Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Special Guest Producer Nico Gray + Special Guest Katy Guillen

Wednesday MidDay Medley welcomes back to the show, Nico Gray, as “Guest Producer.” Nico is a writer, performance artist, and has worked as an actor with KC Rep, Gorilla Theatre, 8th St. Cafe Theatre, Actor’s Craft, and Big Bang Buffet. He appeared in HBO’s Truman and you can see him as a drunken sailor smoking a cigarette stumbling down the hallways of Union Station in the Robert Altman film Kansas City. Nico has worked for Theatre League, The Midland Theatre and is currently a marketing & advertising consultant with Union Station and the Marketing Director for Fringe Festival KC and WaterFire KC. For WMM Nico Gray has co-hosted several of fund drive shows, Glam Rock show, Bowie Tribute Shows, and our 700th show. Today is his 10th appearance as Guest Producer.

1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979
   [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]

2. Reitzell/Beggs — “Intro Versaille”
   from: From: Marie Antoinette (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) / Verve Forecast / 2006

3. Valerie June —“Starlight Ethereal Silence”
   from: The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers / June Tunes-Concord Records / March 12, 2021
   [5th full length album co-produced by Jack Splash and Valerie June. Valerie June Hockett was born January 10, 1982), known as Valerie June, is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Her sound encompasses a mixture of folk, blues, gospel, soul, country, Appalachian and bluegrass. She is signed to Concord Music Group worldwide. // Born in Jackson, Tennessee on January 10, 1982, June is the oldest of five children. As a child growing up in Humboldt, June was exposed to gospel music at her local church and R&B and soul music via her father, Emerson Hockett. As a teenager, her first job was with her father, owner of Hockett Construction in West Tennessee, and a part-time promoter for gospel singers and Prince, K-Ci & JoJo, and Bobby Womack. She helped by hanging posters in town. Her father died in late 2016. // June relocated to Memphis in 2000 and began recording and performing at the age of 19, initially with her then-husband Michael Joyner, in the duo Bella Sun. After her marriage ended, she began working as a solo artist, combining blues, gospel and Appalachian folk in a style that she describes as “organic moonshine roots music”, and learning guitar, banjo, and lap-steel guitar. She became associated with the Memphis-based Broken String Collective. // In 2009 she was a featured artist on MTV’s online series $5 Cover (following the lives of Memphis musicians attempting to make ends meet), and in 2010 she recorded the EP Valerie June and the Tennessee Express, a collaboration with Old Crow Medicine Show. // In 2011 she was honored by the Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission at the Emissaries of Memphis Music event. She raised funds to record an album with producer Craig Street via Kickstarter.com, raising $15,000 in 60 days. Later that year she relocated from Memphis to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Shortly after, record producer Kevin Augunas introduced June to Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, which led to the recording of June’s album Pushin’ Against a Stone in July 2011, which was co-written and produced by Dan Auerbach and Kevin Augunas. // In 2012, June performed with producer John Forté on a collaboration called Water Suites (on the hip-hop-blues song “Give Me Water”), and with Meshell Ndegeocello on the song “Be My Husband”. She contributed The Wandering’s 2012 album Go on Now, You Can’t Stay Here: Mississippi Folk Music Volume III. In 2012 she performed in the UK for the first time, playing at Bestival and appearing on Later… with Jools Holland. // She has received substantial radio play in Europe on BBC Radio 6, including a feature on Cerys on 6 with Cerys Matthews. Mary Anne Hobbs of XFM has said of June: “This woman has already touched my heart, she really, really has.” // In February 2013, June was invited to support Jake Bugg on the UK leg of his tour. In March 2013, June performed two nights at South By Southwest. The first performance was on March 14 as part of the Heartbreaker Banquet. On March 16, June performed again, this time as part of The Revival Tour. Rolling Stone June’s second album, The Order of Time one of the 50 Best Albums of 2017, citing “her handsomely idiosyncratic brand of Americana, steeped deep in electric blues and old-time folk, gilded in country twang and gospel yearning….a blend of spacey hippie soul, blues and folk with June’s pinched, modern-Appalachian voice at the center”. In a 2017 interview, Bob Dylan was asked what artists he listened to and respected; June was among the artists he mentioned in reply.More info at: http://www.valeriejune.com]

4. Valerie June —“Home Inside”
   from: The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers / June Tunes-Concord Records / March 12, 2021

5. Elvis Costello —“Revolution 49”
   from: Hey Clockface / Concord Records / October 30, 2020
   [Hey Clockface is the 31st studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello. The album was released on 30 October 2020 by Concord Records. Declan Patrick MacManus, OBE was born August 25, 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter. He has won multiple awards in his career, including Grammy Awards in 1999 and 2020, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Costello began his career as part of London’s pub rock scene in the early 1970s and later became associated with the first wave of the British punk and new wave movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s. His critically acclaimed debut album My Aim Is True was released in 1977. Shortly after recording it, he formed the Attractions as his backing band. His second album This Year’s Model was released in 1978, and was ranked number 11 by Rolling Stone on its list of the best albums from 1967 to 1987. His third album Armed Forces was released in 1979, and features his highest-charting single, “Oliver’s Army” (number 2 in the UK). His first three albums all appeared on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Costello and the Attractions toured and recorded together for the better part of a decade, though differences between them caused a split by 1986. Much of Costello’s work since has been as a solo artist, though reunions with members of the Attractions have been credited to the group over the years. Costello’s lyrics employ a wide vocabulary and frequent wordplay. His music has drawn on many diverse genres; one critic described him as a “pop encyclopaedia”, able to “reinvent the past in his own image”. Costello has co-written several original songs for motion pictures, including “God Give Me Strength” from Grace of My Heart (1996, with Burt Bacharach) and “The Scarlet Tide” from Cold Mountain (2003, with T-Bone Burnett). For the latter, Elvis was nominated (along with Burnett) for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.]

6. Sharon Van Etten – “Let Go”
   rom: Let Go – Single / Jagjaguwar / October 13, 2020
   [Sharon Katharine Van Etten was born February 26, 1981. She is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She has released five studio albums, the latest of which is Remind Me Tomorrow (2019). // Van Etten was born in Belleville, New Jersey, the middle child of five. She lived in Nutley, New Jersey, then moved to Clinton, New Jersey as a pre-teen. She attended North Hunterdon High School, at which she participated in the chorus and performed in stage musicals. // Later, she moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to attend Middle Tennessee State University and studied recording, but dropped out after a year. She ended up working at the Red Rose, a coffee and record shop and music venue in Murfreesboro for about five years. She fell into an abusive relationship with a rock musician who discouraged her from writing songs. After five years, she left in the middle of the night with whatever she could carry. She showed up to her parents’ house on Thanksgiving Day and her mother answered the door, holding the dishes she’s about to put on the table, to find her black-sheep middle child, who hasn’t spoken to her in ages, standing on the doorstep. // In 2004, she moved back to New Jersey, where she worked at Perryville Wine and Spirits, then moved to New York City in 2005. She lived in Brooklyn for a number of years, in the suburban neighborhood of Ditmas Park.// Van Etten self-released handmade CDs until 2009, when her debut studio recording was released. Before her studio debut, she worked at Astor Wines and as a publicist at Ba Da Bing Records. // Van Etten’s debut, Because I Was in Love, was released on May 26, 2009, on Language of Stone, and was manufactured and distributed by Drag City. Because I Was in Love was produced by Greg Weeks at Hexham Head studio in Philadelphia. // On September 21, 2010, Van Etten released her second album, epic, on Ba Da Bing Records. With no set band at the time, Van Etten called on friends Jeffrey Kish, Dave Hartley, Jessica Larrabee, and Andy LaPlant of She Keeps Bees, Cat Martino, Meg Baird, Jim Callan, and Brian Christinzio. The first song recorded for the album was “Love More”, recorded in December 2009 by producer Brian McTear for Weathervane Music’s Shaking Through documentary video series. The remainder of the album was produced by Brian McTear with engineer Amy Morrissey in May 2010 at Miner Street Recordings in Philadelphia. NPR described it as possessing “a fuller sound compared to the super-spare arrangements on her first two self-produced albums, but epic still feels incredibly intimate, with lots of room to breathe and unfold.” // Van Etten’s third studio album, Tramp, was released on February 7, 2012, on Jagjaguwar. Tramp was produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner and recorded in his home studio in Brooklyn, New York. Additional recording took place at Miner Street Recordings in Philadelphia, where the album was also mixed with Engineers and Mixers Brian McTear and Jonathan Low. The album features musicians Doug Keith, Thomas Bartlett, Bryan Devendorf, Bryce Dessner, Matt Barrick, Rob Moose, Julianna Barwick, Peter Silberman, Logan Coale, Clarice Jensen, Ben Lanz, Zach Condon, and Jenn Wasner. // May 2014 brought about the release of Van Etten’s fourth studio album, titled Are We There, on Jagjaguwar. Van Etten produced the record with Stewart Lerman, with the guidance of bandmate and manager Zeke Hutchins. Most of the recording was done at Hobo Sound Studios in Weehawken, New Jersey, with piano tracks being recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The record features musicians Zeke Hutchins, Doug Keith, Heather Woods Broderick, Dave Hartley, Adam Granduciel, Marisa Anderson, Stuart D. Bogie, Mickey Free, Mary Lattimore, Little Isidor, Jacob Morris, Torres’ Mackenzie Scott, Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg, Lower Dens’ Jana Hunter, and Efterklang touring member Peter Broderick. The EP I Don’t Want to Let You Down, a compilation of songs that were not included on Are We There, was released on Jagjaguwar in 2015. // On October 2, 2018, Van Etten released a new track entitled “Comeback Kid” and announced her next album Remind Me Tomorrow, released on January 18, 2019.[16] On February 28, 2019, Van Etten appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to perform the single “Seventeen”. // On April 22, 2020, Van Etten played bass and sang harmony as the three surviving members of Fountains of Wayne performed in a televised benefit with various New Jersey-affiliated musicians to raise funds for COVID-19 relief. She filled the role left vacant by the COVID-19-related death of Adam Schlesinger a few weeks earlier. She and the other three members of the band played simultaneously from remote locations. The band played the song “Hackensack” from the album Welcome Interstate Managers. // On May 15, 2020, Van Etten dropped a cover of (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding? with Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme. // Van Etten’s music is characterized by a heavy use of harmonies. Pitchfork described her songs as having “echoes of folk tradition.” NPR Music asserts: “Her songs are heartfelt without being overly earnest; her poetry is plainspoken but not overt, and her elegant voice is wrapped in enough rasp and sorrow to keep from sounding too pure or confident.” With “Comeback Kid” and Remind Me Tomorrow, she introduced electronic sounds into her music. // Since 2016, Van Etten has appeared in both seasons of the Netflix drama The OA as Rachel, a fellow abductee along with Prairie in Dr. Percy’s basement lab/terrarium. Rachel and the other captives are subjected to after-life experiments while conspiring over a period of years to possibly escape, and at one point, Rachel sings a song of remembrance. Van Etten also appeared in episode six of the 2017 Twin Peaks series on Showtime. // Van Etten made her feature film debut with a supporting role in Never Rarely Sometimes Always directed by Eliza Hittman, for which she also wrote and performed the original track ‘Staring at a Mountain’. // Van Etten had her first child, a son, in 2017 with her romantic partner Zeke Hutchins. Hutchins used to be her drummer and then became her manager. After living in New York City for 15 years, she moved with her family to Los Angeles in Sept 2019. More info at: http://www.sharonvanetten.com]

