The May Check-In

A tour de force to make up for three weeks of silence!

Hello friends!

Please forgive my silence for the last three weeks. I returned to nine-to-five life in February and have been juggling ten reissue projects and a consulting producer role on an exciting, forthcoming podcast alongside said nine-to-five, so the plate has been a bit more full than usual. Needless to say, there is a lot to share.

T Bone Burnett

Two weeks ago I made my way to Franklin Theater to see the legendary producer/singer/songwriter/musician T-Bone Burnett in a rare live appearance. His influence has been pervasive in my musical explorations through the years: he produced Maria Muldaur’s 1982 release There is a Love (which I’ve written about here), which was one of the first albums to make a massive impact on me. Just a few years later, he produced Leslie Phillips sayonara album to the world of CCM, The Turning, which I’ve also written about here. That album changed everything about how I view myself and the world. Having said that, seeing Mr. Burnett was a must for me—and truly a bucket list experience as he rarely tours.

His brand new album, The Other Side, is now available on all digital music platforms (and is available on vinyl). I cannot recommend this beautiful patchwork quilt of Americana enough. He performed the album from start to finish at Franklin Theater for set one, and then performed favorites from his vast repertoire in the second set—including the seminal “River of Love” from his 1986 self-titled country album, famously re-recorded by Leslie Phillips on her 1987 masterpiece, The Turning, which Burnett also produced. Below is “He Came Down,” one of my favorites from The Other Side. Beneath it, is a thought-provoking interview with T-Bone from this past week in which he discusses the troubling nature of information technology and its effect on music and humanity.

Church of the Good Groove (May)

The latest edition of Church of the Good Groove, the monthly playlist I curate for SoulandJazz.com, is UP! You can listen here: https://www.soulandjazz.com/category/latest-shows/5th-may-2024-church-latestshows/

Playlist is as follows, with hyperlinks to articles about any artists I’ve written about here in the past!

COGIC International Mass Choir—Leaning on Jesus (featuring Karen Clark-Sheard)—Leaning on Jesus—1997
Tata Vega—There’s Love in the World—Givin’ All My Love—1980
Walter Hawkins—Going to a Place—The Hawkins Family—1980
Bob Bailey—Did You Know?—Looking Forward—1980
Sweet Comfort Band—Feel Like Singin’—Hearts of Fire—1980
Crystal Lewis—Better Day—Joy—1989
Vickie Winans—You Turn Me—Be Encouraged—1987
Reneé Garcia—The Bounce—Living in the Vertical—1987
Genobia Jeter—Peace of Mind—Heaven—1986
Martha Wash—Carry On (Tee’s Freeze Hot Mix)—12″ Single—1992
Shirley Caesar—Jesus Is Coming—First Lady—1977
Lady Flash—Green Plant/Right Now (If You Believe)—Beauties in the Night    1975

Love Is On My Mind (20th Anniversary Edition)

In the last newsletter, I wrote about the brand new expanded edition of my debut album, Love Is On My Mind, released in celebration of the album’s 20th anniversary. (Streaming/download links here: https://tr.ee/kDF--MQs73)

Well, there’s more! This past week, I released a companion audio commentary which features myself as well as the album’s producer, Dale Babb, as well as Ron Gilmore, who was then a young Nashville musician and who is today a Grammy-nominated producer with credits including J. Cole and Ari Lennox. Toya Haynes, who was in attendance at most of the live shows during that time also adds her memories. You can listen to the audio commentary in a playlist with the songs below!

Pretty Voice Privilege

Earlier this year, I was commissioned to co-write this script with Milik Kashad of the Black Music Archive about why certain kinds of voices seem to be excluded from the current framework of popular music. We dive deep into the vocal stylings of Dorothy Love Coates, Dorothy Norwood, Cissy Houston, Judy Clay, Lorraine Ellison, and more. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this!

It’s Release Week!

Last spring, I began work on this labor of love—a 2-disc retrospective of disco icon Taana Gardner’s catalog with the legendary West End Records. We included the original version of her 1979 debut (her only full-length album) on CD for the first time. For clarity: yes—there was a reissue by Big Break back in 2013 that was also expanded, but it featured producer Kenton Nix’s original mixes of the songs that had been previously unreleased…not the album in its original, commercially released form. Several have asked if the original Larry Levan mix of “Work That Body” is included…and I’m proud to say…yes! It is!

I produced this project in conjunction with Joe Marchese of The Second Disc and David Nathan at SoulMusic Records. The gorgeous package was designed by Paul Bevoir and the tracks were remastered by Nick Robbins. Thank you to Cherry Red Records for delivering this project to the world! And thank you, of course, to SoulMusic Records founder, David Nathan, for entrusting this project to me (Be sure to subscribe to David’s soulful and ever-insightful Substack!)

It was a delight to wake up to AllMusic’s review of the project which shouts out the essay (4500+ words) that I wrote for the booklet. They wrote in their 4-star review, “As is custom for SoulMusic and Second Disc, the labels that partnered to put this anthology together, the liner notes tell a full story packed with quotes. They trace Gardner's whirlwind trip -- from receiving the studio call that changed her life, to holding court at the Paradise Garage ("Oh my god, I'm home!"), to performing atop a float at San Francisco's Gay Freedom Day parade, to singing at Studio 54, where she previously hadn't been allowed inside to dance.”

The project was released this past Friday! You can find links to order the project by clicking here.