Without You, No Me is a Philly-centric big band feast of the ears celebrating the life and legacy of local jazz hero Jimmy Heath, who passed last year at age 93. Wherever you see life, particularly expressed in another human being, which is the highest form, that’s where God is and that’s where you should honor God.” “I was considered a renegade in the pulpit because I just didn’t teach the quote-unquote old-time religion gospel. “Both my theology and my musicology are different,” he said. Speaking to DownBeat, Barrett explained his unique perspective. Across 49 tracks, Barrett blends social and racial commentary with biblical parables, using synthesizers, citing then-current r&b and interpolating songs by Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, Carole King and more.
The box then stretches even further, offering a bonus album of singles and sermons. It gathers up four of Barrett’s ’70s LPs - Like A Ship…(Without A Sail), Do Not Pass Me By Volume 1 and Volume 2, and I Found The Answer - records that it’d take a lot of crate-digging and Discogs-surfing to find. People as far afield from each other as Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood and Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry sing his praises.įor the uninitiated, I Shall Wear A Crown does it all. He’s been sampled by Kanye West, T.I., DJ Khaled and more. Perhaps that’s why Barrett is, strangely, everywhere these days. This stems from Barrett’s obvious innovation, first of all, but also his ability to attract the participation of Donny Hathaway and Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice White and many of Chicago’s top session musicians. The music resurrected here feels more like listening to classic, empowered ’70s soul than what you’d expect to hear in church. So, one might assume this is standard gospel music. Barrett.īased on the South Side of Chicago, Barrett is backed primarily by his 45-piece Youth For Christ Choir, and still leads his same congregation at the Life Center COGIC (Church of God in Christ), known colloquially as Chicago’s Prayer Palace. We’ll be talking about this debut for many years to come.Ĭhicago-based Numero Group has long excelled at unearthing music that never should have disappeared from public consciousness, and the label has outdone itself with I Shall Wear A Crown, an archival box set summarizing the 50-year career of Pastor T.L. Floating above it all is the voice and artistry of this new and incredibly exciting artist. Lady Blackbird is best when dishing out torch songs like “It’s Not That Easy,” “Five Feet Tall” and “It Will Never Happen Again,” or instant jazz noir classics like the album’s opener, “Blackbird.” This is an album of smart wordplay, amazing song choices and elegantly understated musicality. It’s a beautifully touching ballad that could fit easily into the catalog of an icon like Burt Bacharach, packed with forlorn lyricism, punctuated by a sweet trumpet solo from Trombone Shorty.
Take, for example, the new but timeless nature of “Nobody’s Sweetheart,” written by artist-producer-songwriter Chris Seefried, who worked with Andra Day on her debut recording. Her voice is an old friend confessing her secrets, drawing you into her world. Lady Blackbird matches the authenticity and originality in this remake. The great Irma Thomas made the song a classic back in 1963. When she pleads, “Come back, come back, come back/ I’ve had enough,” on Allen Toussaint’s “Ruler Of My Heart,” there’s a piercing search for love that can only be delivered by a very few. She has long since left that side of her career behind, but the soul of that music is always close by. The ease, growl, coo and convincing nature of her voice come naturally as she has been singing in front of audiences since childhood, and was signed to a Christian music label as a teenager. With a voice that harkens a cross between Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone, Lady Blackbird tears your heart apart and puts it back together again on this 11-song set. This is heady, haunting, sexy, soulful, heartbreaking stuff.
Black Acid Soul is the sensational new recording by Marley Munroe, a.k.a.
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