7. Art d’Ecco – “Nothing Ever Changes” (Vinyl)
   from: Day Fevers / Your Face Records / 2016
   [Will be on upcoming release IN STANDARD DEFINITION to be released April 23, 2021. Based in British Columbia, “There’s more than a little David Bowie in both the sonic and fashion leanings of Art d’Ecco, a performer who fluidly crosses musical and gender lines, creating highly memorable tracks — and sporting an unforgettable look. Often labelled “neo glam,” the music boasts hints of everything from ’50s pop to psychedelics, from Velvet Underground-era art rock to Grimes-inspired electronics.” – CBC Music Art d’Ecco freleased the album Trespasser on Paper Bag Records on October 12, 2018. When d’Ecco moved into his grandmother’s cottage on one of the islands, he hadn’t planned on creating a new project. But, as it often does, circumstance charted his course. His grandmother, living with Alzheimer’s, suffered a related phenomenon called ‘sundowning,’ which triggers increased agitation and anxiety around sunset. “The only way to calm this lady down was to sit down at the piano,” says d’Ecco. He would play “Bohemian Rhapsody,” passing it off as Beethoven. After she was relocated, d’Ecco remained in the empty house where he had played as a child. Draped in memory, he gravitated toward the piano, spending the long, lonesome, quiet nights on the bench before the instrument. This is where Art d’Ecco was created. He relocated to a new cottage, built a studio and barricaded himself with copies of Deerhunter’s Cryptograms, Bowie’s Low, and choice krautrock records. In this solitude, d’Ecco would chase tones for hours. The result is a richly-realized confluence of the ferocious spark of those trailblazers and a distinct sadness, with d’Ecco as mad scientist, stitching together these delicious fragments and animating them.]

8. Miley Cyrus —“Sweet Jane”
   from: MTV Unplugged Presents Miley Cyrus Backyard Sessions / You Tube / October 16, 2020
   [The Backyard Sessions are a series of music videos released by Miley Cyrus on YouTube in 2012, 2015 and 2020. The 2015 series coincided with the formation of Cyrus’s philanthropic organization, the Happy Hippie Foundation, and were billed as “Happy Hippie Presents Backyard Sessions”. // On October 16, 2020, Cyrus premiered a full Backyard Sessions concert on MTV. Her band called themselves “Miley Cyrus and the Social Distancers,” and all members except the singers wore masks in performance. On October 17, she posted six concert videos to her YouTube channel. Four were covers: “Gimme More” by Britney Spears, “Communication” by The Cardigans, “Sweet Jane” by the Velvet Underground, and “Just Breathe” by Pearl Jam. She also posted a live version of her song “Midnight Sky” from her album Plastic Hearts and a duet with her sister Noah Cyrus of Noah’s song “I Got So High That I Saw Jesus.” During the concert, she also performed a cover of Jackson Browne’s “These Days,” but this was not uploaded to Cyrus’s channel in October. // Miley Ray Cyrus was born Destiny Hope Cyrus, on November 23, 1992. She is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Noted for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans a range of styles, from pop and country pop to hip hop, experimental and rock. Cyrus has attained the most US Billboard 200 top-five albums in the 21st century by a female artist, with a total of thirteen entries. Her personal life, public image, and performances have often sparked controversy and received widespread media coverage. // Cyrus, a daughter of country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus, emerged as a teen idol while portraying the title character of the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana (2006–2011). As Hannah Montana, she attained two number-one and three top-five soundtracks on the US Billboard 200, including the US Billboard Hot 100 top-ten single “He Could Be the One.” Cyrus’s own discography includes the US number-one albums Meet Miley Cyrus (2007), Breakout (2008), and Bangerz (2013); the top-five releases Can’t Be Tamed (2010), Younger Now (2017), Plastic Hearts (2020) and the free album Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015). Cyrus’s EPs The Time of Our Lives (2009) and She Is Coming (2019) also debuted in the top-five. Plastic Hearts became Cyrus’s most acclaimed album, and her first entry on the Billboard Rock Chart, debuting atop the chart. It included the lead single “Midnight Sky”. Her other singles include the US top ten-charting “See You Again”, “7 Things”, “The Climb”, “Party in the U.S.A.”, “Can’t Be Tamed”, “We Can’t Stop”, “Malibu”; and the chart-topping “Wrecking Ball”. “Party in the U.S.A.” was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). // Cyrus’s career accolades include entries on the Time 100 list in 2008 and 2014, MTV’s Best Artist of 2013 Award, and placement on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Artists Chart in 2019. She is often regarded as one of the few examples of successful child actors-turned-singers. As an actress, Cyrus has made appearances in the animated film Bolt (2008) and the feature films Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009) and The Last Song (2010). On television, Cyrus served as a coach on the singing competition series The Voice across two seasons and starred in an episode of the Netflix series Black Mirror (2019). Cyrus is an advocate for animal rights and adopted a vegan lifestyle in 2014; she founded the non-profit Happy Hippie Foundation in 2014, which focuses on youth homelessness and the LGBT community.]

9. Magon – “Coucou My Friend”
   rom: Hour After Hour / T.Rex Recordings / January 29, 2021
   [Isreali born, Paris, France based. Written & composed by Magon except: “Aerodynamic” by Magon & Alexa Rotarescu, “Coucou My Friend” by Magon & Alexa & Yvonne Rotarescu. Recorded, mixed & mastered by Magon. Magon on vocals, guitars, bass, drums, & percussions; Ferdinand De Fournoux on drums, & percs; Nimrod Goldfarb on guitar, bass, & percussions; Alexa Rotarescu on vocals. http://www.magon.bandcamp.com]

10:28 – Underwriting

10. Maxence Cyrin – “Where Is My Mind”
    from: Novö Piano / Kwaidan Records / April 12, 2010
    [French pianist and composer living in Paris. As a child, Cyrin studied classical piano at a conservatory. In his teenage years, he was exposed to new-wave and techno, greatly influencing his first recordings, also made during these years. He subsequently made recordings with independent electro labels.[1] A few years later, he recorded an LP of piano compositions titled Instants on independent record label Sine Terra Firma, which has also released Yann Tiersen’s debut album. // In 2005, he released his first album Modern Rhapsodies on FCom, the label founded by DJ Laurent Garnier, in which he arranged for solo piano tracks from Massive Attack, Depeche Mode, Moby, and Aphex Twin. He also composed scores for silent movies, such as Jean Epstein’s 1923 film Cœur fidèle. // Novö Piano, Cyrin’s second album, was released in 2009 through Kwaidan Records and produced by Marc Collin of Nouvelle Vague. It contains cover songs of Pixies, Nirvana, Daft Punk, and MGMT, among others. As of 2017, the music video for Cyrin’s cover of Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” has been viewed over seven million times on YouTube – his version of the song was used in the TV shows The Leftovers, Mr. Robot and black-ish in addition to the TV spot for the video game Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. It also features in the 2015 film Man Up. // In 2012, the album The Fantasist was released on the record label EOS Records. It is, at the same time, a musical self-portrait and an imaginary movie soundtrack. // In 2014, he signed with the new classical record label Evidence Classics, founded by sound engineer Nicolas Bartholomée (Aparté). In 2015, he released the album Nocturnes, a collection of ten compositions for solo piano. // Cyrin’s album Novö Piano 2 was released on November 13, 2015, and is another collection of solo piano covers. // In June 2016, he performed in the USA for 3 weeks.// In September 2017, Apple used his piano version of Arcade Fire’s song “No Cars Go” for the inauguration of The Steve Jobs Theater. // He is currently working on a new album of personal compositions with piano and strings. // He is regularly involved in world of fashion, composing and playing for shows including Chanel, Lanvin, Valentino, Margiela, and Hermès. ]

