Showing 51 - 75 of 161
Artist: Myles & Lenny
Self-taught guitarist Myles Cohen and Lenny Solomon, a student of piano and violin from the age of six, began playing together in high school in 1969. They signed with GRT in 1972; "Time to Know Your Friends" appeared later that year. Myles and Lenny was released in 1975, the same year as It Isn't the Same. After breaking up in 1976, Cohen... [+] Read More
Artist: Ahmed Abdullah
An exciting but still little-known trumpeter, Ahmed Abdullah began playing music when he was 13. He started to get notice during the 1970s, performing in New York's loft scene. Since then he has played with Chico Freeman, Charles Brackeen, and Marion Brown; led his own Solomonic Quintet; and recorded for Silkheart and Cadence Jazz. ~ Scott... [+] Read More
Artist: Franklin Kiermyer
Franklin Kiermyer, a fairly obscure drummer, burst on the scene in 1994 with his Evidence CD Solomon's Daughter, a remarkably intense quartet date that features Pharoah Sanders at his most ferocious. Kiermyer keeps up with the passion, making one wonder why he was not known before that date. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide [+] Read More
Artist: Fred Jackson, Jr.
After graduating from the L.A. Conservatory, Fred Jackson first appeared in 1971, playing on Bobby Hutcherson's Head On. Throughout the next three decades, he received constant work as a session man, playing on albums by artists as diverse as Hutcherson, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Carole King, Frank Zappa, Maria Muldaur, Billy Cosby, Terry... [+] Read More
Artist: Science for Girls
Science for Girls is the incontinent and cranky electronic love-child of producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Darren Solomon. The sound is melodic, electronic pop, with roots in jazz and Brazillian music. Each track features a different singer, as well as everyone who was in the studio at the time for the final chorus of "Australia". The... [+] Read More
Artist: The Duke Of St. Augustine
The summer of 2005 marked the moments where 3 individuals would connect musically on every level. With a few slip ups and replacements, they now find themselves solidified with a free form of music that holds no boundaries to any pre-concieved notions. Consisting of Solomon Sofolawe, Zachariah Holliday, Denny Dougan, Shawn McMonigle, and Anthony... [+] Read More
Artist: Rabbi David Zeller
The therapeutic qualities of music have been tapped by Israel-based teacher, counselor, and singer/songwriter Rabbi David Zeller. A former student of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, Zeller has continued to use music to express his growing knowledge of Jewish spirituality, transpersonal psychology, and meditation. The executive director of the Yakar... [+] Read More
Artist: Cupcakes
The Chicago-based power pop quartet Cupcakes consists of vocalist Preston Graves, guitarist/vocalist Greg Suran, bassist Solomon Snyder, and drummer Matt Walker. Before they formed the Cupcakes, Walker, Snyder, and Graves played in a band called Tribal Opera. When that group dissolved in the mid-'90s, Graves began collaborating with Suran, who... [+] Read More
Artist: Goree Carter
T-Bone Walker inspired a legion of young Texas blues guitarists during the years following World War II with his elegant electrified riffs and fat chords. Among his legion of disciples was Houston's Goree Carter, whose big break came when Solomon Kahal signed him to Houston's Freedom Records circa 1949.
