feature
Featured topics in Beat's musical universe.
The Original Smooth Operator
Let your mind drift back to the times of Miami Vice (no, the TV show, not the movie). It was a time when men weren’t afraid to wear white suits with pink tee-shirts, every home had some form of neon lighting and cigarette boats were the preferred method of transport for interesting people on the go. Lying in bed, listening to Sweet 98 FM, Hot Scott dropping the dedications, cheap red boombox delivering the hits of the day . . . Then out of nowhere, the smoothest voice you’ve ever heard comes through the speakers, like clean linen in a soft breeze, “coast to coast, LA to Chicago,” . . . Sade’s “Smooth Operator” was like nothing else on the radio, then or now. The song can still fill the brain with visions of pink flamingos and steamy nights under palm trees, her voice calmly soaring up and down the scale, her cadence and delivery an unrivaled level of sultry sweet, an exotic voice on familiar airwaves, a transcendent listen every time she sings.
By Jesse Stanek3 years ago in Beat
The Belfast Cowboy
Van Morrison never set out to change the world or shed light on society's many ills . . . he just wants to rock your gypsy soul. He began performing in the later part of the 1950s and is still releasing some of the most soulful music you'll ever hear. Morrison is an ace with his phrasing, twisting and turning lyrics, always delivering a musical moment worth remembering. Despite the staggering amount of music he's released, Morrison doesn't do duds. Any song he touches with that old Irish Soul is better for the play, his voice lending an authenticity and soulfulness that hits the ears like fresh lemonade at your favorite childhood swimming hole.
By Jesse Stanek3 years ago in Beat
The Fathers of Newgrass
There was a time when Bluegrass music was solely played by old white men in matching suits and cowboy hats. Then along came a scraggly, rag-tag bunch of longhairs covering rock and reggae tunes with Bluegrass instrumentation. New Grass Revival (NGR) was founded in 1971, the brainchild of mandolin/fiddle ace Sam Bush, NGR featured a host of legendary players over the years: Courtney Johnson, Bela Fleck, John Cowan, Curtis Burch, Butch Robbins, Pat Flynn and others. The band had a 17 year run before dismantling in 1989, however the players who first made this band matter continue to play festivals and release records in various formations, birthing the Newgrass movement which has exploded beyond what any of the idiom's fathers could have hoped for or dreamed. Bands like String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, Trampled By Turtles, Old Crow Medicine Show and Leftover Salmon all borrowed liberally from NGR's picking-and-plucking bag-o-tricks. NGR's early records shattered genre expectations, the playing is as fierce and passionate as the music is daring and fresh. The band had commercial success towards the end of it's career, the music much poppier and easier to digest for mainstream country.
By Jesse Stanek3 years ago in Beat
Too Much Greatness to Name but here are some ...
Sade. Billie Holiday. Solange. Mahalia Jackson. Mariah Carey. Rihanna. Missy Elliot. Marian Anderson. Beyonce. Eartha Kitt. Lauryn Hill. Josephine Baker. Nina Simone. Mary J. Blige. Diana Ross. Queen Latifah. Whitney Houston.
By Jada Ferguson3 years ago in Beat
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due:
Actresse Loretta Young has been credited with obseving that “giving credit where credit is due is a very rewarding habit to form.” Many of the conveniences that we enjoy we’re developed by individuals who remain unknown when they might otherwise have served as role models. The first computers, for example, were developed and run by women. Flash technology (the tech that makes websites like YouTube possible) was developed by a woman. Many such tech developments are enjoyed in our daily routine without little knowledge about the individuals who developed them. Who developed scanner technology that allows us to take advantage of self-checkout options at our grocery store? Who developed the USB interface resulting in the convenience of thumb drives? Who developed fiber optics?
By Arthur Maturo3 years ago in Beat
That Big Easy Good Time Sound
New Orleans funk isn’t James Brown or George Clinton. N’awlins funk is The Neville Brothers, Wild Magnolias and The Meters. It’s less gimmicky and more textured, layers of percussion and counter-rhythms, the bass still out front and leading the charge but doing so in a more refined fashion. The brass-Jazz history of New Orleans plays a huge role, horns played with a graceful and subtle nuance as opposed to serving as musical exclamation points. The Cajun/Zydeco influence is always cooked into the stew one way or another, making it sound more like World music than R&B or Soul. N’awlins funk is World music, it’s bayou, gators and crawfish on a picnic table. Its’s brass bands marching down the street as part of a funeral procession. It’s funk fit for the swampiest of circumstances and nobody does it better than The Neville Brothers.
By Jesse Stanek3 years ago in Beat
We all are born naked, the rest is Drag
Music shapes our lives. Whether we liked it or not, it does. That’s why every sport club have songs, every politician use uplifting songs before a rally or every single product advertised on TV have a jingle song. It sends a subliminal message, and those messages will eventually push us to buy the product. So, when it comes to music, there’s always songs and musicians that shape our lives. A song can encourage you to do that little project you have been leaving for later, or make you say yes to that guy that have been calling you for weeks asking for a date, if you are a romantic like I am.
By Sammi Garcia3 years ago in Beat
Lauryn Hill
Sister Act II Lauryn Hill, born May 26, 1975 in Newark New Jersey, is a musical pioneer, setting the stage for not only African American artists, but all musical artists. She innovates her unmatched lyricism through rap and intertwines her melodic soulful singing. She is producer, actress, songwriter, rapper, singer, and has broken many records and barriers in the industry. She made her debut at the Apollo Theater as a child not fairing too well but came back and touched the hearts of movie watchers in her role as Rita Watson in the 1993 film, Sister Act II: Back in the Habit, with Whoopi Goldberg. Hill wowed the audience with her ability to offer soulful riffs and a powerful vocal range.
By Kanisha Moye3 years ago in Beat
Minnie Riperton: Spring is Here
I like songs that surprise you. I love nothing more than something unexpected happening, when a track takes a thoroughly startling turn, and you say to yourself, "I didn't see that coming." For instance, I especially love it when the chorus isn't so much a logical, building-up of the verses, but a delightful turn into unforeseen territory.
By Christopher Donovan4 years ago in Beat