11. Madlib – “Hopprock”
    from: Sound Ancestors / Madlib Invazion / January 29, 2021
    [Sound Ancestors is a studio album by American musician Madlib. It was produced by Madlib, it was arranged, edited and mastered by Four Tet. The album debuted at number 153 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. // Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. One of the most prolific and critically acclaimed hip hop producers of the 2000s, he is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), and Freddie Gibbs (as MadGibbs). Madlib has described himself as a “DJ first, producer second, and MC last.” // Otis Jackson, Jr. was born in Oxnard, California, to musician parents Otis Jackson, Sr. and Dora Sinesca Jackson. He sampled his first song at 11 years old, sourced from his father’s collection. His younger brother is the producer and rapper Michael “Oh No” Jackson. His uncle is the jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis. He was raised in Oxnard, where he began his music career. // In the early 1990s, Madlib formed a loose-knit collective composed of rappers who worked with him in his Oxnard-based “Crate Diggas Palace” studio. This collective was composed primarily of his friends, and became known as CDP. Madlib’s first commercially released music was production for the rap group Tha Alkaholiks in 1993. He went on to record music of his own with the group Lootpack. Their 12-inch EP Ill Psyche Move was released by Madlib’s father in 1995 on a label also called Crate Diggas Palace. This record caught the attention of Peanut Butter Wolf, founder of the Stones Throw Records label, who signed the group in 1998. // Lootpack’s 1999 debut album Soundpieces: Da Antidote ushered in a string of releases on Stones Throw centering on Madlib’s production work which would continue for a decade. His first solo work, The Unseen, under the guise of Quasimoto, came in 2000. The album was met with critical acclaim and named by Spin as one of the top 20 albums of the year. //In 2001, Madlib moved away from hip hop music and began a series of releases from Yesterdays New Quintet, a jazz-based, hip hop and electronic-influenced quintet made up of alter-egos or fictional musicians played by Madlib. Over the next several years, through several record releases on Stones Throw and other labels, the growing number of pseudonyms and fictional players came to be known as Yesterdays Universe. Madlib was later invited to remix tracks from the Blue Note Records archive in 2003, which he released as Shades of Blue. In addition to the remixes, the album contained newly recorded interpretations of Blue Note originals, many of which were credited to members of Yesterdays New Quintet. Beginning with the 2007 album The Funky Side of Life by Yesterdays New Quintet spin-off group Sound Directions, the Yesterdays Universe also began incorporating additional session musicians who were not pseudonyms of Madlib. // Returning to hip hop music in 2003, Madlib announced two collaborative projects. He joined hip hop producer J Dilla in a duo known as Jaylib, which released Champion Sound. Madlib then collaborated with rapper MF DOOM, known together as Madvillain. Produced by using a Boss SP-303 and a turntable, their 2004 album Madvillainy was highly anticipated and well-received, topping many critics’ year-end lists. // The 2005 Quasimoto album The Further Adventures of Lord Quas met with warm reception and continued the Quasimoto tradition of using vocal samples from Melvin Van Peebles, who is credited on the album liner notes as a collaborator. Throughout the rest of the decade Madlib continued to release jazz material simultaneously with his hip hop work: Perseverance with Percee P, Liberation with Talib Kweli, Sujinho with Ivan Conti of Azymuth, his own instrumental hip hop series Beat Konducta, In Search of Stoney Jackson with Strong Arm Steady, O. J. Simpson with Guilty Simpson, and production work for artists such as Erykah Badu and De La Soul. // In 2010, Madlib announced his own imprint called Madlib Invazion, formed to release a music series called Madlib Medicine Show. The series would ultimately take over two years to complete, culminating with 13 album releases and several vinyl-only EPs spanning hip-hop, jazz, remixes, and multi-genre DJ mixtapes. The label has continued to release records outside of the original series. In 2011, Madlib composed the film score for the A Tribe Called Quest documentary film Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. Madlib also produced “Cadillacs” with Snoop Dogg for his mixtape That’s My Work Volume 3, released on February 27, 2014. // Freddie Gibbs and Madlib announced plans for a collaboration album late in 2011 with the release of an EP titled Thuggin, which was followed by a second EP titled Shame on June 22, 2012 and a third EP titled Deeper on September 24, 2013. The duo’s full-length collaboration album Piñata was released on March 18, 2014 to widespread critical acclaim. The pair, later known as MadGibbs, released a follow-up album titled Bandana on June 28, 2019. // In a 2010 interview with LA Weekly, Madlib stated that Kanye West put five of his beats on hold for the album he was working on at the time. While none of the beats were used, Madlib did take part in the recording sessions for the album, which evolved from Good Ass Job to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. He was also rumored to be involved in West’s collaboration album with Jay-Z entitled Watch the Throne, but ultimately was not. West was interviewed as part of the 2014 Stones Throw documentary film Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton, in which he opens up about working with Madlib and wanting more of his beats for future projects. // On January 18, 2016, West released the Madlib-produced “No More Parties in L.A.” featuring Kendrick Lamar on SoundCloud as part of his GOOD Fridays series. According to reports, the track originated from the recording sessions for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. West also recited a few lines from the track in the Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton interview. “No More Parties in L.A.” appears on his seventh album, which underwent several name changes: So Help Me God, SWISH, and Waves, before finally being released as The Life of Pablo on February 12, 2016. West also hinted at the possibility of future collaborations with Madlib via Twitter thanking him for sending over six beat CDs. // Following Mac Miller’s death, Chicago producer Thelonious Martin claimed on February 20, 2019, that Mac Miller and Madlib were reportedly working on an album together, called MacLib. Madlib addressed this statement on March 19, 2019, stating that he had recorded an EP with Mac Miller between 2015 and 2017, but that there was no plans of releasing the EP. However, Madlib added during an interview on June 3, 2019, that if Mac Miller’s estate gives him the right to, he will release the EP. On February 8, 2020, a MacLib song was leaked. // During an interview on Chrome Children, Madlib stated that his most significant musical influences include Miles Davis, Sun Ra, and David Axelrod. Some of his hip-hop influences are Large Professor, Marley Marl, Paul C, DJ Pooh, and Dr. Dre. More info at: Madlib at stonesthrow.com]

12. Wax Tailor – “Never Forget”
    from: The Shadow of Their Suns / Lab’ Oratoire / January 8, 2021
    [Jean-Christophe Le Saoût was born July 19, 1975, in Vernon, Normandy. He is better known by the stage name Wax Tailor, is a French trip hop producer from Vernon, Normandy. He has released six studio albums collaborating with other artists. // After being a host on French radio in the Paris suburb of Mantes-La-Jolie, Le Saoût started the French Rap band La Formule in the 1990s. He created his label Lab’Oratoire in 1998 and produced records from La Formule as well as Break Beat compilations and a collaboration with the Swedish band Looptroop. He began working on the Wax Tailor project in 2001, first appearing on a remix of Looptroop and La Formule’s “Deep Under Water”. // In 2004, JC Le Saoût launched the Wax Tailor concept with an EP, “Lost the Way”, that gained the attention of DJ’s and music critics in his home country. // In 2005, Wax Tailor released his first album “Tales of the Forgotten Melodies”. The album has never left the Electronic Album sales charts on iTunes since its release. // In 2007, Wax Tailor released his second album “Hope & Sorrow” and had his first crossover hit single with “Positively Inclined”. // In 2008 in France, he was selected in the Victoires de la musique as “best electronic music album of the year” and won the 7th annual Independent Music Awards Vox Pop vote for best Dance/Electronica album.// In 2009, Wax Tailor came back with “Say Yes”, his first single on his new album In The Mood For Life released on September 21, featuring with Charlie Winston, Charlotte Savary, Sara Genn, Dionne Charles, A State Of Mind, Mattic, Ali Harter, and Speech Defect. // In 2012, after three years of touring around the world, Wax Tailor released “Dusty Rainbow from the Dark”, narrated by Don McCorkindale, who voiced the BBC’s serialized version of the classic TV show “The Avengers”.// In 2014, To celebrate the 10th anniversary of his career, Wax Tailor launched the “Phonovisions Symphonic Orchestra’. Alongside a 35-piece orchestra and a 17-person choir, Wax Tailor embarked on an ambitious re-orchestration of 27 highlights from his 4 albums, to present them in a completely different setting. After a sold-out European tour, the Phonovisions Symphonic Orchestra was chosen to play 3 shows for the re-opening of the prestigious Teatro Colon in Bogota, accompanied by the National Symphonic Orchestra of Colombia. // In 2016, Wax Tailor released his fifth album “By Any Beats Necessary”. The title references the Malcolm X phrase “By Any Means Necessary”, which was inspired by Sartre’s play “Dirty Hands”. Wax Tailor invited on this album Ghostface Killah from the Wu Tang Clan, R.A. The Rugged Man, A-F-R-O, Token, T // In 2017, following the release of “By Any Beats Necessary”, Wax Tailor went on a long world tour. During this tour, he came up with the idea of having this album remixed. Established producers such as Ollie Teeba (The Herbaliser) or the US duo Du-Rites (J-Zone) as well as a cohort of rising artists such as ProleteR, Soul Square, The Geek x Vrv, Poldoore, Kognitif, Fatbabs, Madwreck, Benji Blow, Le Parasite were selected by Wax Tailor to keep a general musical cohesiveness to the project and bring new life to the original album. // In 2021, Wax Tailor released his sixth record – “The Shadow Of Their Suns” with musicians like Del The Funky Homosapien, Gil Scott-Heron, D Smoke, among others. Monre infor http://www.waxtailor.com]

13. Mind The Beatz (ZOËN & DJFysh) – “French Connection”
    from: Night Cuts (An Original Beatz Soundtrack / Dora Dorovitch / March 5, 2020
    [Hip-hop duet composed of ZOËN on the beatz and FYSH on the Turntables, MIND THE BEATZ announces the release of its first album “NIGHTS CUTS” in March 2020 on DORA DOROVITCH RECORDS. // At the end of their 2018 tour, Mind The Beatz decided to record their first album. This was recorded in emergency, from November 2018 to April 2019, between diapers, bottles and short nights. Indeed, zoën and fysh respectively become dad for the second time, it was built in the middle of a limited schedule, with itchy eyes and full of dark circles. // Thus, several coffee makers later, the group gave birth to NIGHTS CUTS, an 11tracks album with nocturnal and cinematic aromas. Oscillating between soundtrack samples and old school breakbeats, through trip hop songs with palpable tension, NIGHTS CUTS is an ideal record for escaping, feeling, breathing and traveling (but surely at night). // zoën produced the beatz; fysh on turntables; Cisko on bass guitar on tracks 2, 3, 6, 8 and 11. Recorded at home between November 2018 and April 2019. All tracks mixed by zoën, except 3 and 10, mixed by Fabien De Macedo. Mastering by Jérôme Trichard and Séverin Chaline @ studio du village brûlé. More info t: http://www.mindthebeatz.bandcamp.com]

14. Various Artists – “Underdog”
    from: Television’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 / TVT Records / 1986 [originally recorded in 1964]
    [Television’s Greatest Hits – 65 More TV Themes From The 50s & 60s is the second volume of the Television’s Greatest Hits series of compilation albums by TVT Records. // Underdog is an American animated television series that ran from October 3, 1964, to March 4, 1967 starting on the NBC network until 1966, with the rest of the run on CBS, under the primary sponsorship of General Mills, for a run of 62 episodes. The show continued in syndication until 1973. // Underdog, Shoeshine Boy’s heroic alter ego, appears whenever love interest Sweet Polly Purebred is being victimized by such villains as Simon Bar Sinister or Riff Raff. Underdog nearly always speaks in rhyming couplets, as in “There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here!” His voice was supplied by Wally Cox. // The show is also remembered for its title song, “Underdog,” which was arranged and produced by Robert Weitz, with lyrics by Chester Stover, W. Watts Biggers, Treadwell Covington, and Joseph Harris. Several notable covers of the theme song have been made. The original song was sung by Robert Ragaini. He explained, “As a struggling singer in New York, I’d gotten a job singing a theme song for a newly proposed TV cartoon series named ‘Underdog.” I went to the studio, I think “O.D.O.” on West 54th Street, sang as part of the backup group (ah-ooo, ah-ooo), then quickly sang the theme song over the track and left. I remember how pleased I was that I’d taken that mouthful of words and made them understandable. Oh yes, they paid me 50 dollars. No contract – I wasn’t yet a member of SAG – and I was thrilled to get it. Until I heard it again, year after year. By then I’d become a successful jingle singer and I knew what I should have been making. When it came out as the music track of a Reebok commercial I filed a claim with the Screen Actors Guild, but of course I had no documentation. A friend did give me an Underdog T-shirt. I wore it once, but when a man I passed on West 14th Street started singing the song, I retired it.]