Carter's best-known waxing, the torrid... [+] Read More
Artist: Hammond Scott
Along with his brother Nauman, producer Hammond Scott was the founder of the Black Top Records label. Natives of Alexandria, Louisiana, the Scott brothers' love of music began when they were children listening to late-night blues and soul broadcasts over station WLAC out of Nashville. They formed Black Top in 1981, with Anson Funderburgh's Talk... [+] Read More
Artist: James Smith
Trumpeter James Smith is a member of reggae giant Burning Spear's horn section, affectionately known as the Burning Brass. His compatriots in this aggregation include fellow trumpeter Chico Chin as well as saxophonist Howard Messam. These players can be sampled in action on recordings such as the superb Live in Paris editions as well as a... [+] Read More
Artist: Original Evening Birds
Fronted by Solomon Linda, the Original Evening Birds pioneered a highly influential style that became known as 'mbube.' Mbube groups wore uniforms, danced perfectly executed steps, and (their defining characteristic) presented a falsetto male lead backed by a four-part all-male bass harmony. Their first hit, "Mbube" (The Lion), became the basis... [+] Read More
Artist: The Amboy Dukes
Best remembered for their 1968 acid-rock classic "Journey to the Center of the Mind," Detroit's Amboy Dukes also introduced the world to the Motor City Madman, guitarist Ted Nugent. The group's roots date to 1965, a period when a teenage Nugent was living in Chicago; there he formed the first incarnation of the Amboy Dukes, borrowing the moniker... [+] Read More
Artist: Perfect
After the Replacements' demise in the early '90s, bassist Tommy Stinson formed a new project called Bash and Pop, which released a single album, Friday Night Is Killing Me. Since the album was written entirely by Stinson in his attic, it wasn't a true band effort, or a rocking one for that matter, which became apparent when he tried to tour for... [+] Read More
Artist: Watts Prophets
The West Coast's answer to the Last Poets, Watts Prophets didn't get quite the same recognition for their contributions to raising black consciousness and laying the foundations for rap. The group was formed at the Watts Writer's Workshop, an organization started by screenwriter Budd Schulberg designed to provide a creative outlet in the wake of... [+] Read More
Artist: Dan Penn
Songwriter/producer Dan Penn has been a quiet force behind Southern soul music for over thirty years. Always moving just out of view of the limelight, Penn has produced and written hits for the Box Tops, Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin and Ronnie Milsap, among others.
Originally from Vernon, Alabama, Penn began his career as a performer, leading... [+] Read More
Artist: Myles Cohen
Folksinger, guitarist, and songwriter Myles Cohen started his professional music career around 1970. At first he worked with school friend Lenny Solomon, a violinist. They did a number of recordings under the name Myles and Lenny, and won a Juno Award together. Near the end of the '70s, Cohen went solo, completing several singles and a couple of... [+] Read More
Artist: The Show Stoppers
The Show Stoppers were Philadelphians, and recorded in the States, but had their only hit courtesy of the United Kingdom. Two sets of siblings made up the quartet: Timmy and Earl Smith, and Alec and Laddie Burke (brothers of popular soul man Solomon Burke). They formed at Germantown High School and rehearsed religiously under the guiding hand of... [+] Read More
Artist: Ho'opi'i Brothers
Brothers Richard and Solomon Ho'opi'i are winners of the National Heritage Award for their preservation of a form of native Hawaiian singing that is known as "leo ki'eki'e." The style features men singing in a high falsetto. Photos of the generously proportioned Ho'opi'i Brothers belie the sweet nature of their singing voices, which are often... [+] Read More
Artist: Skyy
A New York City octet, one of three funk and/or disco bands in which producer/keyboardist Randy Muller was involved. The original lineup featured Denise, Delores, and Bonny Dunning as vocalists, with guitarists Solomon Roberts and Anibal Anthony Sierra, keyboardist Larry Greenberg, bassist Gerald Lebon, and drummer Tommy McConnell. Muller... [+] Read More
Artist: Theodore Unit
When Wu-Tang man Ghostface Killah dropped The Pretty Toney Album in April 2004, there was a bunch of street-level mixtapes sneaking out with all the leftovers Def Jam thought unworthy. The outtakes hinted at a much tougher, wilder album than Pretty Toney was, and the mixtapes became the hot topic. Lost tracks like "Guerilla Hood," "The Drummer,"... [+] Read More
Artist: Soulfarm
With influences ranging from country to world music, Soulfarm (formerly Inasense) is a rootsy pop/rock unit that was formed in New York in 1991, but often sounds like it could be a California band of the 1970s. Two members of the band, guitarist C. Lanzbom and lead singer Noah Solomon Chase, met in Jerusalem, Israel, in the 1980s. Lanzbom had... [+] Read More
Artist: Duke Spirit
The brash, bluesy, female-fronted quintet the Duke Spirit formed when singer/harmonica player Liela Moss met guitarist/keyboardist/singer Luke Ford at art school. Moss was studying photography and Ford painting, but the pair decided to ditch school and move to London to focus on their music. Once they arrived, their friend Toby Butler joined on... [+] Read More
Artist: The Sweet Inspirations
If one was cutting a soul, R&B, pop, rock, or girl group record in New York in the '60s and needed female backup vocals, chances are they'd try to get the Sweet Inspirations first. The group found their way onto numerous recordings, including hits by the Drifters, Van Morrison, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, Garnett Mimms, and most famously,... [+] Read More
