Let’s do church with Kirk Franklin—he’s black Baptist so we’re going to be there a minute. Then let’s do struggle with Massive Attack, Macy Gray, Grace Jones, Lamya, Jhelisa, Jean Grae, Ani DiFranco, Nina Simone, Meshell Ndegeocello, The Pretenders,...

  I’ve explained before (here and here) that Concha Buika is one of my favorite singers. I’ve also looked at the problem of fame for a musician. How do you follow a hit? Do you make your next album like the last album or can you come up with something...

Sometime in 2005, not long before Hurricane Katrina came along and backhand-slapped our city to near-oblivion, my sister Asante asked me to make a mix CD for her. She wanted something inspirational without being pretentious; something optimistic, minus...

This is a short posting for a hulk of musical excellence.   Kirk Franklin is surely the most influential gospel artist of the last twenty years. His career can be divided into the nineties and post-nineties. It’s not just a natural division by decades...

Four hours of music—it will probably take you a whole month to digest this week’s music. Classics from Thelonious Monk. Spanish funk featuring Los Rumbers, Eddine Said, Mala Rodriguez, Arangu and Gecko Turner. Plus two hours of Monk interpretations...