Out the Box with Tim Dillinger

Review: Vanessa Bell Armstrong: Experience

2009-10-11T13:36:00.004-05:00

Let me start by saying this. Vanessa Bell Armstrong is one of the greatest voices of our time. To me, she is in the same class as Aretha, Patti, Gladys...the great voices of soul. She is a song stylist. Her voice is unmistakeable--and you can hear all the younger girls (and boys) taking her runs and doing lesser imitations of them.

Ok. Having said that.

It has to be hard to be Vanessa Bell Armstrong. She came out under the wing of the legendary Mattie Moss Clark and her first two albums were produced by the brilliant (and sadly departed) Thomas Whitfield.

Whitfield set her up for a hard lot. Those first two albums were so incredibly profound, that Armstrong has struggled in the subsequent years to come up with material that could match the fire of her beginning albums.

Her transfer to Jive Records in the mid-80s took her from being a classic singer singing classic material to a contemporary singer attempting to remain viable in an ever changing market. While she had great singles during those years, she never really managed to come up with cohesive albums that expressed the fire and passion of "Peace Be Still" and "Chosen". Perhaps the closest she has come was "The Secret is Out" (produced by John P. Kee) and "Desire of my Heart" (produced by Jon Cleary). Those producers at least attempted to write material specifically geared for her instrument that displayed the range of who she is as an artist. There were some disastrous moments as well: "Brand New Day" (produced by Deitrick Haddon) is perhaps the greatest tarnish on her crown. The album seemed more of a portrait of her struggle to find herself without Whitfield, who I would declare, unabashedly, as her musical soulmate.

EMI signed her and three years ago, she released "Walking Miracle", a car crash of an album, that was, however, an attempt to rebuild her recording career. They called on Smokie Norful, the Jerkins Brothers and Victor Caldwell to all attempt to come up with something. "It's Over Now" seemed to be the track that struck a cord, while the rest of the album, in my opinion, came up flat. If Smokie Norful had been Daryl Coley, then his compositions might have worked for her. Instead, it was just a cavalcade of gospel charades that left the listeners tired.

So, finally, the label came up with the idea to record her live, which I agree, needed to happen. They brought in gospel's most sought after producer, Donald Lawrence, who has recorded a ton of successful projects for himself and other artists. Another great idea. He produced the comeback CD for The Clark Sisters a few years back and it seems logical. I must say, in addition, I have no doubt that this album will be huge success.

And now here's my opinion of the album.

Vanessa Bell Armstrong is flawless as a singer. Her vocals on this album soar. She has the craziest and most soulful runs on the planet and she emotes with her every breath. She is, as Thomas Whitfield established in the 80s, a consummate song stylist and she does her best to bring this material to life.

My problem with this album is with the material and with Donald Lawrence's production. It is far too clean (my same gripe with The Clark Sister's Reunion CD) and does not sound live. It is overproduced and over-overdubbed. The production is simply too big. Vanessa feels almost hollow in the middle of this overdone project. The audience sounds canned (with exception of "I Will Praise You" and the conclusion of "The Glory") and everything sounds like a recreation of a live album versus being a live album itself.

"Good News", composition-wise, is a jigsaw puzzle, clamouring for ideas like a bad trip on Mapquest while the Kirk Franklin-esque spoken intro on "Hand of the Lord" feels awkward and contrived.

There are great moments. Her union with Rance Allen on "You Bring Out the Best In Me" was an inspired idea and Rance most definitely steals the show...and we definitely needed her revisit of "What He's Done For Me" (from 1983's "Chosen)...even though I wish it captured the joy of her late 80s performance of it on Oprah. While the album's closer, "The Greatest Power" isn't my favorite lyric in the world, Vanessa certainly stirs it to a boiling point.

Regardless of whether or not this album is an artistic landmark, it is a great representation of the staying power and vocal prowess of Vanessa Bell Armstrong.

I Hate To Break It To You...

2009-10-11T06:42:00.004-05:00

So yesterday a friend that I thought was fairly evolved posted a comment on twitter (that is now, hysterically, removed) about how he used to tell the Lord that he alot to do on earth before He (yes, the capital He) came back, but now hoped that He would come sooner than later--or something to that effect.

Before I could help myself, I tweeted back "He ain't comin'".

As a former church kid, I grew up frightened to death of the return of Jesus. I saw the "Thief In The Night" movies and had nightmares for years of being 'left behind' when the emminent rapture would take place. I was literally traumatized. I would wake up having night terrors as a child and run through the house to make sure everyone was still there. I was frightened of being left alone...on and on and on. Because let's be real...one could never really be sure if their name was written on the Lamb's Book of Life (Yes, there is a BOOK)...or if it had been erased if you had unrepented sin in your life. It's all very confusing.

So years later, after some transitions out of organized religion, yet still maintaining a connection with the Christian community, a co-worker asked me what on earth the rapture was. She had no clue. As I began to tell her: "They say that one day a trumpet will sound...dead people will rise from their graves and begin flying through the air...people will be taken out of their cars and ascend into heaven", I errupted into what I think is the most hysterical laughter I have ever uttered. The ridiculousness that at any stage in my life--even at a one digit age--is preposterous to me!!! Really? People read this in the Bible and take it literally? For real? Well, I did.

Maybe that day was my own personal rapture.

My godmother used to end every conversation with "Jesus is soon to come". One day, I just couldn't take it anymore and exclaimed "He's NOT coming"...just like I did yesterday. I hate to be like the kid who tells everyone there is no Santa Claus, but I just find it a shame, that people spend so much of their lives waiting to escape the opportunity to be here by dreaming of being rescused from our existance--complicated it may be--by White Jesus.

I know that I believe we each have our own individual moments of rapture. That moment that we come into a new consciousness...the moment we see 'the real' us...the moment we allow ourselves to unfold into our greatest gifts and watch them manifest in our lives.

People have called me faithless. People have even asked me if I'm an athiest. Absolutely not. My sense of Spirit is strong and with me all the time...even if I believe that there will be no trumpet sounding, dead raising or disappearing acts by the chosen few.

Highly Recommended: O Magazine, November 2009

2009-10-10T13:40:00.002-05:00

The focus of the November 2009 issue is "How To Become The Person You Were Meant to Be", which features an article written by the brilliant Anne Lamott. It's worth the $5 just for this quote:

"Here's how I became myself: mess, failure, mistakes, disappointments and extensive reading; limbo, indecision, setbacks, addiction, public embarassment and endless conversations with my best women friends; the loss of people without whom I could not live, the loss of pets that left me reeling, dizzying betrayals, but much greater loyalty, and overall, choosing as my motto William Blake's line that we are here to learn to endure the beams of love."

Preach. Go pick it up.

PODCAST EDITIONS: NEW!

2009-10-10T11:10:00.003-05:00

There are a few podcasts that have been added to the que. Interviews with Elizabeth Cunningham, Susaye Greene, Patsy Moore and my group SOULKISS.

Click here to download.

Videos of each artist are below! Enjoy!

OTB Returns

2009-10-10T09:59:00.004-05:00

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since there was anything posted here. Since the last post, I left Nashville and moved to New York, released a book and a remix album, joined forces with Kare Alford & David Sosa and formed a trio called SOULKISS, did a summer tour with them, and am hard at work with them on our first album, a new solo project for me, and two new books.

Prior to my Nashville departure, I had very much muted myself. If you go back and read some of the older posts here, you will see that we were very loud in the beginning and had alot to say. I took a lot of heat for my opinions and had a lot of conflict even amongst my own management about it. So I shut up. I think I needed to...but in that time, I determined that I needed a happy medium.

I need to express those things. I need to speak my truth.

Truth. What is truth.

I realized a few weeks ago, as I re-read some of my old writings, that truth expands. I have realized that our understanding of what our truth is is not the same yesterday, today and forever. It unfolds. It expands. It undresses. The layers unravel like an onion...and then we finally reach the true core. The core that we are and have always been underneath all of the accessories.

So, what you read here is more of an unravelling. It's what, hopefully, happens for all of us in life. I am not here to provide answers, but rather to ask questions. And in the questions, we find the glory.

More podcasts are in development. They are not here to push product, but rather to provoke discussion.

So here we are. Let's engage.

I still believe that there's a call to us all to love all humanity....

Condolences to the Bilal Family

2008-11-28T08:11:00.002-06:00

If you have been a listener of "Out the Box" at any time, you have no doubt hear the music of Mohammed Bilal (who was also a guest on the show). We offer our condolences to Mohammed and his family who are grieving the loss of Mohammed's father, Baba Rafiq, a huge figure in the Bay Area's arts scene.

Please find a note from the Bilal Family below.

All, For those of you who are hearing about this for the first time, Baba Rafiq has been in the hospital (ICU) for almost a month due to his heart condition. Rafiq's physical body is giving way. He will join the spirit world soon. For those who don’t remember, Rafiq is a pillar of the Bay Area community. With the Upper Room, he provided a space for young people to gather and explore arts, activism, and social justice. Many of the our greatest artists got their start and/or were shaped at the Upper Room- Goapele, Martin Luther, Saul Williams, Mohammed Bilal, Kimiko Joy, Will Power, Midnight Voices, Michael Franti, Ledisi, Heiro, Robert Henry Jonhson, Housing Authority, etc. Mind Motion was spinning at the Upper Room years before being on KMEL.

Now, Rafiq’s family needs your help to cover his funeral and burial costs of $5000. So far, we have raised $890. Anything that you can donate from $10 on is welcomed. We have also set up a PayPal account where folks can make a direct deposit--

https://www.paypal.com/us/cmd=_prq&id=NycORpWSuOlDw5RKkF4r6q7osFgcNqYzJgrzcA

We know that there are people all over the country that would like to pay their respect. So, in a couple of months, we will be hosting a celebration—an Upper Room Reunion. It will be in the Bay Area, in memory of Rafiq (it was one of his last wishes).

