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Romare Bearden: A Birthday Tribute
Romare Bearden, the most widely known African-American artist of the 20th century, was born 100 years ago, on Sept. 2, 1911. While exhibitions of his work are ongoing, this year has seen quite a few (pdf) remarkable ones. The U.S. Postal Service will also honor Bearden with a group of four stamps next month. Just…
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The Professor and the Bellhop
Cornel West’s recent diatribe against President Obama has invited a storm of derision and mockery. And deservedly so. But another aspect of his rant has gone virtually unnoticed: Appparently the good professor thinks of himself as more deserving of a ticket to Obama’s inauguration than a hotel bellhop he’d never met before and about whom…
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Hear This: Cam'ron, Musiq Soulchild and Beastie Boys
Gunz n’ Butta by Cam’ron and Vado From Raekwon to Pharoahe Monch and more, this spring has been a special one for hip-hop veterans. It almost reminds me of the autumn of 1998 with its embarrassment of hip-hop riches. Into this mix comes Cam’ron and his protégé Vado, with their album Gunz n’ Butta (a…
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Hear This: Les Nubians, Ambrose Akinmusire, Pharoahe Monch
When the Heart Emerges Glistening by Ambrose Akinmusire Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire (ah-kin-MOO-sir-re) has just released When the Heart Emerges Glistening, his first album for major jazz label Blue Note Records. The Oakland, Calif., native was the subject of a major profile in last Sunday’s New York Times. Heart is a shifty and fascinating album for…
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The Root Roundup: Raekwon, Delfeayo Marsalis and Marsha Ambrosius
Shaolin vs. Wu Tang by Raekwon “Now we are the masters of our fate,” says the voice of Winston Churchill on Raekwon the Chef’s new album. “Ain’t no recycle bin for rappers,” says Busta Rhymes on a different track. Taken together, these statements say much about Raekwon’s career: He persevered through several difficult years, including…
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The Best Martin Luther King Jr. Anthem Ever
Shortly after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, songwriter Dick Holler penned a beautiful tribute, “Abraham, Martin and John,” a meditative, poetic eulogy that also had a verse dedicated to Robert Kennedy. First recorded by Dion, it was famously covered by Marvin Gaye and has been covered many times by others. “Abraham, Martin and…
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Teena Marie: The Godmother of Hip-Hop
I don’t know what you do, but like Nas in “Book of Rhymes” (at 2:30 in), I pump some Rick James with that Teena Marie. The R&B legend passed away on Sunday at age 54, leaving one of the great vocal legacies in music, in a career that spanned nearly 40 years. From her world-famous…
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Happy Birthday, Clef Club!
Virginia Woolf famously wrote that on or about December 1910 human character changed. Another important change happened in 1910, when on April 11, the Clef Club was founded over a dinner of possum at the Marshall Hotel in Manhattan. Shortly thereafter, the way black popular musicians in New York City were treated and viewed nationwide…
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Reparations as Bailout
Don’t call it reparations. Call it a belated bailout of the Freedman’s Savings Bank, chartered by Congress in 1865 as a financial haven for freed slaves, and failed in 1874 after its white board lost all the money after a spree of wild speculation. It was like black people’s version of Bernie Madoff (but the…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
