Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Charles Bradley - The World (Is Going Up In Flames) - Feat. Menahan Stre...

Great tune from Charles Bradley, who at over 60 is going on tour for his last album that just came out. What a voice!!

Donny Hathaway ( UnSung: Part 1)

A good documentary (5 parts) about Donny's life and music. Enjoy!!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Donny Hathaway

My first post is to feature my favorite vocalists of all times, Donny Hathaway. This is one of the only videos of him I have fund, yet:


BIOGRAPHY
Donny Hathaway was one of the brightest new voices in soul music at the dawn of the '70s, possessed of a smooth, gospel-inflected romantic croon that was also at home on fiery protest material. Hathaway achieved his greatest commercial success as Roberta Flack's duet partner of choice, but sadly he's equally remembered for the tragic circumstances of his death -- an apparent suicide at age 33. Hathaway was born October 1, 1945, in Chicago, but moved to St. Louis when he was very young, and began singing in church with his grandmother at the scant age of three. He began playing piano at a young age, and by high school, he was impressive enough to win a full-ride fine arts scholarship to Howard University to study music in 1964. While in college, he performed with a cocktail jazz outfit called the Ric Powell Trio, and wound up leaving school after three years to pursue job opportunities he was already being offered in the record industry.

Hathaway first worked behind the scenes as a producer, arranger, songwriter, and session pianist/keyboardist. He supported the likes of Aretha Franklin, Jerry Butler, and the Staple Singers, among many others, and joined the Mayfield Singers, a studio backing group that supported Curtis Mayfield's Impressions.