 Forever broadening the horizons of Black musicians, we're back this week with another eclectic mix of music from across the African diaspora. Listen to The Purple Room live every Saturday at 2pm on CJSR FM 88.5. Living Colour Living Color is a hard rock band that exploded in the 80s with their blended elements of metal, soul, funk, punk, blues, and Hip-Hop. They purposely widened the path for Black musicians in the mainstream at the time. The band’s members - specifically, lead singer Corey Glover and guitarist Vernon Reid - have been very involved over the years in a group called the Black Rock Coalition, which is a collective of Black musicians, journalists, and producers that formed in 1985 and has since gone global. Living Colour is a certified CBGB alumni group, cosigned by Mick Jagger himself, who produced and recorded their first two demos. To get a glimpse into the band’s more harmonic side, check out Solace of You from their 1990 album, Time’s Up. George & Gwen McCrae Navigating the intricacies of both love and music, George and Gwen McCrae, who married only a week after meeting each other, found a way to inject their own unique personal dynamics into their collaborations. Their relationship was born in fire, and you can hear it throuhout their collection of duets and collaborations. Check out The Rub, from their 1975 album, “Together.” Black Ivory Surrender by Black Ivory is a staple of the quiet storm subgenre of R&B and soul music. The song was written by lead vocalist Leroy Burgess for Black Ivory's debut 1972 album, Don't Turn Around. Don’t Turn Around helped lay the groundwork for the smooth, romantic vibes that would become synonymous with R&B during the early '70s. Hamilton Bohannon Hamilton Bohannon, was a Georgia-born percussionist, bandleader, and disco and funk musician who found his rhythm early. In his younger years, he bounced from band to band. By the age of 22, he was the touring drummer in a then-13-year-old Stevie Wonder’s band, later going on to lay the backbeat for even more headliners, including Diana Ross & the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, and Smokey Robinson. His track, Save Their Souls, has lasted the tests of time - it was repopularized in 1996 when DJ Clark Kent sampled it for Cashmere Thoughts from Jay-Z’s debut studio album Reasonable Doubt. Enjoy your week, and you’ll hear me next Saturday. ~ Shantu The Purple Room Playlist for Jan 27 2024Living Colour
Solace of You Jay Dee African Rhythms (Instrumental) David Walters Light K’naan Fire in Freetown Kokoroko Interlude Graham Central Station The Jam Gwen & George McCrae The Rub Blackalicious First in Flight Black Ivory Surrender Pete Rock & The Soul Brothers Say It Again The Counts Rhythm Changes Ahmad Jamal Swahililand Marva Whitney Things Got To Get Better (Get Together) Manu Dibango Wilderness Digable Planets Dial 7 (Axioms of Creamy Spies Instrumental) Bohannon Save Their Souls (DJ Spinna Mix)  I recently discovered Nubya Garcia (pictured), a fire saxophonist from Camden Town London with Guyanese and Trinidadian heritage in her background, and I've been hooked ever since. Check out her 2020 album Source and specifically the track Stand With Each Other featuring Ms. Maurice on vocals. Little Richard It was a massive flex when Little Richard proclaimed himself the King of Rock & Roll. No doubt he was a divisive personality but if you look at the stats, it’s hard to deny the legacy. There’s a fantastic documentary that came out in 2023 about Little Richard called I Am Everything that I picked up from the library, it walks through so many pieces of his life you could have wanted to know about (and some you didn’t know you wanted to know about). Check out Nuki Suki from Little Richard’s 1972 album - The Second Coming for a taste of Richard’s long-lasting hold on Rock n Roll music. Kaleta & Super Yama Band Kaleta, the frontman for this Brooklyn-based 13-piece Aftobeats group, is a guitarist and veteran of the Afrobeats and Juju scene from the Benin Republic by way of Lagos, Nigeria. Over the years, he has recorded and toured with kings and queens from Lauryn Hill and Fela Kuti to Sunny Ade. For a taste of their sound, listen to Jibiti from Kaleta & Super Yama Band’s 2019 debut album, Medaho. Isaac Hayes / Scarface Isaac Hayes was a master orchestrator of mood, as you can hear in his classic Hung Up On My Baby. The song was originally written for the action movie Three Tough Guys starring Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and Isaac Hayes himself and it’s a staple sample in the Hip-Hop world. Hung Up On My Baby is most recognized for the 1991 sample flip for Geto Boys’ Mind Playin Trick On Me from their album We Can’t Be Stopped.  