2010 Best Black Music Albums, Tracks & Live Shows
(Classic Soul, Jazz, Southern Soul & Blues, Funk, Neo Soul, Rap & Rock n' Roll)
2010 BEST NEW ALBUM RELEASES:
(Classic Soul, Jazz, Southern Soul & Blues, Funk, Neo Soul, Rap & Rock n' Roll)
The TREME soundtrack, from the HBO TV show of the same name is near & dear to me and it designation as number one should come as no surprise. I never watched the TV show simply because it was written by our longtime friend David Mills, who passed away shortly before the first broadcast, and I thought it would be too painful for me to watch. This outstanding album includes every single Black music style from Rap to Funk to Dixieland to Blues to Gospel and more is quite literally a Rosettas Stone” of Black music. It’s quite fitting that it should be number one. A close second is the politically incorrectly named; Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is, from an artist that most of you have never heard of, but sounds like a combination of James Brown/Ike Turner. Jacques Schwarz-Bart - "Rise Above" (feat Stephanie McKay), another artist that you have likely never heard of sounds like a combination of John Coltrane/Minnie Riperton. Teeny Tucker - "Keep The Blues Alive" sounds like a combination of Bessie Smith/Big Mama Thornton/Aretha Franklin. Jaye Q - "From My Soul" is ont just one, but really two innovative albums, with one sounding like Prince and the other sounding like Herbie Hancock. And of course even knee-gro radio station know that Calvin Richardson is probably his generations version of Sam Cooke. I’m not going to go thru them all, however if you can afford to by just 5 albums this year, you can’t go wrong by selecting 5 from this list.
BEST ALBUM RELEASES OF 2010
TREME Soundtrack
- Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is
- Jacques Schwarz-Bart - "Rise Above" (feat Stephanie McKay)
- Jimi Hendrix - West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology (4 CD/ 1 DVD Collectors Box)"
- Stanley Clarke Band - Stanley Clarke Band
- SonnyBoy - "The BarFly Theory"
- Teeny Tucker - "Keep The Blues Alive"
- Jaye Q - "From My Soul"
- Calvin Richardson - America's Most Wanted
- Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement
- Macy Gray - "The Sellout"
- SocialLybrium - For You + For Us + For All
- Pat Cooney - Cougar
- George Duke - Déjà vu
- Esperanza Spalding – Chamber Music Society
- Maty Soul - The Price of Consciousness
- Mighty Sam McClain - Betcha Didn't Know
- Grover Washington Jr – Grover Live
- Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
- SounDoctrine - Inspire
- Latimore – All About The Rhythm and the Blues
- Will Downing - Lust, Love & Lies
- Lee - Naked
- Teena Marie - Congo Square (honorable mention)
Bob Davis - Soul-Patrol.com/RadioIO.com
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