If some sort of god or higher power exists, it clearly has a dark sense of humor—otherwise why send us plagues, floods, and fires, till even nonbelievers start to worry about the end times? And only a divine being with a cruel streak would’ve taken the Reverend Marvin Yancy from this earthly plane so young, […]
Tag: Natalie Cole
Posted inMusic
Saxophonist Gene Barge helped shape the sound of Chicago R&B
Gene Barge has done his most influential work as a sideman or producer, but he’s just as important as any of R&B’s marquee stars.
Posted inMusic
Summoning the ghosts of Record Row
For two decades, a short stretch of Michigan Avenue hosted a concentration of creative entrepreneurship whose influence on Black popular music is still felt today.
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Johnny Pate is one of the great unsung architects of Chicago soul
This 95-year-old living legend has played jazz, written blaxploitation soundtracks, and arranged for Stan Getz, B.B. King, and most famously Curtis Mayfield—but he’s probably most widely heard via hip-hop samples.
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Soul percussionist “Master” Henry Gibson played on hundreds of records—including Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusherman”
Henry Gibson’s bongo and conga wizardry made generations of stars sound better, but he never found fame as the main attraction.
Posted inMusic
Taste of Chicago wraps with Country Music Day, an Alligator party, and more
Having Descended upon Grant Park last week, the Taste of Chicago runs through Sun 7/3, dishing up food from nearly 60 restaurants and hosting a wide variety of music at the Petrillo Music Shell (northeast of Columbus and Jackson) and the Taste Stage (Columbus and Balbo). Four of the city’s free lakefront music festivals have […]