Advertisements
Today is the 18th day of Black History Month. I tend to use this time as a way to remind readers – and everyone else of a couple of important facts:
- You can’t love Black artists and their work, and not see them as people
- Black lives — and Black art matters
- Black culture is American culture
So as we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list.
So far I’ve mentioned the following artists:
- Patti LaBelle
- Rick James
- John Lee Hooke
- Janet Jackson
- Aretha Franklin
- Chaka Khan
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- Curtis Mayfield
- Bob Marley
- J. Dilla
- De La Soul
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Dionne Warwick
- Grace Jones
- Whitney Houston
- Louis Armstrong
- A Tribe Called Quest
- Maceo Parker
- Nina Simone
- Marvin Gaye
- George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic
In my home, John Coltrane was god. Coltrane is arguably one of the most influential figures in jazz. Over the past 60 years or so, almost every saxophonist has cited Coltrane as an influence on their sound and their work. But most important, Coltrane wrote and recorded what may be one of the most gorgeous and sincere albums ever — A Love Supreme.