Tag Archives: Music

Feb20

Over The Hump Old School Sound Check- Rufus

Posted on by
Standard

Happy Thursday! #MusicfriendsofTenaciousM

Rufus was an American funk band from Chicago, Illinois best known for launching the career of lead singer Chaka Khan. They had several hits throughout their career, including “Tell Me Something Good”, “Sweet Thing”, and “Ain’t Nobody”.

In 1967, The American Breed (Gary Loizzo, Al Ciner, Charles (Chuck) Colbert and Lee Graziano) had a top ten hit with the classic rock single, “Bend Me, Shape Me”. After much success, Ciner, Colbert and Graziano (without Loizzo who pursued a successful production career) created a new group, adding Kevin Murphy on keyboards and Vern Pilder from the bar band “Circus”. They re-emerged in 1969 under the name “Smoke”. In 1970 vocalists Paulette McWilliams and James Stella were added and the group’s name changed again to “Ask Rufus”; after which, Willie Weeks replaced Vern Pilder.

In 1971, the band signed a contract with Epic Records recording an album that wasn’t released after which Epic dropped their contract in early 1972. Willie Weeks was in turn replaced by Dennis Belfield, James Stella was replaced by keyboardist and vocalist Ron Stockert, Lee Graziano was replaced by Andre Fischer (former drummer with Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler), Paulette McWilliams and Chaka Khan had met and became the best of friends through their spouses Howard Towles and Hassan Khan. Chaka would come to most of Ask Rufus gigs when they were performing in Chicago. When Paulette decided she was leaving Ask Rufus, she went to the band and told them she had the perfect singer to replace her; she had also asked Chaka if she was interested. After the band members hesitantly submitted, Paulette remained with Ask Rufus for a few more weeks to teach Chaka all of their material. Paulette also got Chaka a gig with the group formed by Chicago’s Cash McCall called Life. Chaka had been performing at the Pumpkin Room on the south side of Chicago, with a local Chicago group called Lock and Chain, led by drummer Scotty Harris. With that change, and Paulette McWilliams leaving to pursue her solo career, the group recorded the first two albums as Ask Rufus and later dropped the “Ask” and simply became known as Rufus. Wikipedia

Feb13

E&B World Music Showcase – Gotan Project

Posted on by
Standard

I was dining with friends at a restaurant in Chicago when I first heard Gotan Project. The restaurant had a Colombian-styled menu and atmosphere to match. A couple of tracks in and I was hooked. Enjoy!gotan_logo

Gotan Project is a musical group based in Paris, consisting of musicians Eduardo Makaroff (Argentine), Philippe Cohen Solal (French) and Christoph H. Müller (Swiss, former member of Touch El Arab).

Gotan Project formed in 1999. Their first release was “Vuelvo Al Sur/El Capitalismo Foráneo” in 2000, followed by the album La Revancha del Tango in 2001. Their music involves tango, but also uses elements such as samples, beats, and breaks. Live material was also broadcast on Gilles Peterson’s world music show Worldwide on BBC Radio 1 in May 2004. Philippe Cohen Solal has also released a DJ set: Inspiración Espiración – A Gotan Project DJ Set Selected & Mixed by Philippe Cohen Solal (2004). This album is a compilation of classic tangos from the likes of Aníbal Troilo, Ástor Piazzolla and Gotan Project remixes. The album also includes a bonus CD with the track “La Cruz del Sur” – which was meant to be included on La Revancha del Tango, but did not make the cut in 2001.

Eduardo Makaroff arrived in France in the early 90s to develop Argentine tango music, he performed with his band “Mano a Mano”. Christoph Müller and Philippe Cohen Solal formed a duo called Boys from Brazil.

The name of the trio is a play on the name of a famous tango compilation album that featured several American classical musicians who came together to record a tango album, originally released in 1982. This album, called the Tango Project, includes a rendition of Carlos Gardel’s and Alfredo Le Pera’s “Por Una Cabeza” which had been featured in movies such as Schindler’s List, Scent of a Woman and True Lies.

