​The year 2020 is not yet half over, but between COVID-19 and the global protests for systemic change in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, it will go down as a watershed in world history, a wake-up call for humanity when complacency was shattered and sitting on the sidelines was not an option for socially conscious people. 
An ever-evolving artist and musical voice of extraordinary depth and insight, Darrell Kelley has forcefully met many of these moments by speaking truth (and truth to power) with an ongoing array of worldwide hit singles addressing key issues – including “The Coronavirus,” “Ahmaud” and “Police Brutality.” While these and other politically charged songs – including the fiery title track and “Vote Him Out,” both critical takedowns of Donald Trump - form the core of The Audacity, the Atlanta based singer/songwriter’s latest full-length album, Darrell balances them with songs about love, hope and unity that offer a constructive way forward beyond these anxious and challenging times.
“To be honest, until someone pointed out how many songs I had that addressed socially relevant issues, I never saw myself as that kind of artist,” Darrell says. “I grew up listening to great artists who wrote important message songs like The Staples Singers, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, and feel there aren’t enough of them now. But this was never a conscious intention for me. I’m just a guy who has definite opinions about what’s right and wrong in our lives. If I see something wrong, it shouldn’t go unnoticed. 
“When people listen to The Audacity,” he adds, “I want them to get a very strong message that as taxpaying Americans, we the people are the ones who run our country. Our vote is what empowers us. You have to realize the power you have and not let the system play tricks on you. There are very serious things going on in our lives here in 2020, and we have the ability to be the change we seek.” 
Currently, four of the songs on the new ten track collection are in the Top 20 on the World Music Indie Charts. “Police Brutality,” written and recorded immediately after Floyd’s murder and addressing our nation’s racial bias when it comes to policing, is Darrell’s latest smash at #1 and has been played on over 200 radio stations worldwide. Putting his money and physical presence where his grooves and hard-hitting lyrics are, the singer took the initiative to fly to Minneapolis and do an impromptu performance of the song for thousands gathered around the very spot where George Floyd was killed. Darrell also attended a memorial for the slain man in Houston the day before his funeral, where he was interviewed by Al Jazeera’s John Hendren. 
The other three songs on The Audacity that are currently in the upper reaches on the chart are “Ahmaud” (#4), a heartrending song about the inexplicable tragedy of Ahmaud Arbery, the unarmed 25-year-old African American fatally shot after being pursued and confronted by two white men in Satilla Shores, Georgia; “The Coronavirus” (#6), which he penned early in the pandemic to speak harsh truths and the important urgency to listening to health officials (and of the dangers if we don’t); and “Because of You” (#19), a searing R&B ballad addressing the tragedy of gun violence in our schools. “The Coronavirus” currently has over 266,000 streams on Spotify and its two YouTube videos (official video and lyric video) have amassed over 330,000 views. 
Speaking provocative truth to power from the get go via its title track, The Audacity finds Darrell addressing Trump directly, singing (over a seductive, hypnotic groove) lines like, “You have the audacity to tell us to open up the country/Especially when we don’t have the things we need like vaccine. . .I know our life’s more important than the stock market or economy. . .How in the world can you protect us if you can’t protect yourself. . .You have the audacity to disrespect reporters. . .” Later in the tracking, on the incisive “Vote Him Out,” he calls out Trump on his lies and makes clear the importance of going out and standing up for what we believe in by voting “that sucker out.” 
The Audacity also finds Darrell revisiting several previously released tracks from his critically acclaimed 2018 album Unity, including the title track, an impactful, meditative and cautiously optimistic reminder that “we all need to come together as one” and the fact that “our blood is the same color, so that means we all are sisters and brothers.” In sharing his belief that “Unity is all we need,” he urgently advocates for making a change, stop all the hurt and heal all the pain.” George Floyd’s murder has inspired America to revisit the meaning of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel in silent protest against police brutality. It made thematic sense for Darrell to include “Believe in Something (Kneel),” his song addressing those who initially criticized Kaepernick’s move, which cost him his career.   
Wanting to wrap the album on a high note, Darrell follows “Vote Him Out” with his playful, grooving club single “Turn It Up” – as if to say, once America takes its first step into a new era, we can take a moment to celebrate. In the middle of the collection, he also includes another recent single, the ultra-romantic ballad “Love and Need You” – which he wrote and produced with his son Kevin – as a reminder about the importance of love and the connection between people, and how those things can help us through these dark times.
 
Learn more at www.darrellkelleyofficial.com
news and updates www.facebook.com/darrellkelleysmusic
Watch his music, performance and commentary videos at www.youtube.com/user/latenightwithdarrell/featured
 
Listen at www.soundcloud.com/user-792034936, or www.reverbnation.com/darrellkelley,
and/or www.darrellkelley.bandcamp.com. You can follow him on Instagram at darrellkellyofficial. 

De Britse zangeres Dame Vera Lynn is overleden. Ze is 103 jaar geworden. Vera Lynn was tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog bekend als "the forces' sweetheart". Met haar bekende lied "We'll meet again" stak ze de Britse soldaten (en massa's anderen in oorlogstijd) een hart onder de riem. In 2009 bereikte ze op haar 92e nog de nummer 1 van de albumhitlijst met een best of-plaat.

Vera Margaret Welch werd op 20 maart 1917 geboren in Londen, als dochter van een loodgieter. Vanaf haar 7e trad ze op. In 1935 deed ze dat voor het eerst voor de radio. In 1940 kreeg ze haar eigen radioprogramma "Sincerely yours". Ze gaf boodschappen door aan soldaten in het buitenland en zong voor hen.
Tijdens WO II ging ze ook op tournee door Egypte en India, waar ze optrad voor Britse soldaten. Lynn kreeg al snel de bijnaam "The forces' sweetheart. In 1942 stak ze de Britten een hart onder de riem met het hoopvolle lied "We'll meet again".

Het lied met de bekende tekst  "don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day" ("weet niet waar of wanneer, maar ik weet dat we elkaar op een zonnige dag zullen terugzien") werd immens populair, ook ver buiten het Verenigd Koninkrijk.
Onlangs verwees de Britse koningin Elizabeth er nog naar in haar toespraak naar aanleiding van de coronacrisis en de lockdown. "We'll meet again", zo stelde ze haar landgenoten gerust.

Haar andere hit uit de oorlogsperiode is "The white cliffs of Dover". Die nummers waren ook bij Duitse soldaten populair, hoewel die niet naar de Britse radio-omroep BBC mochten luisteren. 
Met haar lied "Auf Wiedersehn sweetheart" was ze de eerste Britse zangeres die ook op nummer 1 stond in de Amerikaanse hitlijst. Ook in de jaren 50 en 60 bleef ze succesvol.

 In 1975 kreeg ze de titel Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1976 richtte ze The Vera Lynn Charity Breast Cancer Research Trust op. De zangeres had zelf borstkanker.
In 1995 trad Vera Lynn voor het laatst op voor een groot publiek tijdens de 50e verjaardag van de Victory in Europe Day, die het einde van WO II markeerde. Dat deed ze samen met Geri Halliwell van de Spice Girls.
​
In 2009 bereikte ze op haar 92e als oudste nog levende artiest de nummer 1 van de Britse albumlijst met het album "We'll meet again: The very best of Vera Lynn". In dat jaar kreeg ze ook de Women of the Year's Lifetime Achievement Award. Haar "greatest hits"-album dook vorige maand nog opnieuw op de in de Britse top-40. Dame Vera Lynn was daarmee de oudste artiest ooit die de top-40 haalde. (Bron: VRTNWS)
​

​The collective will resume its “All Stars” concert tour on Friday and drop a new single in August
 
NEW YORK CITY (16 June 2020): GRAMMY nominated world music-contemporary jazz band Special EFX was in Denver one month into their concert tour promoting their 21st album, “All Stars,” when the coronavirus pandemic forced their return home to shelter in place. For band leader Chieli Minucci, home is the epicenter of COVID-19 in the US: New York City. After three months of quarantine, Special EFX will resume its concert tour this Friday when they take the stage of Southern California jazz hotspot Spaghettini for a show performed in front of half the capacity of normal in order to comply with Orange County restrictions. The concert will be streamed live at 8pm PT/11pm ET via Spaghettini’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SpaghettiniSB).
 
“I feel GREAT about resuming the tour! For three months, I've been writing and recording in my home studio, so I'm fairly limber as far as playing guitar goes, but all that solitude has gotten to me as much as anyone else. I can't wait to play for a melody-hungry audience. I can't wait to see the guys and play the songs again,” said Minucci, an Emmy-winning composer, guitarist and producer. 
 
Minucci will share the Spaghettini stage with keyboardist Lao Tizer, drummer Gene Coye and bassist Ric Fierabracci. When he last led his band of rotating collaborators to whom the album title refers as “All Stars,” the new collection had been out for four weeks and the band’s blues-jazz single, “Hanky Panky Boys,” was moving up the national charts. When the plug had to be pulled on the tour, they still had another month of concert dates ahead of them before playing Minucci’s hometown album release concert that was slated to take place in New York City at The Cutting Room on April 11. No timeline yet for when that show can be rescheduled so when the opportunity was presented to play the new music for fans in person as well as for a global audience via the livestream, Minucci was eager to make it happen. While many artists began livestreaming pseudo concerts during quarantine, Minucci does not feel comfortable in that setting, but he does embrace livestreaming a performance where he is actually on stage with his band members.
 
