When “Ghost Town” became a 1981 number-one single in the U.K., the future of The Specials was uncertain. Reflecting on the recession-fueled violence throughout England, the recording also captured the band’s own inner turmoil in attempting to re-create a Sly & Robbie production.
Read MoreThe global sensation that became known as bossa nova is credited to Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, who combined native samba rhythms with the European classical guitar, but historians point to a 1961 American state-sponsored festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as the moment when prominent jazz figures were first exposed to the new beat.
Read MoreIn Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music 1955-1965, author David H. Rosenthaul points to the 1960 album Battle Stations by Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Johnny Griffin, with its remarkable rendition of the Norman Simmons tune “Abundance,” and he mentions of a segmented pronunciation for the song's title, although it is unclear where the hip slang first appeared.
Read MoreThe parade music of New Orleans is rooted in the war chants of Native Americans, specifically the Mardi Gras Indians, combined with the Afro-Cuban rhythms of Congo Square, and presented in the form of European and American military bands.
Read MoreIn the early 1980’s, the 2 Tone ska band The Specials recorded “Ghost Town” as an examination of the economic strife throughout the United Kingdom. A generation later, the Hot 8 Brass Band adopted the #1 hit song to rebuild the cultural voice of New Orleans, a city washed away by Hurricane Katrina.
Read MoreIn 1971, James Brown signed a deal with Polydor Records that allowed Mr. Brown to re-hire his former trombonist and musical director, Fred Wesley, and complete an unfinished album by The J.B.’s. Along with band originals, Fred contributed two original works, “Blessed Blackness” and “Wine Spot,” - under the guidance of New York City arranger Dave Matthews and copyist Emile Charlap - to the album that would become Food For Thought.
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