DONALD BYRD (ABO #390)

DONALD BYRD
UNFINISHED BIZNESS (1958-1976)

Donald Byrd's story parallels the decline of Jazz in America and the changes that transpired in an attempt to remain relevant.
Trumpeter Donald Byrd was 15 years old when he cut his first record as a sessionman for the Robert Barnes Sextet. He didn't record again until eight years later, when in 1955, he guested on a Kenny Clarke recording. The first album under his own name appeared just two months later on Transition Records. That was followed by several years of journeyman work for future jazz stars such as Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean and Horace Silver as well as a stint in the Jazz Messegers.
He debuted on Blue Note Records in 1958, and his recordings range from Bop in 1958 to Post-Bop in 1963, to Fusion in 1970. In Byrd's case, it progressed into a jazz/soul/funk hybrid that helped to form the roots of Acid-Jazz. 1972's 'Black Byrd' was the result; the biggest seller in Blue Note history, reaching number two on the R&B albums chart. He assembled and produced a group called the Blackbyrds in 1974, although he didn't play with them. They had two Top 20 singles and are best known for the song "Walking In Rhythm". He has recorded sporadically since then; AllMusic shows nine albums between 1977 and 2006.
This collection covers the twenty four albums recorded during the Blue Note years from 1958 until 1976. I've also included the album Groovin' For Nat; recorded for Black Saint. I just liked it a lot. (Burns)

RIYL:
Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE (ABO #389)

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE
FAMILY AFFAIR
(1967-1983)

Sly & the Family Stone harnessed all of the disparate musical and social trends of the late '60s, creating a wild, brilliant fusion of soul, rock, R&B, psychedelia, and funk that broke boundaries down without a second thought. Led by Sly Stone, the Family Stone was comprised of men and women, and blacks and whites, making the band the first fully integrated group in rock's history. That integration shone through the music, as well as the group's message. Before Stone, very few soul and R&B groups delved into political and social commentary; after him, it became a tradition in soul, funk, and hip-hop. And, along with James Brown, Stone brought hard funk into the mainstream. The Family Stone's arrangements were ingenious, filled with unexpected group vocals, syncopated rhythms, punchy horns, and pop melodies. Their music was joyous, but as the '60s ended, so did the good times. Stone became disillusioned with the ideals he had been preaching in his music, becoming addicted to a variety of drugs in the process. His music gradually grew slower and darker, culminating in 1971's There's a Riot Going On, which set the pace for '70s funk with its elastic bass, slurred vocals, and militant Black Power stance. Stone was able to turn out one more modern funk classic, 1973's Fresh, before slowly succumbing to his addictions, which gradually sapped him of his once prodigious talents. Nevertheless, his music continued to provide the basic template for urban soul, funk, and even hip-hop well into the '90s. (allmusic)

My SLY & THE FAMILY STONE Top 3
1 – There’s a Riot Going On (1971)
2 – Stand! (1969)
3 – Life (1973)

My SLY & THE FAMILY STONE Bottom 3
1 – Ain’t But the One Way (1983)
2 – Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I’m Back (1976)
3 – Back on the Right Track (1979)

RIYL:
The Average White Band, Parliament, The Undisputed Truth

ERYKAH BADU (ABO #388)

ERYKAH BADU
SOUTHERN GIRL
(1997-2010)

She grew up listening to '70s soul and '80s hip-hop, but Erykah Badu drew more comparisons to Billie Holiday upon her breakout in 1997, after the release of her first album, Baduizm. The grooves and production on the album are bass-heavy R&B, but Badu's languorous, occasionally tortured vocals and delicate phrasing immediately removed her from the legion of cookie-cutter female R&B singers. A singer/songwriter responsible for all but one of the songs on Baduizm, she found a number 12 hit with her first single, "On & On," which pushed the album to number two on the charts.
Born Erica Wright in Dallas in 1971, Badu attended a school of the arts and was working as a teacher and part-time singer in her hometown when she opened for D'Angelo at a 1994 show. D'Angelo's manager, Kedar Massenburg, was impressed with the performance and hooked her up with the singer to record a cover of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duet "Precious Love." He also signed Badu to his recently formed Kedar Entertainment label, and served as producer for Baduizm, which also starred bassist Ron Carter and members of hip-hop avatars the Roots on several tracks. The first single, "On & On," became a number one R&B hit in early 1997, and Baduizm followed it to the top of the R&B album charts by March. Opening for R&B acts as well as rap's Wu-Tang Clan, Erykah Badu stopped just short of number one on the pop album charts in April. Her Live album followed later in the year.
In 2000 she returned with her highly anticipated second studio album, Mama's Gun, which was co-produced by Badu, James Poyser, Bilal, and Jay Dee and contained the hit single "Bag Lady." Worldwide Underground, a loose affair billed as an EP despite being longer than many full-lengths, was released in 2003. Her next step, 2008's New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, was a heavy and abstract release featuring collaborations with the members of Sa-Ra and Georgia Anne Muldrow; it reached number two on the Billboard 200 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh, looser and more playful than Pt. 1, followed in 2010. (allmusic)
(Thanks to our new collaborator [GEMY] for this one.)