Credit: Wikipedia

Feb8

American Black History Month Celebration…WITH A PARISIAN TWIST

Posted on by
Standard

The Supremes in Paris

The Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown’s acts. They toured the world, becoming almost as popular as they were in the U.S. By 1965, they were international stars. You can watch a fun video of The Supremes (trying to avoid traffic) singing “Where Did Our Love Go?” in the streets of Paris (circa 1965) here.

By 1967, Berry Gordy renamed the group “Diana Ross & The Supremes” and in 1968, they went on a record-breaking European tour and taped a television special for France’s M6 that was solely for French audiences. Highlights included a rocking medley of their hits that opened the show. (There’s even a part of the interview when the girls tell the host their ages – only 23 years old at the time – and Ross responds to the host in French.)

Wikipedia/Youtube

Feb6

The Chi-Lites – Over The Hump Old School Sound Check

Posted on by
Standard

Happy Thursday! For those of you who have never heard the Chi-Lites, enjoy! For those of you who have, here’s to reminiscing…

In the late 1950s, the Chanteurs (Record, Robert Squirrel Lester, and Clarence Johnson) teamed up with Marshall Thompson and Creadel “Red” Jones of the Desideros to form the Hi-lites. Wishing to add a tribute to their home town of Chicago, they changed their name to “Marshall and the Chi-Lites” in 1964. Johnson left later that year, and their name was subsequently shortened to The Chi-Lites.

Record was the group’s primary songwriter, though he frequently collaborated with others, such as Barbara Acklin. Their major hits came in 1971 and 1972, “Have You Seen Her” and “Oh Girl”, the latter a #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 on 27 May 1972. Other transatlantic chart hits followed, although the output became more fragmented as the group’s personnel came and went. Bass singer Jones left in 1973, and was replaced in quick succession by Stanley Anderson, Willie Kensey, and then Doc Roberson. Shortly thereafter, Eugene Record left, and David Scott and Danny Johnson entered. More personnel changes ensued, when Johnson was replaced by Vandy Hampton in 1977. The Chi-lites cut some tracks for the Inphasion label in 1979, that appeared on an obscure album for the Excello label. Credit: Wikipedia

Feb3

28 Reasons to Hug a Black Guy

Posted on by
Standard

In honor of Black History Month, here are 28 reasons to hug a Black guy today! Gotta love SNL! Besides, my team lost the Super Bowl… I truly needed some levity!

Jan30

The Isley Brothers – Over The Hump Old School Sound Check

Posted on by
Standard

The Isley Brothers are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, originally a vocal trio consisting of brothers O’Kelly Isley, Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley.

The group has been cited as having enjoyed one of the “longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music”. Alongside a fourth brother, Vernon, the group originally performed gospel music until Vernon’s death a couple years after its original formation. After moving to the New York City area in the late 1950s, the group had modest chart successes during their early years, first coming to prominence in 1959 with their fourth single, “Shout”, written by the three brothers. Initially a modest charted single, the song eventually sold over a million copies.

Afterwards the group recorded modestly successful works for a variety of labels, including the top 20 single, “Twist & Shout” and the Motown single, “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)” before recording and issuing the Grammy Award-winning hit, “It’s Your Thing” on their own label, T-Neck Records. Initially influenced by gospel and doo-wop music, the group began experimenting with different musical styles incorporating elements of rock and funk music as well as pop balladry. The inclusion of younger brothers Ernie Isley (lead guitar, drums) and Marvin Isley (bass guitar), and Rudolph’s brother-in-law Chris Jasper (keyboards, synthesizers) in 1973 turned the original vocal trio into a self-contained musical band. Credit: Wikipedia

The Isley Brothers won me over with their albums: “Go For Your Guns” and “The Heat Is On”, featuring “For the Love of You”,”Make Me Say It Again, Girl” and “Voyage to Atlantis.” Here is one of my favorite versions of the song “Caravan of Love.”