15. Wax Tailor – “Shining Underdog (feat. Boog Brown)”
    from: The Shadow of Their Suns / Lab’ Oratoire / January 8, 2021

16. Drab City – “Working For The Men”
    from: Good Songs For Bad People / Bella Union / June 12, 2020
    [A heady air of dislocation envelops Drab City’s debut album, where songs of innocence and experience merge with dub, hip-hop, dream-pop and jazzy soundtrack vibes to intoxicating effect. Drab City are fixated on social alienation, violent revenge, and (perhaps) romantic love as salvation; topics not new in music, but listening to Drab City in 2020, one is struck by how uncommon they’ve become. Lyrically, these songs often project punkish angst and resentment. “Working For the Men” is a degraded service worker’s revenge ballad, imagining male tormenters brought to a violent end. “Hand On My Pocket” tells of a destitute, wandering youth. One night she meets a stranger on a desert road, and is told of a nearby city where a soft, rich citizenry make easy targets. Class war is palpable. Other songs are more opaque, but seem to speak of being the black sheep of the family, or being weighed down by the dullness of hometown life. Yet the casual listener might not notice the violence as the music itself is far from abrasive. Dreamy and ethereal, a foundation of flute, vibraphone, and jazzy guitar chord melody can switch to drum machines or funk-inflected girl-group pop at a moment’s notice. It’s a flurry of 20th century references, combining and recombining at such a schizophrenic pace, the overall effect is something that could only be conjured in our frenzied present. At once catchy and unfamiliar, the melodic, welcoming soundscapes are a Trojan horse for the band’s antisocial outlook.]

17. Mongo Santamaria – “El Pussy Cat”
    from: El Pussy Cat / Columbia / 1965
    [16th album as a leader, of 43 albums from 1952 to 1998. // Ramón “Mongo” Santamaría Rodríguez (April 7, 1917 – February 1, 2003) was a Cuban percussionist and bandleader who spent most of his career in the United States. Primarily a conga drummer, Santamaría was a leading figure in the pachanga and boogaloo dance crazes of the 1960s. His biggest hit was his rendition of Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man”, which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. From the 1970s, he recorded mainly salsa and Latin jazz, before retiring in the late 1990s. // Mongo learned to play the congas as an amateur rumba musician in the streets of Havana. He then learned the bongos from Clemente “Chicho” Piquero and toured with various successful bands such as the Lecuona Cuban Boys and Sonora Matancera. In 1950, he moved to New York City, where he became Tito Puente’s conguero and in 1957 he joined Cal Tjader’s band. He then formed his own charanga, while at the same time recording some of the first rumba and Santería music albums. By the end of the decade, he had his first pachanga hit, “Para ti”. He then became a pioneer of boogaloo with “Watermelon Man” and later signed record deals with Columbia, Atlantic and Fania. He collaborated with salsa artists and became a member of the Fania All-Stars, often showcasing his conga solos against Ray Barretto. In his later years, Santamaría recorded mostly Latin jazz for Concord Jazz and Chesky Records. // Santamaría learned rumba as a kid in the streets of Havana’s Jesús María neighborhood. He reminisced: “In the neighborhood where I came from we had all kinds of music, mostly from Africa. We did not leave it alone; we changed it our way. The music we made dealt with religion and conversation. The drum was our tool and we used it for everything”. Gerard points out: “Santamaría, like other drummers of his generation, learned music in the streets by observing different drummers. When he started playing professionally, he learned on the job. His approach was utilitarian, not theoretical”. Santamaría was mentored on bongos and congas by Clemente “Chicho” Piquero, who played in Beny Moré’s band. He recalled: “I would go with Chicho and play the tumbadora and also the [quinto]. I would play everything because I learned a lot from Chicho—because he could play everything”. // Santamaría recorded some of the very first recorded folkloric rumbas. Because he recorded for mainstream jazz labels, his folkloric records were consist-ently available to the public. Santamaría’s albums tended to list the personnel and their instruments; so record buyers came to know other Cuban rumberos, such as Armando Peraza, Francisco Aguabella, Julito Collazo, Carlos Vidal Bolado, Modesto Duran and Pablo Mozo. The 10 inch 33 1/3 rpm phonorecord Afro-Cuban Drums by Santamaría was recorded in SMC’s New York City studios on November 3, 1952. Santamaría’s next recordings with folkloric rumba were on Changó (re-issued as Drums and Chants) recorded in New York (1954). Yambú (1958), Mongo (1959), and Bembé (1960) followed. // Santamaría did not analyze his personal style: “When I play I don’t know how I do it, or what I do … I just play”. The following example is an excerpt from a quinto performance by Santamaría on his composition “Mi guaguancó” (1959). The excerpt shows variations on two main motifs, marked as A and B. Santamaría’s repetition of what is typically a secondary phrase (B), makes it the primary motif here. // Santamaría began playing bongos with Septeto Beloña in 1937. In the 1940s he worked in the house band of the prestigious Tropicana nightclub. When Chicho could not go on the tour in Mexico in the late 1940s, he recommended Santamaría for the job. Mexico opened Santamaría up to the wider world beyond his island home. After returning from Mexico in 1950, Santamaría moved to New York City, where he became Tito Puente’s conga player. In 1957 Mongo Santamaría joined Cal Tjader’s Latin jazz combo. // In 1959 Santamaría recorded “Afro Blue,” the first jazz standard built upon a typical African 3:2 cross-rhythm, or hemiola. The song begins with the bass repeatedly playing 6 cross-beats per each measure of 12/8, or 6 cross-beats per 4 main beats—6:4 (two cells of 3:2). The following example shows the original ostinato “Afro Blue” bass line. The slashed noteheads indicate the main beats (not bass notes), where you would normally tap your foot to “keep time.” // In 1960 Santamaría went to Havana, Cuba with Willie Bobo to record two albums “Mongo In Havana” and “Bembe y Nuestro Hombre En La Habana.” After recording, he returned to New York City to form the charanga orquestra La Sabrosa. // In late 1962 Chick Corea had given notice and Santamaría needed a pianist to fill in for the upcoming weekend gigs. Herbie Hancock got the temporary job. Hancock recalls what happened the night that Santamaría discovered “Watermelon Man”, the only tune of Santamaría’s to reach the top of the pop charts: [Jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd] “came to this supper club to see how I was doing. Anyway, during one of the intermissions, Donald had a conversation with Mongo, something about, ‘What are the examples of the common thread between Afro-Cuban or Afro-Latin music and African-American jazz?’ Mongo said he hadn’t really heard a thing that really links it together, he was still searching for it. And I wasn’t paying much attention to that conversation, it was a little too heavy for me at the time. But then all of a sudden Donald Byrd says, ‘Herbie, what don’t you play ‘Watermelon Man’ for Mongo?’ And I’m thinking, ‘What does that have to do with the conversation they’re talking about?’ I thought it was a little funky jazz tune. So I started playing it, and then Mongo, he got up and he said, ‘Keep playing it!’ He went on the stage, and playing his congas, and it fit like a glove fits on a hand, it just fit perfectly. The bass player looked at my left hand for the bass line, and he learned that. Little by little, the audience was getting up from their tables, and they all got on the dance floor. Pretty soon the dance floor was filled with people, laughing and shrieking, and was having a great time, and they were saying, ‘This is a hit! This is fantastic!’ It was like a movie! So after that, Mongo said ‘Can I record this?’ I said ‘By all means.’ And he recorded it, and it became a big hit. That’s how it happened. The sudden success of the song (which Mongo Santamaria recorded on December 17, 1962) propelled Santamaría into his niche of blending Afro-Cuban and African American music. Santamaría went on to record Cuban-flavored versions of popular music R&B and Motown songs. // On February 1, 2003 Santamaria died in Miami, Florida, after suffering a stroke, at the age of 85. He is buried in Woodlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum (now Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Park North Cemetery and Mausoleum) in Miami, Florida.]

18. The Cure – “The Lovecats”
    from: Acoustic Hits / Fiction Records / April 22, 2017
    [Originally released on CD in 2001 through the “Greatest Hits” compilation as bonus disc of the 2xCD limited edition. Recorded 13th August 13, 2001 at Olympic Studios, London. Released on double album vinyl LP, by Fiction Records in 2017 // The Love Cats” (sometimes rendered as “The Lovecats”) is a song by English rock band The Cure, released as a stand-alone single in October 1983. It was the band’s first Top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at number 7. It also reached number 6 on the Australian chart in early 1984. The single later appeared on the compilation album Japanese Whispers, released in December 1983. // At the time the song was written, Robert Smith was very interested in the work of Australian author Patrick White. According to a number of his fans, Smith was inspired to write “The Love Cats” after reading White’s novel The Vivisector (1970), although this claim is difficult to verify. In the novel, the protagonist, Hurtle, is appalled when his lover’s husband drowns a sack of stray cats. White draws a parallel between the way in which the cats are discarded, and the treatment of certain characters in the book; by extension, the cats symbolize the most innocent and vulnerable members of society, and the casual cruelty with which they sometimes meet their fate // The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1978. The band members have changed several times, and guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith is the only constant member. The band’s debut album was Three Imaginary Boys (1979) and this, along with several early singles, placed the band in the post-punk and new wave movements that had sprung up in the United Kingdom. Beginning with their second album, Seventeen Seconds (1980), the band adopted a new, increasingly dark and tormented style, which, together with Smith’s stage look, had a strong influence on the emerging genre of gothic rock as well as the subculture that eventually formed around the genre. // Following the release of their fourth album Pornography in 1982, the band’s future was uncertain. Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired, introducing a greater pop sensibility into the band’s music. Songs such as “Let’s Go to Bed” (1982), “The Love Cats” (1983), “In between Days” (1985), “Close To Me” (1985), “Just Like Heaven” (1987), “Lovesong” (1989), and “Friday I’m in Love” (1992) aided the band in receiving commercial popularity. The band have released 13 studio albums, two EPs, over 30 singles, and have sold over 30 million albums worldwide. // The Cure were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.]

