News & Updates — soul/funk

Much respect to the well-loved Donny Hathaway, the great gospel-inspired singer and songwriter, as well as pianist, producer and arranger. His music covered soul, gospel, pop, blues, jazz, Christmas songs, ballads, funk and even Latin, in a nice mix of both originals and covers. Born in Chicago to a gospel-singing family, he grew up in St. Louis. He started singing in church at age 3 and was playing piano young as well. He studied music at Howard University, where he also played in a jazz trio with Ric Powell and rolled with Roberta Flack and Leroy Hutson. He started working as...

Born on this date in 1940, Tilahun Gèssèssè, one of the great Ethiopian singers of that "Golden Age", a time in the '60s and early '70s when things were a little more lax in the country in regards to producing records. Born to an Oromo family, he dropped out of school and moved to Addis Ababa. He joined up with the Hager Fikir Theater and then became a star with the state-sponsored Imperial Bodyguard Band, perhaps the best opportunity for a singer's career at the time. In 1960 he spent some time in jail, due to interpretation of one of...

Feliz anniversário para Tim Maia, the fun & lovable Brazilian soul singer and MPB star who's direct honesty appealed to his fans. Born Sebastião Rodrigues Maia from a favela of Rio, the 18th of 19 children, he started as a drummer at 14 but soon became an excellent guitarist. He was a childhood friend of Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos and Jorge Ben. He was in the doo-wop group The Sputniks with Roberto Carlos before adopting the name Tim Maia and going solo. He spent the early '60s in the US and recorded there with the doo-wop group The Ideals (the...

Ben E. King is one of the great baritone voices of the early soul music generation, with The Drifters and solo. Born in North Carolina, he grew up in Harlem and sang in church and in doo-wop groups. After working as a singing waiter he joined the Five Crowns in 1958, which became The Drifters (after the sacking of the Clyde McPhatter-led version). King sang on thirteen on their heavily-orchestrated gorgeous songs, including "There Goes My Baby" (which he co-wrote), "Save The Last Dance For Me" and "This Magic Moment". He rarely performed with them due to an ongoing contract...

Happy birthday to Trinidadian composer André Tanker, the "Bob Dyan of T&T". Born in Port-of-Spain, he started playing the steelpan at 7 and as a teenager learned guitar and cuatro. He also played vibraphone and harmonica. He worked as an arranger for the Invaders Steel Orchestra, who were based in his neighborhood. His own Hilton Flamingos were a steady-working hotel band in the late '50s and early '60s. His late '60s & '70s work fused Caribbean folk music, Indian "chutney" music, jazz, Yoruba drumming, funk and black power themes, with Mongo Santamaría being a major influence. He scored the music...