Jan 20, 2024 - Stand With Each Other

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, 2024

Little 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