“Livestreaming is definitely here to stay although traditional live concerts will certainly return once the all-clear has been sounded. Streaming shows has been around before this, but now is becoming more mainstream simply out of necessity. As long as the video/audio work is elegant, it can be a cool, unusual and different kind of experience for our audience. When I fell in love with that irresistible combination of music, touring and hanging with the guys and gals of the arts, I never imagined the world would experience something like what is happening right now,” said Minucci.
 
Another reason that Minucci leapt at the opportunity to resume the Special EFX tour was to begin introducing the forthcoming second single from “All Stars,” “Mr. Marzipan,” which will begin collecting playlist adds on August 10. The track opens the new collection with a horn-powered dose of fusion, contemporary jazz, an off-kilter funk/hip hop beat and a vibrant chorus illumined by David Mann’s saxophone and Lin Rountree’s muted trumpet along with some tasty electric guitar riffs issued by Minucci.
    
“The sax and trumpet combination was completely new for Special EFX, who usually does not feature a horn-based vibe. Dave is our longtime sax-man and Lin is my label mate at Trippin N Rhythm. After hearing their inspired playing, I knew the song could use a big, fat horn section to top it off to add that final sweet frosting so to speak. David Mann's fantastic horn arrangement makes the tune the perfect ‘sister-song’ to our first single from the album, ‘Hanky Panky Boys,’ which had a similar horn section arrangement. The song's inspiration was the opening bass-keyboard riff. I just loved the way the two sounded together. The whole piece evolved from that simple, repetitive groove,” said Minucci, the deft guitarist who wrote and produced “All Stars,” tapping nearly two-dozen musicians to bring to life the album of contemporary jazz, fusion and world music utilizing sounds, rhythms and textures from Africa, Brazil, the Aboriginal outback and the Asian Pacific Rim. 
 
Who exactly is this mysterious “Mr. Marzipan?”
 
“Mr. Marzipan is not a person, but instead a jazzy, tongue-in-cheek reference to my love affair with chocolate. It is also a reference to a famous cake that I used to devour with my mother every time I'd come visit my folks while they lived in Los Angeles. She had discovered a fantastic bakery that had the most talented owner/baker. Each trip to Los Angeles would begin with a visit to my folks and that amazing cake.”
 
Shortly before the lockdown, Special EFX was in Washington, DC to record a short concert at SiriusXM’s studio for national radio broadcast. The airdate will soon be announced. 
 
For more information, please visit http://www.specialefxmusic.com and https://chielimusic.com.

Denk je aan klassieke songs als “Do Right Woman”, “Dark End Of The Street” en “I’m Your Puppet”, dan denk je aan Dan Penn. Zeer gewaardeerd door muziekkenners en collega muzikanten en nog steeds actief, deze inmiddels 78-jarige levende legende uit Alabama.
 
We moeten terug naar 1994 voor zijn laatst verschenen album “Do Right Man”. Het lange wachten zal worden beloond met het op 28 augustus a.s. via The Last Music Co. (Bertus Distributie) te verschijnen nieuwe album “Living On Mercy”. Omringd door een uitstekende studioband werden de nieuwe songs, die Penn samen met o.a. Spooner Oldham, Wayne Carson, Buzz Cason schreef, opgenomen in Muscle Shoals en Nashville.
 
Dit is de titeltrack, die hij schreef met Wayne Carson, o.a. bekend van “The Letter” (The Boxtops) en “Always On My Mind” (Willie Nelson).
https://soundcloud.com/lblmgmt/living-on-mercy/s-Qm3YL2XwNRB
​
                                                                                          ---------------------------------------------------------------------
​
There aren’t many musical heroes like Dan Penn. In songwriting circles his name is as good as gold, and often platinum. And when it comes to those who can give life to the human spirit in song, it sometimes feels like Penn is traveling in a party of one. His voice sounds like it comes from the strong Southern soil in Alabama where he was born and raised, and then deepened in Memphis and Muscle Shoals. It is a true fact that when Dan Penn sings one of his own songs, something happens that is beyond sound. A light is turned on inside his listeners, and the world takes on an added dimension. 

On his new album, Living on Mercy, out August 28, 2020 on Last Music Co., Dan Penn collaborates with some of the other best songwriters in Nashville, Memphis, Muscle Shoals and points beyond, and applies all the wondrous things he’s seen and learned since his first songwriting job when he was 16 years old. There is a truthful essence in his new music that feels like it is directed by a higher source, one that opens the door to an eternal understanding of what songs are capable of. 

It is no accident that Penn has waited his entire life to create Living on Mercy. Nor is it a mistake that it arrived just in time to offer the world a heaping of hope and faith, helping us cross the present river of fear to the other side.
 
The young tunesmith’s first songwriting hit was “Is a Bluebird Blue,” recorded by Conway Twitty in 1960. Penn had already recorded his own single, “Crazy Over You,” in the same year, but when he saw the possibilities of writing songs for others he could see a real career. He was offered $25 a week and never looked back. 

It wasn’t much longer before the young Alabaman saw the explosion of Rhythm & Blues happening in Muscle Shoals, not far from where he grew up in Vernon. Soon he’d found a new home. “You know, I made a handful of money,” he says, “even if it wasn’t a pocketful. When I told my father I was leaving Vernon and going to Muscle Shoals to be a songwriter, he said, ‘Well, I can get you $40 a week working with me in the factory here,’ but I said I was going to try the music thing. And he just said, ‘Okay, if that’s what you gotta do.’ I learned then sometimes it’s all about taking chances. That one has worked out okay.”

It’s still working out okay. As with Penn’s soul music mega-hits in the 1960s, songs he co-wrote like “Do Right Woman,” “Dark End of the Street,” “I’m Your Puppet” and so many others, his new album offers a way to see beyond the trials of the present and offers a road to a new place. And like most good things in the modern world, it comes in the nick of time.

Penn wrote songs with some of his closest collaborators for this outing — people like Wayne Carson, Spooner Oldham, Gary Nicholson, Carson Whitsett, Will McFarlane, Bucky Lindsey, Buzz Cason, and the Cate Brothers. They are all the kind of writers who bring 100% soul with them, and have been working on the songwriting craft for most of their lives.

There are no shortcuts allowed in their creations. The songs have to ring true from start to finish. That’s the rock that Penn and his songwriting friends stand on, and there’s no chance it will change now. “When I’m writing songs with someone, I need to know ’em,” Penn says. “And I need to like ’em and trust ’em. I like to find me a good musician to write with, someone who can offer things I don’t really know how to do. Because what I basically do is beat the heck out of a guitar. But it all seems to work.”

After writing the songs and cutting good demos, a top-flight full-tilt studio band was gathered to start the recording sessions in Muscle Shoals and Nashville. It included Milton Sledge (drums), Michael Rhodes (bass), Will McFarlane (guitar) and Clayton Ivey (keyboards), along with a full horn section. As with everything Penn has ever recorded, he looks to what each player can offer to make sure every note means something. 

His sessions are often full of the jubilation of a small revival meeting, where the players and Penn as producer fall into total synch with one another other, and push towards a sound way bigger than just the five players. In line with Penn’s previous albums, 1973’s Nobody’s Fool and 1994’s Do Right Man, on this recording the spirit is called forth and right on time is delivered.

When Dan Penn was mixing Living on Mercy, the bright glow of the songs surrounded him. And like great music always does, it lifted him and those in the studio up — maybe like it did when he was a junior in high school and joined Benny Cagle & the Rhythm Swingsters to play local dances in Alabama. It’s a sound Penn knows is true, and once it connects with others, it becomes something almost alive. 

The man has gambled his life on it, and as he gets close to his 80th birthday, surely knows he made the right bet. Because when Dan Penn sings one of his songs, time seems to stop and there isn’t anything else to wonder or worry about. The power of the music takes over and whether the song is happy or sad, up or down, a fullness of feeling takes over. Everything else but the music disappears and the soul of a human being spreads far and wide. 

In the mid-1990s Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham performed a special evening at St. Ann’s Church in Brooklyn. Lou Reed was in the audience, and was so overcome by what he had heard that he approached Penn backstage and said, “If I had written a song as great as ‘I’m Your Puppet,’ I would have given up songwriting right then.”
 
Once again the soul of Dan Penn went forth into the world and found a new home. Now Living on Mercy lives up to the singer-songwriter’s number one rule: “Keep pushing forward.”
 
Mission accomplished.

