Interactive Black Music: Blues, Soul and Funky

Kees: Rodolphe Burger “Lost & Lookin’” Sleepy kinda blues, deep, deep voiced male with a whispery female singing along.  This is very moody, some whangy guitar, soft drums and standup bass.  Vitesse “Midnight Oil”  Poppin’ bass, tight band and excellent vocalist for this type of music.  Upbeat, yet telling the sad story of having to study too much.  Punchy and great groove.  Cuby & The Blizzards “Somebody Will Know Someday”  Starts with just the soulful, bluesy vocals of the singer and piano, then quiet drums join in, bass is very understated.  Very impassioned vocal.  Nice piano solo about ½ way in.  I like the quiet instrumentation with the powerful vocalist.  Unexpected type of guitar solo, too.  My fave of yours. 

dwill123:  Johnny “Guitar” Watson “A real mother for ya”  Funky groove, horns, a funky eeooww-good god-voice.  Kind of a rap in there, for good measure, near the end.  Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes “Don’t Leave Me This Way”  Much softer sound with electric piano and an orchestra in the mix.  Another great voice here, which is at the center of the focus.  Pace picks up about 1/3^rd in, with horns punctuating.  Well produced, without overdoing it.  Gospel chorus joins in for a bit near the end, then the song fades.  The O’Jays “Put Your Hands Together”  Another funky one here.  Horns and an upbeat chorus exhorting everyone to have some fun and join on in with them.  Then goes into a more serious message about people joining together to make things better in this world.  Parliament-Funkadelic “Cosmic Slop”Live performance of the funkiest folks around.  This has some great African roots sound to it, also, really enjoy those women singing backup.  Great bass voice in there, too.  Horn section wit this, also.  I think this is my fave of yours. 

Mila:  Letta Mbulu “Kilamanjaro take us higher”  Whirly swirly keys, bass and drums to start.  Definitely hear the Africa here, but with a modern slant.  Soulful female vocalist, horn section, really a smooth sort of sound.  Love those high notes she hits as the piece fades.  Ebo Taylor “Ayesama”  Love the organ and horns, great beat going on with drums, bass and then the horns.  Call and response sort of tune.  If you don’t do a third one, this is my fave of the two.