Freda Payne is the high-class soul hit maker who brought us the blockbuster track ‘Band Of Gold’. Contact is her second album for Invictus/Hotwax Records and the follow-up to the huge success of ‘Band of Gold’, released by the legendary Holland- Dozier- Hollands then newly launched record label after they left Motown. Seen as a pinnacle in 70’s production style by the legendary producers, highlights include the anti-war protest song ‘Bring The Boys Home’ and the singles ‘Cherish What Is Dear to You (While It’s Near to You)’, ‘You Brought the Joy’ and ‘ The Road We Didn’t Take’. Other titles include: ‘I'm Not Getting Any Better’, ‘Suddenly It's Yesterday’, ‘You've Got To Love Somebody (Let It Be Me)’, ‘Prelude’, ‘Odds And Ends’, ‘I Shall Not Be Moved’, and ‘Mama's Gone’. This 1971 album is reissued on classic black vinyl with original artwork and printed inner sleeve.
As purportedly the first Black-owned jazz imprint since the '20s, the Black Jazz label had its roots in the Black Power movement of the late '60s and early '70s. But not every album on the label had a social message. Kellee Patterson's Maiden Voyage was simply an extremely tasteful, mellow jazz vocal album, recorded with the top-notch sidemen that characterized Black Jazz sessions. Patterson first gained fame as the first Black woman (entered under her real name Pat Patterson) to win the Miss Indiana contest, culminating in a performance of 'My Funny Valentine' at the Miss America pageant. Her success led to some acting gigs (the TV shows The Streets of San Francisco and The Dukes of Hazzard, and the movie Demolition Man), a brief brush with Hollywood fame (she was briefly linked romantically to talk show host Johnny Carson), and her signing with Gene Russell for her recording debut on Black Jazz (Russell went on to produce subsequent LPs for Patterson on the Shadybrook label). 1973's Maiden Voyage is highlighted by a beautiful vocal performance by Patterson of Herbie Hancock's title tune, backed with such premium players as long-time George Duke sideman John Heard on acoustic bass and Ray Charles touring band member George Harper on flute. Our Real Gone reissue is remastered for CD by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision, and features new liner notes by Pat Thomas, author of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975. An essential, though uncharacteristic, entry in the Black Jazz catalog!
Cornetist Ron Miles will make his Blue Note debut on Oct. 9 with Rainbow Sign, the deeply affecting follow-up to his widely acclaimed 2017 album I Am A Man, which reconvenes the same remarkable band featuring pianist Jason Moran, guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Thomas Morgan & drummer Brian Blade. The album is a set of nine new original Miles compositions including the striking first single “Queen of the South,” a piece Miles says was informed by Ethiopian pop, which is available to stream or download now. Rainbow Sign can be pre-ordered on vinyl, CD, or download.
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