Black Pumas are a rising Austin, TX-based soul act, comprised of Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, composer, and guitarist Adrian Quesada, 27-year-old Los Angeles-born, Austin-based vocalist Eric Burton and a cast of collaborators and associates. And in a relatively short period of time, the band has received praise for their live shows from the likes of Pigeons and Planes and the Austin American-Statesman.
The duo’s highly anticipated full-length debut was released last month through ATO Records and the album’s latest single is “Black Moon Rising,” a track that helped the band win Best New Band and Song of the Year at this year’s Austin Music Awards — and once you hear the track, you’ll immediately see why: Burton’s effortless, classic soul-like vocals glide over a gorgeous, Isaac Hayes-like production and arrangement — twinkling Rhodes piano, boom bap-like drumming, soaring strings and bluesy guitar licks, making it a slick synthesis of classic soul and contemporary hip-hop-inspired production.
Written and directed by Amos David McKay, the recently released video for “Black Moon Rising” is one part Blaxploitation and one part Quentin Tarantino as it follows Burton and Quesada as they’re leaving a hotel and hitting the road in a gorgeous, classic car — at night. Of course, the night brings about dark psychedelic images and situations, creating a balance of sultry and murky.
Black Pumas are a rising Austin, TX-based soul act, comprised of Grammy-winning producer and guitarist Adrian Quesada and 27-year-old singer/songwriter Eric Burton and a cast of collaborators. Interestingly, Burton was a street performer for several years, who busked his way from Los Angeles to Austin, where he met Quesada.
In a relatively short time, the band has received praise for their live shows from Pigeons and Planes and the Austin American-Statesman, eventually winning Best New Band and Song of the Year for “Black Moon Rising” at this year’s Austin Music Awards. Building upon the rapidly growing buzz surrounding them, the act will be releasing their self-titled full-length debut through ATO Records on June 21. The album’s latest single “Colors” is old-school singer/songwriter soul centered around a gospel and blues-inspired arrangement featuring soaring organs, a looped 12 blues guitar line, a supple bass line, and twinkling Rhodes — but by far, the star of the show is Burton’s soulful vocals and incredible range, which evoke hurt, yearning and pride.
The band is making their NYC debut next Wednesday with a set at The Knitting Factory.
A great deal of the popular music that we know and love can trace its origins to the church and to gospel music in some way or another. Artists such as Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Dionne Warwick, Cissy Houston and her daughter Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight,Teddy Riley, Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly, The Staple Singers and an incredibly lengthy list of others can claim that their start when they sang gospel and spirituals at their local church. Nor should it be surprising to recognize that many of the Mississippi Delta bluesman, who had influenced the sound and aesthetic of rock ‘n’ roll had either played in a church, were inspired by gospel and spirituals — or were generally just intimately familiar with the music. Now while gospel and spirituals haven’t seen a whole lot of love across secular media outlets or the blogosphere, there have been a few gospel acts that have seen some level of crossover/secular attention — in particular Kirk Franklin, who landed a hit with 1997’s “Stomp,” Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens, who received attention with 2014’s impressive Cold World and Joshua Nelson, “The Prince of Kosher Gospel,” an artist who ties together Jewish Temple songs with gospel in a way that’s incredibly soulful — and interestingly enough makes a lot of sense. Of course while each of those artists have a unique take on gospel and spirituals, there’s one thing they have in common — they believe in music with a powerfully uplifting message that will move audiences, whether you’re secular or deeply religious.
Now, if you had been frequenting this site over the past couple of years, you may recall that I wrote about The Jones Family Singers. Comprised of patriarch, Bishop Fred Jones, Sr. (vocals), his daughters Ernestine (vocals), Sabrina (vocals), Velma (vocals), ‘Trelle (vocals), his sons Kenny (bass) and Fred, Jr. (guitar, piano), along with Matthew Hudlin (drums), Ezra Bryant (guitar) and Duane Herbert (percussion) have seen a rapidly growing national and international profile with the release of Alan Berg’s documentary The Jones Family Will Make a Way, which features live footage of their New York City area debut at Lincoln Center, as well as tour stops in Germany, The Netherlands and festival stops in Newport, Winnipeg, Los Angeles, Monterey and others — thanks in part to a sound that while effortlessly meshing rock, the blues and gospel, manages to nod at the legendary Staple Family Singers.
Recently, renowned producer and guitarist Adrian Quesada invited The Jones Family Singers to take part in his “Live at Level One” cover series and their contribution to the series is a soulful cover of Johnny Cash‘s “All God Children’s Ain’t Free,” a single that manages to be as socially and politically necessary as ever, as the song reminds the listener that there’s much urgent work to be done to achieve the American ideals of freedom, justice and opportunity for all. As Bishop Fred Jones, Sr. explains of their cover in press notes, “No matter how high and mighty you think you are, never forget the people beneath you. Everyone needs an opportunity right now, and this song is a necessary statement for us to make at this crucial time in our nation’s history.”
The multi-generational family band will be touring across the Northeast next week as part of a series of shows to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Check out tour dates below.
As the Austin, TX-based singer/songwriter Gina Chavez has explained in interviews, her sophomore effort up.rooted, which was released last year, is ““a rhythmic exploration of who I am” – “a sonic garden of stories from an ethnically mixed woman on […]