We will keep you posted. Please forward this email to others who know Rafiq and feel free to email me with any questions or contact Mohammed by cell @323.481.2144.

Graceful movement,
The Bilal Family

CD Review: Labelle: Back to Now

2008-10-25T09:05:00.004-05:00

Well, it's been promised for a long time, but Labelle is finally back.

As a teenager, I discovered Labelle after seeing Patti in concert for the first time. As a crate digger from the cradle, I went to a used record store and bought "Chameleon", an album that would revolutionize my perspectives on all things spiritual, sexual and political. I quickly bought their discography and immersed myself in work that is as highly (if not MORE) relevant today as it was back then.

During an interview with Sarah Dash last year, she told me that Labelle reunion was actually happening...and here we are with the album in hand.

It would be idiotic to expect Labelle to pick up where they left off in 1977. They have had 30 years apart to grow and expand their individual identities. Patti has led an iconic solo career, Nona has pioneered as a singer/songwriter/producer in numerous genres and no one has made the clubs jump more than Sarah has. So how do they return "back to now"?

Well, there's a fusion of their three individual styles, an inclusion of producers (Lenny Kravitz, Gamble & Huff and Wyclef Jean) with a knack for blending nostalgia with a contemporary glint, a lyrical approach that continues to ask provoking questions about relationships, politics and culture and the mainstay throughout are the magical harmonies than only Labelle can lay down.

While Wyclef Jean produced the first single, "Roll Out", it is the Lenny Kravitz productions that most capture the Labelle fire. "Candlelight" and "Superlover" could easily be placed between any song on "Nightbirds" and you'd never notice the difference. My personal favorite, however, is the Nona Hendryx composition "System" (which was originally intended for whatever their 1978 album would have been). "System" is chillingly poignant considering that it was written almost 30 years ago...and feels as if it were written for this generation...but I guess, like all prophetic work, it was.

"Dear Rosa", produced by Hendryx", is another stand-out track: the one that actually sparked the inspiration for this project. The Labelle blend is in full effect...and it is one of the few tracks where Sarah Dash is a little hotter in the mix, and one is reminded of how essential her contribution is to the group.

Nona steps to the mike in "The Truth Will Set You Free", a gospel/rock track, that should most certainly be one of the singles issued to radio from the project.

The album closes with a 1970 recording of the group doing Cole Porter's "Miss Otis Regrets" that is nothing short of chill-bump raising: an interesting way to close this reunion project...a reminder of how Labelle got here...and how, underneath it all, the group maintains it's status as legend.

If I had to criticize anything, it would be that I wish Sarah Dash had been given more time on the mike...and that I wish there had been one more Nona Hendryx production. Aside from that, I have to say that I hope there is another Labelle album in the works...Kudos to Verve Records for bringing us this monumental album.

Teena Marie: De Ja Vu

2008-09-24T07:06:00.002-05:00

We've had much to say about Teena Marie's work on this blogspot. She is undoubtedly one of the most underrated artists of our time, yet her following continues to grow...and more and more people find out about...and herald...her work.

This video clip from her performance at BB King's in NYC this past weekend proves why. She is an artist still in her prime who is at ease with her legendary status...and she lives in the spirit of her music...and it is pure beauty.

Terrence Howard: Shine Through It

2008-09-24T07:02:00.000-05:00

I know this album has gotten mixed reviews, however, I don't see how anyone could miss the beauty in it. In my book, "Shine Through It" is one of the Top 10, if not THE release of the year. It is a daring exploration of roots oriented music and poetry...and one of the most honest, introspective works I've heard from any artist in quite some time. What makes it even more daring is that it is coming from an artist who could have made a blockbuster album...and instead, chose to follow his muse. Kudos to Terrence Howard.

We're Back...

2008-09-24T06:34:00.003-05:00

Well, sort of.

It's been an interesting hiatus: re-evaluating what OTB is...and what it has been about since it's inception of November of 2006.

The podcast still lives...at times...but I thought it was important to bring it back as we approach the most important election of my generation. As an artist, there couldn't be a more crucial time to use our platform and our voice.

So...here we are. Be sure to download my interview with my friend and comrade Patsy Moore...and be sure to check our Q&A as well.

More articles and commentary will be forthcoming.

Tim

WE REMEMBER: VINCE EBO

2008-08-06T07:16:00.002-05:00

A great voice...gone far too soon. We miss you Vince.

Flashback: Yoko Ono: Hell In Paradise

2008-08-04T08:23:00.000-05:00

CD Review: Mid-One: Heaven Send A Synthesizer

2008-08-02T21:58:00.003-05:00

I had the opportunity to virtually meet Mid-One through a collaboration with Tim'm West that they had been working on called "You Tell Me" (which will finally be released on Tim'm's forthcoming release). Mid-One had created the track, sung the hook and recorded the first verse for the tune and I was blown away by his lyrical depth, delivery as an MC...and his sanging (yes, sanging) ability.

So...when I got his new release, Heaven Send a Synthesizer, I knew I was in for a treat.

Mid-One has a knack for creating music with significance...with hooks that stay with you, which is what makes for incredibly memorable music. The production is experimental, yet incredibly viable with anything you hear on the radio.

There's not a track to skip on this project...My personal favorite is "Easy Come, Easy Go", but trust that they are all gems.

I'm looking forward to a full length from him...but in the meantime, click here to purchase.

Ledisi Covers Teena Marie

2008-08-01T19:38:00.002-05:00

We're back. Some idiots reported this site as a spam site, which prevented us from posting for a few days. May the Goddess bless you...whoever you are! We include even YOU!

CD Review: Yoko Ono: Yes, I'm A Witch

2008-07-27T11:05:00.003-05:00

Her name elicits the most volatile reactions. Say Yoko Ono and watch people wince, grab their ears, roll their eyes, and make any number of facial expressions depicting pain. I was one of them...and when I sat down and thought about it, beyond "Walking On Thin Ice", I'd never really sat down and listened.

So, in one of my whimsical moments, I purchased Yes, I'm A Witch, a reinvention project of sorts, that features remixes of 18 songs from her 30+ year career as an artist.

And I could not have been any more blown away by a project.

Listen, I'm not saying Yoko Ono has the vocal skill of a songstress, but hey...neither does Mary J. Blige and people love her. What Yoko Ono does possess is artistic vision and a knack for painting pictures with words and sounds.

What Yes, I'm A Witch does is show those of us from another generation exactly how timeless this work really has been.

You will hear it all on this project. Hip-hop, go-go, 60s techno rock, jazz fusion, experimental, cabaret: a brilliant compilation of sounds produced by people given simple acapella vocals of Yoko's work...Yoko expressing as she felt it...and the producers interpreting what they felt while listening.

If you've never listened to the work of Yoko Ono, this is a GREAT place to start. I promise it will make you hungry for more.
Dynamite cuts: "Kiss, Kiss, Kiss", "Revelations", "Sisters O Sister" and "O'Oh"

Flashback: Davis Sisters; Twelve Gates

2008-07-22T07:22:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite clips...EVER!

Yoko Ono: Yes, I'm A Witch

2008-07-21T11:03:00.001-05:00

Review forthcoming...

Flashback: Michel'le

2008-07-21T08:18:00.003-05:00

I was wandering around on iTUNES and found Michel'le...and wondered how on earth I could have forgotten her? Perhaps...she was the last great singer to emerge from R&B....Listen to "If" and I dare you disagree....

Amy Grant: Angels (Grammy Awards, 1985)

2008-07-20T20:09:00.000-05:00

In retrospect, this seems like a nice, simple performance. At the time, this was revolutionary for Christian music. I was 9 years old when this aired...I remember staying up late on a school night to see the performance...the next day, it was all anybody was talking about.

My, how the times have changed.

Reba Rambo-McGuire: The Poet Has Flown: A Tribute To Dottie Rambo

2008-07-17T05:35:00.003-05:00

Absolutely beautiful!

Yes We Can Can! SANG MARIA

2008-07-16T08:03:00.001-05:00

Speaking of Grace Jones (See Baron Review Below)

2008-07-15T07:45:00.000-05:00

An Annoucement from Tim

2008-07-15T07:12:00.002-05:00

It's a little sad for me to write this message...but I made the decision this past week to let the past season of "Out the Box with Tim Dillinger" stand as the final season of the show.

We had an incredible run for two years on Jazz Syndicate Radio. I had the opportunity to interview various artists and personalities that I never would have dreamed I'd have the chance to talk to.

We were slated to begin a 3rd season on a new station, but I do believe that the show has run it's course. I did what I intended to do with the show...and, in short, it is finished.

The podcasts of the first two seasons will remain available for download on iTUNES...and stay subscribed, because there will be occasional 'special' podcasts produced.

The 'Out the Box' blog will continue with reviews, critiques and commentaries.

I thank all of your for your support of the show these past two years...

CD Review: BARON: Celebrity

2008-07-13T21:07:00.002-05:00

I need to begin this review by saying that contemporary music--specifically contemporary R&B and hip-hop--bores me to tears. Everything is producer driven: the "artist" is merely a channel for someone else's ideas, the image is concocted by a record company and the lyrics are written simply to fit in between bars (oh the irony of lyrics being hidden behind bars).

Baron, however, is a contemporary artist with a vision: an artist in the truest sense of the word. Not since Madonna have I witnessed an artist who so effortlessly blends a love of pop culture (from every era) and fashion with an important social message, who also knows how to dance his ass off and have fun in the midst of conveying ideas that can help shift the mainstream.

