Here in Chicago, Reclaimed Soul airs Thursdays 8-10PM (CST) on Vocalo.org 89.5fm. You can stream live at http://vocalo.org/player.
Now folks can listen anytime to radio featuring sound rich interviews and an all-vinyl playlist (courtesy of host Ayana Contreras). Reclaimed Soul is about taking old materials (records, buildings, ideas, et al) to push us all forward.
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This Friday, (aka DJ Ayana) am spinning at the Southside Community Art Center, an establishment originally founded with help from the WPA during the Great Depression. It is the nation’s oldest African American Art Center.
Also on the bill is the David Boykin Trio (featuring Marcus Evans on drums, Alex Wing on bass, and Boykin on saxophone.) More details on the flyer below. Jive on!
Someone recently described me as an Archaeologist. At first, I didn’t really see the connection, but then I thought for a moment. One of the things I love most about record collecting is how much akin it is to an Archaeological “dig”. A person finds the physical record, occasionally has to dust it off, and often there is incredible meta-data housed on the labels and sleeves that don’t make into CD liner notes or embedded into an mp3. Case in point: above, a 1970s Roots Reggae 12 inch single I picked up at a local record store. I see that it belonged to someone named C.T. (scrawled in pen in the corner), and that it was purchased on the North Side of Chicago at a place called Studio 1 Records ["the place for Carribean Sounds and Crafts"], based on a rubber stamped logo.
This particular recording very clearly displays the ingenuity that occurred in the process of getting this record (that was pressed in Kingston, Jamaica and still smells like incense) out to the public. On the outside, it’s packed in a generic white paper sleeve with the word “disco” printed near the center hole cut out. But on the inside, it’s clear that the sleeve was made from repurposed paper. In fact, it was made from uncut flats from boxes of Jamaican Ovaltine Biscuits (a national favorite snack cookie, then and now). Dope.
So much more than I would have gotten from your garden variety download.
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The 21st Century were yet another Kiddie Soul group out of the Chicago area (not unlike The Jackson 5, The Eight Minutes, Cindy & the Playmates, The Five Stairsteps, Pat & Pam, and The Brighter Side of Darkness). Many of these groups are detailed further here.
The group hailed from the West Side and were signed to RCA purportedly based on selling some 250,000 units of their 1975 single “Remember the Rain” in Chicago alone with no formal distribution. An album, titled “Ahead of our Time” followed, mostly produced by the mastermind behind that first single, Michael Smith.
Below, the classically moody “Remember the Rain”, which starts out with the prepubescent lead vocalist lamenting:
“We used to play out in the rain,
Your mother scolded us
She said that we were bad.
(she said that we were bad)
I thought I’d better go on home…
you watched till I was gone
Ooh Girl, you looked so sad.
I picked you up when you fell and cut your knee
I told you not to cry and held you close to me….
Interestingly enough, a 17 year old named David Leathers, Jr. auditioned for American Idol with the song. He went on to make it on to the show.
Another cut off the album is “Tricks are Made For Kids”, which has sort of a “Dancing Machine”-era Jackson 5 sound to it.
It’s as much a funky dance record as “Remember the Rain” is a Blue Light Slow Jam. Enjoy and Jive on.
Above, a bit of video from my Artistic Residency last year with Theaster Gates’ Dorchester Projects, in which I wax poetic about Chicago’s own Mercury Records, Jerry Butler, and the Impressions.
I love sharing the stories behind the music I love with the general public; and was reminded of that as I embark on Hosting and Producing “Reclaimed Soul” (a weekly radio show on Vocalo.org) which premieres tomorrow night at 8pm CST. The show, of course, will feature stories as well as music. For more about Reclaimed Soul, click here.
Coming this Thursday (and every Thursday) Darkjive.com’s Ayana Contreras hosts “Reclaimed Soul” on Vocalo.org (89.5fm in Chicago). The music you’ve come to expect from this site, plus stories from people moving forward with what’s been left behind.
Below is an excerpt from the first episode. Jive on!
I’m not sure what exactly is revolutionary about this record, titled “Music Revolution” and released by Donald Jenkins and the Delighters in 1975, but it sure is lovely. It’s what I like to call Basement Soul. It also reminds me of how much I miss skin tight harmonies.
A local Chicago record through and through released on tiny Black Beauty Records (64th and Maryland is the address listed on the label) this record is one of a couple that Donald and the Gang put out in the mid-seventies.
Having released a smouldering, haunting cut called Elephant Walk in 1962, the group never had another such hit, but did put out a smattering of quality singles. By the time “Music Revolution” came out, I imagine the group had their share of wives, babies, and day jobs. That sort of backstory behind such loveliness commands even more respect.
Below, for comparison’s sake, “Elephant Walk”. It’s the story of a self-proclaimed “American Boy from the South Side of Chicago” who meets and falls in love with a “Native Girl from darkest Africa”. Interesting theme, and really interesting use of echos and animal sounds. Jive on.
Groove Conspiracy (me and Simeon Viltz) spinning at Morseland tomorrow night!
All the good stuff I feature on Darkjive plus lots of new acquisitions, all spun on vinyl (I’ll be spinning with all 45s). Celebrate Chicago’s legacy of righteous music… and dance, too..
The Nitty Gritty:
Groove Conspiracy
1218 West Morse
Chicago
10pm till 1:30pm
(all soul lovers, no cover)
Pat and Pam Cordell were twin singers who followed in the great tradition of Chicago Kiddie (or in their case, Teen) Soul in the early 1970s. They also happened to be original WVON Good Guy Lucky Cordell‘s daughters. Lucky 
Cordell (pictured at left) was a disc jockey turned General Manager at one of the most influential Soul Radio Stations in the country. That had to have helped in getting some airplay in the day. What also helped was having some of the best songwriters, arrangers, and session musicians in the game working on their cuts.
Word on the street says that though they were young, they were quite adamant about recording more adult fare than most young recording artists were at the time (no talk of school books-and-stolen-looks here).
They only released two singles, but both are lovely and worth seeking out. Below, enjoy “I Love You, Yes I Do”, a rollicking Chicago stepper that never fails to impress at my gigs around town.
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Chicago Poet Avery R. Young’s photo-commentary on the Trayvon Martin tragedy.
Avery R. Young is a local poet, activist, and educator (and I am lucky enough to count him as a friend, too). He champions unconventional showcases for his work, including facebook and taped up on doors (see below). Jive on.
more on avery.
more on trayvon.
Leave a comment | tags: Avery R. Young, commentary, poetry, trayvon martin | posted in Arts & Culture, Commentary, the Freshness