Jan27

Calling All Dreamers

Posted on by
Standard

Happy Monday to all my #DREAMERS (and you know who you are). Here’s a Monday pick-me-up just in case you have forgotten how fabulous you are. Remember, we aren’t selling our joy and we sure as hell aren’t giving it away for free. I recommend eating chocolate while listening!

Shout out to the original DREAMERS: Char, Diana, Pamela, Freida and Janice as well as my BFF and Honorary Dreamer Barbara Kapp. Mad Love Mondays and Always!

Jan25

E&B World Music Showcase-MC Solaar

Posted on by
Standard

Never discount the educational value of “Sex In The City”. It’s where I first became aware of french rap, specifically a rapper by the name of MC Solaar. “La Belle et Le Bad Boy” (The beauty and the bad boy) is the seventh song on the 2001 album Cinquième, and it was featured on the final episode of the show in 2004. I had to find out more about the artist and his origin.

MC Solaar, born Claude M’Barali, March 5, 1969, is a francophone hip hop and rap artist. He is one of the most internationally popular and influential hip hop artists. MC Solaar is known for his complex lyrics, which rely on word play, lyricism, and inquiry. In the English-speaking world, Solaar was signed by London acid jazz label Talkin’ Loud and recorded with British group Urban Species and the late Guru, member of the acclaimed New York duo Gang Starr.

M’Barali was born in Dakar, Senegal to parents from Chad. When he was six months old, due to the political troubles in Senegal, his parents emigrated to France where they settled in the Parisian suburbs; initially in Saint-Denis, subsequently Maisons-Alfort and finally Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. At twelve he went to live with an uncle in Cairo, Egypt for nine months where he discovered the Zulu Nation and became fascinated with the rapping styles of Afrika Bambaataa. He coined the stage name MC Solaar in his teens from his graffiti tags “SOAR” and “SOLAAR”. Credit: Wikipedia

Jan23

LTD – Over The Hump Old School Sound Check

Posted on by
Standard

Happy Thursday!!

LTD is a favorite… A 1970’s band originally called Love Men Ltd., who would later become known as L.T.D. The band recorded hit singles such as “(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again”, “Concentrate on You,” “Love Ballad” and “Holding On (When Love Is Gone)”. At first, Jeffrey Osborne was a drummer, sharing lead vocal duties with his brother Billy, but by 1978 he became the group’s primary lead vocalist. He and Billy both left L.T.D. in early 1980 to start solo careers.

Jan17

E&B World Music Showcase -Nina Simone

Posted on by
Standard

As most of my readers know by now, TenaciousM cannot be edited. What I like, I love and that includes people, art, chocolate and music. So I’ve decided to get a conversation going around some of the amazing music from around the world. Please feel free to share your thoughts and/or submissions for repost or shout out here at Egos & Buffaloes.

If I’m going to do my blog justice, I have to start with Ms. Nina Simone. Her musical influence reached worldwide audiences. When my parents used to listened to her I thought she must be the saddest woman in the world. But I realize now that Nina was soulful like no other. Nina Simone accomplished global appeal during a time when the fires of civil rights and women’s rights movements were just being stoked.

Nina Simone (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.

Born the sixth child of a preacher’s family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black. When she began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education and become a classical pianist she was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendering of “I Loves You, Porgy” was a hit in the United States in 1958. Over the length of her career Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958—when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue—and 1974.

Between 1974-2003, Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. Later, she lived in Switzerland and the Netherlands, before settling in France in 1992. Credit: Wikipedia

Nina Simone’s relevance is still visible today. She wrote “Four Women”, a song about four different stereotypes of African-American women, and included the recording on her 1966 album, “Wild Is the Wind”. The following rendition of the song is performed by Ledisi, Jill Scott, Kelly Price, & Marsha Ambrosius during “Black Girls Rock” in 2010.