While his debut, Troubled Man, focused more on his spoken word compositions (and included the classic "Cuz Ur Beautiful"), Celebrity could just as easily be called The Arrival of Baron. If you missed him the first time around, you certainly won't this time.

Over the course of 14 tracks (with not one worth skipping over), you will hear beats that are hip-hop, yet tribal, world music...musical accompaniment that channels everything that was great about the 80s (the bassline alone on the title track is worth the price of the album), vocals that are soulful and slick, and lyrics that are crafty and cunning: you will laugh, fantasize, pose, think and evaluate.

I think what makes this album such a winner is that Baron succeeds across the board: he's not just the voice, he's the writer, producer, and driver of the image. If Grace Jones were a man and if T Bone Burnett produced hip-hop, they 'd be Baron.

Celebrity has the juice to take Baron beyond the indie scene. He is an icon. Period.

Pick up Celebrity by clicking here.

Hot Cuts: Well, all of them, but I promise you you'll love the title track, "Party With b", "To The Moon" and "Feels Like Fashion" with intensity :)

DREAMS: THE DERON REMIX: NOW AVAILABLE!!

2008-07-08T06:41:00.001-05:00

After many requests, "Dreams: The DeRon Remix" is finally available for download on amazon.com for just 99 cents!!! Click here to purchase!

Flashback: Reba Rambo: Confessions

2008-06-15T18:30:00.003-05:00

Heartbreak sucks. The closest I can come to explaining the feeling of rejection, abandonment and the disintegration of a love that was believed to exist, is to say that it feels as if one's very guts have been ripped out with a rusty hook. The violation of trust. The betrayal. The removal of all that was thought to be. Yes. The drama.

I don't think any album has more eloquently described the process more accurately than Reba Rambo's Confessions.

Written in the midst of a devastating divorce, Reba dared to go where no Christian artist had gone before (once again). Originally titled It's Okay To Hurt, she bared her soul. She bared so much of her soul in this album that Light Records even asked her if she could even say all of this on a Christian album. Much to their credit, they gave her the opportunity to see.

The entire first side chronicles the trauma that she experienced. Even in exposing the pain, her faith was somehow the anchor even as she walked through the feelings:

He never turned His back on me
when I was in the wrong place at the wrong time
beaten and robbed: left to die
He never turned His back on me
when you lifted your white robes and walked on by
Talking of shame...judging my life
He never stopped to question
He made His way through all the hurt to reach my need
He cared for me

The first three songs seamlessly segue into one another..."He Never Turned His Back On Me" sails into the achingly sorrowful "I Won't Last a Day" and then into the gospel-ish "I Cry Out To You", which fades with Reba almost entering a primal scream..."You hear me...you hear me...you hear me..." While discussing this album with a friend today, he asked a question that perhaps best summarizes the emotion expressed throughout this album, but specifically, in these first three songs: "How many people were bleeding in the studio like Reba was?"

"Struggle For Survival" finds Reba in a place of determination...and Side 1 ends with the anthem-ish "Don't Give Up". Aside from being one of her most poignant lyrics, it is one of the most lush tracks ever produced by the brilliant Dony McGuire. He pulled a stratospheric vocal performance from Reba, ending with Reba sounding off with a note that could rival a trumpet blast.

If Side 1 chronicled "The Struggle", then Side 2 details "The Healing". Where Side 1 was melancholy, Side 2 is joyful. The "At Last I Found Love" and "With a Friend Like You" suite channels a Chaka Khan & Rufus influence that is infectious...downright jubilant.

You wrapped yourself like a patchwork quilt
around the loneliness in my heart
You warmed me up with a steaming cup
of the sweetest love my soul's ever known
You make me feel at last I belong
in your arms I found a permanent home
Ain't gonna run away, ain't gonna hide no more
cuz I found what I've been searching for...
love

While I'd always heralded "Because of Whose I Am" as the theological centerpiece of the album, it was in re-listening to the album this week in the midst of my own process, that perhaps the most ignored track on the album because the most significant to me.

"I've Got It All" is the another installment in a line of Reba compositions that begs us to revisit our concept of God...and ourselves. While her reading of "Just As I Am" from Lady began the discussion, "He Can Be" from The Prodigal...According to Reba boldly continued the probing. Then "Just Can't Believe It's You" (on Dreamin') subtly reiterated the concept. "I've Got It All" seems to be a continued exploration of oneness with God:

You wake me with the day You made
Send the morning laughing across my room
Glad it's not the way it was before you came
And made me believe in me
and the simple things
the beauty of the love created in me
I don't have to worry if I don't have much money
I'm blessed with your riches and that's what's most important

I've got it all as long as I've got you
If it's rain or sunny I don't mind
I'm content to know you live inside
You're the Lord of everything and I'm your child
and I've got it all if I've got you

The album's closer, "A Perfect Heart", continues this train of thought...

I'm amazed at His talents
Stand in awe of One so great
Now my soul begins to sing out
to the Source form which it came

Confessions, released in 1980, was the last solo album comprised of entirely original material by Reba to ever be recorded (Her last solo album, Lady Live, was released in 1982) and what a statement this album was. I get emails from people all the time looking for this album on CD...and hear accounts all the time of how this album has carried people through many a painful process.

As I have been walking through my own dark night of the soul, this is the album that has been the soundtrack of that experience. While it was been a part of my life since 1980, I had never been to the depths of it until this past week...and it has been like the strongest hand with fingers intertwined with mine...walking me through the backside of the desert.

Once again, thank you Reba for living the song.

Be sure to check my interview with Reba and hear more about the making of Confessions. Click here.

Reba performs "At Last I Found Love" in 1980 below!

Repackaged: Ashford & Simpson: Hits, Remixes and Rarities

2008-06-15T10:41:00.004-05:00

I love me some Ashford & Simpson. They exude what the true definition of love and partnership is supposed to be about. On my most skeptical day, I look at them and am forced to believe that it is possible. And then there are the songs. So many classics sung by others as well as themselves that have ultimately defined generations.

In the midst of a cynical mood this past week, I belatedly purchased this recent release, Hits, Remixes and Rarities, a two disc collection of their greatest hits, in their original 12" splendor, as well as a second disc full of retooled remixes giving a fresh take on these classics. The original version of "Over & Over" (perhaps most remembered and defined by Sylvester's version) is included for the first time on CD.

Click here to purchase.

Be sure to view the segment/interview with them from CBS' Sunday Morning telecast, aired a few weeks back.

If you can't view the video, click here.

Better Late Than Never: Robert Plant & Allison Krauss: Raising Sand

2008-06-15T10:24:00.003-05:00

So I should have written about this album when it first came out. I was on my sabbatical...and this album became a part of my daily routine. If you don't get it for the rest of it's brilliance, "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" is worth the price of the album all on it's own.

If you can't view the video, click here.

The One To Watch: Adele

2008-06-15T10:12:00.002-05:00

My best friend Lenny called me this past week urging me to turn on the Today show and see this British gal BLOWING. I flipped the television to NBC and when she was done, I walked right over to the computer and bought her album on iTUNES. A beautiful blend of soul, folk and pop. And she writes these incredibly well crafted songs. 19 is the name of the album. Get it.

If you can't view the video, click here.

CD Review: Alanis Morissette: Flavors of Entanglement

2008-06-15T09:45:00.005-05:00

There's a lot I could say about the new Alanis CD to try and express how much I love it...but I think the video clip of "Incomplete" (my favorite cut) should be enough to convince you to pick it up. I've posted the lyric as well.

One day I’ll find relief
I’ll be arrived and I’ll be a friend to my friends who know how to be friends
One day I’ll be at peace
I’ll be enlightened and I’ll be married with children and maybe adopt
One day I will be healed
I will gather my wounds forge the end of tragic comedy

I have been running so sweaty my whole life
Urgent for a finish line
And I have been missing the rapture this whole time
Of being forever incomplete

One day, my mind will retreat, and I’ll know god
and I’ll be constantly one with her night dusk and day
One day I’ll be secure, like the women I see on their 30th anniversaries

I have been running so sweaty my whole life
Urgent for a finish line
And I have been missing the rapture this whole time
Of being forever incomplete

Ever unfolding
Ever expanding
Ever adventurous and torturous
But never done

One day, I will speak freely
I’ll be less afraid
And measured outside of my poems and lyrics and art
One day I will be faith-filled
I’ll be trusting and spacious authentic and grounded and whole

I have been running so sweaty my whole life
Urgent for a finish line
And I have been missing the rapture this whole time
Of being forever incomplete

If you are unable to view this video, click here.

Q&A with Patsy Moore

2008-06-10T17:40:00.004-05:00

My favorite artists in the world are the true seekers: the ones who ask the questions...the ones who dare to push beyond the status quo...the ones who take the road less traveled. With an amazing three albums, Patsy Moore has said more than many artists say in a 30 year career. Just weeks into the release of the amazing The Most Private Confessions of Saint Clair, Patsy took the time to sit down with me and talk theology, art and more...tad.

Tim: I have to begin by asking about the two Warner Brothers albums. You came at an interesting time in contemporary Christian music...You were post-Leslie Phillips (another student of Thomas Merton's writings), who was perhaps the only artist to pose the kinds of concerns that you raised in your music. How did you come to be in the Christian music circle at that point in your career and what was the response to these very intellectual and philosphical albums?

