Variety Please?

Give me Ella, Alice, and Sarah any day over Diana Krall, Kenny G, and Chris Botti. I'm talking about a return to real jazz, not the watered-down impressions that lack variety in this modern-day world, compliments of stations like CD 101.9 under the genre heading "Smooth Jazz." While some of it is cool (like Boney James who makes it both soulful and sensual), a majority of it is a total rip-off, in my opinion.

There's nothing like being at home with a snifter containing Amaretto in one hand while incense and candles set the mood for a relaxing bath while Ella Fitzgerald sings, ever so smoothly, "You're My Thrill." No one could have been more creative in blending sounds of the Eastern world with jazz than Alice Coltrane, wife of John, on her groundbreaking album, "Journey Into Satchidananda." (I dare you to sit down and philosophize to that!) And have you heard Sarah Vaughn's version of the Gershwin classic, "Summertime"? Simply bliss, I tell ya. Simply bliss.

I guess the other serious music (with classical being the one that takes the title traditionally) has lost its place in modern-day society, only to be replaced by artists that all do the same thing. While the music they performed was similar, no one can say that Nat King Cole sounded like Frank Sinatra or Billie Holliday sounded like anyone other than herself. While Cassandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves do their thing today, in very different ways, I would love to ask the contemporary jazz musicians a burning question: Can we get more variety please? Thank you.

Who Stole the Soul?

Is it just me, or are there any other R&B music fans out there that have been wondering who stole the soul? I mean, all we ever seem to see is Beyonce, Beyonce, Beyonce. Are there any other R&B artists out there who can sing, because a majority of the other pickings have pretty faces but lack the soul.

I'm not afraid to name call, regarding my last comment, so I'll just say this...Why does Amerie keep recording? While the trick with the mike was cute in the "Promise" video, can Ciara do some vocal tricks as well? And Janet. My girl Janet. Her beauty can't be denied, but for her to be a veteran, why do most of her recordings contain music that's louder than her voice?

Robbers of R&B, I encourage you to please bring back the soul! Record labels, I beckon you, to please invest in the careers of the women who encapsulate soul in their bones, without the digital tricks of today's recording process. I'm talking about women like Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Patti Labelle, who have all been dropped from major labels to make room for the young'uns of today.

And for the Ne-Yos, Lloyds, and Marques Houstons: there is only one true king in R&B that you all seem to think you are both vocally and on the dance floor. His name is Michael jackson. And like Christians and Jesus, I am waiting for his return, so he can show you how both are really done.

A Hip-Hop Commentary

Okay, so Imus is an idiot who got fired for being a racist, but should the Hip-Hop community be under fire for what he said?

Here's the thing. The language in Hip-Hop and the misogyny and "glamour" of the alleged pimp game that it portrays have been going on for over a decade now. Who cares if they are going to clean up their act now that Imus made some lousy comments about African-American women? I mean, he's wrong and the Hip-Hop community's been wrong, so why now?

Hasn't the damage of the Hip-Hop community been done? Hasn't there been too many casualties in Hip-Hop prior to Imus? And most importantly, what does Imus' comments have to do with Hip-Hop? The recent Hip-Hop summit and Al Sharpton's revocation of an award that was being given to L.A. Reid are just like the current name of this genre and most of its messages: backwards and just plain dumb.

A colleague of mine made an interesting point about the whole Hip-Hop debate under the Imus attack: Change starts within the community. Hip-Hop should have been cleaned up long before now and needs to return to its original roots where songs with real messages about urban life like "The Message" and "New York, New York" reigned supreme. But no, in the meantime, and over a decade too late I might add, there's talk of cleaning up the messages in the music.

Hip-Hop, it's too late for that. Clean up your community first.

Am I right, or am I wrong?

Ok...

What's in a name? Mystery, I'd say, when it comes to the group names of Pop stars. There's Panic! At the Disco (huh?) and I didn't know a disco still existed in this day and age. (Why not Panic! At the Club, to keep up with the times?) Kings of Leon is interesting, but are they royalty? My favorite of all would have to be OK Go. Not sure what it means, but I have a theory about this one...

Perhaps the guys constantly met with A&R reps or other industry types that wanted to hear them play. Perhaps they didn't have an official name for the group. Perhaps after asking the group what their name was or what they were going to play, the industry rep said, "Okay, go." And the band played. If I heard that repeatedly and didn't have a name for my group, that just might stick and fit.

While I don't always get the names of some of today's popular groups, I always try to figure out what could have been going through the group member's minds when they decided on their name. I happen to like each of these groups, and while quirky at first, I ended up loving the treadmill concept OK Go used in the "Here We Go Again" video. When I first saw it, I said to myself, "Ok..." After seeing it again, I replied, "Ok." And after watching a live MTV performance, I said what my ficticious A&R rep would've said, "Ok, Go!"

And the pun is defiinitely intended.

R&B, Blue-Eyed Style

There was a time when artists like Chaka Khan, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Gladys Knight ruled the R&B charts. Today, the artists who grace the charts in this genre include Joss Stone, Justin Timberlake, and Robin Thicke. What happened to the legends? Has R&B lost its soul or has it taken on a new flavor?

Don't get me wrong, I think anyone with a soulful voice regardless of their race should take a stab at R&B, but what happens when an artist like Justin Timberlake is "taking the place" of, say, Joe, or Musiq on the R&B chart when he also dominates the Pop chart? Do artists like Joe and Musiq receive equal treatment? I think not. Likewise, has the industry gone too far when Robin Thicke's song, "Lost Without You" dominates the #1 position on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Song chart and the leading R&B radio airwaves? While R&B is making way for these blue-eyed soul singers, what extension is being given to artists like N'Dambi or M.D. West or Conya Doss, "traditional" R&B singers who have received no airplay? In my opinion, Joss, Justin, and Robin (as well as Amy Winehouse) are taking spots that "belong" to them.

All I'm saying is this, when artists like Bad Brains, Living Colour, and Fishbone receive substantial airplay and support by the Rock community, then, and only then, should artists like Joss Stone, Justin Timberlake, and Robin Thicke receive Grammys in the R&B category, have #1 R&B hits, and receive R&B recognition. After all, everyone has to pay their dues, but these artists were simply given them.