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Jazz, justice and Juneteenth: Wynton Marsalis and Bryan Stevenson join forces to celebrate Black protest

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NEW YORK (AP) – Black music traditions like jazz play a key role in Juneteenth celebrations, says civil rights lawyer and jazz pianist Bryan Stevenson.

That’s why he and Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz artist Wynton Marsalis debuted “Freedom, Justice and Hope,” a live album of historic jazz records created to protest racial injustice, just in time for this 12 months’s celebration.

In addition to a brand new arrangement of saxophonist John Coltrane’s “Alabama,” a tribute to the 4 black girls killed within the 1963 Ku Klux Klan bombing of Birmingham’s sixteenth Street Baptist Church, the project features original compositions by rising bassist Endea Owens and trumpeter JoshEvans.

The album, released by Blue Engine Records, encompasses a guest appearance by the Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra, of which Marsalis is the artistic and managing director. It is currently streaming on digital platforms.

Its publication comes ahead of this summer’s tenth anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, a black teenager fatally shot by police in Ferguson, Missouri, which sparked a wave of Black Lives Matter protests. When “Freedom, Justice & Hope” was recorded three years ago in 2021, the nation was reeling from one other flashpoint – the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

“To take some of the great jazz works of the 20th century and integrate them into the narrative of the long struggle for social justice in this country is just a dream come true,” said Stevenson, founding father of the Equal Justice Initiative, a criminal justice reform nonprofit. and racial justice based in Montgomery, Alabama.

The history of jazz and the musicality of Black American protest runs deeper than many individuals realize, said Marsalis, the legendary trumpeter who provides moving melodies throughout the album. Stevenson accompanies on piano and intersperses spoken reflections on disenfranchisement, racial injustice and the activism that has erupted in response.

“Jazz itself was the opposite of minstrelsy,” Marsalis said, referring to a type of entertainment popularized within the twentieth century wherein white actors with blackened faces performed racist depictions of African Americans.

“Jazz still has the same influence,” he said. “People come in, they can play and they take what they do seriously. They will discuss issues and be honest about them, and they don’t feel the need to denigrate themselves.”

Originating in ragtime and blues, cultivated in turn-of-the-century New Orleans, and rising to prominence through the Harlem Renaissance, the genre is a crossroads where music meets the march for justice. Some historians even credit jazz singer Billie Holiday’s 1939 rendition of “Strange Fruit,” an anti-lynching poem by Abel Meeropol, as one among the catalysts of the Civil Rights Movement.

“I think jazz as an art form should be understood as a protest against the narrative that black people are somehow incapable,” Stevenson said. “The extraordinary thing that jazz musicians did was that they took Western music, did things with art forms that others had been doing for centuries, and added things that dazzled and inspired.”

“They did it with dignity and purpose, debunking this false narrative of racial hierarchy,” he said.

In that spirit, Owens’s lighthearted “Ida’s Crusade” chronicles journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett’s lifelong struggle against lynching and false imprisonment. Evans’ “Elaine” draws inspiration from the 1919 Arkansas massacre wherein several hundred Black Americans were killed.

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With Marsalis and Stevenson, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performs recent arrangements of “Honeysuckle Rose,” originally composed by Fats Waller in 1929; “We Will Overcome” – The Civil Rights Movement Has Stopped Since 1947; and “Freedom Suite”, originally composed by Sonny Rollins in 1958.

Apart from Stevenson’s monologues and songs from the album “Freedom, Justice and Hope”, these songs are entirely instrumental and contain no vocals.

Jazz’s reliance on instrumental solos has led some to stereotype it as outdated, irrelevant, and less connected to social justice than rap and vocal-based hip-hop – similar to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” “F(asterisk)(asterisk) (asterisk “NWA) Tha Police” and “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar. But musicians, scholars and activists urge listeners to recognize and defend the political messages conveyed through the emotional depth of music.

“Sometimes there are no words to express the joy and sadness we feel,” said Reiland Rabaka, founder and director of the Center for African and African American Studies on the University of Colorado Boulder.

“And sometimes these trumpets, these saxophones, these guitars, these pianos – they can express it better than our words can,” said Rabaka, who has written extensively about hip-hop and Black Power, songs about women’s liberation and civil rights.

According to Rabaka, the improvisational elements of jazz may be present in the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas, where slaves chained to the underside of ships invented songs. Improv is also present in Juba and juke dances, common in various parts of the southern United States, including Congo Square in New Orleans, where slave auctions were held.

Improvisation may be compared to the resourcefulness of Black Americans who, using what they’d, built a life for themselves after freeing themselves from the agricultural environment wherein they were confined.

For Marsalis and Stevenson, the eleventh release of the album recorded three years ago is symbolic. June 19, or Juneteenth, is the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their freedom – greater than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation granted them it.

“Enslaved people learned to love in the midst of sadness, and that is something extraordinary that can be achieved,” Stevenson said. “This is the part of Juneteenth that I hope we can start celebrating. Not just emancipation, but this whole legacy. … I think music plays a key role in that.”