RIYL:
Alicia Keys, Kelis, Me'Shell Ndegéocello

ETTA JAMES (ABO #387)

ETTA JAMES
BURNER'S CHOICE

Few R&B singers have endured tragic travails on the monumental level that Etta James has and remain on earth to talk about it. The lady's no shrinking violet; her autobiography, Rage to Survive, describes her past (including numerous drug addictions) in sordid detail.
But her personal problems have seldom affected her singing. James has hung in there from the age of R&B and doo wop in the mid-'50s through soul's late-'60s heyday and right up into the '90s and 2000s (where her 1994 disc Mystery Lady paid loving jazz-based tribute to one of her idols, Billie Holiday). Etta James' voice has deepened over the years, coarsened more than a little, but still conveys remarkable passion and pain.
In concert, Etta James is a sassy, no-holds-barred performer whose suggestive stage antics sometimes border on the obscene. She's paid her dues many times over as an R&B and soul pioneer; long may she continue to shock the uninitiated.

RIYL:
Mavis Staples, Ernestine Anderson, Bessie Smith, Dinah Washington

LONNIE BROOKS (ABO #386)

LONNIE BROOKS
SWAMP CRAWLER

Lonnie Brooks is a minor star in a minor genre, the blues. This is a quick and dirty collection culled from two favorite albums (Hot Shot and Roadhouse Rules), and filled out with four tracks from the Alligator Records compilation called Deluxe Edition. It isn't intended as a complete view of the man's work, but it does give you a good idea of how he sounds.
He was born Lee Baker Jr. in Louisiana and began his career playing zydeco music in Clifton Chenier's band under the name Guitar Junior. After moving to Chicago in 1959, he found that there was already another Guitar Jr. in town and changed his name to Lonnie Brooks. The next decade was a struggle but like many American jazz & blues artists, Lonnie finally found an appreciative audience in Europe. His career began to pick up steam in the mid-Seventies and reached a crescendo in 1979 with the album "Bayou Lightning'. Being a blues star is a hollow victory, you're still only pulling in about 200 people a night in a dive on the dark end of the street.
This collection features songs from 1983 to 1996. It has similarities to the Midwest boogie blues/rock that's been posted here recently, but leans more towards the slow soul grinds of Memphis and the South.

RIYL:
Luther Allison, Son Seals, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

GEOFFREY ORYEMA (ABO #385)

GEOFFREY ORYEMA
SON OF THE WIND

Geoffrey Oryema (born April 16, 1953) is an internationally renowned Ugandan musician. In 1977, at the age of 24 and at the height of Idi Amin's power, Oryema was smuggled across the Ugandan border in the trunk of a car, after the death of his father, Erinayo Wilson Oryema, who was a cabinet minister, beginning a life in exile. Today his songs keep alive the languages of his youth - Swahili and Acholi and return to the lost country - the 'clear green land' of Uganda.
Oryema earned his international reputation following the release of his second album, Beat the Border. He has collaborated with, amongst others, Peter Gabriel. Gabriel's record label, Real World, helped with the first three of Oryema's albums, until his move to Sony International, a label established in France where Oryema resides since his exile. Besides his two native languagues mentioned earlier, he also sings in English and French.