​EPICA & APOCALYPTICA - The Epic Apocalypse Tour 2021
01.03.21    DE-Berlin    Columbiahalle
02.03.21    DE-Leipzig    Haus Auensee
03.03.21    DE-Hanover    Capitol
05.03.21    CH-Zurich    Komplex
06.03.21    DE-Munich    Tonhalle
07.03.21    IT-Milan     Fabrique
08.03.21    CH-Lausanne    Metropole
10.03.21    HU-Budapest    Barba Negra
11.03.21    AT-Vienna    Gasometer
12.03.21    CZ-Brno    Hala Vodova
13.03.21    PL-Warsaw    Progesja
14.03.21    PL-Gdanzk    B90
17.03.21    DE-Hamburg     Docks
18.03.21    DK-Copenhagen    Amager Bio
20.03.21    SE-Stockholm    Berns
21.03.21    NO-Oslo    Sentrum Scene
07.04.21    PT-Lisbon    Coliseum
08.04.21    ES-Madrid    La riviera
09.04.21    ES-Murcia    Gamma
11.04.21    ES-Barcelona    Razzmatazz 1
12.04.21    FR-Toulouse    Le Bikini
13.04.21    FR-Paris    Zenith
14.04.21    BE-Brussel    AB
16.04.21    UK-Nottingham     Rock City
17.04.21    UK-Glasgow    02 Academy
18.04.21    UK-Bristol    o2 Academy
20.04.21    DE-Cologne    Carlswerk Victoria
21.04.21    DE-Ludwigsburg    MHP Arena
22.04.21    DE-Wiesbaden    Schlachthof
24.04.21    LU-Luxemburg    Den Atelier
25.04.21    NL-Amsterdam    AFAS
27.04.21    UK-London    Roundhouse
28.04.21    UK-Manchester    Academy
 

Sjock: your rock & roll highlight of the year
-9, 10 en 11 juli 2021 Poeyelhei Gierle (BE)-
Tickets voor 2021 vanaf vandaag te koop ​

​
Sjock 2017-2019
De laatste drie edities verkocht Sjock uit. Duizenden bezoekers uit heel Europa trokken naar het zonovergoten Belgische rock-‘n-roll-Mekka in Gierle om te watertanden bij onder meer (in 2017) The Hellacopters; Bad Religion, The Living End, Nashville Pussy, Zeke, New Bomb Turks, Rocket From The Crypt; (in 2018) MC50, Descendents (US), Pennywise (US), Dead Kennedys (US), Turbonegro (NO), The Mummies (US), The Bronx (US), Dwarves (US); (dit jaar) The Hives (SWE), Flogging Molly (US), The Hellacopters (SWE), Gluecifer (NOR), CJ Ramone (USA), King Khan and the Shrines (DE), The Rumjacks (AUS).

Sjock: drie dagen, drie podia en lage bierprijzen
Sjock is het best bewaarde geheim van alle Benelux festivals. Elk jaar vieren vele duizenden liefhebbers van punk- en garagerock; rockabilly; surf; rock-‘n‘-roll en van aanverwante muzikale genres hun internationale jaarlijkse hoogmis.
Sjock, het oudste nog bestaande alternatieve én onafhankelijke festival van België is al sinds jaar en dag een initiatief van de vrijwilligers van Jeugdhuis ’t Hoekske in Gierle. Het is de oervader van festivals als Groezrock, Jera On Air, Speedfest en ScumBash. In al die jaren tijd is het evenement uitgegroeid tot een uniek festival, waar Rock met de grote R centraal staat. Sjock scheidt zich af van de mainstream-waanzin en kiest bewust voor rock-‘n ‘-roll in de originele betekenis van het begrip.

De indrukwekkende historiek van Sjock staat hier.
​
Website & Facebook
Website: www.sjock.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sjockfestival
Twitter: www.twitter.com/sjockfest

​Katherine D. Williams-Dunning, daughter of country singer Hank Williams Jr., was killed on Saturday (June 13) in a car accident on Highway 79 in Henry County, Tennessee.
According to Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Brad Wilbanks, 27-year-old Williams-Dunning was driving a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe that was involved in a single-vehicle collision near West Antioch Road Northeast of Paris.
Williams-Dunning’s SUV was towing a boat and was traveling Southbound on Highway 79 at 7:44 p.m. when the SUV crossed over the dividing median on the four-lane highway and rolled over, crossing Northbound lanes and stopping on the East shoulder. She died from injuries sustained in the accident on the scene, according to WKRN.
Her husband, 29-year-old Tyler J. Dunning of Springville, was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where his condition is currently unknown.
“This is an active investigation and more details will be made available later,” Wilbanks stated.
“My sister and brother in law have been In a terrible accident. Please pray for them so hard,” Williams-Dunning’s brother Sam Williams shared on Facebook, in a post that has since been removed.
Williams-Dunning was born on October 21, 1992. She is the daughter of Williams Jr. and Mary Jane Thomas and the sister of singer Sam Williams’ and half-sister of Shelton Hank Williams (Hank III), Holly Williams and Hilary Williams.
Tyler and Katherine married in October of 2015. She leaves behind 2 children, a 5-year-old son named Beau Weston and a 2-year-old daughter named Audrey Jane.

​Keith Tippett, a British pianist who contributed to three early King Crimson records, has died at the age of 72.
The cause of death was undisclosed, but The Guardian’s obituary reports that Tippett had a heart attack in 2018 that left him with a "debilitating form of pneumonia." He recovered and resumed live performances in 2019.
Born in Bristol, England, on Aug. 25, 1947, Tippett started playing jazz piano as a teenager before moving to London in 1967 to pursue his musical career. He established himself in London's jazz scene, releasing his debut as a bandleader, You Are Here, I Am There, in 1970.
That same year, he performed on three tracks on King Crimson's In the Wake of Poseidon - "Cadence and Cascade," "Cat Food" and the instrumental suite "The Devil's Triangle" - and its follow-up LP, Lizard. He reportedly declined Robert Fripp's invitation to join the band.
Around this time, Tippett formed Centipede - a 50-piece ensemble comprised of progressive rock, jazz and classical musicians - in order to perform his four-part, 85-minute suite "Septober Energy." After they played throughout Europe, the piece was recorded for a 1971 release, with production work by Fripp. Tippett's final King Crimson sessions came later in 1971 with Islands.
While Tippett primarily continued to work in jazz on his own projects and as a sideman, he occasionally crossed paths with the prog world. In 1975, he played on a rock version of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf that also featured Phil Collins, Gary Moore, Bill Bruford of Yes and Brian Eno.
Tippett occasionally enlisted another King Crimson member, Tony Levin, for several of his projects, including a 1984 septet album and a free-form jazz group called Mujician that was named after his five-year-old daughter's description of his job.

​Legendary blues-rock band Savoy Brown, birthed in London 55 years ago and long-based in upstate New York, announces the August 28 release of their exciting new album, Ain’t Done Yet, on Quarto Valley Records. Their latest disc follows on the heels of Savoy Brown’s highly-successful 2019 CD, City Night.
 
Bruce Quarto, QVR founder and CEO said, "Quarto Valley Records is honored to continue working with Savoy Brown on this second QVR release, Ain't Done Yet, which is now one of my all-time favorites. It's full of great energy that is the trademark of all their blues-rock music, and everyone who hears it will immediately agree that Savoy Brown ain't nowhere near done yet."
 
“The new album is a continuance of the approach I’ve been taking with the band this past decade,” says guitarist/singer/songwriter Kim Simmonds, who formed the band in 1965 in London, England, and is one of the longest running blues/rock bands in existence. “The big difference with the new album is the multi-layer approach I took to recording the guitar parts. It’s all blues-based rock music. I try to find new and progressive ways to write and play the music I’ve loved since I was a young teenager.”
 
Simmonds has been the group's guiding hand from the first singles released in 1966 through this newest effort, Savoy Brown’s 41st album release. On the new record, Simmonds (guitar harmonica and vocals) is once again joined by his long-running bandmates Pat DeSalvo (bass) and Garnet Grimm (drums). 
 
“I recorded Ain’t Done Yet at Showplace Studios in New Jersey, where I’ve recorded many times before,” Simmonds affirms. “Owner/engineer Ben Elliott passed away shortly after the recording and I’ve dedicated the album to him.”
 
Energetic blues has been the calling card of the band from the beginning, but Simmonds infuses the 10 tracks on Ain’t Done Yet with a new spirit and vitality - plus some serious guitar chops - in a variety of styles and roots sounds that transcend the blues-rock idiom. “I emphasized song content on the new album, yet I left plenty of room for band improvisation,” he admits. “For instance, there are two acoustic-based songs and also two six-minute songs where I’m able to stretch out on guitar solos.”
 
Ain’t Done Yet kicks-off in high gear with the album’s first radio focus track, “All Gone Wrong.” “I’ve always liked “All Gone Wrong,” and it’s one of my favorites on the album,” declares Simmonds.
 
Savoy Brown will support the release of Ain't Done Yet with a late summer tour that extends through 2021.
 
About Savoy Brown
 
Blues-rock became the catch-all phrase in the late 1960s to describe the band's musical genre along with that of contemporaries such as Cream, John Mayall and Jimi Hendrix.  
In fact, in the 2013 drama film Jimi: All Is By My Side, a Savoy Brown song written by Simmonds, “Train To Nowhere,” was included in the soundtrack.
 
Many of Savoy Brown’s singles and albums have appeared on the Billboard Hot Hundred charts, including songs such as “I’m Tired” and “Tell Mama,” as well as  albums such as Hellbound Train and Street Corner Talking. In 2017, the band’s Witchy Feelin’ album reached #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart.
 
Savoy Brown established national status in the 1970s headlining iconic stages such as Carnegie Hall, The Academy of Music and the Fillmore East and West.
 
And as the title of their new CD attests, Savoy Brown and Kim Simmonds Ain’t Done Yet. “I still have plenty of energy and I have never stopped enjoying entertaining a crowd and giving people inspiration,” he avows.
 
Savoy Brown and Kim Simmonds have a body of work that is matched by only a small portion of musical artists. As they continue to tour the world, young and old find inspiration in their energy, timeless music, classic style and ageless performances.
 

About Quarto Valley Records
Founded by tech entrepreneur Bruce Quarto, California-based independent label Quarto Valley Records represents diverse genres with an impressive roster of existing and upcoming releases featuring legacy artists and emerging talent including Paul Rodgers, Savoy Brown, Edgar Winter, The Immediate Family, Narada Michael Walden, Deborah Bonham, Denny Seiwell, Richard T Bear and Dominic Quarto.
 