19. Yusuf/Cat Stevens – “Longer Boats”
    from: Tea For The Tillerman 2 / Cat-O-Log Records – A&M / September 18, 2020
    [Tea for the Tillerman 2 (stylised as Tea for the Tillerman²) is the sixteenth studio album by singer-songwriter Yusuf / Cat Stevens, released on 18 September 2020. It is a re-imagining of his hit 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman. // Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; 21 July 1948), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, in his later career, Islamic music, before returning to secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. // His 1967 debut album and its title song “Matthew and Son” both reached top ten in the UK charts. Stevens’ albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were certified triple platinum in the US. His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four spent weeks at the top of several major charts. He earned ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for “The First Cut Is the Deepest”, and the song has been a hit for four artists. His other hit songs include “Father and Son”, “Wild World”, “Moonshadow”, “Peace Train”, and “Morning Has Broken”. // In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all of his guitars for charity. He has since bought back at least one of these guitars as a result of the efforts of his son Yoriyos, and left his musical career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He was embroiled in a long-running controversy regarding comments he made in 1989 about the death fatwa on author Salman Rushdie. His current stance is that he never supported the fatwa: “I was cleverly framed by certain questions. I never supported the fatwa.” He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards. // In 2006, he returned to pop music – releasing his first new studio album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup. With that release and subsequent ones, he dropped the surname “Islam” from the album cover art – using the stage name Yusuf as a mononym. In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger and, in 2014, he released the album Tell ‘Em I’m Gone and began his first US tour since 1978. His second North American tour since his resurgence, featuring 12 shows in intimate venues, ran from 12 September to 7 October 2016. In 2017, he released the album The Laughing Apple, now using the stage name Yusuf / Cat Stevens, using the Cat Stevens name for the first time in 39 years. In September 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman 2, a reimagining of his classic album Tea for the Tillerman to celebrate its 50th anniversary. More info at: http://www.catstevens.com]

11:02 – Station ID

20. Gabriels – “In Loving Memory”
    from: Love and Hate in a Different Time – EP / Gabriels / December 4, 2020
    [Gabriels is an LA based group consisting of lead singer Jacob Lusk and producers Ari Balouzian and Ryan Hope. Love and Hate in a Different Time is about how we appear to be losing the ability to peacefully be together in a space and express ourselves. Together. We have always endured agendas of hate, hardship and war but we have in someway always found a way to be together and put aside our differences. However in recent times with the development of the technology/disinformation it appears this is tested. // The video is a history of the complex relationship between the film camera and people dancing together. How we used to be able to get through things in the worst of times and has this development of technology been a good thing? Has it in fact caused us to lose this sensibility of being able to put differences to the side and just be together peacefully? // The effort we would go to connect with each other / compared to now the super fast throw away instant feel these moments have become. More info at: http://www.gabriels.bandcamp.com]