Patsy: To be perfectly honest with you, the idea of being part of CCM made me a bit nervous, and I only signed on for that because the head of Warner’s then boutique Christian label presented the deal to me as one to be shared with the pop side of WB--which, in fact, it was. In my teen and young adult years, there were definitely Christian artists who’d made a real impression on me...folks like Charlie Peacock, Bob Bennett, The Choir, Leslie Phillips, Rich Mullins...and some, such as Kim Hill and Trace Balin, later even recorded my music; but, you know, I’ve long subscribed to something once stated by T Bone Burnett: “For the artist who has seen The Light, there is the additional decision of whether to create work about that light, or to describe what one sees by the light.” It’s been said that the former glares, while the latter illumines. For me, anything other than saying, “Hey, I’m not sure how it is for you, but here’s my story” feels fraudulent and imperious. As far as bearing witness to The Light goes, I can only attest to catching bits of light through the cracks...seeing through a glass darkly. Figuring IT out is everyone’s life’s work, and I’m resigned to the reality that I’ll still have serious questions whenever I make my transition from this place.

If concerns were raised by my early albums, it’s simply because then (as now) I had more of those than I did answers. And, perhaps, people responded as favorably as they did because they felt the same way.

I would never presume to speak for Leslie “Sam” Phillips (who I absolutely adore), but I always had the sense that wearing the CCM coat was as uncomfortable a fit for her as it was for me. And not because either of us didn’t believe, but because we’d dared to believe differently. And in public, no less. (So, by the way, did Merton, towards the end of his life, and...well...look what happened there. Or consider the case of the incredibly brave Carlton Pearson.) I was really at odds with believing in Spirit...a Higher Power...and, in my own hopefully non-pedantic, organic manner, sharing that by way of a Christian label division headed by lovely people who happened to see God in a significantly more traditional, more fundamental way. The mainstream side of Warner, of course, couldn’t have cared less; but relations at Alliance were frequently challenging, because I had to find a way to speak my truth...about faith, about doubt, about politics, about human sexuality, about whatever...while playing a role in helping my record label meet its agendas. And, let me tell you, that was no small task!

Tim: Tell me about the beginning of your life as an artist. Did you always know this is what you would do?

Patsy: Well, I always knew that I AM an artist; I didn’t, necessarily, have aspirations toward a career as an artist. Until I was, maybe, 20, I was focused on becoming a broadcast journalist. To this day, I feel certain I had the talent to pursue that course, but nothing has ever matched the passion I have for making music or engaging in any of the other artistic disciplines that occupy my time. The one bit of residue, though, is that I’m a COMPLETE news junkie!

Tim: As a writer, who have been your greatest influences and why?

Patsy: It’s pretty common knowledge that I’ve been heavily influenced and impacted by Joni Mitchell. (As a matter of fact, I’ve been listening to Turbulent Indigo all day.) Joni has inspired not only my song craft, but my philosophical approach to artistry.

Terri Lyne Carrington, Patsy Moore, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, and Herbie Hancock at session for Hancock's "Gershwin's World" (1998); credit: Robert Zuckerman]
I have a tremendous number of other models, but, right off the top of my head, there’s the painter Joan Miro, whose work has been described as “a sandbox for the subconscious mind”; jazz bassist/composer Charlie Mingus and the band U2; photographers Sally Mann and Mary Ellen Mark; authors J.D. Salinger, Toni Morrison, and James Baldwin; filmmakers John Cassavetes, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Louis Malle...and all because their voices were or are singular. They represent unblushing deconstruction and heart-piercing truth-telling. They stir the mind and soul and make me want to lay beautiful and important things on the altar.

Tim: The Most Private Confessions of Saint Clair is an incredibly intimate work. I've read that the process was grueling both professionally and personally. Can you tell me about the behind the scenes innerworkings of this project?

Patsy: So much. So much. This album was created against a backdrop of dire illness (my own and that of dear, dear friends and family), death (five friends passed on as I tried to complete it), technical problems ad nauseam, financial woes, the painful parting of ways with people I’d known for years, and the regaining of my sense of self. Even now, when I hear these songs, they’re connected to that much broader story, as well as extreme gratitude for being here to even reflect on that.

Tim: There are two specific songs that intrigued me...and I was wondering if there were stories behind them: "God Help The Girls" and "She (Somewhat Satirical)".

Patsy: "God Help The Girls" was my rumination on someone who shines his or her high beams on another person for, you know, 15 minutes, making that person feel as though she's the most significant being alive...until...a better someone special comes along.

We’ve all seen it. Some of us have been unfortunate enough to experience it. In this case, the song has a double meaning: It’s about a person I know, but it’s also about the music industry.

I’m a photography buff and, in recent years, when funds have allowed, I’ve become a modest collector. One of my all-time favorite images (and still WAY above my paygrade) is by the late Hungarian photographer Andre Kertesz. It’s titled “La Danseuse Satirique” (The Satiric Dancer) and was taken circa 1926, after Kertesz emigrated to Paris, France. The subject of the photo was a dancer and cabaret performer named Magda Forstner, who struck a similar pose to the Etienne Beothy sculpture which happens to appear behind her in that famous shot. So, “She” is a song about a photo. I figured there should be at least one tune out there about 1920s Franco-Hungarian camerawork, n’est-ce pas?

Tim: What is next for Patsy Moore?

Patsy: Gigs. Touring. Writing. In about a week, Maria “Myrrh” Hobbs and I begin scoring a new series called “Pushing Twilight”, for the IFC Network. We’re VERY excited about that.

To purchase The Most Private Confessions of Saint Clair, visit anyone of these links:
AMAZON mp3: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018QZ5XW/ref=dm_ap_alb1/105-6361182-0562038
eMUSIC: http://www.emusic.com/artist/Patsy-Moore-MP3-Download/12000236.html
iTUNES: http://www.apple.com/search/ipoditunes/?q=The+Most+Private+Confessions+of+Saint+Clair
Click here to BUY HARD COPIES

CD Review: Patsy Moore: "The Most Private Confessions of Saint Clair"

2008-06-09T20:43:00.004-05:00

Love is a sweet sacrifice
It is not a burden
There's nothing I would rather do
Than bring you peace
I could be your shelter
when bombs are whistling
I could be your harbor
if you'd come to me
from "I Will"

Earlier this year, I was looking for my Patsy Moore CDs and could not find them. A friend had them and forwarded them to me, and I rediscovered two of the most stirring gems to be released on the Warner Alliance label in the 90s. Her work was targeted to the contemporary Christian market, but like so many of my favorite artists from the genre, the industry was unable to pigeonhole, or force her to give into their demands for their fast food philosophy. Patsy Moore was (and is) a seeker. And it has been far too long since we heard from her.

So, after revisiting the albums, I found her on MySpace and was thrilled to hear that she had a new release coming. When I received my copy in the mail, I began soaking in the lyricism and heartfelt musicianship that makes up what I am calling one of the Top 10 releases of 2008.

The Most Private Confessions of Saint Clair is exactly what it sounds like. Intimate. Personal. Revealing. It's like being let in on the most private of conversations: the kind that one conducts only with one's self. She tells the secrets of the soul: unapologetically and without hesitation.

Musically, Patsy Moore knows no bounds. This album is genre-less, but if I had to define it, I would say it is a soulful blend of experimental folk and rock with an 80s twist. How's that? It is aggressive and vulnerable, defiant and satirical, elegant and down to earth: all at the same time.

Vocally, I hear echoes of the much-too-unknown Rebecca Ed Sparks, but let me be clear: Patsy Moore is comparable to no one. Her voice is distinct and clear, delivering her lyrics with passionate conviction.

It's been ten years since I pressed a record
It's been nine years since I cared at all
It's been eight years since my last confession
It's been four years since the sad phone call
And I only bring this up to mention
That every single solitary story on that shelf
brought me to the best part of myself
from "The Most Private Confessions of Saint Clair"

The most important thing to note is that Patsy Moore is a real writer: a poet, a mystic, a romantic, a cynic and a believer. She carries the listener with every pendulum swing of emotion and has clearly taken the time to craft the 11 stories told on The Most Private Confessions. She tells her story, but in doing so, tells our story: topics range from industry concerns, the mortality of ourselves and loved ones, romantic woes and celebration, and spiritual exploration.

The Most Private Confessions is one of the most engaging and intriguing albums I've heard in quite a while...It is an experience...and that's what record-making is supposed to be about.

Welcome back Patsy Moore. Click here for purchase information. Below are purchase links as well:

AMAZON mp3: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018QZ5XW/ref=dm_ap_alb1/105-6361182-0562038
eMUSIC: http://www.emusic.com/artist/Patsy-Moore-MP3-Download/12000236.html
iTUNES: http://www.apple.com/search/ipoditunes/?q=The+Most+Private+Confessions+of+Saint+Clair
BUY HARD COPIES AT https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=admin%40patsymoore%2ecom&undefined_quantity=1&item_name=The%20Most%20Private%20Confessions%20of%20Saint%20Clair%3a%20Studio%20Renderings%20CD&item_number=PCCD1001&amount=12%2e99&no_shipping=2&return=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2epatsymoore

Book Review: LM Ross: The Moanin' After

2008-06-09T11:29:00.005-05:00

"That blue moan was something you earned. You earned it after searching for what felt like forever. After all the beatdowns, break-ups, bad moves, setbacks, crushed feelings, and busted-up hearts, you earned it. You see, you had to be battered and kicked so hard it hurt ni your gut...before you even recognized it. And once you had it, all the terrible shit, it just vanishes. You meet The One, and that person stimulates you, moves your senses, so deeply, that this moan would just come on like a vapor, and it was supposed to calm you--take all the craziness and make sense of it. It was sanctuary."
LM Ross, in "The Moanin' After"

I like to think that LM Ross writes books just for me. They always seem to land on my desk at just the right moment. They always seem to speak exactly to what I am experiencing. I can wrap myself up in them like blankets and feel related to, understood...and the things that I don't understand are explained to me.

A sequel to a book as great as Manhood: The Longest Moan had to have been a scary task to tackle. It was a grand work of poetic fiction that conjured the greats: James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ntozake Shange. What makes the sequel as equally brilliant, is Ross' resolve to not duplicate the voice of the first novel.