SAVOY BROWN - Ain’t Done Yet Credits:
Guitar, harmonica and vocals: Kim Simmonds
Bass: Pat DeSalvo
Drums: Garnet Grimm
 
Producer: Kim Simmonds
Executive producer: Bruce Quarto
Supervising producer for QVR: Mike Carden
Pre-production assistance: John Shelmet
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Ben Elliott  
Assistant engineer: Alex Elsammak
Recorded in Dover, NJ, at Showplace Studios
Booking: Charlie Davis at Paradise Artists
Management: Debbie Lyons at Savoy Brown Management  
 
SONG LISTING 
All Gone Wrong
Devils Highway
River On The Rise
Borrowed Time
Ain’t Done Yet
Feel Like A Gypsy
Jaguar Car
Rockin’ in Louisiana
Soho Girl
Crying Guitar

All songs written by Kim Simmonds and published by Savoy Brown Music, BMI, administered by Records On The Wall 
​

SAVOY BROWN ONLINE
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY

​

Southern California based Staring Into Nothing wields a foundation of melodic progressive rock to explore new musical and thematic terrain. Founders Steve Rogers (keys and vocals) and Kurt Barabas (bass, vocals and guitars) take a Steely Dan-esque approach to music creation, using the studio and a revolving cast of world class collaborators to create music that observes and scrutinizes the human experience.
 
Staring into Nothing’s latest album “Love” probes the multiplicity and evolution of romantic love. The album was produced and mixed by Ronan Chris Murphy (King Crimson, Steve Morse, Ulver) and features an awesome line up of collaborators including Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth, Santana, Ringo Starr) on drums, Victor Bisetti (Los Lobos) on percussion, Mike Keneally (Zappa, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani) on guitars, Trey Gunn (King Crimson, John Paul Jones) on Warr Guitar, Dave Nachmanoff (Al Stewart) on background vocals/acoustic guitar and Danny T. Levin (Iggy Pop, Twenty One Pilots, Vampire Weekend) on horns. With this album, Murphy and the band sought to refine the melodies and structure of the songs even further than the previous album and provide ample room for the various collaborators to bring their voices to the album. While the compositions by Rogers and Barabas make up the core of the music on “Love,” the music was completely transformed by all the collaborators. The creative process allowed everyone involved to mold its final sound and spirit, and created space for stunning contributions, most notably several remarkable solos by Keneally and Gunn.  
 
Says Steve, “We were trying to explore the varieties of romantic experience from a mature perspective that recognizes its not all good and not all bad, but its all we have. In the end, the message is uplifting because over time love endures and transitions into something even more fulfilling when it becomes legacy and a common set of memories and values. We recorded this album differently than our first one. We worked more closely with the producer, Ronan Chris-Murphy, during the actual arrangement of the songs and benefited from his insights, ideas and contributions. Ronan also brought a commitment to making the best album we could by bringing top shelf musicians to the project like Mike Keneally, Trey Gunn, Gregg Bisonette and Dave Nachmanoff. Also most of this album was recorded in our own studio in Costa Mesa California.”
 
Watch the video for “Ashes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96M8D2DW4Gk
 
“It was a real pleasure to be involved with this project, working with the band and Ronan to find ways to tastefully enhance the impact of these beautifully melodic, emotionally charged songs. I found the songs inspired and inspiring, and I loved the experience of playing on the album.” - Mike Keneally
 
“Super day and a half of recording. I loved being in the room with these guys stretching out on these songs. Great to hear it all come together.” - Trey Gunn
 
“A project like this is really exciting as a producer. The band already had strong material with a lot of emotional depth before I got on board, so we had a lot of great raw material to work with. The fact that the band is just two guys, that are open to new ideas, meant we were able to have a lot of fun developing the material and bringing in the right players to explore those ideas. I very intentionally brought in guest musicians that are more known as artists in their own right than being session guys. I knew from working with all of them before, that if I gave them a platform to explore they would bring great things to the project. They did not disappoint. They all brought the musicality we were all hoping for, while enhancing the emotional aspects of Steve and Kurt’s compositions.” - Ronan Chris Murphy, Producer-Engineer (King Crimson, GWAR, Steve Morse, Bozzio/Levin/Stevens)
 
Staring Into Nothing have crafted their own sound, but their love of strong melody and virtuosic musicianship has drawn comparisons to artists such as Marillion, Porcupine Tree, Flying Colors, early Genesis, Pink Floyd and Rush. Bassist Kurt Barabas is a veteran of the progressive rock scene. He was a founding member of Magna Carta Records artist Under the Sun as well as Amaran’s Plight with Nick D’Virgilio (Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Spock’s Beard). Kurt was also a founding member of Roswell 6, who recorded the album “Terra Incognita” that accompanied a science fiction novel of the same name written by Kevin J. Anderson. “Terra Incognita” featured a who’s who of musicians, including James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Michael Sadler (Saga), John Payne (Asia), and David Ragsdale (Kansas).
 
Following the break-up of Under the Sun, Barabas starting wring new material with longtime Under the Sun fan Steve Rogers. The two found they had instant and synergistic creative chemistry and set to work creating a trilogy of concept albums that delve into the complex facets of the human experience.  They released their first album “Power” in 2017, which explores the many ways power is used to manipulate, control and subjugate people. It was produced and mixed by Mark Needham (The Killers, Elton John) and features drumming by Matt Chamberlin (A Perfect Circle, David Bowie, John Mayer).
 
Here's what the press has said about Staring into Nothing:
 
“Staring into Nothing melds the epic structure of prog rock with the tuneful moodiness of new wave.” - Huffington Post
 
“With, perhaps, a little further polish or fine-tuning, many of these songs wouldn’t be out of place on an album like Pink Floyd’s The Wall.” - The Big Takeover
 
“The nice blend of melody and atmosphere will please fans of prog classics like Rush and Yes, as well as modern titans like Steven Wilson and Opeth” - Alternative Nation
 
“...should appeal to anyone with an interest in prog rock and even casual fans of the genre could find things here to love about it.” - Sputnik Music 
 
“Staring Into Nothing is a trio from California who have a very modern prog sound. Musically, they remind me a bit of a mix of Steven Wilson and Roger Waters.” - Progressive Music Planet
 
“The Prog-Rock-esque powerhouse brings down the house with an eclectic and unique record that will blow your mind.” - Modern Mystery Blog
 
In support of their new album, Staring Into Nothing has budgeted four videos for the album and have completed the first two. They continue to work on the final two, but they got caught up in the virus lock-down that shut down the video shoots in March.
 
In closing Steve has this to impart, “That relationships matter even though they can be hard to maintain at times. Also that there is redemption for any of us who stray from the past. That redemption often comes to us through the people we love.”


For more information: https://www.staringintonothing.com/
​

​The Gaze of the West is het nieuwe studio album van Wim Mertens, met deelname van 23 muzikanten en de komponist aan de piano met 10 nieuwe composities. 

Het album werd reeds aangekondigd in het najaar van 2019 in INESCAPABLE 1980 - 2020 (Box 4CD). De titels van dit nieuwe opus verschijnen in een tijd van grote wereldwijde Covid-19 onzekerheid.
 
In lieu of - Helm - Compactified - Sketch of proof - Victims over victors - Prédire n’est pas expliquer Scattering time - Force de laisse - European grasses - Charged impurities
  
Release 12 juni 2020 

​The Gaze of the West
 
Strikt en losjes, week en precies, de westerse blik.
Zij en wij, wij en zij, waarom het gevecht nooit stopt.
Blanke blik het onvoltooide konflikt.
Schreeuw en uitdrukking, de meester gebruikt alle knepen van het vak.
Deze ontmantelen, op de wijze van priester en profeet.
 
The Gaze of the West, wat hij niet zei, wat hij niet kón zeggen.
Zich met een lossere greep uitdrukken, zij die geen stem hebben.
Occidentale, westerse gehelen, unitaire illusies.
Het eigen wijsje, het echte vergessen vergetend.
 
Europa’s lotsbestemming, het Westen en de Rest.
Kontrolerende blik. De andere kant opkijken.
Blik en glimp met oog voor praxis.
 
Zoals de zee tijdens doodtij.
Pretentieloos.
De blik, onderbroken door aanraking.

In de Britse badplaats Skegness is zanger Ricky Valance overleden op 84-jarige leeftijd. Dat heeft zijn agent bevestigd aan de BBC. Hij was vooral bekend door zijn grootste succes Tell Laura I Love Her, een coverversie van een Amerikaans nummer dat in 1960 ook in België een hit was.
​
Valance heette eigenlijk David Spencer. Hij was de eerste artiest uit Wales die in Groot-Brittannië een nummer 1-hit scoorde. Hij leed al langere tijd aan dementie en was al voor de Britse lockdown opgenomen in een ziekenhuis.
​

​


​10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY VINYL REISSUE INCLUDES:

● 150 gram Silver & Lead Colored Vinyl LP of Folk Songs of the American Longhair 
● Gatefold artwork packaging w/ lyrics
● 11x17 inch matte print flyer (110lbs stock)
● FREE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD of Folk Songs of the American Longhair 
● FREE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD: Demos of the American Longhair: 10-track download of Dege Legg’s lo-fi demos & field recordings that birthed the American Longhair album.
● Brother Dege Louisiana State Seal sticker

​"Frankly, every track on Brother Dege’s Folk Songs of the American Longhair CD could have been in the movie [Django Unchained]. It works and has a badass score sound to it. Almost every song could be a theme song. It’s like a greatest hits album. But this song 'Too Old to Die Young'... it’s pretty damn badass. And it’s used in the movie in a pretty damn badass way, I’ve got to say." - QUENTIN TARANTINO
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Dege shares a bit of back story behind the record...
 