21. Gil Scott-Heron & Makaya McCraven – “Running”
    from: We’re New Again: A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven / XL Recordings / 2020
    [Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. His own term for himself was “bluesologist”, which he defined as “a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues.” He is considered by many to be the first rapper ever. // His music, most notably on the albums Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and foreshadowed later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul. His recording work received much critical acclaim, especially for “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. AllMusic’s John Bush called him “one of the most important progenitors of rap music,” stating that “his aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of intelligent rappers while his engaging songwriting skills placed him square in the R&B charts later in his career.” // Scott-Heron remained active until his death, and in 2010 released his first new album in 16 years, entitled I’m New Here. A memoir he had been working on for years up to the time of his death, The Last Holiday, was published posthumously in January 2012. Scott-Heron received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He also is included in the exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) that officially opened on September 24, 2016, on the National Mall, and in an NMAAHC publication, Dream a World Anew. // Gil Scott-Heron was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Bobbie Scott, was an opera singer who performed with the Oratorio Society of New York. Scott-Heron’s father, Gil Heron, nicknamed “The Black Arrow”, was a Jamaican soccer player who in the 1950s became the first black man to play for Celtic Football Club in Glasgow, Scotland. Gil’s parents separated in his early childhood and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, Lillie Scott, in Jackson, Tennessee. When Scott-Heron was 12 years old, his grandmother died and he returned to live with his mother in The Bronx in New York City. He enrolled at DeWitt Clinton High School, but later transferred to The Fieldston School[9] after impressing the head of the English department with one of his writings and earning a full scholarship. As one of five black students at the prestigious school, Scott-Heron was faced with alienation and a significant socioeconomic gap. During his admissions interview at Fieldston, an administrator asked him, “‘How would you feel if you see one of your classmates go by in a limousine while you’re walking up the hill from the subway?’ And [he] said, ‘Same way as you. Y’all can’t afford no limousine. How do you feel?'” This type of intractable boldness would become a hallmark of Scott-Heron’s later recordings. // After completing his secondary education, Scott-Heron decided to attend Lincoln University in Pennsylvania because Langston Hughes (his most important literary influence) was an alumnus. It was here that Scott-Heron met Brian Jackson, with whom he formed the band Black & Blues. After about two years at Lincoln, Scott-Heron took a year off to write the novels The Vulture and The Nigger Factory. Scott-Heron was very heavily influenced by the Black Arts Movement. The Last Poets, a group associated with the Black Arts Movement performed at Lincoln in 1969 and Abiodun Oyewole of that Harlem group said Scott-Heron asked him after the performance, “Listen, can I start a group like you guys?” Scott-Heron returned to New York City, settling in Chelsea, Manhattan. The Vulture was published by the World Publishing Company in 1970 to positive reviews. // Although Scott-Heron never completed his undergraduate degree, he was admitted to the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, where he received an M.A. in creative writing in 1972. His master’s thesis was titled Circle of Stone. Beginning in 1972, Scott-Heron taught literature and creative writing for several years as a full-time lecturer at University of the District of Columbia (then known as Federal City College) in Washington, D.C. while maintaining his music career. // Scott-Heron began his recording career with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox in 1970. Bob Thiele of Flying Dutchman Records produced the album, and Scott-Heron was accompanied by Eddie Knowles and Charlie Saunders on conga and David Barnes on percussion and vocals. The album’s 14 tracks dealt with themes such as the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be black revolutionaries, and white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents. In the liner notes, Scott-Heron acknowledged as influences Richie Havens, John Coltrane, Otis Redding, Jose Feliciano, Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Nina Simone, and long-time collaborator Brian Jackson. // Scott-Heron’s 1971 album Pieces of a Man used more conventional song structures than the loose, spoken-word feel of Small Talk. He was joined by Jackson, Johnny Pate as conductor, Ron Carter on bass and bass guitar, drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, Burt Jones playing electric guitar, and Hubert Laws on flute and saxophone, with Thiele producing again. Scott-Heron’s third album, Free Will, was released in 1972. Jackson, Purdie, Laws, Knowles, and Saunders all returned to play on Free Will and were joined by Jerry Jemmott playing bass, David Spinozza on guitar, and Horace Ott (arranger and conductor). Carter later said about Scott-Heron’s voice: “He wasn’t a great singer, but, with that voice, if he had whispered it would have been dynamic. It was a voice like you would have for Shakespeare.”// 1974 saw another LP collaboration with Brian Jackson, the critically acclaimed opus Winter in America, with Bob Adams on drums and Danny Bowens on bass. The album contained Scott-Heron’s most cohesive material and featured more of Jackson’s creative input than his previous albums had. Winter in America has been regarded by many critics as the two musicians’ most artistic effort. The following year, Scott-Heron and Jackson released Midnight Band: The First Minute of a New Day. 1975 saw the release of the single “Johannesburg”, a rallying cry to the issue of apartheid in South Africa. The song would be re-issued, in 12″-single form, together with “Waiting for the Axe to Fall” and “B-movie” in 1983. // A live album, It’s Your World, followed in 1976 and a recording of spoken poetry, The Mind of Gil Scott-Heron, was released in 1978. Another success followed with the hit single “Angel Dust”, which he recorded as a single with producer Malcolm Cecil. “Angel Dust” peaked at No. 15 on the R&B charts in 1978. // In 1979, Scott-Heron played at the No Nukes concerts at Madison Square Garden. The concerts were organized by Musicians United for Safe Energy to protest the use of nuclear energy following the Three Mile Island accident. Scott-Heron’s song “We Almost Lost Detroit” was included in the No Nukes album of concert highlights. It alluded to a previous nuclear power plant accident and was also the title of a book by John G. Fuller. Scott-Heron was a frequent critic of President Ronald Reagan and his conservative policies. // Scott-Heron recorded and released four albums during the 1980s: 1980 and Real Eyes (1980), Reflections (1981) and Moving Target (1982). In February 1982, Ron Holloway joined the ensemble to play tenor saxophone. He toured extensively with Scott-Heron and contributed to his next album, Moving Target the same year. His tenor accompaniment is a prominent feature of the songs “Fast Lane” and “Black History/The World”. Holloway continued with Scott-Heron until the summer of 1989, when he left to join Dizzy Gillespie. Several years later, Scott-Heron would make cameo appearances on two of Ron Holloway’s CDs: Scorcher (1996) and Groove Update (1998), both on the Fantasy/Milestone label. // Scott-Heron was dropped by Arista Records in 1985 and quit recording, though he continued to tour. The same year he helped compose and sang “Let Me See Your I.D.” on the Artists United Against Apartheid album Sun City, containing the famous line: “The first time I heard there was trouble in the Middle East, I thought they were talking about Pittsburgh.” The song compares racial tensions in the U.S. with those in apartheid-era South Africa, implying that the U.S. was not too far ahead in race relations. In 1993, he signed to TVT Records and released Spirits, an album that included the seminal track “‘Message to the Messengers”. The first track on the album criticized the rap artists of the day. Scott-Heron is known in many circles as “the Godfather of rap” and is widely considered to be one of the genre’s founding fathers. Given the political consciousness that lies at the foundation of his work, he can also be called a founder of political rap. Message to the Messengers was a plea for the new generation of rappers to speak for change rather than perpetuate the current social situation, and to be more articulate and artistic. Regarding hip hop music in the 1990s, he said in an interview: They need to study music. I played in several bands before I began my career as a poet. There’s a big difference between putting words over some music, and blending those same words into the music. There’s not a lot of humor. They use a lot of slang and colloquialisms, and you don’t really see inside the person. Instead, you just get a lot of posturing.— Gil Scott-Heron // In 2001, Scott-Heron was sentenced to one to three years imprisonment in a New York State prison fo possession of cocaine. While out of jail in 2002, he appeared on the Blazing Arrow album by Blackalicious.He was released on parole in 2003, the year BBC TV broadcast the documentary Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised—Scott-Heron was arrested for possession of a crack pipe during the editing of the film in October 2003 and received a six-month prison sentence. // On July 5, 2006, Scott-Heron was sentenced to two to four years in a New York State prison for violating a plea deal on a drug-possession charge by leaving a drug rehabilitation center. He claimed that he left because the clinic refused to supply him with HIV medication. This story led to the presumption that the artist was HIV positive, subsequently confirmed in a 2008 interview. Originally sentenced to serve until July 13, 2009, he was paroled on May 23, 2007. // After his release, Scott-Heron began performing live again, starting with a show at SOB’s restaurant and nightclub in New York on September 13, 2007. On stage, he stated that he and his musicians were working on a new album and that he had resumed writing a book titled The Last Holiday, previously on long-term hiatus, about Stevie Wonder and his successful attempt to have the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. declared a federally recognized holiday in the United States. // Malik Al Nasir dedicated a collection of poetry to Scott-Heron titled Ordinary Guy that contained a foreword by Jalal Mansur Nuriddin of The Last Poets. Scott-Heron recorded one of the poems in Nasir’s book entitled Black & Blue in 2006. // In April 2009, on BBC Radio 4, poet Lemn Sissay presented a half-hour documentary on Gil Scott-Heron entitled Pieces of a Man, having interviewed Gil Scott-Heron in New York a month earlier. Pieces of a Man was the first UK announcement from Scott-Heron of his forthcoming album and return to form. In November 2009, the BBC’s Newsnight interviewed Scott-Heron for a feature titled The Legendary Godfather of Rap Returns. In 2009, a new Gil Scott-Heron website, gilscottheron.net, was launched with a new track “Where Did the Night Go” made available as a free download from the site. // In 2010, Scott-Heron was booked to perform in Tel Aviv, Israel, but this attracted criticism from pro-Palestinian activists, who stated: “Your performance in Israel would be the equivalent to having performed in Sun City during South Africa’s apartheid era… We hope that you will not play apartheid Israel”. Scott-Heron responded by canceling the performance. // Scott-Heron released his album I’m New Here on independent label XL Recordings on February 9, 2010. Produced by XL label owner Richard Russell, I’m New Here was Scott-Heron’s first studio album in 16 years. The pair started recording the album in 2007, with the majority of the record being recorded over the 12 months leading up to the release date with engineer Lawson White at Clinton Studios in New York. I’m New Here is 28 minutes long with 15 tracks; however, casual asides and observations collected during recording sessions are included as interludes. // The album attracted critical acclaim, with The Guardian’s Jude Rogers declaring it one of the “best of the next decade”, while some have called the record “reverent” and “intimate”, due to Scott-Heron’s half-sung, half-spoken delivery of his poetry. In a music review for public radio network NPR, Will Hermes stated: “Comeback records always worry me, especially when they’re made by one of my heroes … But I was haunted by this record … He’s made a record not without hope but which doesn’t come with any easy or comforting answers. In that way, the man is clearly still committed to speaking the truth”. Writing for music website Music OMH, Darren Lee provided a more mixed assessment of the album, describing it as rewarding and stunning, but he also states that the album’s brevity prevents it “from being an unassailable masterpiece”. // Scott-Heron described himself as a mere participant in an interview with The New Yorker: This is Richard’s CD. My only knowledge when I got to the studio was how he seemed to have wanted this for a long time. You’re in a position to have somebody do something that they really want to do, and it was not something that would hurt me or damage me—why not? All the dreams you show up in are not your own. // The remix version of the album, We’re New Here, was released in 2011, featuring production by English musician Jamie xx, who reworked material from the original album. Like the original album, We’re New Here received critical acclaim. // In April 2014, XL Recordings announced a third album from the I’m New Here sessions, titled Nothing New. The album consists of stripped-down piano and vocal recordings and was released in conjunction with Record Store Day on April 19, 2014. // “Gil Scott-Heron released poems as songs, recorded songs that were based on his earliest poems and writings, wrote novels and became a hero to many for his music, activism and his anger. There is always the anger – an often beautiful, passionate anger. An often awkward anger. A very soulful anger. And often it is a very sad anger. But it is the pervasive mood, theme and feeling within his work – and around his work, hovering, piercing, occasionally weighing down; often lifting the work up, helping to place it in your face. And for all the preaching and warning signs in his work, the last two decades of Gil Scott-Heron’s life to date have seen him succumb to the pressures and demons he has so often warned others about.” – Fairfax New Zealand, February 2010 // Scott-Heron died on the afternoon of May 27, 2011, at St. Luke’s Hospital, New York City, after becoming ill upon returning from a European trip. Scott-Heron had confirmed previous press speculation about his health, when he disclosed in a 2008 New York Magazine interview that he had been HIV-positive for several years, and that he had been previously hospitalized for pneumonia. // He was survived by his firstborn daughter, Raquiyah “Nia” Kelly Heron, from his relationship with Pat Kelly; his son Rumal Rackley, from his relationship with Lurma Rackley; daughter Gia Scott-Heron, from his marriage to Brenda Sykes; and daughter Chegianna Newton, who was 13 years old at the time of her father’s death. He is also survived by his sister Gayle; brother Denis Heron, who once managed Scott-Heron; his uncle, Roy Heron; and nephew Terrance Kelly, an actor and rapper who performs as Mr. Cheeks, and who was a member of Lost Boyz. Before his death, Scott-Heron had been in talks with Portuguese director Pedro Costa to participate in his film Horse Money as a screenwriter, composer and actor. // After Scott-Heron’s death, Malik Al Nasir told The Guardian’s Simon Hattenstone of the kindness that Scott-Heron had showed him throughout his adult life since meeting the poet backstage at a gig in Liverpool in 1984. The BBC World Service covered the story on their Outlook program with Matthew Bannister, which took the story global. It was subsequently covered in other media such as BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live, where jazz musician Al Jarreau paid tribute to Gil, and was mentioned the U.S. edition of Rolling Stone and The Huffington Post. Malik & the O.G’s performed a tribute to Scott-Heron at the Liverpool International Music Festival in 2013 with jazz composer Orphy Robinson of The Jazz Warriors and Rod Youngs from Gil’s band The Amnesia Express. Another tribute was performed at St. Georges Hall in Liverpool on August 27, 2015, called “The Revolution will be Live!”, curated by Malik Al Nasir and Richard McGinnis for Yesternight Productions. The event featured Talib Kweli, Aswad, The Christians, Malik & the O.G’s, Sophia Ben-Yousef and Cleveland Watkiss as well as DJ 2Kind and poet, actor, and radio DJ Craig Charles. The tribute was the opening event for 2015 Liverpool International Music Festival. // In response to Scott-Heron’s death, Public Enemy’s Chuck D stated “RIP GSH…and we do what we do and how we do because of you” on his Twitter account. His UK publisher, Jamie Byng, called him “one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met”. On hearing of the death, R&B singer Usher stated: “I just learned of the loss of a very important poet…R.I.P., Gil Scott-Heron. The revolution will be live!!”. Richard Russell, who produced Scott-Heron’s final studio album, called him a “father figure of sorts to me”, while Eminem stated: “He influenced all of hip-hop”. Lupe Fiasco wrote a poem about Scott-Heron that was published on his website. // Scott-Heron’s memorial service was held at Riverside Church in New York City on June 2, 2011, where Kanye West performed “Lost in the World” and “Who Will Survive in America”, two songs from West’s album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The studio album version of West’s “Who Will Survive in America” features a spoken-word excerpt by Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Westchester County in New York. // Scott-Heron was honored posthumously in 2012 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Charlotte Fox, member of the Washington, DC NARAS and president of Genesis Poets Music, nominated Scott-Heron for the award, while the letter of support came from Grammy award winner and Grammy Hall of Fame inductee Bill Withers. // Scott-Heron’s memoir, The Last Holiday, was published in January 2012. In her review for the Los Angeles Times, professor of English and journalism Lynell George wrote: The Last Holiday is as much about his life as it is about context, the theater of late 20th century America — from Jim Crow to the Reagan ’80s and from Beale Street to 57th Street. The narrative is not, however, a rise-and-fall retelling of Scott-Heron’s life and career. It doesn’t connect all the dots. It moves off-the-beat, at its own speed … This approach to revelation lends the book an episodic quality, like oral storytelling does. It winds around, it repeats itself.]