The Moanin' After speaks with a new timbre. The story of David, Tyrone, Brownie and Face continues, even beyond the grave for two of the characters. David's voice is more primary in this work, and the tone is deeply spiritual, ethereal and esoteric this time around. I don't want to give the storyline away, but I must say that the story centers around the awakening of David, there is a riveting return of Bliss Santana, and a surprising twist involving Tyrone that should tweak the interest of anyone who read the first book. If you haven't, then you must begin with Manhood and continue with Moanin'.

The feelings of grief, heartache, friendship, love, connection, resolution and salvation are palpable in every word. These characters live, breathe and dance through Ross' brilliant storytelling until they are palpable. This is the kind of writing contemporary fiction writers are incapable of...and Ross truly has no contemporaries. He is head and shoulders above the rest.

To hear my interview with LM Ross, click here.

CD Review: Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything

2008-06-09T07:20:00.002-05:00

I have been a Sam Phillips fan since somewhere around 1984 when she was known as Leslie Phillips. It was in 1987 when she released an album called "The Turning" that I went from fan to student. "The Turning" was a glimpse into the soul of a woman who was a seeker...one who had serious thoughts, questions and was intent on chronicling those on vinyl. Every album since "The Turning", recorded under the "Sam" moniker, has been a snapshot of her progression both musically and spiritually.

"Don't Do Anything" essentially marks the beginning of the third chapter of Sam Phillips' career. While her work as Leslie bookmarks her time in contemporary Christian music, and her first series of albums as Sam were stamped by the production of T Bone Burnett, "Don't Do Anything" is the first album entirely produced by Phillips, indicating the vision of her compositions as she sees them herself.

"Don't Do Anything" is a sonic treat. Crunching guitars. Intriguing drum patterns. Sweeping strings. Those infamous Beatle-esque harmonies that only Sam Phillips can sing. Eerie lead vocals sung from the depths of someplace she has never sung from before.

And then there are the lyrics. While the majority of the songs deal with heartache and break-up, Phillips writes from a tangible, spiritual place that she has never written about before. Perhaps best summarized in "Sister Rosetta Paves The Way" (inspired by the late Sister Rosetta Tharpe), she writes of a spirit guide who leads her "as I go on alone...with the music up above." She also visits this theme on "Shake It Down" and "Watching Out of this World".

I've read that the songs were inspired by collages that Phillips created, and that's actually how the songs sound: an assortment of sounds created and pasted on a poster board...with a vocal overlay that brings them further alive on a canvas of vivid imagery and color.

She is a firm believer in the 'less is more' philosophy of creating: Her albums have never exceeded 40 minutes and she has rarely (if ever) recorded a song over 4 minutes long. And her albums last us sometimes for up to 4 years before we get a new statement...and they always succeed in feeding us.

"Don't Do Anything" is an exciting indicator in the creative life of Sam Phillips: the sound is inventive, the voice is alive, the lyrics are stirring...and she's performing more live than she has in years...so maybe...not doing anything truly IS the key...

"Out the Box" Updates

2008-05-27T17:42:00.003-05:00

Hello friends--

Tim wishes to extend his love and thanks for your emails and messages of support over the past weeks.

This blogspot was temporarily taken down as Tim and his team began reorganizing and planning the remainder of the year.

For those who do not know, Jazz Syndicate Radio, the home of "Out the Box" from it's inception, closed it's doors as the show was airing it's season finale. "Out the Box" is NOT over...and will be returning for it's third season on it's new home at Starpoint Radio. Details regarding the new season will be released as September draws closer. In the meantime, be sure to go to iTUNES and download any shows you may have missed from last season!

Tim is hard at work planning the release of his gospel album, "Dawning of a New Day". You can see his recent interview (His first of 2008) with SoulTracks.com's L. Michael Gipson by clicking here.

There will be some special podcast editions of "Out the Box" coming in upcoming weeks, so be sure to subscribe to the feeds so you will know when the page has been updated. Tim has also launched http://timdillinger.blogspot.com to specifically focus on his music.

More to come.
Administrator.

THIS SUNDAY: SEASON FINALE: REBA RAMBO-McGUIRE PART TWO

2008-04-22T16:57:00.002-05:00

Don't miss this season's final episode of "Out the Box". Tim will be closing this season out with Part Two of his interview with his primary musical inspiration, Reba Rambo-McGuire.

The show will be available for download on iTUNES on Sunday! (See link on the right side of the screen!)

OTB Playlist 4/20/08: Special Guests: Angela Johnson and Tariq Walton

2008-04-22T16:47:00.002-05:00

This past Sunday was our first day available as a podcast only. Jazz Syndicate Radio shut it's doors effective last week.

Our special guests on this Sunday's show were artist/producer Angela Johnson & author Tariq Walton. Click on the link to the right to download from iTUNES!

Playlist is below:

1. Out the Box Theme--Lenny Hamilton--Unreleased
2 What Kind of Love--Howard Pearl f/Debra Cook--Unreleased
3. Legacy--Nichole Nordeman--from "Woven & Spun"
4. I've Got It All--Reba Rambo--from "Confessions"
5. In Your Arms--Tim Dillinger--from "Love Is On My Mind"
6. Safe In His Arms--Milton Brunson & The Tommies--from "50 Blessed Years"
7. All The Way--Andrae Crouch--from "Finally"
8. It's Gonna Get a Bit Better--Aretha Franklin--from "La Diva"
9. Just Keep Thinking About You--Tata Vega--from "Try My Love"
10. Dream Flight--Rahsaan Patterson--from "Angela Johnson Presents A Woman's Touch"
11. Let Me Know--Eric Roberson--from "Angela Johnson Presents A Woman's Touch"
12. Hit Me Where I Live--Teena Marie--from "La Dona"
13. Hideaway--Mohammed Bilal--from "Beatbox Metafiction"
14. Are You Sure--Staples Singers--from "Freedom Highway"
15. Drink The Wine--Valerie Simpson--from "The Collection"
16. Which Way The Wind Blows--2nd Chapter of Acts--from "With Footnotes"
17. Stand Like Steel--Randy Stonehill--from "Return To Paradise"
18. Ordinary People--Dannibelle Hall--from "Let Me Have a Dream"
19. Love Is Everywhere I Go--Sam Phillips--from "Fan Dance"
20. Trees of the Ages/Emmie--Laura Nyro--from "Live: The Loom's Desire"

4/13/08 OTB Playlist

2008-04-14T09:38:00.003-05:00

Don't forget to go to iTUNES and download this past Sunday's "Out the Box". Tim's special guest was Pastor Barry Drudge, his longtime friend and collaborator. Barry and his wife Dream co-pastor The House of Bread in Indiana.

Playlist:
1. Out the Box Theme--Lenny Hamilton--Unreleased
2. Yes & Know--Kathy Troccoli--from "Heart and Soul"
3. Day After Day--Cheryl Lynn--from "Instant Love"
4. Attitude of Gratitude--Teri DeSario--from "Voices In The Wind"
5. Jesus Is A Love Song--The Clark Sisters--from "Heart & Soul"
6. Can't Help But Say--Tim Dillinger--from "Love Is On My Mind"
7. Sweet Harmony--Maria Muldaur--from "Sweet Harmony"
8. North Dakota--Lyle Lovett--from "Joshua Judges Ruth"
9. I Don't Want Anything To Change--Bonnie Raitt--from "Souls Alike"
10. God Don't Ever Change--Russ Taff--from "Under Their Influence"
11. 99 and 1/2--Mavis Staples--from "We'll Never Turn Back"
12. I'm Just Fooling Myself--Sam Phillips--Unreleased
13. Somebody Just Like You--Teena Marie--from "Sapphire"
14. So Many Rivers To Cross--Oleta Adams--from "The Very Best"
15. Sparrow Watcher--Pam Mark Hall with Amy Grant & Kathy Troccoli--from "Supply & Demand"
16. Take Me To The Water--Nina Simone--from "The Ultimate"
17. Find Me--Margaret Becker--from "The Reckoning"
18. Be Aware--Laura Nyro--from "Angel In The Dark"
19. Again--John Legend--from "Once Again"
20. Hail Mary--Lashun Pace--from "Complete"
21. Old School Boulevard--Dorothy Norwood--from "No Request"

DOROTHY NORWOOD: THIS SUNDAY (3/30) ON OTB!

2008-03-27T15:00:00.003-05:00

Don't miss our interview with the legendary DOROTHY NORWOOD this Sunday on 'Out The Box'. We will be discussing her new release "No Request" and her 50 year career in gospel music.

The show will air at 9 AM and 7 PM EST on Jazz Syndicate Radio. It will also be available for download as a podcast on iTUNES.

THIS SUNDAY on OTB: author LM ROSS

2008-03-21T11:21:00.003-05:00

If you've followed "Out the Box" for the past year, then you know that we adore the work (and words!) of LM Ross here. His last novel, "Manhood: The Longest Moan", was a critical and commercial success and the sequel, "The Moaning After", releases this Tuesday (the 25th).

Hear our chat with LM Ross this Sunday at 10 AM or 8 PM EST on Jazz Syndicate Radio.

Noteable Quote

2008-03-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

Just as God is truly our Father, so also is God truly our mother...
The deep Wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother. In her we are all enclosed....
[God is] our true mother in whom we are endlessly carried and out of whom we will never come.
God is the true Father and Mother of Nature, and all natures that are made to flow out of God to work the divine will will be restored and brought again into God.
God feels great delight to be our Mother.
--Julian of Norwich
(1346-1416)

CD Review: Angela Johnson: "A Woman's Touch"

2008-03-15T08:46:00.006-05:00

Angela Johnson Presents...A Woman's Touch, Volume 1
Various Artists
Purpose Records
Click here to purpose.