“This is an album that gestated over the course of 10 years, while I was broke and living in cheap motels, trailer parks, and working kooky-ass odd jobs (embedded journalist, cabdriver, transport driver) and all that sort of comes out - not so much literally - but in a subtextural way in the songs. I wrote half the album while living in a trailer that leaned at a 10 degree angle from having been flipped in Hurricane Lili. Definitely a best of times / worst of times era for me personally. Best in many ways because the creative process of my songwriting was double-pump firing on all cylinders and I just tried to document as much of it as I could - as evidenced in the Demos of the American Longhair recordings, most of which were recorded in the trailer. I later moved into a rent house and home-recorded the entire album, playing a cheap Dobro that had major noise issues. I named it 'Buzzo.' The resonator hardware made a lot of noise and buzzing when I played it - like a mad dog growling. I tried wedging pieces of cloth and toothpicks under the cone, but nothing would fix it. Just kept growling. In defeat, I finally accepted that this must be my sound and finished the album not expecting many people to pay much attention to it. Two years after the 2010 release, Quentin Tarantino heard 'Too Old to Die Young' on satellite radio and decided to put it in Django Unchained. It’s been a wild trip. And the coolest thing about it is: it ain’t over yet. I’m still doing the same thing, I was then: home recording every record, playing wacky guitars, and trying to write the best songs I am capable of about my experience of the Deep South and beyond.

BROTHER DEGE LINKS
Official Site
YouTube Channel
Apple Music / iTunes
Google Play
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Spotify
Pandora
​

​photo : John Loreaux Photography

new single
soundcloud.com/crowsfeetrecords/one-of-those-days/s-YzSDh

instant psychedelic soul classic
included on second solo album JD SIMO 
out 21.08.20
(Crows Feet Records)
pre-order link
orcd.co/jdalbum
 
Rather than simply rolling up to the fabled crossroads of Blues lore, the Chicago-born, Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer JD Simo connects the missing link between Motown and Woodstock as he fuses fluid and fiery fretwork with vital and vulnerable vocals. Acclaimed by the likes of Rolling Stone, Classic Rock, No Depression and a host of other publications, he perfects this balance on his self-titled second solo album.

“It’s a bridge between R&B and psychedelic rock,” he explains. “I love both styles equally, and I’ve been trying to close the gap in a cohesive way. I’m really comfortable with where I’m at artistically. This is my interpretation of psychedelic soul music. For me, it’s a statement.”

From his stint at the helm of SIMO to his 2019 solo debut, ‘Off At 11’, JD’s journey has primed him to make such a statement. Logging hundreds of gigs annually, he has collaborated with the likes of Jack White, Tommy Emmanuel, Luther Dickinson and Blackberry Smoke, graced numerous festival bills, while Phil Lesh of The Grateful Dead invited him to join the rotating line-up of Phil Lesh and Friends.

‘Off At 11’ ignited fan fervour and earned tastemaker praise on both sides of the pond, with the UK’s Classic Rock praising its “psychedelic Hendrix-channelling jams and hooky, distorted blues rock” and Guitarist stating that “the whole retro vibe of this album is so ably executed.” In the US, Guitar World hailed it as “another step toward the 34-year-old Chicago native establishing himself as a contemporary blues rock giant.”

Throughout 2019, JD maximised his rare time off to write what would become ‘JD Simo’. Returning home after 150 shows, he worked out of a “funky little eight-track studio” in his house before enlisting Eddie Spear to co-produce the album, recording it direct to tape in just three days during January 2020. “I had wanted to work with Eddie for a long time,” he explains. “I’d never worked with a producer before; I just produced and engineered everything myself. He was the one guy I could see myself collaborating with. Eddie really tore the initial ideas apart and rearranged them. It’s impossible to be completely objective by yourself, no matter how many records you’ve made or have been a part of. He provided that and brought everything to the next level.”
 
Drenched with far-out guitar lines and a vocal performance that recalls the deeply emotional and often uplifting spirit of peak-era Motown, the album’s introductory single, ‘One Of Those Days’, dips out of bluesy psychedelia and into a simmering groove as JD’s captivating falsetto resounds. “It took me years to have the guts to even try singing falsetto. Now, it’s actually the most dependable part of my voice. I started playing ‘One Of Those Days’ live last year, and fans kept asking about it. It pulls from those Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield vibes and is based on a sentiment I hope we can all relate to. I try really hard to grow and account for the things about myself I want to change. In the same breath, I see how I fall short. There’s no harm in that unless you don’t keep trying. Progress not perfection! ‘One Of Those Days’ is my get back up, dust yourself off and try again song. So dig it and get back on the horse and ride. We’ll get there."

Frenetic funk strumming gives way to gritty delivery as a raucous riff roars on ‘Love’, JD tempering buzzing feedback with a hypnotic hook. “Lyrically, that song is about how fucking divisive everything really is in this country,” he sighs. “This was written pre-pandemic, but it’s obviously eroded even more. I come from a bit of a messed-up background. On a daily basis, like many of us, I rely on a multitude of self-help steps in order to remain healthy. Loving yourself as much as you love everyone else is pretty damn important.”

Elsewhere on the record, JD delivers a heavy homage to James Brown’s ‘Out Of Sight’, wailing on a solo with the kind of unapologetic and unrestrained physicality that would have brought a smile to the face of the hardest working man in show business. JD and his band also rip Earl Hooker’s ‘Anna Lee’ through an old Casio Boombox before “fucking with the tape” to add another level of unfiltered passion. ‘Help’ reverberates with a plea for salvation above raw distortion and emotional string bends, while album opener ‘The Movement’ trucks along on a hummable groove as the high-register hook soars. “It’s about me trying to remind myself to be as ethical as I can be,” says JD. “My aim is to get out of my subconscious.”

In the end, JD builds a bridge unlike anything in music. “It’s simple,” he says in conclusion. “I’m an obsessive music listener and vinyl collector. I’m a father. I’m a husband. I’m a fan of sleeping all day and staying up all night, which doesn’t happen as a father! I’m a guitar player. I’m a songwriter. I’m a singer. When you hear the record, I hope you have a good time. That’s what I’m looking for.”

simo.fm
facebook.com/jdsimomusic
twitter.com/jdsimomusic
instagram.com/jdsimomusic

His “Live in Rio” album drops August 21 preceded by the single that aptly reflects our times
 
FORTALEZA, BRAZIL (10 June 2020): Brazil is leading the world per capita in coronavirus cases making it unlikely that people will be cramming into a concert venue anytime soon to hear live music. Then there is the recent unrest that erupted in response to civil injustices in the US that bodes to spark meaningful change around the world. These are the events that inspired contemporary jazz pianist Ricardo Bacelar to release a new version of the Milton Nascimento classic “Nothing Will Be As It Was (Nada Sera Como Antes)” as a single ahead of the release of his “Live in Rio (Ao Vivo No Rio)” album, which drops August 21 from Bacelar Productions.   
 
“‘Nothing Will Be As It Was’ summarizes the existential questions raised globally by the coronavirus pandemic. Add to it the civil injustice and unrest that has surfaced over the last couple of weeks with Black Lives Matter, which is an especially important movement. We’re talking about the subject here in Brazil, too. We have a lot of problems with racism here, but our people have not yet taken the streets to protest and have social demonstrations. The world is watching the United States and people are talking about these issues everywhere,” said Bacelar who produced the 11-song “Live in Rio” collection.
 
Bacelar’s 2018 album, “Sebastiana,” contains a very different version of “Nothing Will Be As It Was,” which was sung in English by American singer Maye Osorio and accompanied by an animated video that suited the pop-electronic rendition of the song. The new live version has a different arrangement and features Bacelar dueting with Brazilian vocalist-pianist Delia Fischer in Portuguese backed by a jazz band.   
 
“I chose to release this single thinking about this moment and the lyrics of the song. The lyrics are like a photograph of the moment. It’s a very famous song in Brazil that was originally recorded in 1976 when we were under a military dictatorship. The lyrics say ‘I know that tomorrow nothing will be like before, What news of my friends will they give me? What news of you will they give me?’ People were disappearing at the hands of the dictatorial military regime. And now people are disappearing – dying – because of the virus. Everyone in Brazil, the United States and all over the world have lost friends due to the virus,” said Bacelar. 
 
“Live in Rio” was recorded in May 2018 at The Blue Note in Rio while Bacelar was promoting “Sebastiana.” He trimmed the 17-song set to the eleven tunes that appear on the live record feeling that the selected song list on the disc represents a balanced sampling of his repertoire and body of work. The outing includes tunes penned by Brazilian icons Nascimento, Tom Jobim, Gilberto Gil and Flora Purim along with American greats Benny Golson, Horace Silver, Pat Metheny and Chick Corea. Also included is a composition that Bacelar wrote with producer Cesar Lemos (Ricky Martin, Paulina Rubio) titled “Sernambetiba, 1992” from “Sebastiana.”  
                                                         
“I love the sound of the album because you can hear the energy of the live performance and the sound of playing in a jazz club. The Blue Note isn’t a big place – about 300 people – so you can hear the ambiance of playing in a small club. The microphone on the piano picked up the other instruments like the drums and saxophone because it’s a small place. The sound is very different than what you get in the studio where the sound is more clean,” said Bacelar who was accompanied by guitarist João Castilho, saxophonist-flutist Danilo Sina, double bassist Alexandre Katatau, drummer Renato Endrigo and percussionist André Siqueira.     
 
