Welcome to the June 2017 African American Music Appreciation Month edition of Black Grooves, sponsored by the Indiana University Archives of African American Music and Culture.
As one might expect, many of this month’s new releases come with a heavy dose of socio-political themes. These include our three featured jazz releases: vocalist Jazzmeia Horn’s debut album A Social Call, Brian McCarthy’s Civil War inspired project The Better Angels of Our Nature which drops a week before Juneteenth, and B3 virtuoso Gregory Lewis’ Organ Monk, The Breathe Suite which pays tribute to Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Aiyana Jones. Other jazz releases include the Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s contemporary project So It Is, Terence Blanchard’s soundtrack album from The Comedian, and the new Wes Montgomery release from Resonance, Smokin’ in Seattle.
Two releases are devoted to African American composers: Zenobia Powell Perry Piano Works performed by Josephine Gandolfi, Deanne Tucker, and LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, and Richard Dowling’s new 3-CD box set The Complete Piano Works of Scott Joplin, released on the 100th anniversary of Joplin’s death. New R&B/soul releases include the CD/DVD Mavis Staples I’ll Take You There: An All-star Concert Celebration recorded in 2014, Mint Condition member Stokley Williams’ solo debut Introducing Stokley, and a preview of forthcoming reissues from Concord in celebration of Stax Records 60th Anniversary.
Our politically conscious rap picks are Joey Badass’ All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ and Oddisee’s The Iceberg, while rock and funk-oriented releases include The New Respects’ Here Comes Trouble, Barbados-born singer-instrumentalist Bobby Saint’s Unholy EP, veteran Garland Jeffreys’ 14 Steps to Harlem, blues-rocker Selwyn Birchwood’s Pick Your Poison, and a compilation devoted to P-Funk’s Fuzzy Haskins I Got My Thang Together: The Westbound Years.
Wrapping up this issue is Kenyan-born vocalist Naomi Wachira’s sophomore album Song of Lament; the compilation Zaire74: The African Artists featuring previously unreleased performances from the music festival surrounding the infamous “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match; and our May 2017 Releases of Note.