Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rogers

Billy Porter Presents
The Soul of Richard Rodgers
Sony Masterworks

A quick and dirty description of this new recording by the Tony and Grammy Award winner Billy Porter is hip hop meets the classic songs of Richard Rodgers. Included are includes solos and duets from the a variety of artists  (in addition to Porter himself) including  Tony and Grammy Award winners Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Tony Award-winner Patina Miller (Pippin), Grammy Award winners Pentatonix and India.Arie, Tony Award nominees Brandon Victor Dixon (Shuffle Along), Joshua Henry (Violet), and Christopher Jackson (Hamilton), alongside YouTube sensation and Kinky Boots star Todrick Hall and multiple Grammy Award nominees Deborah Cox and Ledisi.

"I like to think of this as the Richard Rodgers version of the Hamilton Mixtapes," Porter said.  "These are classic songs that everybody knows and loves, and I'm so excited for people to hear them in a brand new way." Certainly listening to Ledisi singing "Bewitched," the hip hop groove recasts a familiar melody, elongating and transforming it as well as incorporating an explicit rap from Zaire Park. India.arie sings "Carefully Taught," from the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical "South Pacific" and its 1949 lyric is unfortunately so relevant today, "You got to be taught to hate and fear; You got to be taught from year to year; It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear; You got to be carefully taught." Porter himself provides the lovely interpretation of "Edelweiss" from "The Sound of Music," and a brief narration notes that the flower exists in the harshest of environment and reminds us we must flourish in the harshest of times, again not only reworking the song for contemporary tastes, but showing its continued relevance,

There is the hip hop rendition of "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" with a politically charged rap mixed with the singing of the lyrics. Not everything has political connotations as the dreamy duet between Renée Elise Goldsberry & Christopher Jackson on "If I Loved You," Cynthia Erivo's lovely "My Funny Valentine," or Porter's interpretation of "The Lady Is a Tramp," with a Zaire Park rap playing off the lyrics, incorporated in this performance. Then there is Pentatonix's optimistic and spirited take on "What a Beautiful Morning."

Billy Porter has put together this imaginative re-imagination of some classic songs that are well established parts of the American Songbook, and these performances show the contemporary relevance of these songs in introducing them to new audiences. At the same time, there is no question that some will be put off by the musical settings and there are some explicit raps on a couple of tracks on a very intriguing recording.

I received a review download from a publicist. This review appeared in the September-October 2017  Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 374). Here Billy Porter and others talk about this recording.

Dirty Dozen Asks What's Going On

With JazzFest having concluded this past weekend, it is worth looking back at an album the Dirty Dozen, one of the pioneering bands of the modern Brass Band scene issued after Hurricane Katrina with their interpretation of a classic Marvin Gaye album. This review originally appeared in the October 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 287). I purchased the CD.

Like others from their home city of New Orleans, the members of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band have been greatly affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. With some friends they have their new album, What’s Going On, (Shout Factory), which reinterprets the classic Marvin Gaye album on a recording that is very relevant in light of the catastrophic events of last year in which the band members, like so many, lost their homes, and so much more.

More than their homes, they were distressed about the loss of their communities and personal treasures; photo albums and mementos of their travels were all destroyed. “I’m not talking about clothes and shoes and material things, but family albums,” says Roger Lewis. “I have a 7-year-old daughter. I had pictures of myself as a child, but I can’t share them with her because they were destroyed. All she’s really going to know is her dad as a 64-year-old man.”

The album opens with Chuck D rapping on the title track with a justified bitterness as the Dozen provides a sobering backing with Revert Andrews contributing a strong trombone solo. This followed by Betty Lavette take on What’s Happening Brother as she sings “Are things really getting better like the newspaper says … I just don’t understand what’s going on in this land … will the Tigers win the pennant, do they stand a chance …” with the tenor sax reaching to the higher registers behind her. Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky), is taken at a medium tempo with a rather nice rendering of it before the tempo picks up as the members chant “Help Me Somebody,” with some nice spirited playing as the tune rides out. Nice trumpet leads Save the Children which also includes some nice sax work including Roger Lewis’ baritone, original member Kirk Joseph provides a foundation on the sousaphone and Jamie Mclean’s guitar brings African flavoring and rhythm. Ivan Neville guests on God Is Love, as Joseph and Lewis add the deep bottom behind his vocal as the brass punctuate the lyrics. G. Love raps the lyrics Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) with the Dozen providing a sharp funk groove before the Dozen get a groove going on Right On, as Revert Andrews takes the lead on trombone prior to Kevin Harris’ tenor sax. The last instrumental, Wholy Holy, is rendered almost as a funeral dirge before they conclude with Guru rapping on Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler), concluding a very thoughtful and moving recording.