The idea of dropping the live album now began earlier in quarantine when Bacelar sat to record a solo piano piece for his social media. It made him think about the isolation people were feeling and the role live music plays and the unique energy it possesses.
 
“The time in isolation is accompanied by multiple experiences and music is a fundamental vehicle for perception, connection and the formation of perspectives that bring meaning to the events on personal, spiritual and emotional levels. I wanted to remind people of the sound of live music. People need the warm sound and feelings of live music as opposed to the electronic stuff we hear on studio recordings. By listening to this live album, you can embrace the warm sound from the safety and comfort of your home.”   
 
As an artist, Bacelar wants “Live in Rio” to be viewed as more than just a live recording. He wants the album to have impact, to say something, which is clearly reflected in his choice of the first single.  
 
“The album is not only about the songs. Without art and abstraction, life is meaningless. Artists have to have a position, make a statement about something and have a voice – not just sing and play piano. The album is a concept – with the arrangements, the cover, the lyrics. It’s important to me to send an important message.”
      
“Live in Rio (Ao Vivo No Rio)” contains the following songs:
 
“Killer Joe”
“Toda Menina Bahiana”
“Nothing Will Be As It Was”
“Senõr Blues”
“Partido Alto”
“So May It Secretly Begin”
“Caicó Cantiga”
“Água de Beber”
“Sernambetiba, 1992”
“Nanã”
“Blue Miles”
 
For more information, please visit http://ricardobacelar.com.br.

June 20th will mark the release of a special DEEP PURPLE EP that will exclusively be available via indie retailers.

 
The limited 10” vinyl is not only the first physical format release from the band’s upcoming album “Whoosh!”, it also comes with a special surprise. In addition to “Throw My Bones” and “Man Alive”, previously available on digital shops, it includes a third song, taken from the album, that will only be available on this EP until the release of “Whoosh!” on August 7th.  The title of the track will be revealed on the band’s social media channels within the next days!
 
Fans in the UK and Scandinavia will be able to purchase the EP on July 17th, 2020.

 
You can watch the videos for the two previously released singles here:
“Throw My Bones”: https://youtu.be/QUW7PvvbbO4
“Man Alive”: https://youtu.be/ojHRoKzQwfE

 
Deep Purple’s brand-new studio album “Whoosh!” follows their worldwide chart-topping albums “inFinite” (2017) and “NOW What?!” (2013). For the third time, Deep Purple joins forces with producer Bob Ezrin. The new album is possibly the most versatile of the three the British legends have produced with Ezrin,  “stretching out in all directions”, to quote the producer’s exact words, without any limitation, letting the creativity find its way.
 
“Deep Purple is putting the Deep back into Purple” was the half-joking motto in the studio after the first songs were written. It seemed clear that Purple were on a path to creating an album suspended above the boundaries of time and music trends, while voicing their resentment about the current situation of the world and addressing all generations.
 
“Whoosh is an onomatopoeic word that, when viewed through one end of a radio-telescope, describes the transient nature of humanity on Earth; and, through the other end from a closer perspective, illustrates the career of Deep Purple.” - ig
 
“Whoosh!” will be available as Limited CD+DVD Mediabook (incl. the 1h feature “Roger Glover and Bob Ezrin in conversation” and, for the first time, the full live performance at Hellfest 2017 as video), 2LP+DVD Edition, Limited Boxset and Digital on August 7th, 2020 on earMUSIC.
 
You can pre-order the album here: https://deeppurple.lnk.to/WhooshPR
                       
For tour dates and more information please go to
www.deep-purple.com
www.facebook.com/officialdeeppurple
www.twitter.com/_DeepPurple
www.instagram.com/deeppurple_official/

Following the serious buzz created by their recently released single “Vértigo,” which was featured on Post-Punk.com, Barcelona-based visionaries Paranormales are ready to unveil a new song from their forthcoming new album Contra. “Harakiri” rides a propulsive synth riff as vocalist Ana Ruiz adds her lush voice into the mix along with tasteful solo work from guitarist David Toro. Producer Maurizio Baggio (The Soft Moon / Boy Harsher) gives the track a dark and moody feel but also foregrounds the melodic hooks and danceable drums that make you want to revisit over and over again. 
 
Stream the track here: https://orcd.co/paranormales_harakiri
 
Paranormales is the uniquely creative project of J. Carlos Delgado (bass, synths, vocals), Ana Ruiz (vocals, keys), David Toro (guitar) and Diogo Santos (drums). The quartet first came together in 2016 and issued their first album Belona a year later followed by the 2019 remix EP Juno. 2020 marks the beginning of a new chapter for the band as they have partnered with US indie giant Cleopatra Records, who will release the band’s second full-length album Contra on June 19. 
 
Contra Track List: 
1. Doctrina
2. Camino
3. Vida
4. Disciplina
5. Elugelab
6. Gem
7. Vértigo
8. Tigre
9. Harakiri
10. Origen
 
 
Follow Paranormales
http://paranormalesband.com/
https://paranormales.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Paranormales/
https://www.instagram.com/paranormales_band/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5v6LfBBTC4Pc8OLq6SWYhW?si=y_AVCYt4SEWiLQwIUC3Q8w

28.05.2020
Sportpaleis , Antwerpen
MOVED

30.05.2020
Sportpaleis, Antwerpen
MOVED

30.03.2021
Sportpaleis, Antwerpen
NEW DATE!
SOLD OUT

31.03.2021
Sportpaleis, Antwerpen
NEW DATE!
SOLD OUT

 

Omwille van de gezondheidsmaatregelen genomen m.b.t. het coronavirus werd er beslist om de Europese tournee van Céline Dion uit te stellen. De 'Courage World Tour' wordt uitgesteld naar 2021.
Het concert dat oorspronkelijk op 28 mei 2020 in het Sportpaleis zou plaatsvinden, zal nu doorgaan op 30 maart 2021. Het concert dat oorspronkelijk op 30 mei 2020 zou plaatsvinden, zal nu doorgaan op 31 maart 2021. 
Bericht van Céline Dion: "I had really hoped that we'd be back on stage sometime this year, but nothing is more important than everyone's health and safety,” said Celine. "The whole world has been going through such difficult times during this pandemic , and my heart goes out to all those who have suffered. I know we'll eventually get through this together, and we'll make up for all that lost time. I miss doing our shows....I can't wait to sing with all of you again. Stay safe everyone…see you soon!”
​
Tickets voor de uitverkochte concerten blijven geldig.
Tickethouders krijgen met hun oorspronkelijke ticket(s) dus toegang tot het evenement.

“Night Kisses: A Tribute To Ivan Lins” featuring Dave Grusin and Bob James drops July 31
 
SANTA FE (9 June 2020): “It’s jazz, it’s beauty and it opens the heart.” That is how six-time GRAMMY-nominated horn player Eddie Daniels describes his forthcoming album, “Night Kisses: A Tribute to Ivan Lins.” Slated to drop July 31 on Resonance Records, the new collection is the second chapter in a trilogy devoted to iconic Brazilian composers and the follow up to the 2018 GRAMMY-nominated “Heart of Brazil: A Tribute to Egberto Gismonti.” Both albums were produced by the series’ conceptualizer George Klabin.
Daniels, who is best known as a clarinetist and tenor saxophonist accomplished in both jazz and classical music, has a long history of playing Brazilian and Latin music. However, he admitted to “being kind of a dummy about the specific great Brazilian composers that I was about to tackle when George approached me with the idea for the trilogy, but I have this clave (Afro-Cuban groove) in my body as much as anyone because I just love this music so much.”
 
Klabin selected a dozen tunes from Lins’ songbook for “Night Kisses,” which closes with an original composition by GRAMMY and Emmy winner Bob James, “Ivante,” inspired by and named for Lins. When Klabin sent the music to Daniels, the multi-hornplayer only knew one song, “Amor,” and the material itself presented a challenge. 
 
“I was kind of befuddled because I loved the music, but I didn’t know if I could live up to the kind of heart that Ivan puts into the music that is so soulful. He became so special to me because of his singing, the heart – it’s raw, beautiful and emotional. I kept saying ‘How am I going to live up to this on a clarinet or a saxophone?’ The great thing about George is that he wanted to do music that was not so popular, that was older music by Ivan Lins, so you could say that most of this music I knew nothing of,” said Daniels, a New Yorker who has lived in Santa Fe for several decades.    
 
Coming off the success of “Heart of Brazil,” Daniels was looking to bring something special to “Night Kisses” when fate intervened. Dental work prevented him from playing clarinet in the weeks prior to the recording sessions held in Klabin’s Los Angeles studio so Daniels did something he hadn’t done in 30 years: he started playing flute, an instrument he played and studied extensively in the early portion of his lengthy career. Daniels calls the reappearance of flute in his music “the surprise of the album” that is evenly divided between four flute tunes, four clarinet tunes and four tenor sax tunes.
  
Daniels is accompanied by the same rhythm section he had on “Heart of Brazil”: pianist Josh Nelson (who also contributed three arrangements), bassist Kevin Axt and drummer Mauricio Zottarelli. Kuno Schmid plays piano on the romantic “Cantor Da Noite” and wrote a handful of arrangements for the album. The Harlem Quartet fills the album with lavish string section accoutrements. But the highlights are the appearances by James and Academy Awards and 10-time GRAMMY winner Dave Grusin, each of whom wrote two arrangements and played on two tracks. Incredibly, their collaboration on “Ivante” is the first time the two contemporary jazz piano giants ever recorded together with Grusin featured on acoustic piano and James on electric.
 
