BLAKHAND ARTISTIK INC. Soundsroom

VOTE: Who Did it Best???

Song: Dinah, a consummate love song about a brotha's deep love for a woman with "dixie eyes blazing" - who he "shakes with fright because [his] Dinah might change her mind about [him]..."

Cab Calloway was a jazz singer and bandleader. Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the most popular big bands from the start of the 1930s through the late 1940s.

Fats Waller was a skilled pianist, a comedic entertainer and one of the most popular performers of his era; he also was a prolific songwriter, he wrote or co-wrote songs still known to modern audiences, such as "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Ain't Misbehavin".

A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race & the Soul of America

Bessie Smith and the Night Riders

An Introduction To Shirley Bassey (Remaster)

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Basehead is one of the most talented groups from the 90s... they perfected the hip hop band thing before anyone else. And the bassist was interested in our own Makeela B. Amani for a really short time... :-)

Diane Reeves is amazing; the voice is spectacular and her lyrics speak volumes.

Ooh, what can we say about The Cult... big rocking sound and fantastic lyrics! The Cult is an English rock band with slight psychedelic flourishes, influenced primarily by the Native American mysticism.

Why we like 'em

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Cree Summer's Street Faerie was the first full-length album released in 1999. Summer, who is Neo-Pagan, and a political and human rights activist, wove themes of racism, romantic liaisons, and spirituality into the lyrics of guitar-heavy pop and folk songs.

Fishbone combines equal parts of deep funk, high-energy punk, and frantic ska, the Los Angeles-based Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s.

As a founding member of Living Colour, Corey Glover helped prove that not only could brothas jam hardcore, but that they could be embraced by a variety of fans.

Why we like 'em

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The Soul of John Black is a duo consisting of guitarist and vocalist JB Bigham and bassist Chris Thomas. Their songs are a perfect blend of rock, hip-hop, funk and definitely blues. This album is a fantastic experience and the live show is hype.

Jimmy Cliff, is best known among mainstream audiences for songs like "Sittin' in Limbo", "You Can Get It If You Really Want It" and "Many Rivers to Cross" from The Harder They Come, a film soundtrack which helped popularize reggae across the world --- we know him as being incredibly politcal and a champion for the African diaspora.

Louis Armstrong, also known as Satchmo, was a charismatic, innovative performer whose musical skills and personality transformed jazz; he first achieved fame as a trumpeter, but toward the end of his career he was best known as a vocalist who performed duets with many singers, including Ella Fitzgerald.

Why we like 'em

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Bessie Smith was the most popular and successful female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s who has been a strong influence on subsequent generations of blues singers (and of course those of other genre whether they know it or not).

Dame Shirley Bassey, is a fantastic Welsh singer, with a beautifully guttural voice who is best-known for performing theme songs to a couple of James Bond films.

Masta Ace from Brooklyn, New York is a rapper a highly talented lyricist and performer.... his off-beat, on-beat style has captivated, entertained, eduacated, mezmerized and inspired.

Dedicated to Ras Inard (Rest in Peace 4/65 - 10/06)

Thank you Inard, for sharing this tune with me.