My GEOFFREY ORYEMA List
1 - Exile (1990)
2 - Beat the Border (1994)
3 - Spirit (2000)
4 - Night to Night (1997)
5 - Words (2004)

RIYL:
Youssou N'Dour, Ismaël Lô, Ayub Ogada

GIL SCOTT-HERON (ABO #384)

GIL SCOTT-HERON
WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

Gil Scott-Heron (born April 1, 1949) is an American poet, musician, and author known primarily for his late 1970s and early 1980s work as a spoken word performer and his collaborative soul works with musician Brian Jackson. His collaborative efforts with Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues and soul music, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. The music of these albums, most notably Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul. Scott-Heron's recording work is often associated with black militant activism and has received much critical acclaim for one of his most well-known compositions "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". On his influence, Allmusic wrote "Scott-Heron's unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop artists".

My GIL SCOTT-HERON Top Three
1 - Pieces of a Man (1971)
2 - Winter in America (1974)
3 - It's Your World (1976)

My GIL SCOTT-HERON Bottom Three
1 - Moving Target (1982)
2 - 1980 (1980)
3 - Real Eyes (1980)

RIYL:
The Last Poets, Sly & the Family Stone, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy

GURU'S JAZZMATAZZ (ABO #383)

FEEL THE MUSIC by
GURU'S JAZZMATAZZ

Ex-Gangstarr's Guru died not so long ago. While I'm not that fond of the work of his original band, I find his Jazzmatazz series to be quite appealing. Indeed, it was a bold move to mix real jazz with hip-hop when the first volume was released and since the album was of good quality, it pleased be then and still does now. Sure the sequels haven't all been of that caliber but, on every one of them, I found enough quality to decide that project was worth compiling for Baistophe's Black Month.
So, here's a tribute to Guru with what I consider the finest of the Jazzmatazz Series. Enjoy.

RIYL :
US3, Digable Planets, Dream Warriors

ME'SHELL NGEDEOCELLO (ABO #382)

ME'SHELL NDEGEOCELLO
IN TRANSIT

For those who only know her most famous singles, Me'Shell Ngedéocello may appear as a relatively common r'n'b artist. That is a huge mistake and a dire misunderstanding of this one of a kind artist. Me'Shell has so many faces she may very well be a mirrorball-image of what quality modern black music should sound like. On top of the soul/hip-hop thingy, which she does pretty damn well, this lady has proven to be a versatile and curious composer that can handle rock, folk, jazz just as well as she does with soul and hip-hop. Of course, not all of her eight albums are of the same quality but every one of them has moments of grace that can seldom be found with any other artist in today's black music scene. In that, one can easily compare her to Nina Simone whom also could touch about every musical genre she wanted and make it her own. I bet you Me'Shell will have a long and productive career and will continue to amaze and surprise us. This 2 hours compilation tries to be an introduction to her unique world. Enjoy.

My ME'SHELL NDEGEOCELLO Top 3
1 - Bitter (1999)
2 - The World Made Me the Man of My Dreams (2007)
3 - Peace Beyond Passion (1996)

RIYL:
Erykah Badu, Nina Simone, Joan Armatrading

This Is My Last Goodbye

I know, I know things that happen are sometimes hard to live but there are some decision to be made.

Today was my round to post a Baistophe and I didn't really feel like doing it. In fact, it's been several weeks, several months that I had become a bit tired of that. Not that today I don't like Baistophing. In the contrary, I still live it, but it has taken so much parts in my life that I had to stop one day. I had already told to my dear friend SFP that I wanted to progressively stop my contribution to the blog from september, but today, I feel so empty, so powerless that I can't go on without risking anything within my health or my family's.

Baistophe has taken so much place in my life that I had to react before becoming a no-life.

Because I love much more my wife and daughter than music and this pretty good blog, my choice has been very easy to make.

SFP has told me that if I gave up, he'd stop too. I hope he won't because between me and he, he was the most talented. I really hope he'll go on and maybe hope that some of our friends, one-time contributor, will become full time member. This blog deserves it.

Laws are going against illegal downloads. I'm deeply for those laws because artists deserve to be paid for the work they've been doing. But keep on downloading those forgotten artists because industry is killing our common musical history by deleting them from their catalog.

So do what you want, but be sure you are true to those you love, be they famous or not.

Thank you all to you kind words during those 2 and half years of Baistophe. Regarding our first posts, I am just amazed of how we have evoluated... and we have evoluated thanks to your support. I won't forget that at all.

This was my last goodbye