Soul Music

The Ten Best Concerts in New York This Week, 5/13/13

Support live music and check out one of these 10 shows this week.

The Guy Who Plays Smokey Robinson

Charl Brown is nominated for a Tony for playing singer/songwriter Smokey Robinson in Motown: The Musical. He's great in the part--convincing as Smokey, yet bringing his own stuff to it the way good interpreters do. At a Tony nominees' event, Brown (Jersey Boys, Sister Act) told me the casting makes ... More >>

Matthew E. White

Motown and The Rascals: Jukebox Mausoleum

Boomers Turn Broadway into a Pop-Music Scrapbook

Diana Ross Went To See Motown: The Musical?

Luscious legend Diana Ross went to the Broadway opening of Motown The Musical last night, and I have to say when I heard that, I had to stop in the name of love for a second and think about it. I'm surprised Di's gotten aboard this soul train! After all, Diana can be prickly about anything involvin ... More >>

Motown The Musical Opens: My Review

An air-tight revue with classic songs presented as theatrical set pieces, with a minimum of superficial chatter in between them. That's not what Motown The Musical is. Instead, the story of how Berry Gordy Jr. created a dazzling black sound that managed to be upbeat, despairing, and socially relevan ... More >>

My 10 Favorite Motown Songs

With Motown The Musical jazzing up Broadway with "the sound of young America," let me look back and pick my 10 fave Motown singles of all time. Come on, let's get it on! (10) What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted," sung by Jimmy Ruffin Careful in its pace, soulful in its tone, this one is a heart wr ... More >>

In Real Life: Perverse Pleasure and A Motown Tribute to Nickelback's Live Debut in NYC

On Friday night, a once-viral YouTube clip beamed down from cyberspace, materializing as a musical band of living, breathing humans who graced New York with an entire hour of genre-warped Nickelback singles. In theory, "A Motown Tribute to Nickelback" seems like the most heinous sacrilege, muddling ... More >>

Big Daddy Kane Returns With a Full Band at the Blue Note Tonight

For almost three decades, Brooklyn MC Big Daddy Kane has remained a fixture of "Greatest Rapper of All Time" conversations. From his iconic singles like "Raw" and "Ain't No Half Steppin'" to a live show that ranks -- even today -- among the most revered in the genre, his influence can be heard in t ... More >>

The Tragic Story Of The Woman Who Made Motown

A new book called Mary Wells, The Tumultuous Life of Motown's First Superstar details the ups and downs of the sultry singer of "My Guy," "Two Lovers," and "You Beat Me To The Punch" as she went from fame back to obscurity. Mary was Motown's first solo superstar, soaring on Smokey Robinson-penned t ... More >>

R. Kelly Got Jokes

Sex addict, preacher, comedian: the many sides of r&b's Pied Piper

GENTLE GIANT

Matthew E. White opens 
for the mountain goats

A Sneak Peek At Motown The Musical

I have sat through jukebox shows with music by everyone from Bob Dylan to the Beach Boys while wondering, "When's there going to be a Motown one already?" And now there's finally one coming for next March, and it's actually more than just a jukebox show; it mixes in the songs while telling the stor ... More >>

Q&A: Bettye LaVette on Thankful N' Thoughtful and Losing a Grammy to Eric Clapton

By Katherine Turman It's only taken Bettye LaVette 50 years to become an overnight success. Yet at 66, the saucy soul singer still laments, "That was my biggest grievance--I just want somebody to say my damn name. Even if you say something bad, just say my name." Since her first single in 1962- ... More >>

Guess Who's Playing Diana Ross?

No, not me. I already did that in the '80s as lead singer of my Motown cover band (which let's not tell anyone about or they might want royalties, OK?) It's Valisia LeKae, who will assume the role of the great Diana Ross in the Broadway show Motown: The Musical, based on Motown creator Berry Gordy ... More >>

VOODOO NIGHTS

Mary J. Blige and D’Angelo 
get Jones Beach bumping 
and grinding

Al Green

Motown The Musical Is Coming! Come And Get These Memories

In my column about theater last year, I bemoaned the fact that there have been jukebox musicals about everything except the one I want to see--Motown! Well, it's finally coming. Berry Gordy Jr. is planning a show called Motown which will tell his story while sprinkling in the Motown hits of the da ... More >>

Daptone's Neil Sugarman On The Sweet Return Of The Sugarman 3

In an industry that rewards greed and egocentrism, tenor saxophonist Neal Sugarman has made a career out of selflessness. On record and onstage, Sugarman plays only what is needed: a big, percussive horn blast here, a raw R&B riff there. And career-wise, he has done much the same: in 2001, when both ... More >>

Musical Line-Up Announced for the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party -- Free Concerts!

