Willie Jones – Right Now

 

Title: Right Now
Artist: Willie Jones
Label: The Penthouse/Empire
Format: Digital
Release Date: January 22, 2021

 

A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, a 26-year-old Willie Jones has crafted a genre-bending sound that captures his Southern roots and incorporates the other diverse musical influences that he loves. On his debut album, Right Now, he secures his place as a next generation country artist, joining the small but growing roster of Black artists who are revolutionizing the genre by deftly adding contemporary elements of hip hop and R&B.

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December 2020 – January 2021 Black Music Releases of Note

Following are additional albums released December 2020 and January 2021 across multiple genres—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves.

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Summer 2020 Black Music Releases of Note

Following are additional albums released during June, July and August 2020 across multiple genres—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves.

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Wendy Moten – I’ve Got You Covered

 

Title: I’ve Got You Covered
Artist: Wendy Moten
Label: Radio Eye Music
Format: Digital
Release date: February 12, 2020

 

Memphis native Wendy Moten grew up singing in her father’s church and listening to her idols Aretha, Stevie, Marvin, and Dionne. After a successful solo career as an R&B artist in the 1990s, scoring a major hit with the power ballad “Come On In Out of the Rain,” Moten moved to Nashville where she became a highly regarded session and backing vocalist across all genres. Naturally, she was also immersed in country music. Over the past two decades, she has toured with Faith Hill & Tim McGraw (2005-2018), Martina McBride (2014-2016), and most recently Vince Gill, while also making her own debut at the Grand Ole Opry in 2019. After considering a country project for several years, Moten has finally released I’ve Got You Covered, a welcome addition to the very limited number of albums by Black female artists in country music.

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May 2020 Black Music Releases of Note

Following are additional albums released during May 2020 across multiple genres—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves.  

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November 2019 Black Music Releases of Note

Following are additional albums released during November 2019 across multiple genres—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading

Rissi Palmer – Revival

 

Title: Revival
Artist: Rissi Palmer
Label: Self-released
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: October 22, 2019

 

Raised in a musical family that loved both country and R&B music, singer-songwriter Rissi Palmer first achieved success in 2007 with her crossover single, “Country Girl,” off her self-titled debut album. Palmer’s new release, Revival, touches upon the uplifting themes of regeneration, renewal, and being saved, while also addressing intensely personal issues related to social justice, relationships, loss, and identity. Featuring eight original songs, Palmer collaborated with Nashville songwriters Deanna Walker and Rick Beresford, as well as songwriter and producer Brian Owens, who featured Palmer on his recent project Soul of Cash.   Continue reading

October 2019 Black Music Releases of Note

Following are additional albums released during October 2019 across multiple genres—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading

Welcome to the October 2019 Issue

Welcome to the October 2019 issue of Black Grooves, sponsored by the Indiana University Archives of African American Music and Culture.

Our featured project this month is the new three disc compilation, Protobilly: Minstrel & Tin Pan Alley DNA of Country Music 1892-2017, produced and/or annotated by Dom Flemons, Dick Spottswood, Henry Sapoznik, and David Giovannoni.

Also highlighted are two classical recordings: Richard Thompson’s The Mask in the Mirror – A Chamber Opera and Jamaican-born composer Eleanor Alberga’s String Quartets Nos. 1-3, performed by Ensemble Arcadiana.

This month’s jazz selections include Ramsey Lewis & the Urban Knights seventh album VII, the Chick Corea Trio’s Trilogy 2, and the Louisiana-based Lilli Lewis Project’s multi-genre album We Belong. Gospel releases include John P. Kee’s I Made It Out and a new compilation, Jewell Gospel Trio: Many Little Angels in the Band, featuring a 1950s gospel girl group that included a teenage Candi Staton.

Other new releases include rising Chicago blues musician Toronzo Cannon’s The Preacher, The Politician or The Pimp, spoken word artist/poet Tenesha The Wordsmith’s Peacocks & Other Savage Beasts, the Brooklyn Funk Essentials’s Stay Good, and Vaneese Thomas’s Down Yonder. Wrapping up this issue is our list of September Black Music Releases of Note.

September 2019 Black Music Releases of Note

Following are additional albums released during September 2019 across multiple genres—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves.  Continue reading