One of my biggest gripes with R&B/soul music--heck, even hip-hop for that matter, is the lack of a female presence in the production arena. Over the course of the past 30 years, we've seen a handful of brilliant female singer/songwriters who have dared to take the reins of their production: Patrice Rushen, Teena Marie, Angela Winbush, Cheryl Lynn and Bernadette Cooper. They paved the way for artists like Mariah Carey, Beyonce and Missy Elliot to take creative control, but in the big picture, we would find it challenging to make a list of more than 20 names.

And along comes Angela Johnson. We've known her as a part of Cooly's Hot Box and an accomplished solo artist in her own right, but she has stepped out in a bold effort to create an album that has never been made before. A Woman's Touch Volume 1 is a collection of songs written and produced by Ms. Johnson for other artists.

Featuring some of the most accomplished and vital artists in the burgeoning soul scene, Johnson does what great producers do, pushing these artists to showcase more of their own range and versatility.

In an interesting twist of irony, it is the tracks produced for the male artists that shine brightest. She draws two of my favorite performances of their entire careers from Frank McComb and Eric Roberson, respectively, which is a huge statement considering the brilliance of their already staggering bodies of work. Rahsaan Patterson's "Dream Flight" is a delightful slice of classic soul, with it's sassy horn arrangement and delicious harmonies.

And the female artists deliver as well. Maysa Leak's performance of "More Than You Know" is the highlight for me, with it's Aretha-esque arrangement and jazz-influenced instrumentation, Johnson produces a shining moment for this artist, displaying a unique show of intimacy and stillness. Julie Dexter and Monet deliver stellar performances as well, focusing on mid-tempo tracks that create an unshakable ambiance. Johnson herself shines on the groove-oriented "Should've Been There", which is reminiscent of something from Chaka Khan's early solo career.

A Woman's Touch's mere existence is a piece of music industry history, but beyond that, Johnson delivers the goods. Here's to hoping that this album opens the door for this remarkable talent to produce other established artists within the mainstream...and inspires other women to take the steps to own their creative process. We are looking forward to Volume 2...

From a Reader About Reba Rambo-McGuire

2008-03-13T21:42:00.004-05:00

A note from 'Out the Box': A reminder that Sunday's show will be a rare interview with Reba Rambo-McGuire. Due to time changes, the show will air at 10 AM and 8 PM EST on Jazz Syndicate Radio. We will return to our normal show time on Sunday March 30.

________________

Holy flashback! Just a week ago I was doing a search on line. I was looking for musicians that inspired me when growing up and I came across your page about Reba Rambo-McGuire. Then i saw you were going to be doing an interview with her this Sunday!

Wow! I can't tell you how much she influenced my own music. She's not your typical CCM artist. With her parents being a couple of the founding members of TBN, one might think that she would grow up to be all show and little content (whoops, that was a commentary on the station NOT on the Rambos). Quite the opposite. Her music always embraced different styles that other CCM artists would be afraid to touch, like funk, and soulful jazz. Furthermore, her lyrics would go there too. Not just the "God loves me, I love God" reruns we hear in so many songs. She always had a creative angle, some way of looking at our spiritual journey in a creative yet innocently unashamed manner.

Listening to her work 20 to 30 years later (yikes!), sure, some of it might seem on the gimmicky side (comparing heaven to the Wizard of Oz) but in the early years of CCM, I remember friends turning up their noses because she was too cutting edge.

In my search for her music, I found a video clip of her performing last year one of her best known songs and would you believe it? After all this time, her set of pipes blew that song out of the ballpark! You go, grrrrl!

Although my spiritual walk has led me far beyond conservative Christianity, these are my roots and she is one of the pillars to my inspiration. Thanks, Tim for reminding me of her! Now if only we could find her stuff online or on CD (hint, hint, Reba!)

Always - Jallen Rix, Ed.D. ACS

After making a successful living as a singer/songwriter for over a decade in the Christian and LGBT communities, Dr. Jallen Rix returned to school to receive his doctorate of education in sexology from The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. He maintains a private practice in San Francisco as well as personal phone consultations and sex coaching. He specializes in maximizing sexual pleasure for singles and couples, "ex-gay" and religious abuse recovery, and creative approaches to sex education. You can learn more about Dr. Rix at his website. Read his latest column at: planetout.com/sexuality

CONCERT REVIEW: LIZZ WRIGHT

2008-03-13T21:06:00.002-05:00

by Q

To say Lizz Wright is a wonder is probably an understatement to those who have been following her career for more than a couple years. Rarely does one find a singer capable of becoming one with every song she sings. Emotionally, she is always in perfect pitch with the lyrics. It is amazing to think she is still in her 20s because she gives every song the care that some artists take decades to master.

Her performance at Yoshi’s in Oakland last Thursday was a stunning and powerful display of her interpretative gifts. Whether introducing songs from her new album, The Orchard, or familiar songs from previous releases, Wright’s intuitive understanding of what works musically for her is a big part of why she is so dynamic on stage and deserves a wider audience. This woman lives and breathes the music.

Her take on the Ike and Tina Turner classic “I Idolize You” was seductive and classy, yet still had a resonant emotional punch. The catchy “My Heart” had the audience bouncing and wanting to get up and move. The poignant “Another Angel” and “Speak Your Heart” each conveyed a heartbreaking sense of longing.

Between songs she opened up and shared things like how her life seems to make the most sense when she is performing or how she gets lost in the songs and the audience’s applause snaps her back. My favourite revelation was how challenging it is for her to shift between such intense emotions from song to song, but then she smiled and confessed maybe that is what God made her for.

Backed by a cohesive four-piece band and background singer Gina Breedlove, Wright’s contralto was flawless. Particularly impressive considering she was not feeling well and had to cancel shows the following night. The incredibly talented Ms. Breedlove provided support as well as someone to play with vocally. Their exchange on “Old Man” was especially wonderful as the two traded parts at the end of the song. Breedlove also shined on “I Idolize You,” “Speak Your Heart,” and Wright’s signature song, “Salt.”

When I first heard Wright’s debut album, 2003’s Salt, I began to tell people I wanted to live a long life so I could watch her grow. Over the past 5 years, I’ve watched her become more confident on stage, more sophisticated in her songwriting, and nurture what is clearly a rare talent. I could not help but think during her performance that I was witnessing a piece of heaven because the joy of seeing how she continues to explore and grow gave me a sense that something Eternal was happening in that auditorium.

At only 28, one cannot help but think this already amazing journey that she is leading us on will only get better. Simply put, it was an unforgettable performance by a gifted young woman.

THIS SUNDAY: REBA RAMBO-McGUIRE

2008-03-12T11:28:00.004-05:00

I'm honored to announce that my chief musical influence, Reba Rambo McGuire, will be my special guest on Sunday's "Out the Box". In my entire life, no artist has influenced me in the way that Reba is. Don't miss this special, special show. This will be a rare look into the amazing body of work that she has created over the past 30 years...

Click here for an extended exploration of Reba's work.

More to come on the 'OTB' blog before Sunday's show....

Coming in June!!

2008-03-10T08:20:00.004-05:00

A new release from one of my favorite mystics....Mark the calendars!

Ivory by Teena Marie

2008-03-06T20:43:00.004-06:00

Don't miss our tribute to Teena Marie on Sunday's edition of "Out the Box", co-hosted by myself, Stephanie Renee and GodSistah!

I come full circle mother 
Ever wild and ever peaceful 
City upon city piled high upon my back 
Ten thousand years before Christ   
I tilled this earth
And from me sprang poetry, astrology,   
music, sensuality. 
Symmetry, and industrialization. 

Mine was the first important work of society.
Since Day One I ruled supreme.
I reigned my lands nobly and justly,   
loving my sons and my daughters equally well.

I posess outer beauty coupled with   
inner strength. 
I have always been woman
and I have a backbone. 

I have been called many names  
by many people. 
Athene, Dianna, Minerva, Hecate,   
Hera, Rhamnusia Quan Yin, Amaterasu.
"But the Egyptians which are  
excellent in all kinds of ancient   
knowledge do call me by my true name.
Queen Isis.

"From out of Africa I came,"
I gave my angels charge over thee to keep   
thee safe in the fruit of my womb,   
Jesus.
I am Mary the mother of grace 
and my smile will Light your Primordial Dawn.
I am queen of the Nile.
The lion and every living beast submit tenderly to me,
for I am the last word Momma,
and the true first wonder of the world.
I am the royal house of David, and the tribe of Judah.

My blood is blue and my lineage is long. 
They can destroy my records, but I keep coming back.
For I am a symbol of what will survive.  

For my mother and yours.                            
Lady Tee

Noteable Quote

2008-03-06T15:52:00.003-06:00

"It is my belief that in the Presence of God there is neither male nor female, white nor black, Gentile nor Jew, Protestant nor Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, nor Moslem, but a human spirit stripped to the literal substance of itself before God"
--Howard Thurman

Happy Birthday Teena Marie

2008-03-05T07:28:00.004-06:00

Anyone who has been listening to the show or reading the blog for any period of time should realize that Teena Marie is a part of my Holy Trinity, one of the three artists that has had the greatest impact on me.

Today, we celebrate and honor her birthday.

Thank you Teena for being. Period.

For an extended reading on why Teena Marie is so important to so many of us, click here.

We will be re-airing the two hour tribute to her work on Sunday in recognition of her birthday. Tune in at 9 AM or 7 PM EST at www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk.

Flashback: Russ Taff

2008-03-03T20:12:00.005-06:00

Perhaps it's my own strange pattern, but I realized that three of four albums that have shaped my own personal theology were recorded between 1985 and 1987 and were released by Word Records ("The Turning" by Leslie Phillips, "Voices In The Wind" by Teri DeSario and "Russ Taff" by Russ Taff). I look at those years in Christian music and yearn for them again. Artists insisted on asking questions, baring their souls and understanding the true foundation of faith.