Today the musical line-up for this year's Big Apple Barbecue Block Party was announced. The event -- the 10th annual -- takes place this year on Saturday, June 9 and Sunday, June 10. Three bands will be playing each day, and the music, if not the barbecue, is free. The Block Party takes place in Ma ... More >>

Live: Jose James Brings The Love To Harlem

Jose James Harlem Stage Gatehouse Saturday, February 11 Better than: Ever. What better way to see in the pre-Valentine's Day weekend, a warm-up for the designated 24 hours our culture sets aside for Love, than to enjoy the supple outpourings of Jose James? For two nights last weekend, the Yankee-h ... More >>

The O'Jays

My Brightest Diamond

American Idol Season 10, Top 11: The Freaky Rictus Smile of Thia Megia

This person has no idea what Motown is. Photo courtesy Michael Becker/ FOX. ​Since last we spoke, Karen Rodriguez has gone back to MySpaceLand, Steven Tyler's wardrobe has grown impressively more absurd, and Jacob Lusk has bodied the fuck out of Heart's "Alone." I missed the last week of Ameri ... More >>

Southern Soul Guide: Sweet Angel, Mel Waiters, and Luther Lackey

A pack of thoroughly modern throwbacks

James Blake vs. The Machine

A Brit art-world darling finds out what happens when Kid A falls in love

Q&A: Solange Knowles On Why Working With Kevin Barnes "Makes All the Fucking Sense in The World"

"I don't want this façade of me diving into the indie scene - there's not a conscious effort to that at all." ​Back in '08, when Solange Knowles released her sophomore album, the daffy, Motown-checking Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, she sang "I'm no soul girl equipped with no afro." No ... More >>

Rock ‘n’ Soul 2010

Interview: Richard Lewis, Organizer of This Weekend's Brooklyn Soul Festival

​Last June, soul DJs Richard Lewis (DJ Honky) and Michael Robinson (Mr. Robinson) started Dig Deeper, a monthly soul party that brought the live element back to soul music and showcased the genre's original vocalists. (Their initial show featured drummer/vocalist Don Gardner's first show in 40 ... More >>

Michael Jackson: The Man in Our Mirror

Black America's eulogies for the King of Pop also let us resurrect his best self

BOOK IT

A soul giant comes back to center stage

BETTYE RISES AGAIN

A heartfelt singer keeps the faith

OUT OF AFRICA

Is Damon Albarn the new Peter Gabriel?

Al Green's Lay It Down

There's still babies to be made, people

The 35-Year Plan for Soul Superstardom

Sharon Jones, Darondo, and other soul sensations hit it big after decades on the outskirts

Live: Southern Soul Great Candi Staton Makes Her Long-Overdue Return to NY

Still in Love With Him

Singing the praises of Al Green

Cooke's Tour

Play it again, Sam: Guralnick traces soul great's life

Power of Love

Memorial service for Luther Vandross brings out the star wattage and Holy Ghost power

Mostly Harmless

Smooth Jazz leaves no room on the racks or on the airways, except for Dead Legends

Soul Man Offers Valuable After-Work Advice for Waiters and Waitresses

Ghostface Family Values

Reformed killah comes out for soul and teaching the kids

The Commoner Queen

Mary J. Blige Retains Her Hip-Hop-Soul Amateur Status and Makes Her Prose Sing Again

Black Elvis

Sam Cooke Aims His Simplicity High

Hearth and Soul

Fireplace-Sex Music Seems to Hang On

A Ken Burns Xmas

Two Soul Singers

'Alternative ' Soul: Progress in Design?

My High Guy

The Long Distance Soulster