Echoing his colleague’s words, Marsalis said he hopes to encourage people to have a look at the challenges ahead moderately than continuing to fight old battles.

“I like Juneteenth in a symbolic sense because often people, wherever they are in the world, don’t know they are free,” he said. “From a national standpoint, the nation must view June 11 within the context of the national struggles we’re still fighting.

“We are still fighting this conflict, now on a unique battlefield. No one was telling people, “Hey, it’s long overdue.” Let’s be present,” Marsalis said.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Beyoncé leads 2025 Grammy nominations, becoming the most nominated artist in the show’s history

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NEW YORK (AP) — Welcome to Beyonce country. When it involves Grammy Award 2025 nominations, “Cowboy Carter” rules the nation. She leads the rankings with 11 nominations, bringing her profession total to 99. This makes her the most nominated artist in Grammy history.

“Cowboy Carter” is up for album and country album of the yr, and “Texas Hold ‘Em” is nominated for record, song and country song of the yr. She also received nominations in multiple genres, including pop, country, Americana and melodic rap.

This is her first time receiving nominations in the country and the Americana category.

If Beyoncé wins album of the yr, she’s going to turn out to be the first black woman in the twenty first century. Lauryn Hill last won in 1999 for “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” joining Natalie Cole and Whitney Houston as the only black women to win a significant Grammy award.

Post Malone also received his first-ever nominations in the country categories this yr, releasing his debut country album “F-1 trillion”in August. The song is nominated for Best Country Album, and “I Had Some Help,” a collaboration with Morgan Wallen, is nominated for Country Song and Country Duo/Group Performance. This is Wallen’s first-ever Grammy nomination.

Malone is just behind Beyoncé with seven nominations, together with Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Charli XCX, who earned her first nominations as a solo artist.

Lamar the ubiquitous diss track released during his feud with Drake, “Not Like Us” is nominated in the categories of album and song of the yr, rap song, music video and best rap performance. In the latter category, he had two simultaneous entries, which is a primary for his profession: Future & Metro Boomin featuring Lamar. “Like That” is nominated for best rap performance and best rap song.

This is his third time receiving two simultaneous nominations for best rap song.

Taylor Swift and first-time nominee Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan each can boast six nominations.

Last yr, female artists dominated essential categories. This yr the situation continues, but the essential trend appears to be species diversity. In the album of the yr category, together with “Cowboy Carter” were latest age André 3000, alt-jazz “New Blue Sun” and “Djesse Vol.” multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier. 4.” Rising pop stars Carpenter and Roan round out the album with “Short n’ Sweet” and “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” respectively, in addition to Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” and “Hit Me Hard” and Soft” by Eilish. and Charlie XCX ready for the rave “BROTHER”.

Eilish is the only artist whose first three albums have been nominated for Album of the Year.

Last yr Fast won Album of the Year for “Midnights”, breaking the record for most wins in this category (4). This yr, she becomes the first woman in history to earn seven nominations in this category.

“The breadth and diversity of genres represented in the overall field feels new and truly exciting,” says Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason Jr. a developing electoral body for his success. “We were very conscious about our membership and tried to balance it. So not just gender or people of color, different races, but also genre equality and trying to make sure all types of music from different regions and locations are represented in every way possible.”

Only recordings commercially released in the U.S. between September 16, 2023 and August 30, 2024 were eligible for nomination. The final round of Grammy voting to find out the winners will happen from December 12 to January 3.

In the best latest artist category, Carpenter and Roan will go head-to-head, alongside Benson Boone, Doechia, Khruangbin, RAYE, Shaboozey and Teddy Swims.

Beyoncé was joined in the song of the yr category by Eilish for “Birds of a Feather,” Swift and Post Malone for “Fortnight,” “Good Luck, Babe!” Roan, “Please Please Please” by Carpenter, “Not Like” by Lamar Us,” “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, and “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey.

Shaboozey she can also be a first-time nominee. His “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is the biggest song of the yr, spending more weeks at primary on the Billboard Hot 100 than some other – it is so popular that a remix of the song can also be up for a remix recording.

Additionally, Shaboozey is nominated in the Melodic Rap Performance category for his feature on Beyoncé’s “SPAGHETTIA.” The song also features Linda Martell, the country’s first black musician to realize business success and likewise earned the 83-year-old artist her first Grammy nomination.

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In the Record of the Year category, “Texas Hold ‘Em” will compete with Swift and Post Malone’s “Fortnight,” Eilish’s “Birds of a Father,” Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” and “Good Luck, Babe!” Roan, Carpenter’s “Espresso.” “, “360” by Charli XCX and the last latest Beatles song, powered by artificial intelligence “Now and Then”.

“We strive to keep up with how music creators and our community use technology. In this case, the AI ​​corrected that record and allowed him to qualify in the categories in which he qualified,” Mason Jr. explains.