Russ Taff's self-titled confessional came on the heels of one of the most wildly successful albums of his career (Medals). Medals was upbeat, evangelistic and buoyant, but Russ Taff was a primal scream from someone who had been on the backside of the desert. From the very first growl, "All that can shake is gonna shake", the listener is clear that this album is a cathartic experience.

Russ Taff was seemingly birthed from a crisis of faith: a breakdown in the psyche of one's most basic belief system. "Shake" spoke to the disillusionment with the growing church empire and the disappointment of the faith-in-man trap, while "Down In The Lowlands" finds Russ in the depths of the valley, feeling the isolation that one feels in the midst of such soulical disturbance.

This album has been my companion as my own faith has had to crumble in order to be better understood. Shortly before I 'came out', I played "Believe In Love" over and over and over...listening for something...uncertain of what...and then the lyric "Don't be afraid of the questions anymore...the answer lies waiting" jumped out at me...and the song became personal for me. I named my coming out blog 'Don't Be Afraid of the Questions Anymore".

I got to see Russ in concert in 2000 and he performed "I Still Believe", the song that many consider to be the centerpiece of this project. I watched him seemingly pull this song from his very bones...The lyric is a declaration of the highest order..."I'll march this road, I'll climb this hill, upon my knees if I have to...For people like us...in places like this...we need all the hope that we can get." It is the quint-essential chemistry that an artist must have with a song. It is the prime example of why Russ Taff is my favorite male vocalist on the planet.

In 2008, as we are in the face of a global crisis of faith...in a day when Christianity is more akin to a terrorist faction than Jesus, Russ Taff asks the questions that any person of faith should be asking. It also reminds us of the importance of faith, healing, and the greatest commandment: love.

An Anointed Child: David Archuleta

2008-03-03T18:38:00.002-06:00

I'm not one who "goes in" on "American Idol". The last and only contestant who ever got me voting was Fantasia, but this little 17 year old boy is absolutely amazing to me. His innate sense of the song, his love of the lyric and his ability to find that place of simplicity and purity is quite simply a gift...a gift that few artists, period , have...let alone one who is 17. If we were in church, we would call him anointed. David Archuleta rocks.

THIS SUNDAY ON OTB (2/24): TIM'M WEST

2008-02-28T09:12:00.003-06:00

Comradarie is hard to come by. I met Tim'm West a little less than a year ago and our first conversation was one full of synergy and relatability: as artists and brothers. We had a certain connection because of our upbringing in the Pentecostal church, but also because of our realizations of God and self after those experiences. But Tim'm has a brilliance that few can claim. He has touched the lives of countless people (mine included) by sharing his life in a vulnerable and unguarded way that many choose not to.

His work as an artist and activist is unparallelled. He was part of the groundbreaking hip-hop group, Deep Dickollective and the world was introduced to his voice. He is the author of three books (Red Dirt Revival, Bare and Flirting) and has also released two solo projects (Songs From Red Dirt and Blakkboy Blues). He is an internationally acclaimed speaker and performer and was featured in the PBS documentary Beyond Beats and Rhymes and the LOGO documentary Pick Up The Mic.

He is my special guest on this Sunday's "Out the Box" where we will be discussing his artistry, activism and perspectives. Don't miss it at 9 AM and 7 PM EST on Jazz Syndicate Radio.

Larry Norman: RIP

2008-02-26T00:14:00.002-06:00

by Mark Joseph from www.huffingtonpost.com

Larry Norman, the most amazing artist you've never heard of has died. I found Norman's 1976 record "Only Visiting This Planet" on vinyl when I was a kid and was amazed at Norman's creative genius-later I wrote a chapter on him in my book The Rock & Roll Rebellion.

Norman will be mentioned in obits as the Father of Christian Rock, but that's a misunderstanding of who he was. Someone once said "I'm too saved for the Sinners and the Saved don't want me around" and that best described Norman's amazing life and career.

He first cracked the pop charts in the late 60's with his band People and their smash hit "I Love You," but became disgruntled when Capitol Records wouldn't let him call his album "We Need A Whole Lot More Jesus and A Lot Less Rock & Roll" and put a painting of his Master on the cover. That led Norman to quit the band and go solo, recording for MGM Records, but they too tired of his religious imagery and Norman soon formed his own label, Solid Rock Records. The Christian world was freaked out by the blond hippie and had little use for his music and despite his association with the term "Christian Rock" he was always an outsider and always strived to make his records for everybody.

While Christian Rock is sometimes assailed as formulaic and derivative, Norman was anything but and his admirers included Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, The Pixies, Van Morrison, John Mellencamp and Sammy Davis, Jr. among others.

Martin Luther, no slouch of a songwriter himself once said "Why should the Devil have all the good tunes," and Norman took that line and wrote a memorable song "Why Should the Devil Have All The Good Music which included these lines:

"I want the people to know that He saved my soul but I still like to listen to the radio/They say rock and roll is wrong give you one more chance/I say I feel so good I gotta get up and dance/There's nothing wrong with playing blues licks/If you gotta reason tell me to my face/Why should the Devil have all the good music"

Only the eclectic Larry Norman could write a song about his Master Jesus, comparing him to a U.F.O. and singing this memorable line: "If there's life on other planets than I'm sure that He must know and He's been there once already and has died to save their souls"

Norman gave the world one last gift as he lay dying dictating these words shortly before his heart gave out. Who wouldn't want to go out like this?

"I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home... I won't be here much longer. I can't do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone...My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside... I want to say I love you. I'd like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort...Goodbye, farewell, we'll meet again Somewhere beyond the sky. I pray that you will stay with God. Goodbye, my friends, goodbye."

OTB Playlist: 2/24/07: BISHOP CARLTON PEARSON

2008-02-24T17:37:00.005-06:00

Songs of Inclusion....Click here to download today's interview with Bishop Carlton Pearson.

1. Out the Box Theme--Lenny Hamilton--Unreleased
2. Jesus Walks--Kanye West--from "College Dropout"
3. You Tell Me--Mid-One, Tim'm West & Tim Dillinger--Unreleased
4. Just Like Water--Lauryn Hill--from "Unplugged"
5. He Can Be--Reba Rambo--from "The Prodigal...According to Reba"
6. 1999--Teena Marie and Common--from "Black Rain"
7. My Sweet Lord--George Harrison--from "All Things Must Pass"
8. Down--Leslie Phillips--from "The Turning"
9. What About The Love--Amy Grant--from "Lead Me On"
10. U R Divine--Jarrard Anthony--from "Synergestic Energy XChange"
11. The Way--Me'shell N'degeocello--from "Peace Beyond Passion"
12. Man In The Moon--Laura Nyro--from "Mother's Spiritual"
13. Show Me--John Legend--from "Once Again"
14. A Call To Us All--Teri DeSario--from "A Call To Us All"
15. Shine--Joni Mitchell-from "Shine"
16. A New Door--Lenny Kravitz--from "Are You Ready for A Love Revolution"
17. Ode To The Muse--Tim Dillinger f/Brenda Porter & Angela Bennett-Shelton--from "The Muse"
18. A Charge To Keep I Have--Marion Williams--from "Remember Me"

This Sunday on OTB (2/24): BISHOP CARLTON PEARSON

2008-02-19T11:44:00.003-06:00

We are thrilled to announce that our special guest this Sunday is BISHOP CARLTON PEARSON. His incredible book, The Gospel of Inclusion, is releasing on March 11th and is available for pre-order on amazon.com.

Don't miss my conversation with Bishop Pearson this Sunday at 9 AM or 7 PM EST on Jazz Syndicate Radio. The show will also be available as a downloadable podcast on iTUNES.
Speak the name "Carlton Pearson" and you will get one of two reactions: "heretic" or "prophet." Pearson was a Christian mega-star, host of his own TV show, traveling in private jets to speak at evangelical Christian gatherings. His church, Higher Dimensions, drew 5,000 people every Sunday. He was Oral Roberts' beloved protege.

Then, Pearson watched everything he had built crumble due to scandal. He didn't have an affair. He didn't embezzle church funds. He stopped believing in Hell. Following a revelation, he began to preach that a loving God would not condemn most of the human race to burn in the fires of Hell for eternity. Shocked, the Pentecostal community made him an outcast.

This book is the story of one man's turning his back on fifty-plus years of religious teachings and on a "family" of millions to preach a new truth-The Gospel of Inclusion. In this book, Pearson shows that all of God's children are already saved by the sacrifice of Christ-gays, Muslims, Jews, atheists, everyone. Weaving theology, biblical scholarship and cultural history, Pearson asserts that the dogma of Hell is nothing more than a device to control the faithful, that authoritarian religion is at the heart of the world's troubles, that God is not a Christian, but indeed belongs to all humankind.

"Mature Christianity insists on removing the fear tactics that have become, as it were, the brad and wine of the evangelical movement. Maturity requires that Christians stop trying using fear tactics to force others into salvation. It demands 'perfect love' that casts out of the fear that torments the seeker and cripples his truth in God's ability to love unconditionally."--Bishop Carlton Pearson in The Gospel of Inclusion

The Grammy Highlight

2008-02-12T08:08:00.000-06:00

Sang 'Ree

A Reminder of the Call....

2008-02-09T07:19:00.000-06:00

A Call To Us All
Lyrics by Teri DeSario
(1983)

There's a call to us all to love all humanity
Every race on the face of earth come to unity...