22. Sault – “Don’t Shoot Guns Down”
    from: Untitled (Black Is) / Forever Living Originals / June 19, 2020
    [Third studio album from British rhythm and blues musical group. Originally released for free as a digital download and proceeds from subsequent sales went to charity. The album has been met with positive critical reception. // The editorial staff of AllMusic gave this album four out of five stars, with reviewer Andy Kellman calling it “an urgent outpouring of grief, anger, affirmation, and consolation, virtually anything seems possible for their future”. Marcus J. Moore of NPR notes that the album’s lyrics explore the entirety of the black experience, including anger at the killing of African-Americans by the police to sorrow at mourning and the intimacy of daily life. Gordon Rutherford of Louder Than War gave this five out of five bombs, calling it a “zeitgeist” and the album of the year made of “powerful, potent protest album that is musically magnificent”. Tom Doyle of Mojo scored Untitled (Black Is) four out of five stars, calling it “another masterwork from a group with no peers”. In Q, Steve Yates gave the album four out of five stars, summing it up as “beautiful and potent stuff”. Lizzie Manno of Paste declared it an “album-of-the-year contender” and “a revolutionary soundtrack to 2020”. Salem Collo-Julin of Chicago Reader echoed these sentiments, calling this album the “soundtrack for the 2020 revolution” because the “revelatory jazz-soaked soul music on Untitled is a call to action”. Writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Dan DeLuca gave the release 3.5 out of four stars, calling it “a seductive listen” whose powerful lyrics timed with a Juneteenth release and roots in several black genres of music “raise… a fist against oppression and celebrates collective strength”. BBC 6 Music named this album as their number one recommended album of 2020. // Sault are a pseudonymous British music collective that make a mixture of rhythm and blues, house and disco. Despite critical acclaim, they eschew interaction with the media. // They frequently foreground black-centric issues. // Their first four albums credit Inflo as producer; winner of Ivor Novello awards for his work on Little Simz’ Grey Area and as co-writer of Michael Kiwanuka’s “Black Man in a White World”. More info at: http://www.sault.global]

23. Sault – “Little Boy”
    from: Untitled (Rise) / Forever Living Originals / September 19, 2020
    [Untitled (Rise) is the fourth studio album from British rhythm and blues musical group Sault. The album has been met with positive critical reception.// Untitled (Rise) was met with universal acclaim reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. This release received a weighted average score of 93 out of 100, based on six reviews. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian gave the album five out of five stars, saying that Sault had released the best album of the year again, following Untitled (Black Is) and points out the exceptional musicianship, writing that the album “hardly yields highlights because the quality never wavers: whoever’s involved, it feels like they’ve been galvanised to the top of their game”. Jem Aswad of Variety accentuates how timely the work is, with the worldwide response to the George Floyd protests and struggles of black peoples in the United States and United Kingdom, writing, “Sault seduces listeners, drawing them in with beautiful sounds, and then hits them with uncompromisingly direct lyrics and messages that startle them into thinking about things they might not normally think about… [their music] is definitively 2020, by, for and about these times”. In Clash, Robin Murray gave this album nine out of 10, also noting how the lyrics discuss contemporaneous issues, noting the diverse musical influences, from Brazilian rhythm to 1980s “boogie shimmer”. Jeremy Monroe of Beats Per Minute scored this 81 out of 100, calling listening to Untitled (Rise) a “thrilling experience” with a spiritual dimension. Gordon Rutherford of Louder Than War gave this 4.5 out of five bombs, calling it a “another stab at winning the award for album of the year”, following Untitled (Black Is). Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Andy Kellman felt that it was Sault’s “most striking and affecting work yet.” // Sault are a pseudonymous British music collective that make a mixture of rhythm and blues, house and disco. Despite critical acclaim, they eschew interaction with the media. They frequently foreground black-centric issues. Their first four albums credit Inflo as producer; winner of Ivor Novello awards for his work on Little Simz’ Grey Area and as co-writer of Michael Kiwanuka’s “Black Man in a White World”.]

24. Midnight Sister – “Sirens”
    from: Painting the Roses / Jagjaguwar / January 15, 2021
    [Midnight Sister is a band from Los Angeles, California. The duo of multi-disciplinary Los Angeles artists Juliana Giraffe and Ari Balouzian revive their oddish pop institute with a gorgeous 70s silver screen waltz. More info at: http://www.facebook.com/midnightsistermusic%5D

25. DUO – “Lolita, No!”
    from: Duo / LiTA- AWAL Recordings / December 18, 2020
    [Duo is composer & lyricist: Luke Pritchard and composer & lyricist: Ellie Rose. more info at: http://www.facebook.com/weareduomusic%5D

26. La Femme – “Disconnexion”
    from: Paradigmes / Born Bad Records – Disque Pointu / April 2, 2021
    Romainville France based. Paradigmes is the 3rd album of La Femme. It features 15 tracks including Paradigme, Cool Colorado, and signs the return of the band, four years after Mystère. // La femme was born during the X years in Biarritz, when Sasha and Marlon started composing on their guitars music they recorded on Garage Band. Together they ride surfboards, pianos and synthetiseur as they gave a try to various styles, from 60s yéyé French pop to Californian surf music. Marlon moved to Paris, and there he met Sam, who played bass. Together they formed SOS Mademoiselle along with Olivier Peynot, and played vintage French rock, as Sasha was practising his scales in reverb feed surf band « Les redoutables! // After getting his grade, Sasha joined his friends in Paris, where they discovered French cold wave and synth pop, Marie & Les Garcons being one of their favourite. They polished a style that could be described as one of these following : Surf wave, Bizarre wave, strange wave, weird witch wave, silly mental wave or Psycho tropical Berlin ». In fact anything you want as long as it ends with « wave ». And the boys created LA FEMME. // La Femme has no frontier, neither in her style nor in her voice. She’s always on a quest for new sounds, images and sensations. // Joined in 2010 by drummer Noé and female singer Clémence, La femme formed its first live roster in few days after French rider and artist Pandora Decoster asks them to play on stage for a big surf contest in Biarritz. From her hazy and changing background, La femme takes shape and release that same year its first anthem « Sur la Planche », a song that was made to be hummed and whistled while ridding a board. // La femme uncovers, boys, girls, plenty of option, a bit of mystery, loads of energy. // Later she released her second EP, Paris 2012. In the music video she produced for this song, she blows down the effeil tower as a symbol, it’s time to go ans see something else. // After swilling Paris bars, La femme goes for a tour in USA, en mode journey, and come back in France with improved reputation where they play for various festival. Soon joined by fancy rhythm drummer Nunez Ritter Von Merguez aka « La Sauterelle » and gorgeous singer Clara Luciani, La femme takes for a ride around Europe : from beyond the grave to Berlin, by London, Bruxelles and Roubaix. // Cryptic and Mysterious, La femme is in perpetual motion and the band, based around full time and up-to-date boys (Sasha, Marlon, Sam), invites over the course of its wish and needs in studio a whole cast of female singer : Clémence, Clara, Marilu, Jeanne… // Sooner this year, La femme released a self titled EP, that went by along with a 11 minutes long psychedelic music video, an epic and baroque short film for tracks « La femme, Hypsoline », preceding the release of her first album in April. // La femme was born during the X years in Biarritz, when Sasha and Marlon started composing on their guitars music they recorded on Garage Band. Together they ride surfboards, pianos and synthetiseur as they gave a try to various styles, from 60s yéyé French pop to Californian surf music. Marlon moved to Paris, and there he met Sam, who played bass. Together they formed SOS Mademoiselle along with Olivier Peynot, and played vintage French rock, as Sasha was practising his scales in reverb feed surf band « Les redoutables! » // After getting his grade, Sasha joined his friends in Paris, where they discovered French cold wave and synth pop, Marie & Les Garcons being one of their favourite. They polished a style that could be described as one of these following : Surf wave, Bizarre wave, strange wave, weird witch wave, silly mental wave or Psycho tropical Berlin ». In fact anything you want as long as it ends with « wave ». // La Femme has no frontier, neither in her style nor in her voice. She’s always on a quest for new sounds, images and sensations. // Joined in 2010 by drummer Noé and female singer Clémence, La femme formed its first live roster in few days after French rider and artist Pandora Decoster asks them to play on stage for a big surf contest in Biarritz. From her hazy and changing background, La femme takes shape and release that same year its first anthem « Sur la Planche », a song that was made to be hummed and whistled while ridding a board. // Later she released her second EP, Paris 2012. In the music video she produced for this song, she blows down the effeil tower as a symbol, it’s time to go ans see something else. // After swilling Paris bars, La femme goes for a tour in USA, en mode journey, and come back in France with improved reputation where they play for various festival. Soon joined by fancy rhythm drummer Nunez Ritter Von Merguez aka « La Sauterelle » and gorgeous singer Clara Luciani, La femme takes for a ride around Europe : from beyond the grave to Berlin, by London, Bruxelles and Roubaix. // Cryptic and Mysterious, La femme is in perpetual motion and the band, based around full time and up-to-date boys (Sasha, Marlon, Sam), invites over the course of its wish and needs in studio a whole cast of female singer : Clémence, Clara, Marilu, Jeanne… // Sooner this year, La femme released a self titled EP, that went by along with a 11 minutes long psychedelic music video, an epic and baroque short film for tracks « La femme, Hypsoline », preceding the release of her first album in April : « Psycho Tropical Berlin »: // It’s the story of a couple who slipped chaos and survives by watching each other. Le Danger est partout – Peril is all around as written in the booklet. // Rock and pop, rococo bahaus, fed from multiples influences (Krafwerk, Elli & Jacno) La Femme just want to please you. Generous and welcoming, she stretches you her white hand in the dark, if you grasp it, it could be the shiver of you life.It’s the story of a couple who slipped chaos and survives by watching each other. Le Danger est partout – Peril is all around as written in the booklet. // Rock and pop, rococo bahaus, fed from multiples influences (Krafwerk, Elli & Jacno) La Femme just want to please you. Generous and welcoming, she stretches you her white hand in the dark, if you grasp it, it could be the shiver of you life.

11:28 – Underwriting

27. Katy Guillen & The Drive – “No Control”
    from: Dream Girl EP / Katy Guillen / March 20, 2020
    [7-song EP from Katy Guillen & The Drive, the latest project dedicated to Guillen’s songwriting that is founded on the creative spark and chemistry between Katy Guillen & Stephanie Williams. With Guillen on guitar & vocals and Williams on drums, the two sculpt a sound that recalls bands like Led Zeppelin, The Bangles, and Band of Skulls. In 2012, Guillen & Williams formed Katy Guillen and The Girls, and began to build a foundation of touring and recording that carried them through six years and produced three full-length albums: Katy Guillen & the Girls, Heavy Days, and Remember What You Knew Before. Between 2012 and 2018, they traveled the United States extensively, performed at the International Montreal Jazz Festival, toured Sweden, and supported major acts like The Doobie Brothers, Robin Trower, and Heartless Bastards. In these 6 years playing together, Guillen & Williams created a dynamic, sound informed by Guillen’s mesmerizing, emotive guitar style and poignant arrangements, and an equally captivating live show that showcased Williams’ technical, melodic style, resulting in a powerful on-stage chemistry. In addition to the compelling synergy formed by years of playing together, the two developed a method of working together on Guillen’s songs that only deepened their artistic connection, propelling them to forge a path to a new plateau in their music. KG & The Drive push ahead with a melodic, heavy, and soulful sound while maintaining the edge of the artist’s rock ‘n’ roll and blues roots. Katy Guillen joined us on WMM on March 18, 2020.]