So what’s missing? Like last yr, there is a big dearth of Latin music – fastest growing streaming genre in the United States – overall and without representation in major categories. There are only 4 entries in the Best Música Mexicana Album category, although it is usually one in every of them the fastest growing species.

There doesn’t appear to be any K-pop either. There aren’t any nominations for BTS members who released solo material this yr: RM’s “Right Place, Wrong Person” J-Hope’s “Hope on the Street” Vol. 1” and “Muse” by Jimin. As a boy band, BTS has received five nominations in their profession.

“I definitely see room for improvement in many genres and we continue to invite people to be a part of the academy” – Mason Jr. says. “Without proper representation, we will not get the right results. When I say “appropriate”, I mean reflective and representative of what’s going on in music today. So the work continues.”

The 2025 Grammy Awards will air on February 2 survive CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Review: Whitney Houston’s Incomparable Talent Returns on ‘The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban)’ Live Album

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“Find Strength in Love” Whitney Houston she sings at the tip of her latest live album, “The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban).” He spends a full minute saying those five syllables.

The song is titled “Greatest Love of All”. At the start of the last verse, Houston jumps from note to notice. At the word “strength,” her amazing alto blossoms, climbs and adds vibrato. When she gets to the word “love”, she playfully skips a few notes, leaving the last one alone, and the strength of its beauty matches the message.

Houston was a singer, as confirmed in “The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban)”. Unfortunately, the album also shows how the pop diva’s unrivaled talent was wasted on her died in 2012 on the age of 48.

The album might be released on Friday after a limited theatrical release a film commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of Houston’s three concert events in 1994 in South Africa – in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town. They celebrated a newly united nation after apartheid and elections Nelson Mandela as president.

This album presents the primary album which took place in Durban on November 8, 1994. It can be the first-ever live concert album in Houston.

“I’ve never felt so much love,” Houston tells fans on the stadium. Ten of the 21 tracks on the digital album (there are 24 tracks in total, including the intro and three versions of the identical song, which include a live track, a previously unreleased studio recording and a remix) have titles with the word “love” or some variety, and there are huge hits throughout the set. These include “I Will Always Love You”, “How Will I Know” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)”, that are nice to take heed to in such a festive setting.

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Unfortunately, the dimensions of the event only reinforces Houston’s tendency to over-sing. Her message appears to be intended for the upper row of the stadium, which is comprehensible but tiring when listening through headphones. Maybe you needed to be there.

The theatrics of the vocals often don’t match the inferior material, and Houston twists the lyrics like he’s attempting to remove lather. This is complemented by the dated, dated arrangements of its large supporting solid, which range from lush synths to hairband guitar solos, although there are also great contributions from horns and backing vocalists.

The second half of the show is stuffed with moments of grace. Houston’s song selection is “Love Is,” a sweet ballad that also appears on the album in a previously unreleased 1990 studio recording and a remix. Houston gives a compelling reading of “The Greatest Love of All,” and the occasion is full of the energetic “Touch the World.”

The best episode comes when Houston takes the audience to a megachurch. “Jesus Loves Me” becomes a song for children of all ages since it shows an unusual soul in tradition Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ray Charles AND Aretha Franklin.

“Amazing Grace” follows, and when Houston twists the word “wretch” with brutal vulnerability, the lyrics sound as honest as anything she’s ever sung.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Beyoncé reminds fans to vote on the surprise release of her “Bodyguard” music video.

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Beyoncé is full of surprises. This morning, Queen Bey surprised fans with the release of her album music video for his single “Bodyguard”. Fulfilling Beyhive’s persistent request for visuals to accompany her last two albums, “Renaissance” and “Cowboy Carter,” the singer encouraged viewers to vote on Election Day.

In the video titled “Beywatch,” Beyoncé recreates some of actress Pamela Anderson’s most iconic looks while singing along to her song “Bodyguard.” As a tribute to Anderson, the star shares a political message in a scene where the word “VOTE” appears on a flag extending from a toy gun.

However, this will not be the first time Beyoncé has encouraged her fans to exercise their right to vote. Last month, the superstar, her mother Tina Knowles and Kelly Rowland attended a Harris-Walz campaign rally in Houston, Texas, where the star shared her official endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Beyoncé gained support months after she allowed Harris to use her song “Freedom” in her campaign. In July, Harris hit the 2016 track during her first official visit to her campaign headquarters. Beyoncé’s song “Freedom,” which eventually became Harris-Walz’s official campaign song, was played at rallies across the country, including at the Democratic National Convention.

Just as the star used her music to support Harris’ presidential campaign, Beyoncé encouraged voters to “sing a new song,” emphasizing that the right to vote is “one of our most valuable tools.”

“Our generations of loved ones whisper to us a prophecy, a mission, a calling and an anthem,” she added in her speech. “Our moment is now. It’s time for America to sing a new song. Our voices sing a song of unity. They sing a song of dignity and possibility. Are you ready to add your voice to a new American song? Because I am. So let’s do it!”

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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