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.
Tag: soul
Posted inMusic
Little-known Chicago blues-rock wizard Zach Prather has found his crowd in Europe
Thanks in part to a long partnership with the late Cash McCall, Prather has played with the likes of Willie Dixon, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Etta James.
Posted inMusic
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.
Posted inMusic
Mavis Staples sanctified Friday night at Pitchfork
Even when Mavis Staples wasn’t singing gospel at Pitchfork, her powerful spiritual voice could bring together generations.
Posted inMusic
Barbara Acklin missed soul stardom by a hair
She’s best known for the 1968 hit “Love Makes a Woman,” but she also had a productive songwriting duo with Eugene Record of the Chi-Lites.
Posted inMusic
Karen Wolfe sings tough but supple southern soul-blues
Memphis vocalist Karen Wolfe has adopted the persona of a vintage blueswoman—feisty, independent, and ready to call out no-good men.
Posted inMusic
Memphis veteran Don Bryant returns to soul after decades away
Don Bryant narrowly missed stardom at Hi Records in the 60s, but now he’s taking another swing.
Posted inMusic
Johari Noelle packs years of soul into her first five songs
Chicago native Johari Noelle has shaped her polished debut EP with years of choir and theater, half a season on reality TV, and nearly 18 months in the studio.
Posted inBlogs
Chicago-based Saint Louis rapper Smino gets ‘a lot more ass shaking’ on the new Noir
On his sophomore album, Noir, Smino highlights his rap skills without abandoning the soulful singing of Blkswn.
Posted inMusic
Chicago soul man Marvin Smith hit big with the Artistics, but couldn’t break out on his own
Despite his arresting falsetto on “Time Stopped” (and a cosign from Curtis Mayfield), Marvin Smith’s solo records never did better than his 1966 Artistics single “I’m Gonna Miss You.”
Posted inBlogs
Chicago soul singer Christian JaLon wants you to know what love means to her
Christian JaLon performs Saturday, July 21, at Pilsen gallery Casa Calle 20.
Posted inMusic
Gene Barge blew his sax on some of the wildest R&B hits of the 60s
The Blues Festival pays tribute to 91-year-old saxophonist Gene “Daddy G” Barge with a set with by his longest-running band, the Chicago Rhythm & Blues Kings.
Posted inMusic
Willie Clayton still has his sterling voice as his career nears its golden anniversary
For Willie Clayton’s fourth appearance on the Blues Festival’s main stage, the southern soul king will be cooking with a full band—backup singers, horn players, and all.
Posted inMusic
Crate diggers have caught up with the funky soul of Doug Shorts’s Master Plan Inc.
Decades after his greatest group disbanded, Chicago soul singer Doug Shorts is finally being recognized for his brilliance.
Posted inMusic
Bluesman Cash McCall hasn’t written a hit in more than 50 years, but that isn’t stopping him
Cash McCall has moved from gospel to soul to blues, and his best-known song is still the 1966 single “When You Wake Up.”