11:33 – Interview with Katy Guillen

We are now joined by Katy Guillen of the band Katy Guillen and The Drive, that featuring the creative spark and chemistry between Katy Guillen on guitar & vocals, and Stephanie Williams on drums. Since 2012 the band have sculpted a sound that recalls bands like Led Zeppelin, The Bangles, and Band of Skulls. Katy Guillen and Stephanie Williams are also principle players in the Kansas City Band That Fell to Earth playing annual tribute shows to David Bowie with an all- star area band including their frequent collaborator and friend Michelle Bacon who produces these annual shows. Last year the bnd released the 7-song EP Dream Girl on March 20, 2020 just as the COVID 19 Pandemic Quarantine started, and halted all touring and live music venues. Katy Guillen join us to share all of the details about the big LIVESTREAM Concert this Saturday, March 27, at 8:00 PM live from recordBar’s stage. The concert will feature multiple cameras by XO Blackwater and full live production and sound from Paul Malinowski of Massive Sound Studios.

Katy Guillen thanks or being with us on WMM

Go to http://www.therecordbar.com for tickets to Katy Guillen and The Girls LIVESTREAM Concert this Saturday, March 27, at 8:00 PM live from recordBar’s stage.

In 2012, Guillen & Williams formed Katy Guillen and The Girls, and began to build a foundation of touring and recording that carried them through six years and produced three full-length albums. Between 2012 and 2018, they traveled the United States extensively, performed at the International Montreal Jazz Festival, toured Sweden, and supported major acts like The Doobie Brothers, Robin Trower, and Heartless Bastards.

KG & The Drive push ahead with a melodic, heavy, and soulful sound while maintaining the edge of Katy Guillen’s rock ‘n’ roll and blues roots. Guillen calls their genre-bending style “indie soul-rock.”

Katy Guillen – Discography

Katy Guillen and The Drive – Dream Girl EP

Katy Guillen & The Girls – Four Walls EP

Katy Guillen & The Girls – Remember What You Knew Before (2018)

Katy Guillen & The Girls – Heavy Days (2016)

Katy Guillen & The Girls – Self-Titled (2014)

(Katy & Go-Go – When I Get Away) (2013)

In early January 2020 we saw the 4th annual The Band That Fell to Earth Tribute shows at recordBar. Katy Guillen and Stephanie Williams are also principle players in the Kansas City Band That Fell to Earth playing annual tribute shows to David Bowie with an all- star area band including their frequent collaborator and friend Michelle bacon who produces these annual shows.

In early January Katy Guillen & The Drive recently played Feb 14 in St Petersburg, FL; Frb. 14, Tampa, FL Feb. 15; Goodland, FL Feb. 16; Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea VI. February 18 – 22 .

We last interviewed Katy Guillen on WMM on March 18, 2020, just before the released of the band’s 7-song EP, Dream Girl on March 20, 2020 just as the COVID 19 Pandemic Quarantine started, and halted all touring and live music venues.

Katy Guillen & The Drive’s Dream Girl showcases Guillen’s songwriting and is founded on the energetic creative spark and long time chemistry between Katy Guillen and Stephanie Williams. With Guillen on guitar and vocals and Williams on drums, the two sculpt a sound that recalls bands like Led Zeppelin, The Bangles, and Band of Skulls.

In 2012, Guillen and Williams formed Katy Guillen and The Girls, and began to build a foundation of touring and recording that carried them through six years and produced three full-length albums and two EPs. More info at: http://katyguillenmusic.com/

Between 2012 and 2018, they traveled the United States extensively, performed at the International Montreal Jazz Festival, toured Sweden, and supported major acts like The Doobie Brothers, Robin Trower, and Heartless Bastards.
The Katy Guillen and The Drive LIVESTREAM Concert is this Saturday, March 27, at 8:00 PM performing live from recordBar’s stage. The concert will feature multiple cameras filmed by XO Blackwater and full live production and magical sound from Paul Malinowski of Massive Sound Studios

Ticket sales from this livestream are going directly into the cost for recording their new album this spring.

Go to http://www.therecordbar.com for tickets to Katy Guillen and The Girls LIVESTREAM Concert this Saturday, March 27, at 8:00 PM live from recordBar’s stage.

Katy Guillen is one of our most frequent and most favorite guests. She has been on WMM at least 8 times now since 2010 when we first interviewed her as a member of the band the B’Dinas.

1. September 22, 2010 with The B’Dinas
2. February 22, 2012 with The B’Dinas
3. November 20, 2013 for our 500th Show
4. September 3, 2014 for Katy Guillen & The Girls CD Release at Knuckleheads
5. Nay 4, 2016 Our 12th Anniversary Show!
6. November 8, 2017
   7. March 18, 2020 for Katy Guillen and The Drive – Dream Girl EP Release

In these 7 years playing together, Guillen and Williams created a dynamic, driving sound informed by Guillen’s mesmerizing, emotive guitar style and poignant arrangements, and an equally captivating live show that showcased Williams’ technical, melodic style, resulting in a powerful on-stage chemistry.

In addition to the compelling synergy formed by years of playing together, the two developed a method of working together on Guillen’s songs that only deepened their artistic connection, propelling them to forge a path to a new plateau in their music.

Into the next decade KG & The Drive push ahead with a melodic, heavy, and soulful sound while maintaining the edge of the artist’s rock ‘n’ roll and blue

Katy Guillen is known as one of Kansas City premiere musicians. We first met her as part of the band The B’Dina’s.

Katy Guillen, thanks or being with us on WMM

The Katy Guillen and The Drive LIVESTREAM Concert is this Saturday, March 27, at 8:00 PM live from recordBar’s stage. The concert will feature multiple cameras by XO Blackwater and full live production and sound from Paul Malinowski of Massive Sound Studios.

Go to http://www.therecordbar.com for tickets to Katy Guillen and The Girls LIVESTREAM Concert this Saturday, March 27, at 8:00 PM live from recordBar’s stage.

11:46

28. Katy Guillen & The Drive – “Dream Girl”
    from: Dream Girl EP / Katy Guillen / March 20, 2020
    [New 7 song EP from Katy Guillen & The Drive, the latest project dedicated to Guillen’s songwriting that is founded on the creative spark and chemistry between Katy Guillen & Stephanie Williams. With Guillen on guitar & vocals and Williams on drums, the two sculpt a sound that recalls bands like Led Zeppelin, The Bangles, and Band of Skulls. In 2012, Guillen & Williams formed Katy Guillen and The Girls, and began to build a foundation of touring and recording that carried them through six years and produced three full-length albums: Katy Guillen & the Girls, Heavy Days, and Remember What You Knew Before. Between 2012 and 2018, they traveled the United States extensively, performed at the International Montreal Jazz Festival, toured Sweden, and supported major acts like The Doobie Brothers, Robin Trower, and Heartless Bastards. In these 6 years playing together, Guillen & Williams created a dynamic, sound informed by Guillen’s mesmerizing, emotive guitar style and poignant arrangements, and an equally captivating live show that showcased Williams’ technical, melodic style, resulting in a powerful on-stage chemistry. In addition to the compelling synergy formed by years of playing together, the two developed a method of working together on Guillen’s songs that only deepened their artistic connection, propelling them to forge a path to a new plateau in their music. KG & The Drive push ahead with a melodic, heavy, and soulful sound while maintaining the edge of the artist’s rock ‘n’ roll and blues roots. Katy Guillen joined us on WMM on March 18, 2020.]

29. Philippe Cohen Solal & Mike Lindsay – “We’ll Never Say Goodbye (feat. Adam Glover & Hanna Peel)”
    from: Outsider / Ya Basta! Records / March 12, 2021
    [Outsider is an album of ten astonishing pop songs, five years in the making, and inspired by America’s most celebrated outsider artist Henry Darger, whose lyrics, written over 50 years ago, have been set to music for the first time and brought into the present day. Darger’s artwork has been lovingly and faithfully reproduced across all the outsider visual assets. Outsider is the brainchild of Philippe Cohen Solal, the million-selling artist, producer and composer behind Gotan Project, who has been given exclusive, unprecedented access to Henry Darger’s life and works. He has brought together the Mercury Prize winning producer Mike Lindsay of acid folk group Tunng, to co-write and co-produce the album, bringing in the acclaimed Hannah Peel (The Magnetic North, Game of Thrones) for the brass and strings instrumentation and backing vocals depicting Darger’s child characters The Vivian Girls, and Adam Glover for the lush, crooning lead vocals, that reflect the inner voice of Darger himself through the original lyrics.]

30. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
    from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

Next week on Wednesday, March 31 we talk with Sondra Freeman about Midwest Music Foundation’s 3rd Annual Spring Donation Drive (Apr 3-10) with a Livestream Concert Saturday, April 3, 2021 at 8:00 PM featuring: Jessica Paige, Slights, Sam Wells, The Uncouth. More info at http://www.midwestmusicfoundation.org // We also talk with musician Chris Hudson about his band Gullywasher’s new album, Holding the Dawning, released on March 15, 2021. More info at: http://www.gullywasherkc.com // We also talk with J. Jerome aka Jamie Searle about his slew of new recordings and releases with his band My Brothers and Sisters and others. More info at: http://www.jjeromechromatic.bandcamp.com // And we talk with singer songwriter drumm er dancer actress Nan Turner about her new release from Nan + The one Nite Stands – High – Caliber, released on February 19, 2021.

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

Nico Gray Portrait by: Jan McNiel

Wednesday MidDay Medley in on the web:
http://www.kkfi.org,
http://www.WednesdayMidDayMedley.org,
http://www.facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1

Show #882