A portion of the proceeds from this CD will be donated to the Tiptina’s Foundation, benefiting the musical community of New Orleans.

Bits and Pieces for June 7, 2010

Today, I was at Barnes & Noble in downtown Washington, DC, and they had new issues of two magazines that I find to be amongst the most interesting publications devoted to music available.

waxpoetics is a fascinating publication that has devoted issues to jazz, funk, reggae and most recently, hiphop which does seem to be its anchor. The current issue (#41) has pieces on KRS-One, Ice-T and Ice Cube along with a record rundown from Easy Mo Bee that runs from otis Redding to Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, Love Unlimited Orchestra and Kraftwerk. The website is waxpoetics.com, and you can download a playlist with each issue.

Signal to Noise is subtitled “The Journal of Improvised, Experimental & Unusual Music,” and covers a wide range of musical styles in its articles, as well as reviews of festivals and other live performances, recordings, videos and books. What that means is that one can fine coverage of cutting edge music in what is called jazz, contemporary composed music, progressive rock and allied disciplines. Not to say that they forego traditionally oriented artists as the current issue has a review of the Carolina Chocolate Drops but the features include a story on bassist Henry Grimes who played with Sonny Rollins and Roy Haynes as well as Albert Ayler and Pharoah Sanders before disappearing until being rediscovered a few years ago with his career being revived. Another article focuses on “The Art of Noise,” on Poster art associated with Creative Improvised Music for performances by such artists as Kalaprusha, Carla Bley Big Band, Charles Gayle & William Parker and Milford Graves, AIr, Sun Ra, The Residents, Peter Brotzmann and the Vandermark Five. With extensive review section it is a quarterly that should be of interest to anyone into improvised music. Website is www.signaltonoisemagazine.com.

Finally on a recording note, I have been listening today to a marvelous album by saxophonist Houston Person, Just Between Friends (HighNote) that is an album of duets with the great bassist Ron Carter. Person has somehow escaped receiving the acclaim that he deserves among living tenor saxophonists, perhaps because of his association with acid jazz or the late vocalist Etta Jones. As the intimate duets with Ron Carter, Person is a master of ballad playing who makes the songs sing with his tone and phrasing. The beauty of his playing makes up for the generally slow tempos as its a delight to listen to the interplay between these two jazz masters as they handle such standards as “Darn That Dream,” “Lover Man,” “Lover Come Back To Me,” “Blueberry Hill,” “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” and “How Deep Is The Ocean.” He will be appearing in Montreal when I am up there for the Montreal Jazz Festival, and I certainly hope to see him live after all these years.

For the purpose of FTC regulations, I purchased the two publications and I believe I purchased the Person recording.

The Soul of John Black's Appealing Soul-Blues Funk Groove

John A. Bigham jammed on guitar and keyboard for the pioneering rock-funk-ska band Fishbone for eight years and toured and recorded with artists as acclaimed and diverse as Miles Davis, Eminem, Dr. Dré, Nikka Costa, Bruce Hornsby and Everlast. Recently he has adopted the persona of The Soul of John Black and has fused blues, soul, funk, hip hop, pop with field hollers, spirituals and work songs resulting in some compelling, music with a steady groove and mesmerizing quality to the performance. On his last album, “The Good Girl Blues” (Yellow Dog), the focus seemed to be on blues material with “The Hole,” being a modernized field holler. His most recent release on the Delta Groove affiliate Eclecto Groove, “Black John,” shifts its focus for a blues to soul-funk foundation for another intriguing effort that opens with the title track, with its bad ass hero in the vein of "Railroad Bill," "Stagolee" and other outlaw heroes followed by “Billie Jean,” an intriguing song about being sweet on “Billie Jean,” who he’s been trying to meet, but she is like a dream. On both his band lays down a funk groove and his soulful vocals engaging in a call and response with the backing vocal as he also lays down some stinging guitar as appropriate. His slide guitar kicks off “Last Forever,” as he tells a story about a Sunday Morning and forgot his prayer as his woman stayed out all night but was like a bad cell phone, you know she liked to roam. The fact he is a terrific singer and guitarist does not hurt. “I Knew a Lady,” conjures up Leadbelly tune before he mixes a lyric about a dancing lady with a chorus that sounds like a rap based on a children’s rhythm about “all the Lord’s children needs to feel good,” whereas, on “White Dress,” he celebrates sexuality and how his woman looks in her white dress and black drawers dancing in the sun. The mood shifts to a bit of country soul on “Better Babe,” and the remainder of this is equally fresh sounding. The Soul of John Black is a breath of fresh air in contemporary vernacular music and with “Black John,” has provided us with yet another stunning release.

This review originally appeared in Jazz & Blues Report and (For FTC regulations purposes) my review copy was probably sent to me by the frecording label)