sounds of New York
D’Angelo (vocals, keyboards) with Questlove (drums), covering “Tell Me if You Still Care” (S.O.S. Band, 1983), live, New York (Brooklyn Bowl), 2013
**********
lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
passings
Walter “Junie” Morrison, keyboard player, singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, etc., 1954-January 21, 2017
Keyboards and vocals, with Parliament-Funkadelic, “Into You,” live, Passaic, New Jersey, 1978
***
Questlove, Instagram post:
The Great Junie Morrison. So inspirational. All the #OhioPlayers westbound era funk that birthed #Voodoo & #BlackMessiah: #Junie. Those adlibs on Hov’s “#BrooklynsFinest & #Tribe‘s #ScenarioRemix is Junie. All the Warner Era #Funkadelic songwriting wizzardry #OneNationUnderAGroove & #UncleJamWantsYou (he co-wrote #NotJustKneeDeep) even #Parliament‘s #MotorBootyAffair & #Gloryhallastoopid. His ideas birthed and ushered in the G-Funk era (all that synthy #FunkyWorm synth yall associate w gangsta rap/Dre’s sound? That’s #JunieMorrison. Even his #SuzieThundertussy in its tales of “Lost Angeles” were the backdrop on Ye’s bright light for #TLOP‘s #NoMorePartiesInLA. Solange even gave him props on #Junie (“jump on it” for those that call it the “Jump on it song Dre3000 sings on)—this man was an uncelebrated unsung unchampioned whose ideas we just took and took and took. I regret so much not having a “proper” conversation about his journey. His songwriting. His technology innovations. Man. This STINGS. Rip #Junie.
sweet soul music
D’Angelo and The Soultronics (Questlove, drums; Pino Palladino, bass; Chalmers “Spanky” Alford, guitar; Frank Lacy, trombone, trumpet; Anthony Hamilton, vocals, et al.), “Send It On,” live, London, 2000
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Helen Levitt (1913-2009), New York, c. 1940
D’Angelo (with Questlove, drums; Pino Palladino, bass; Kuumba Frank Lacy, trombone, trumpet; Chalmers “Spanky” Alford, guitar; Anthony Hamilton, vocals, et al.), live, Switzerland (Montreux Jazz Festival), 2000
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
No stage anywhere in the world can compare with the one that exists in the imagination. Where else can you find Jimi Hendrix jamming with Miles Davis? Sam Cooke singing with Smokey Robinson? Sly Stone taking everybody higher with Sun Ra?
*****
Happy Birthday, Suzanne!
2n
D’Angelo (vocals, keyboards) & Questlove (drums), live, New York, 2013
“Africa”
***
“Tell Me If You Still Care”
Questlove (:10-) & Tony Allen (1:25-), live, Paris, 2011
What a contrast. Questlove, focusing on power and momentum, pushes the beat. Tony lies behind it, skips ahead, lies back again, favoring suppleness and elasticity.
music clip of the day 