Urban Blues may refer to:
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated amongst African-Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African-American culture. The blues form is ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll, and is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale, and specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues is the most common. Blue notes, usually thirds, fifths or sevenths flattened in pitch, are also an essential part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove.
The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals), and Clint Warwick (bass/vocals). Originally part of the British beat and R&B scene of the early–mid 1960s, the band came to prominence with the UK No. 1 and US Top 10 single "Go Now" in late 1964/early 1965. Laine and Warwick both left the band in 1966, with Edge, Pinder and Thomas recruiting new members Justin Hayward (guitar/vocals) and John Lodge (bass/vocals). They embraced the psychedelic rock movement of the late 1960s, with their second album, 1967's Days of Future Passed, being a fusion of rock with classical music that established the band as pioneers in the development of art rock and progressive rock. It has been described as a "landmark" and "one of the first successful concept albums".
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the first half of the twentieth century. Key features that distinguish Chicago blues from the earlier traditions, such as Delta blues, is the prominent use of electrified instruments, especially the electric guitar, and especially the use of electronic effects such as distortion and overdrive.
Country blues is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in the early 20th century. It stands in contrast primarily to the urban blues style, especially in the pre-war era.
Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr., better known by his stage name Taj Mahal, is an American blues musician. He plays the guitar, piano, banjo, harmonica, and many other instruments, often incorporating elements of world music into his work. Mahal has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music over the course of his more than 50-year career by fusing it with nontraditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa, India, Hawaii, and the South Pacific.
Kevin Roosevelt Moore, known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician. He is a singer, guitarist and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that travelled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America." His post-modern blues style is influenced by many eras and genres, including folk, rock, jazz, pop and country. The moniker "Keb Mo" was coined by his original drummer, Quentin Dennard, and picked up by his record label as a "street talk" abbreviation of his given name.
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single "Gloria", stayed on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking at No. 2. It also reached number one in Australia and Canada. Branigan's "Gloria" was a cover of a song written by Italian singer-songwriters Giancarlo Bigazzi and Umberto Tozzi. In 1984, she reached number one in Canada and Germany and No. 4 in the U.S. with "Self Control" a cover of Italian singer and songwriter Raf from the same year. Both "Gloria" and "Self Control" were successful in the United Kingdom, making the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.
The Emotions are an American soul/R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time.
Anthony Gomes is a Canadian blues and blues rock guitarist and singer. He was born to a Portuguese father and a French-Canadian mother. After his 1998 debut album release Blues in Technicolor, he began touring the United States and Canada and he has since recorded thirteen more albums.
Keith Lionel Urban is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves International Award, 13 CMA Awards, and six ARIA Music Awards. Urban wrote and performed the song "For You" from the film Act of Valor, which earned him nominations at both the 70th Golden Globe Awards and at the 18th Critics' Choice Awards in the respective Best Original Song categories.
Maurice White was an American musician, best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.
Joseph Leonard Bonamassa is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his independent record label J&R Adventures, of which eleven have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues chart.
Pastel Blues is a studio album by American singer Nina Simone, released in October 1st, 1965, by Philips Records.
The Covenant Awards are awarded to the Canadian gospel music industry by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada. The association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music in Canada. The ceremonies are held annually in cities across the nation.
Travelogue may refer to:
Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant is the sixth studio album by Haitian rapper and former Fugees member Wyclef Jean, released in 2007 as the sequel to his first solo album, The Carnival. Speaking to noted urban writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul in September 2007, Wyclef explained his thinking behind the album: "Titling it The Carnival 2 was down to The Carnival back in '97 being my first multi-cultural CD. It had rhythms from all over the world, and in that way this new record is the sequel. You know, there's a revolution of culture going on around the world today where the United Nations is everywhere! You go into a room, and everybody's from a different country. It's like we're ALL immigrants! Some of these people may be listening to bhangra, some to hip hop, some to rock... And, when you put that fusion together, it unites people through music."
"Look Out Cleveland" is the title of the Robbie Robertson-written song on The Band's self-titled album, also known as The Brown Album. The song begins with a boogie-woogie blues riff by pianist Richard Manuel followed by lead singer Rick Danko warning -- "Look out Cleveland, storm is coming through, And it’s runnin’ right up on you". The song's reference is presumably to Cleveland, Ohio, but Cleveland, Texas has also been suggested.
"Bright Lights, Big City" is a classic blues song which was written and first recorded by American bluesman Jimmy Reed in 1961. Besides being "an integral part of the standard blues repertoire", "Bright Lights, Big City" has appealed to a variety of artists, including country and rock musicians, who have recorded their interpretations of the song.
Julia Carin Michaels is an American singer and songwriter. She has received five Grammy Award nominations, including twice for Song of the Year and Best New Artist, as well as nominations from the MTV Video Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and American Music Awards.