Speaking of Geto Boys, and Scarface in particular, if you haven’t checked out Scarface’s Tiny Desk Concert, it’s brilliant. His vocal control as a 53-year-old rapper is remarkable. Yussef Dayes Black Classical Music (2023) is the debut album from London drummer Yussef Dayes and it’s a psychedelic feast. That’s to be expected if you’ve spun his previous collaborative releases, the 2016 album Black Focus with Kamaal Wiliams, or 2020’s What Kinda Music with Tom Misch. For a taste of Dayes, check out the beautiful Raisins Under the Sun featuring multi-instrumentalist Shabaka Hutchins on the horns. Catch you next week! ~ Shantu The Purple Room Playlist for Jan 10, 2024Little Richard
Nuki Suki Georgia Anne Muldrow Shooby Slaves Son Little What’s Good Matata Return to You Jerry Butler You’ve Been Around Too Long Johnny Cameron & the Camerons Funky John Kaleta & Super Yama Band Jibiti Isaac Hayes Hung Up On My Baby Yussef Dayes f/ Shabaka Hutchins Raisins Under the Sun Orgone Duck and Cover Adi Oasis Get it Got it Oddisee Hold it Back Nubya Garcia f/ Ms. Maurice Stand With Each Other  When Hugh Masekela speaks of Africans losing their heritage to Western culture, he is being very literal. He warns of the Western influence on South Africans’ cultural roots and the threat of losing touch with those roots altogether. But the point of his message rings true in so many more areas, including the music we consume. If we don’t understand and honour the roots of where our sound comes from, we will lose it. We can keep the core of our musical culture alive by digging, learning, and by listening with an open mind — and I’m here to set that table. Welcome to The Purple Room; my name’s Shantu and this is a show where we celebrate Black music. VV Brown VV Brown is a singer from Northampton who released this very interesting project called Am I British Yet in 2023. It’s a concept album that explores the experience of being Black in the UK, but it’s not a light listen. Check out her song No Fear featuring Liam Bailey Pete Rock People are right when they say there’s beauty in the minutia. Pete Rock is a prime example, and he helped pioneer the sample-based producer role in the world of Hip-Hop which has given us so many incredible triple-threat artists over the years … that’s musicians who are DJs and producers as well as vocalists like RZA, Q-Tip, Lord Finesse, and Oddisee. Madlib When I talk with my music nerd friends about the masterful minutia of Pete Rock’s sampling technique, it’s not long before somebody brings up Madlib - another triple-threat in the music world with groups like Lootpack, Tha Alkaholiks. He also aligned himself with Jazz label Blue Note and released Shades of Blue in 2003 - still one of my favorite producer-based albums of all time, and a string of other solo and collaboration projects. From his 2021 album Sound Ancestors, check out Road of the Lonely Ones. Jazz is Dead / Adrian Yongue & Ali Shaheed Muhammed Jazz is Dead (JID) is an incredible series that I spend so much time with. It’s headed by two brilliant musicians: Adrian Younge is a film score composer and producer. Ali Shaheed Muhammed was from A Tribe Called Quest and Lucy Pearl, and he also plays bass throughout the Jazz is Dead series of albums. Muhammad and Younge are releasing fully original jazz albums that pay homage to artists who are often sampled in Hip-Hop music and if you’re looking for a place to start, check out JID #2 with Roy Ayers, #17 with Lonnie Liston Smith, or #6 with Mr. Gary Bartz, and you’re welcome. Tune in next week! ~ Shantu The Purple Room Playlist for Jan 6, 2024Hugh Masekela
If There’s Anybody Out There VV Brown f/ Liam Bailey No Fear Makaya McCraven When Your Lover Has Gone Orgone Prisim Break Robert Finley Livin’ Out a Suitcase Pete Rock The Boss Madlib Road of the Lonely Ones Otis Junior & Dr. Dundiff Every Night Junior Mance Don’t Cha Hear Me Callin’ to Ya 9th Wonder ISawSomebodyToday!!! Katalyst & Jazz is Dead Juneteenth Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder, Kamasi Washington & Phonte From My Heart and My Soul Van Hunt Hello Goodbye Milton Wright Keep it Up (DJ Spinna Mix) J Dilla Dillatronic 37 Shafiq Husayn Crush You |
The Purple RoomThe Purple Room is an NCRA award-winning hour of music by Black musicians from across the African diaspora—all genres, all eras. It airs every Saturday at 2pm MT, and replays on Sundays at 11am on CJSR FM 88.5. Archives
September 2024
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