Post subject: Black History Month Listening Project
Ok, I definitely should have thought of this earlier than February 19, but for the rest of the month I'm going to try only listening to albums by black artists in honor of Black History Month.* For these purposes, if a group is mixed race, the frontman, frontwoman, or one of the co-leaders must be black.
Anyone want to join me in this brief listening project? If you do, simply comment affirmatively below and feel free to use this thread to discuss albums that you're listening to
*US and Canada
~~~~~
EDIT: Running list of albums I've listened to during this project, ranked:
1. The Muscle Shoals Sound - Various Artists 96.5
2. Cosmogramma - Flying Lotus 89.0
3. Journey In Satchidananda - Alice Coltrane 4.5/5
4. Harmony Of Difference - Kamasi Washington (#) 4.5/5
5. Madvillainy - Madvillain 85.8
6. K.R.I.T. Wuz Here - Big K.R.I.T. 4/5
7. Let My Children Hear Music - Charles Mingus 4/5
8. Brick Body Kids Still Daydream - Open Mike Eagle (#) 4/5
9. Maria Fumaça - Banda Black Rio (#) 4/5
10. Electric Ladyland - The Jimi Hendrix Experience 4/5
11. Across 110th Street - Bobby Womack & J.J. Johnson 4/5
12. We Are The Chantels - The Chantels (#) 4/5
13. Duke Ellington's Far East Suite - Duke Ellington (#) 4/5
14. Buhloone Mind State - De La Soul (#) 4/5
15. Inspiration Information - Shuggie Otis (#) 4/5
16. Are You Experienced? - The Jimi Hendrix Experience 76.8
17. The Payback - James Brown (#) 4/5
18. Tonight's The Night - The Shirelles 76.2
19. Aromanticism - Moses Sumney (#) 3.5/5
20. Soul Of A Woman - Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings (#) 3.5/5
21. Strictly Business - EPMD (#) 3.5/5
22. 'Round About Midnight - Miles Davis (#) 3.5/5
23. Money Jungle - Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus & Max Roach (#) 3.5/5
24. Fulfillingness' First Finale - Stevie Wonder (#) 3.5/5
25. Speak No Evil - Wayne Shorter (#) 3.5/5
26. Enta Da Stage - Black Moon (#) 3.5/5
27. Baby It's You - The Shirelles 70.6
28. The Mouse And The Mask - DANGERDOOM (#) 3.5/5
29. Colón Man - Equiknoxx (#) 3.5/5
30. Without Warning - 21 Savage, Offset & Metro Boomin (#) 3.5/5
# = totally new to me _________________ Add me on RYM
Last edited by baystateoftheart on 03/01/2018 14:24; edited 14 times in total
Interesting idea... I guess I'm kind of doing this already (not as strictly as you are)... I'm not willing to go all the way on it like you are, but I would say that the majority of the albums I am listening to right now fall under your guidelines. _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
This band was a bunch of different kinds of people, white, black, latino. One of my favorites, Bernard Purdie, on the drums!
Yeah all are welcome to post here and participate even if you’re not limiting your listening to black artists! Thanks for the videos! _________________ Add me on RYM
Between jazz, R&B and blues, 63% of my overall chart and 8 of my top 10 are by black artists, so I guess I'm good (never occurred to me to count before).
Just to be crystal clear - this thread/project is not about making up for people's personal listening deficits; it's about celebrating the music. I too listen to black music most days and it makes up close to half of my collection. So if you listen to black music all the time - good for you. Here's your internet pat on the back. But no need to feel like this is therefore not for you. Maybe you can drop some of your favorite things you hear over the next nine days in this thread, with a few words if you so desire. _________________ Add me on RYM
As a huge fan of both Jazz and Blues, pretty much every month is at least part Black History Month for me, musically speaking.
It would be easy to list some essentials and/or underrated gems in each genre, but to be a little more original for this thread, I'll throw out a couple ones I doubt anyone else would have thought of, but are so very highly worth a listen.
First up is the beautiful classical composer, William Grant Still. His second symphony, entitled "Song of a New Race" is one of the wonders of the 20th Century catalog. The melodies are rooted in African and African-American song, and brought forth with ravishingly beautiful orchestration that would make Maurice Ravel proud. Those melodies are not overly challenging, but are at the same time captivating. Positively gorgeous stuff here. Even if you don't like classical, I highly recommend giving this one a run. You won't be able to deny the beauty contained within.
On the Rock side, oft overlooked Jon Butcher put out a number of excellent albums under a few different project headings. This is his best. They lyrics are poignant, the guitar work positively masterful, and the vocals as soulful as anything you'll ever hear in any genre.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum