NICK DERISO: Sam Cooke, for all his power and grace as a singer, established this strikingly brief legacy during the time of the Hit Single. Which meant Cooke’s most well-known albums of the early 1960s were often dotted with dated filler, tunes in the Broadway style of the day orRead More

It was only a few years ago that I was lamenting the fleeting guitar talent in George Clinton’s early Funkadelic band who reached incredible heights as Clinton’s lead axeman on funk classics like Free Your Mind … And Your Ass Will Follow and Maggot Brain. Besides Eddie Hazel, there wasRead More

NICK DERISO: One of Shirley Brown’s early hits was called “Love is Built on a Strong Foundation,” produced by Oliver Sain for the Abet label. Same with her career. Born in West Memphis, Ark., Brown started like so many great sizzling soul singers do – in church. Not until herRead More

It’s one of those Isaac Hayes shut-your-mouth moments. I’m talking about the news that Hayes, at 65, had passed. He was a renaissance man in gold chains, a composer and arranger unafraid of style. He’d wear sunglasses the size of milk saucers while directing a room full of musicians onRead More

NICK DERISO: Pianist Les McCann is something like a lesser Horace Silver — somebody with a soulful, bluesy delivery who often strayed a step too far into pop. This release showed why: Despite its many joys, a fat electric bass gave the CD an unwanted fusion-y feel — in particular,Read More

by Pico One in a while, you come across a musician who so effectively cobbles together a wide range of styles so effortlessly you swear you’ve heard it somewhere before…but you can’t quite put a finger on it. New York City born and bred troubadour K.J. Denhert is one ofRead More

If you’ve dismissed the Stylistics’ “People Make the World Go Round” because it might be a played of a soft-rock oldies station, take a closer listen.

Decades before it became a catchy rallying cry for an historic presidential campaign, “Yes We Can” was associated with an inspired message of another kind: the essence of New Orleans-styled funk. Crescent City all-world songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint has done more in his behind-the-scenes role to shape New OrleansRead More

by Pico Here’s a One Track Mind that’s also a One Hit Wonder. Remember Dionne Farris? If you do, then this song must have made an impression on you, too. This is usually the part where I delve into the artist’s background and deliver the setup to the song ofRead More

by S. Victor Aaron There was a time during my carefree youth when I was listening to little else outside of jazz and fusion but funk. We’re talking Prince, Gap Band, The Time and several other lesser known acts on the scene at that time. Right up there with theRead More