“Bob and Dave know Ivan Lins very well. Ivan is on one of Dave’s early albums, ‘Harlequin.’ He basically introduced Ivan Lins to the American public with that album. I thought their appearances would make this record a little bit different. Dave and Bob were both very, very generous with wanting to be on the album. I was a guest on a lot of their albums. Dave hired me to do seven albums on GRP Records. When I was in the studios in the 1970s doing all the CTI recordings, Bob always called me to be one of the reed players on his albums. I got a chance to have two of my bosses and idols be on this album. I’m so glad because my history is with them. For me, it’s kind of a summation of everything I’ve done through my life up to now,” said Daniels.
 
James said, “It was the highlight of my year to have the opportunity to contribute some music to this beautiful project. I’ve always loved the artistry of Ivan Lins and working alongside Eddie Daniels and Dave Grusin was a big pleasure and very stimulating.”
 
Klabin first became enchanted by Lins’ music while visiting family in Brazil in the 1970s. His heart is deeply rooted in Brazilian music. The veteran jazz producer, Resonance Records president and founder of Rising Jazz Stars Foundation has already begun sending Daniels music for the final disc in the trilogy: an album paying tribute to Milton Nascimento. In the meantime, he is immensely proud of “Night Kisses,” calling it "The most meaningful and satisfying production of jazz I have ever worked on in my entire career.”
 
Daniels concurs. “I feel that too because sometimes when you don’t try too hard, you get it right. When people hear it, they frequently comment on the album’s musicality. I like the album for this time with what we’re all going through. Because of this virus and we’re all stuck at home, maybe people will sit at home and listen to the entire album. Nobody really listens to a whole body of work. People download one tune. I feel that this album is a uniquely whole work.”
 
Now in his late 70s, Daniels hears growth and maturity in his hornplay on “Night Kisses.” 
 
“My playing was always described as too busy in my early days - my 30s. Your inner being changes as you mature. This album is kind of a high point in terms of maturity of emotion, of being able to play simply and get my point across lovingly and economically. This album isn’t bebop. It’s all about the heart,” said Daniels before reflecting on current events.
 
"In these days when we are struggling with coronavirus, politics and protests, we need to warm our hearts and get us back to love. ‘Night Kisses’ does just that. When I hear it, it has a great calming effect...a way to get to our hearts and block out the noise of the world."
 
“Night Kisses: A Tribute To Ivan Lins” contains the following songs:
 
“A Voz De Povo” (The Voice Of The People)
“Pano De Fundo” (Backdrop)
“Manos De Afeto” (Hand Of Affection)
“D’Aquilo Que Eu Sei” (That Which I Know)
“Velas Icadas” (Hoisted Sails)
“Dinorah, Dinorah” (The Call Girl)
“”Cantor Da Noite” (The Night Singer)
“Quadras De Roda” (Children’s Folk Dance)
“Amor” (Love)
“Lembra” (Remember)
“Depois Dos Temporais” (After The Storms)
“A Noite” (The Night)
“Ivante”
 
Preorder “Night Kisses: A Tribute To Ivan Lins” through the following retail sites:
 
Resonance Records
Bandcamp
Amazon
 
The album’s “D’Aquilo Que Eu Sei” (That Which I Know) is available now: "D’aquilo Que Eu Sei"
 
For more information, please visit http://eddiedanielsclarinet.net.

Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame Member ELVIN BISHOP Joins B.B. KING’s Daughter, SHIRLEY KING, On A Brand New Single!
​

Word has already begun to spread all over the world that Blues royal, Shirley King, daughter of legend B.B. King, is about to release a new album that features an amazing cast of blues musicians. Anticipation for Blues For A King, the forthcoming album, is riding high, and now eager fans are about to get their first taste of what’s to come with the release of “I Did You Wrong.” One of the album’s smokin’ hot original tunes, “I Did You Wrong” features none other than Rock Hall Of Famer, Blues Hall Of Famer and founding member of the iconic Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Elvin Bishop! Together, Bishop and King create a quintessential blues ballad, kicking off with Bishop’s ultra sleek guitar that blends perfectly into King’s powerful vocals. For blues purists, it doesn’t get any better!
 
Stream the single: https://orcd.co/shirley_king_elvin_bishop
 
The song is a highlight on King’s incredible new album, Blues For A King, which crosses musical genres from blues to rock to soul and back again. Even next to such high wattage guests as Joe Louis Walker, Robben Ford, Junior Wells, Pat Travers & Elvin Bishop, King absolutely shines as she performs spectacular version of the blues classics “Gallows Pole” and “Hoodoo Blues Man” as well as the soul hit “Johnny Porter” (originally by The Temptations) plus two songs by British rock band Traffic, “Can’t Find My Way Home” and “Feelin’ Alright?.” The album closes with a powerful version of Etta James’s unforgettable “At Last,” which signals that, at long last, Shirley King is finally getting the attention and recognition she so richly deserves. 
 
Blues For A King will be available on both CD and vinyl starting June 19 from Cleopatra Blues, a subsidiary of Cleopatra Records, Inc.
 

 
Track List:
1. All Of My Lovin' feat. Joe Louis Walker
2. Feelin' Alright feat. Duke Robillard
3. I Did You Wrong feat. Elvin Bishop
4. That's All Right Mama feat. Pat Travers
5. Can't Find My Way Home feat. Martin Barre
6. Johnny Porter feat. Arthur Adams
7. Feeling Good feat. Robben Ford
8. Give It All Up feat. Kirk Fletcher
9. Gallows Pole feat. Harvey Mandel
10. Hoodoo Man Blues feat. Junior Wells & Joe Louis Walker
11. At Last feat. Steve Cropper
 
BIO
Born and raised in Memphis, Shirley began singing in the church choir at age nine. When she was thirteen, she met another music legend – Etta James. Young Shirley was so impressed by Etta’s performance that she made Etta her musical role model. Ruth Brown and the late Mahalia Jackson also greatly influenced the fledgling singer. Shirley says, “I grew up around the stage watching my dad become famous, but I never imagined I’d become a blues singer too.” Ms. King came late to the blues, first trying it on in 1990. Within six months, she was a regular performer at famed Chicago blues club Kingston Mines. Two years later she saw the release of her first CD, Jump Through My Keyhole.
 
In 1999, Shirley released her highly acclaimed blues album, Daughter of the Blues, which featured her soulful, bluesy versions of classics like “Wang Dang Doodle,” “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Every Day I Have the Blues” and, fittingly, “The Thrill is Gone.” Once her father caught her act he lent his full support to Shirley’s efforts at carrying on the blues. She admits that having a legendary father helped open some doors for her, but it was her talent, charisma and high-energy stage presence, along with her big, beautiful singing voice, that put her on the musical map. From traditional blues to gospel to funky R&B to smooth soul, Shirley defies genre and her singing and stage antics never fails to excite her growing number of fans worldwide. 
 
Shirley also believes in giving back. She has worked with kids as an artist-in-residence with the highly acclaimed Urban Gateways Arts in the Schools Program at Chicago Public Schools and continues to expose school children to the history blues has played in American culture. All in all, Shirley King continues to be the quintessential ambassador for the blues - and that’s something that would certainly make her daddy proud.
 
For more info, visit Shirley’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/shirley.king.790

Featuring Simon Phillips (Toto /Protocol), Ronnie Romero (Rainbow), John Payne (Asia) and Richard Grisman (River Hounds)
​

In these interesting times, when life puts a forced pause on us, most of all we need to lift our spirits, to feel alive. “Life Motion” is the fifth studio album of “Intelligent Music Project.” And this time in the band led by Milen Vrabevski, MD (author and producer) there are big world names - the drummer and co-producer of the release Simon Phillips, as well as the vocalists John Payne (ex-Asia) and Richard Grisman (River Hounds). Ronnie Romero, a singer who became famous for joining Rainbow in 2015, made his debut in it. And when we add respected Bulgarian musicians to this stellar team, it becomes quite clear that high class is being pursued at IMP.
 
“Epidemic, crisis, contagion.” Not a day goes by without hearing these words for more than a month. Indeed, the current situation is a test for everyone, but it also brings some positives - such as the opportunity to spend more time on (rediscovering) art.
 
Milen Vrabevski, MD says: “I would like my children to grow up with the ideas I share in my albums, and instead of teaching them lectures about those ideas, I use the language of music, which is very universal and easy to understand.”
 
Legendary drummer Simon Phillips (Toto, Protocol, Mike Oldfield, The Who) gave two solos for the songs “Reflecting” and “Rising” on “Life Motion,” with music co-producers Dr. Vrabevski, Simon Phillips and Ivo Stefanov.
 
Read the recent interview with Milen Vrabevski, MD: https://bit.ly/2XIS3mA
 

“An unexpected album that reminds of a mix of Alan Parsons Project, Christopher Cross, Toto and The Night Flight Orchestra.” - Music In Belgium
 
Watch the new video for the song “Every Time”:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/451542284956185/videos/180540773220643/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-YjbjWkOTg


​Intelligent Music Project IV “Sorcery Inside” is another entirely Bulgarian music project of the creator of “Intelligent Music Project” - Milen Vrabevski, MD. It includes legendary musicians such as Simon Phillips (Toto), Carl Sentans (Nazareth), Richard Grisman (River Hounds), John Payne (ex-Asia) and Joseph Williams (Toto), who have left their incomparable handwriting on the 12 compositions by Milen Vrabevski, MD.
 
