of singles, with secondary “filler” material rounding out the LPs. Marvin Gaye changed all this by releasin...
“King’s Ballad is a celebration of creativity and uniqueness, things that are necessary to a meaningful life expression. It’s about being yourself,” Georgia Anne Muldrow.Slicing pop n’lock-friendly funk with gospel and gracious soul Georgia Anne Muldrow is shining as a true West Coast original. The seeds of early experimental releases are now blossoming as her trademark scattershot beats and adventurous deep jazz melodies have grown to become the backbone for fully crafted songs....
Adding pop savvy to their soul-disco mix, Jamiroquai grabbed the attention of MTV and Top 40 radio and won a Grammy with this platinum-selling album, their third. It’s a fine record, with warm keyboards, sweet strings, and irrepressible grooves grounding Jay Kay’s sublime vocals and fueling the hits (“Virtual Insanity,” “Cosmic Girl,” the title track). That voice–elastic, jazzy–is the fire of the band, but immaculate guitar sounds, snappy backup vocals, and clever old-school soul samples (Eddie Harris on “Alright,” Esther Phillips on “High Times”) are the details that create perfection. Balancing the dance-ready, radio-friendly tracks are the ballads “Everyday” and “Spend a Lifetime,” the reggae-styled “Drifting Along,” and a couple of didjeridoo instrumentals....
Conversation Peace is made up of love songs in the key of life and life songs in the key of love, just like all the other records Stevie Wonder has made for the past 20 years. What changes, as he gets older, is just how much love he’s willing to bring to a life that doesn’t seem to be getting any better. 1995 means drive-by shootings, gang wars and homelessness in the urban milieu that has always been Wonder’s lyrical home. But where he once got downright angry in “Big Brother,” or reporterly and objective in “Living For The City,” Wonder is now reaching out to his fellow man and spreading his love around. He gets murdered in both verses of the funky “My Love Is With You,” and responds with bouncy pop choruses, a message to “spread the love I’ve given,” and, only at the song’s tail end, a plea to “ban the hand gun.” This is the idea of love conquering all taken to an extreme....
Brenda Boykin
Tape Five
Katie Melua
Gare du Nord
Sting
