Sounds of Blackness is a vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the Billboard R&B and Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts in the 1990s. Cynthia Johnson of Lipps Inc. and Ann Nesby are the group's most prominent alumni.
Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras, known as Paquito D'Rivera, is a Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He was a member of the Cuban songo band Irakere and, since the 1980s, he has established himself as a bandleader in the United States. His smooth saxophone tone and his frequent combination of Latin jazz and classical music have become his trademarks.
Chesky Records is a record company and label founded in 1978 by brothers David and Norman Chesky. The company produces high-definition recordings of music in a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, pop, R&B, folk and world/ethnic. Chesky artists include McCoy Tyner, Herbie Mann, David Johansen and the Harry Smiths, Joe Henderson, Macy Gray, Chuck Mangione, Paquito D'Rivera, Ron Carter, Larry Coryell, John Pizzarelli, Bucky Pizzarelli, Babatunde Olatunji, Ana Caram, and Rebecca Pidgeon.
Ben Allison is an American double bassist, composer, producer, bandleader, educator. In addition to his work as a performer, he co-founded the non-profit Jazz Composers Collective and served as its Artistic Director for twelve years. Allison is an adjunct professor at New School University and serves on the board of the New York chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, where he serves as President.
Jazmine Marie Sullivan is an American singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, her debut album, Fearless, was released in 2008 to commercial and critical success. The record topped Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It spawned four singles, including "Need U Bad" and "Bust Your Windows", both of which peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the former of which became Sullivan's first and only number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Jackiem Joyner is a smooth jazz saxophonist and flutist from Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
Take a Look is a 1993 album by American singer Natalie Cole, released on June 9, 1993 by Elektra Records. Cole won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for Take a Look at the 36th Grammy Awards.
Seeds from the Underground is a studio album by Kenny Garrett. It was released on April 10, 2012, on Mack Avenue Records and received two Grammy nominations in Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo categories, as well as a NAACP Image Award nomination in Outstanding Jazz Album category, a Soul Train Award nomination in Best Traditional Jazz Artist/Group category, a Jazz Awards nomination for Alto Saxophonist of the Year and an Echo Award win in the Saxophonist of the Year category.
Kamasi Washington is an American jazz saxophonist, usually playing tenor saxophone.
Moon Hooch is an American band from Brooklyn, New York, known for their dance-oriented percussion- and saxophone-based music. The band is a duo consisting of saxophonists Wenzl McGowen, Michael Wilbur, currently touring with drummer Ethan Snyder, following James Muschler's departure in 2019. The original band members met while attending The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and got their start busking in New York City Subway stations.
You Gotta Love The Life is an album by the Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter Melissa Manchester in 2015. Her 20th studio album, and her first since When I Look Down That Road (2004), the fourteen-track album is primarily written by Melissa, with four tracks being covers of well-known standards, and includes a longer version of the 2013, single release of, "Be My Baby", celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Ronettes' release of the song.
Charles Kent Wilson, also known as Uncle Charlie, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and the former lead vocalist of the Gap Band. As a solo artist Wilson's been nominated for thirteen Grammy awards and eleven NAACP Image Awards, received a 2009 Soul Train Icon Award, and was a recipient of a BMI Icon Award in 2005. In 2009 and 2020, he was named Billboard magazine's No. 1 Adult R&B Artist, and his song "There Goes My Baby" was named the No. 1 Urban Adult Song for 2009 in Billboard Magazine.
Jeremy Pelt is an American jazz trumpeter.
"Apeshit" is a 2018 trap song by American musical duo the Carters, composed of Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The song was co-written and co-produced by Pharrell Williams with the duo. It features additional ad-libs by Quavo and Offset from the hip hop trio Migos, who are credited as a co-writers. It was released on June 16, 2018, as the lead single from the duo's collaborative studio album Everything Is Love, along with a music video filmed at the Louvre in Paris. The video received eight nominations at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, including for Video of the Year, and a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video.
Cuz I Love You is the third studio album by American singer and rapper Lizzo. It was released through Nice Life and Atlantic Records on April 19, 2019. The album features guest appearances from American rappers Missy Elliott and Gucci Mane. It spawned the singles "Juice" and "Tempo", the latter of which is a collaboration with Missy Elliott. The deluxe edition of the album was released on May 3 and includes the Billboard Hot 100 number one single "Truth Hurts". The deluxe edition was nominated for Album of the Year at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, and won Best Urban Contemporary Album.
The 50th NAACP Image Awards ceremony, presented by the NAACP, honored outstanding representations and achievements of people of color in motion pictures, television, music, and literature during the 2018 calendar year. The ceremony took place on March 30, 2019 at the Dolby Theatre, was hosted by Anthony Anderson and broadcast on TV One.
Put a Spell on You is Casey Abrams' first release on Chesky Records and features the former American Idol contestant returning to his jazz roots. Abrams recorded the album over two days at the Hirsch Center in Brooklyn, New York, a decommissioned church featuring acoustics termed "ethereal" by Abrams. The album released on March 16, 2018, and debuted at #5 on the Billboard Jazz Charts.
Camille Thurman is an American jazz musician, composer, and member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Her first two albums, released by Chesky Records in 2018 and 2017, peaked at #3 and #25 respectively on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, and was a runner up for the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition.
Inside the Moment is the third album by American jazz vocalist and saxophone player Camille Thurman. It was released by Chesky Records on May 19, 2017 and debuted at No. 25 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart. The album was recorded live at the Rockwood Music Hall on February 19, 2017. The track "Cherokee" was nominated for an Independent Music Award.
Love Will Find a Way is a jazz album by Philip Bailey released in 2019 on Verve Records. The album reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart and the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