Simon Phillips participated in the recordings not only on drums, but also as a music co-producer, together with Milen and Ivo Stefanov. The recordings were made in the fall of 2018 at Brotheryn Studios, California, by Simon Phillips and Ernest Tibbs (drums and percussion), Jesse Siebenberg (guitars, vocals) and Dave Palmer (pianos).
 
“Indeed, the cast of the Intelligent Music Project resembles an ensemble of the elder statesmen of rock, featuring a collection of decorated artists like Toto drummer Simon Phillips and Asia lead vocalist John Payne. The evident talent of each individual member of the band shines through at various points during the album Throughout it all, the production stands out for its silky smoothness, stitching together each aspect of the band’s throwback sound with commendable dexterity. 'Sorcery Inside' clearly attempts to be a modern-day alternative rock album, at times trading the traditional electrical-guitar driven sound for more experimental substitutes.” - The Stanford Daily
 

The European tour of Intelligent Music Project and Milen Vrabevski, MD with the participation of Simon Phillips (Toto), Ronnie Romero (Rainbow) and Richard Grisman (River Hounds) started on February 21 from Bulgaria. The first concert of the tour was held in Varna, followed by Plovdiv and Sofia, and the tickets completely sold out. As part of Dr. Milen Vrabevski's Intelligent Music Project, Phillips, Romero and Grisman presented their latest albums, “Sorcery Inside,” as well as the album “Life Motion.” The star trio were joined by some of the best Bulgarian musicians in the person of Stoyan Yankulov - Stundzhi, Biser Ivanov, Bobi Kosatkata, Ivo Stefanov, Ivaylo Zvezdomirov, Slavin Slavchev, Lina Nikol, Samuel Eftimov.
 
Intelligent Music Project's first online concert: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=2659255330960351
“Working on this project with Milen Vrabevski was so much fun and I find his enthusiasm for music is so uplifting.” - Simon Phillips
 
“The chemistry and magic is bound to happen when you have great players and great songs.” - John Payne
 
“Working with Milen was pretty exciting, he is a great professional and composer and I will be back for the next album for sure!” - Ronnie Romero
 
 
More info about Intelligent Music Project:
Web: https://intelligent-music.com/
YouTube:  https://bit.ly/2Jr4w7K
Spotify:  https://spoti.fi/2w0XyDw 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intelligentmusicproject/
follow / like / subscribe

 

Dit jaar bestaat de multiculturele Franse formatie Deleyaman 20 jaar. Om dit te vieren traden ze in maart op in Parijs, daags voordat de wereld op slot ging. Tijdens de soundcheck van het concert in Theater du Temps namen ze een prachtige versie op van de track ‘The Valley’ van het album ‘Sentinel’ dat in januari dit jaar verscheen.

Bekijk de liveversie ‘The Valley’ via: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQj0cV_dv_U

‘Sentinel’ is het achtste album van Deleyaman. Het album verkent nieuwe diepten in het muzikale universum van Deleyaman. De soundscapes, emoties en bezieling roepen een raadselachtige sfeer op, die zich bevindt tussen droom en werkelijkheid. Op de albumversie van ‘The Valley’ speelt Brendan Perry (Dead Can Dance) de cimbalom, drums en de bouzouki. In deze versie speelt Artyom Minasyan op klarinet en Madalina Obreja op viool.

Deleyaman is de eerste indie band die het oude blaasinstrument de duduk in hun line-up heeft opgenomen. Hun teksten in verschillende talen (Engels, Frans, Armeens) en het gebruik van instrumenten uit diverse culturen, zijn kenmerkend voor de band. Het geluid van Deleyaman is moeilijk in een enkel genre te passen omdat er uit velen invloeden wordt geput. Van post-punk tot Anatolische mystiek, van dark wave en existentiële poëzie tot art-rock, van de impressionisten tot atmosferisch minimalisme.

De muziek van Deleyaman is te horen op de soundtrack van de film "Le Divan de Staline" van Fanny Ardant uit 2017 en is gecoverd door Dead Can Dance (het liedje ’Autumn Sun’) tijdens hun "Dead Can Dance, A Celebration - Life & Works 1980 - 2019" tour.

De live versie van ‘The Valley’ werd opgenomen door het Franse muziektijdschrift LeCargo.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/deleyaman
http://www.deleyaman.com/

​

​Robert Northern, the jazz artist, French horn master, and bandleader known as Brother Ahh, has died, The New York Times reports. According to the Times, Northern died on May 31 in Washington D.C. following a year-long battle with a respiratory illness. He was 86 years old.
Throughout his six-decade recording career, Northern played in-studio with some of the biggest names in jazz history: John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Pharoah Sanders, and countless others. Northern also spent a decade playing in Sun Ra’s Arkestra, the legendary cosmic jazz outfit that still performs to this day (albeit without the late Sun Ra himself). Northern played on Sound Sun Pleasure!!, Pictures of Infinity, The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, and more.
While Northern contributed enormously to the jazz cannon as a performer and session musician, he transitioned into the role of bandleader in the early 1970s. Sound Awareness, his first solo album under the Brother Ah moniker, arrived in 1972, and featured legendary percussionist Max Roach. The title Sound Awareness referred to a philosophy that governed much of Northern’s work: That all of the sounds in one’s environment are worthy of close attention. Northern’s next release as Brother Ah was the 1975 LP Move Ever Onward, on which Northern played drums, flute, and sitar in addition to French horn. In 1985, Brother Ah and the Sounds of Awareness shared the sprawling jazz-fusion record Key to Nowhere.
In addition to his work as a musician, Northern was also an educator. In 1970, he took a teaching position at Dartmouth College, where he worked during jazz trumpeter Don Cherry’s tenure at the university. He continued to teach in schools and youth programs for decades until shortly before he died. Northern was also a reputable DJ, hosting a Washington D.C.-based radio program titled “The Jazz Collectors” for about twenty years. Northern’s Divine Music, a box set compiling recordings from between 1978 and 1985, was released in 2017.

​Bonnie Pointer, a former member of R&B group The Pointer Sisters, is dead at the age of 69. The singer died Monday at her home in Los Angeles of cardiac arrest.
"It is with great sadness that I have to announce to the fans of The Pointer Sisters that my sister, Bonnie, died this morning," Bonnie's sister and former bandmate Anita said in a statement to USA TODAY provided by representative Roger Neal. Anita said "our family is devastated" and asked for "prayers at this time" on behalf of the Pointer family.
“Bonnie was my best friend and we talked every day. We never had a fight in our life, I already miss her and I will see her again one day,” she said.
The four Pointer sisters, Ruth, Anita, Bonnie and June, grew up singing in church in Oakland, California, where their father was a minister. It was Bonnie, shortly after graduating high school, who first wanted to move out of church and into clubs to pursue a professional singing career.
She convinced younger sister June to join her, and the two began doing gigs together as a duo in 1969. Eventually they’d convince their two older sisters, who were already married with children, to join them.
“The Pointer Sisters would never have happened had it not been for Bonnie," Anita said in a statement.
The quartet brought unique fusion of funk, soul and 1940s-style jazz, scat and pop to their act, often dressing in a retro style that resembled their forerunners the Andrews Sisters.
Bonnie and her sisters recorded a slew of hits throughout the 1970s, including their breakout song "Yes We Can Can," "Wang Dang Doodle" and "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)."
Bonnie co-wrote the group's 1974 classic "Fairytale," which peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and earned a Grammy for best country vocal performance by a duo or group – becoming the first all-female group to win the award. They also were the first African American group to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. 
Elvis Presley released a cover of "Fairytale" a year later. 
Bonnie left the group to pursue a solo career in 1977, finding modest success with a disco cover of The Elgins' "Heaven Must Have Sent You." Meanwhile, The Pointer Sisters – led by Ruth and Anita – found their biggest commercial success in the 1980s with songs such as "I'm So Excited," "Slow Hand," "Fire" and "He's So Shy." 
This year, Bonnie and Anita released "Feels Like June," a tribute to their late sister June, who died in 2006. It was Bonnie's last recorded song before her death. 
Bonnie is survived by her brothers, Aaron and Fritz, and sisters, Ruth and Anita Pointer.

The Blues world las lost an important and beloved voice. The Southern Gentleman of the Blues, Frank Bey died at his home on June 7, 2020, where he had been under hospice care since June 4. He was 74.
Born on January 17, 1946 in Millen, GA, Frank began his singing career at age four. The following seventy years of his life would be filled with exciting musical opportunities as well as devastating personal and professional disappointments. Quiet dignity and determination were his faithful guides through it all.

Bey’s rich baritone voice is heard on seven albums; Steppin’ Out (Mag Records), Blues In The Pocket (Jeffhouse Records), Back in Business and All My Dues Are Paid (both on Nola Records.) In addition his records with Anthony Paule, You Don’t Know Nothing (Live) , Soul For Your Blues and Not Goin’ Away (all on Blue Dot Records.)

In recent years, Tom and Kathy Dwyer were inspired to film a documentary of Frank’s life, Frank Bey: You’re Going To Miss Me, which is currently in post-production pending the acquisition of additional funding. The Dwyers’ loving care, respect and guidance were an immeasurable gift in the life of Frank Bey and his wife, Toni. The historic preservation and documentation of the man, his music and his message for the world is a gift to us all.
​
A six-time Blues Music Award nominee, Frank also received two Independent Music Award nominations, and a gold Global Music Award. Known for his extraordinarily powerful rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” Frank consistently inspired audiences with his delivery of a message that is as critical today as the day it was released.
​