No more sadness.
Although he's always been accessible, I hadn't met Chuck D until last night. I write about the experience here. Among the dozens of topics Chuck broached during his lecture was the concept that hip hop is only the latest expression of black musical creativity.
"There are parallels between Billie Holiday and Jay-Z, between Art Tatum and break dancers," Chuck asserted.
With that in mind, here's the incomparable jazz vocalist singing one of the most significant songs about the tragedy of slavery in America. It's an utterly devastating performance. The out-of-print Live At Storyville, captured at the Boston club in 1951, might be my favorite Holiday recording. Here's far lesser but still invaluable video footage of Holiday interpreting the song in a television studio. (The arrangement is atrocious.)
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Buddy Miles has died.
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Herschel "Speedy" Haworth died Tuesday. The Ozarks-based guitarist worked with Porter Wagoner, Rex Allen and Red Foley.
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Kansas City Click: The spirit of Johnny Cash burns brightly in Tom Russell. The outstanding songwriter is at Knuckleheads tonight.
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