News & Updates — soul/funk

Happy birthday to Billy Bang, avant-jazz violinist of the NYC downtown loft jazz scene of the '70s & '80s and beyond. A unique presence, his style merges contemporary "classical"/avant-garde, fire music/free-jazz, blues, swing and funk and he always chose great sideman. He could work well as a solo performer, in duos, jazz combos, as part of an orchestra or with dancers (he himself was a great dancer onstage). Born William Walker in Alabama, he grew up in the Bronx & Harlem. He was given a violin because he was small. He learned to play it as a youth but quit...

One of the New Orleans iconic producers, Edwin Bocage aka Eddie Bo brought a harder, grittier sound to the Crescent City in the '60s & '70s funk world. With his awesome drummer James Black and a stable of ripping vocalists, he cut several classics and remains a local legend. Himself a soulful singer and pianist, he composed, arranged and produced some great R&B, blues and funk over a long career in which he became one of the city's most prolific artists. His family were builders and masons, as well as early NOLA jazz musicians. Bo's influences also include bebop and...

Here's a nod to the underknown pianist Harry Whitaker, on his day of birth. Harry was more of a behind-the-scenes guy, best known for his work with Roy Ayers' Ubiquity (he composed the classic "We Live In Brooklyn Baby") and Roberta Flack (during her peak years). From Pensacola FL, he started playing piano at 5. His family moved later to Detroit, and he got his career started there with local gigs as a teenager. In 1960 he moved to NYC. He played with Slide Hampton in '65 before taking to playing on the road in various bands. He joined Ayers...

Happy birthday to the lovable soul-blues icon B.B. King! A huge influence on so many electric blues guitarists & singers, soul artists as well as the rock generation, his style was immediately identifiable and his hit songs rank among the most loved in twentieth century music. From a sharecropping family in Indianola MS, he sang gospel in church and at 12 was given a guitar by his cousin Bukka White. He started his career locally in '43 and three years later moved to Memphis with White. He worked as a radio DJ and playing in clubs and recorded his early...

A left-field favorite of mine, Sylvester James Jr became a hugely popular disco singer and a gay icon. But to my ears his best work was with his funky Hot Band, a staple of our '70s Funk Rock DJ parties. But the real story was his colorful life as a flamboyantly out-and-proud gay man with a love for cross-dressing and a creamy falsetto who came to be acknowledged as "the Queen of Disco". From Watts, he sang gospel as a child but was kicked out of the church due to his sexual orientation. He and his gay & trans friends...