Love your neighbor as you love yourself
These, the Master's words, would do us well
But Man's belief, religious creeds, can make him blind
The narrow way is not a narrow mind

Love eliminates all the fear and hate
it illuminates the soul
Love will make us whole

There's a call to us all to love all humanity
Every race on the face of earth come to unity
Reach a hand to the Hindu mother
and a hand to the Buddhist father in love
("Love one another as I have loved you")
Hold the hands of a Muslim baby
and you'll see we're all created by God
(All the image of God)

Sweet salvation calls the nations with His voice
Every man who hears must make the choice
Who are we to know another's heart or mind?
For God alone is judge, He loves all kinds
Love eliminates all the fear and hate
It illuminates the soul
Love will make us whole

DON'T FORGET: TONEX ON 'OUT THE BOX' THIS SUNDAY

2008-02-08T09:35:00.000-06:00

Well, many of you saw Part 1 of the BET Interview with Tonex this past Sunday...Part 2 will, unfortunately, not be airing as thought this coming Sunday on BET...

but...

Tonex has graciously agreed to appear on 'Out the Box' to share with his fans, friends and followers, the true heart of his "naked truth". We talk 'real talk' about his much-discussed career and discuss many topics that have never been discussed before: censorship, racism, sexuality, and more...

So, tune into "Out the Box with Tim Dillinger" this Sunday at 9 AM or 7 PM EST on www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk. If you miss the broadcast, you will be able to download the show on iTUNES.

Also appearing on Sunday's show will be journalist and blogger Darian who actually broke the story of the Greater Mt. Calvary Choir Outing and is an outspoken activist/advocate. Click on his name and check out his blog and coverage of this story.

Blunder Woman? Essential Viewing

2008-02-07T08:05:00.001-06:00

Blunder Woman (Episode ONE)

TONEX INTERVIEW: THIS SUNDAY ON 'OUT THE BOX WITH TIM DILLINGER'

2008-02-06T21:39:00.001-06:00

Well, many of you saw Part 1 of the BET Interview with Tonex this past Sunday...Part 2 will, unfortunately, not be airing as thought this coming Sunday on BET...

but...

Tonex has graciously agreed to appear on 'Out the Box' to share with his fans, friends and followers, the true heart of his "naked truth". We talk 'real talk' about his much-discussed career and discuss many topics that have never been discussed before: censorship, racism, sexuality, and more...
So, tune into "Out the Box with Tim Dillinger" this Sunday at 9 AM or 7 PM EST on www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk. If you miss the broadcast, you will be able to download the show on iTUNES, by simply clicking on the link on the right hand side of this screen.
Also appearing on Sunday's show will be journalist and blogger Darian who actually broke the story of the Greater Mt. Calvary Choir Outing and is an outspoken activist/advocate. Click on his name and check out his blog and coverage of this story.

Today's The Day: VOTE

2008-02-05T08:53:00.000-06:00

Flashback: Tonex

2008-02-03T13:03:00.000-06:00

Seeing him on BET's "Lift Every Voice" today, made me remember this favorite moment.

Tune in next Sunday for Part 2 of his provocative interview.

Don't miss OUR interview with Tonex this Sunday (2/10). Click here for details.

Dorothy Norwood Tonight On TBN

2008-01-30T20:51:00.000-06:00

Dorothy Norwood Airs On TBN Tonight

Dallas, TX. January 30, 2008 - 2008 Stellar winning legend as a member of The Caravans and The World’s Greatest Story-teller, Dorothy Norwood taped live performance on yesterday evening at the TBN studios in Dallas, Texas will air tonight on the popular PTL (Praise The Lord) at 10 pm EST. (Check your local listings. The show will rerun tomorrow (Thursday) at 5 PM EST.

Currently making the rounds to promote her latest release on Malaco Records, “No Request” featuring The World Renowned Mississippi Mass Choir, this busy gospel superstar is shining all over the globe.

You don’t want to miss this so set your VCR’s, DVR’s and TIVO’s for tonight’s show.

FAB-U-LOUS!

2008-01-30T14:07:00.000-06:00

My favorite moment from the Stellar Awards. I think Jenifer Lewis sums it up at the end. ROCK IT RICKY DILLARD!

1/27/08: OTB PLAYLIST

2008-01-27T07:52:00.000-06:00

1. Out the Box Theme--Lenny Hamilton--Unreleased
2. More Than A Woman--Tavares--from "Greatest Hits"
3. Lala Means Love--Steph Jones--Unreleased
4. Bionic--Kelli Williams--from "In the Myx"
5. Rotten Miracles--Cuthbert 80--Unreleased
6. The Coin--Anam Owili Eger--from "These Sublte Declarations"
7. Diamond--Bash N The Code--from "Bash N The Code"
8. Send It--Ashford & Simpson--from "The Very Best of Ashford & Simpson"
9. Rain On Me--McGuire--from "Destined To Be Yours"
10. Never Would Have Made It--Marvin Sapp--from "Thirsty"
11. Roll Me Through The Rushes--Formerly The Harlettes--from "Formerly The Harlettes"
12. Everything--Malcolm Williams--from "Walking In My Destiny"
13. You Tell Me--Mid-One, Tim'm West & Tim Dillinger--Unreleased
14. Superstar/Until You Come Back To Me--Luther Vandross--from "The Best of Love"
15. In A Sentiment Mood--John Coltrane--from "Ken Burns Jazz"
16. Home Away From Home--Keith Thomas f/Donna McElroy--from "Kalidescope"
17. He Was There All The Time--Rev. James Moore--from "Live In Detroit"

Due to technical difficulties at Jazz Syndicate Radio, today's show will be available via download only. It will air next Sunday as well. Click here to download!

Deep Dickollective: "On Some Other"

2008-01-26T17:00:00.001-06:00

This brilliant slice of music comes from my favorite release of last year, Deep Dickollective's On Some Other, which I have not been able to stop playing again this week.

To see our review of the album, click here.

Are You Ready? We Are

2008-01-25T10:34:00.000-06:00

This Sunday on OTB: Church At Stonewall Inn???

2008-01-23T09:01:00.000-06:00

Yes kitties. There is a church at the Stonewall Inn, the location known as the springboard for the Gay Liberation Movement. Pastored by Christian Garrett, this location is the launching pad for phase two of the revoltuion. Don't miss my interview with Christian on Sunday AM at 9 AM or 7 PM EST!!! Tune in at www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk. For more information on the church, visit www.myspace.com/churchatstonewall.

Tim Dillinger: You Are My Joy

2008-01-21T19:49:00.000-06:00

From "The Muse". Click here to purchase.

OTB Playlist: 1/20/07 (Maurice Jamal & Leo Shelton)

2008-01-20T11:19:00.000-06:00

1. Out the Box Theme--Lenny Hamilton
2. Butch Queen--Deep Dickollective--from "On Some Other"
3. Romeo--Donna Summer--from "Flashdance"
4. Bustin' Out--Rick James--from "Bustin' Out of L Seven"
5. Recycle Hate To Love--Teena Marie--from "La Dona"
6. Somebody Somewhere--Labelle--from "Nightbird"
7. I Find It Hard To Say--Lauryn Hill--from 'Unplugged"
8. Save The Country--Laura Nyro--from "New York Tendaberry"
9. What U Came 2 Do--Aretha Franklin & John Legend--from "Jewels In The Crown"
10. Make It Work--Vince Ebo--from "Love Is The Better Way"
11. Love On Love--Candi Staton--from "Outside In"
12. My Everything--Malcolm Williams--from "Walking In My Destiny"
13. Take It Back--Dorinda Clark-Cole--from forthcoming new release
14. Blessed & Highly Favored--The Clark Sisters--from "Live: One Last Time"
15. You Tell Me--Mid One, Tim'm West & Tim Dillinger--Unreleased
16. Is My Living In Vain--Maria Muldaur--from "There Is A Love"
17. Use Me Lord--Cassietta George--from "I Want To See Jesus"
18. Victory Is Mine--Dorothy Norwood--from "Live"
19. Like Never Before--Tramaine Hawkins--from "I Never Lost My Praise"

If you missed this morning's show, tune in tonight at 7 PM EST for the re-run at http://www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk/ or download using the link on the right hand side of the screen!

Special guests are Maurice Jamal (director of "Dirty Laundry") and poet/author Leo Shelton!

A Must View: Juba Kalamka

2008-01-19T12:11:00.001-06:00

For more info on Juba, go to www.jubakalamka.com.

News Item: Nikki Giovanni

2008-01-19T07:25:00.000-06:00

from IdahoStatesmen.com

January 17, 2008
Civil rights activist, author is keynote speaker at Human Rights Celebration

When you talk with Nikki Giovanni, you immediately feel drawn in. Her voice is friendly, warm. It's more like chatting over a cup of coffee than engaging in an interview.
Giovanni - poet, civil rights activist, university professor and author - is the keynote speaker for this year's Martin Luther King, Jr. / Human Rights Celebration featuring the theme, "Whose America" at Boise State University. She will speak Thursday, Jan. 24, about "The Right to Dream."
Giovanni, 64, knew the legendary King. "I met him. But I didn't hang out and have a beer with him or anything," she says, laughing. "He wasn't a rock star or a politician. He stood for something. And anytime we have an opportunity to recognize a great man, we owe it to ourselves to do so."
When I ask how she can introduce King and bring his message to people two generations after his death, she has a simple answer.
"What people like to know and what we try to remind them, is Martin was an ordinary man doing an extraordinary job. I think people forget how young he was when he started out. He was only 26, just a kid."
King was part of the civil rights movement, Giovanni says, and "he emerged as a leader. The United States is sorely in need of somebody right now, someone to look up to, and it's good to take a moment to reflect on Martin."
In writings and interviews, Giovanni has described King as "a personification of the '60s. Saint suits me. Yeah, what do you have to do to be a saint? You give your life making people change. I mean, he did it."

WRITING POETRY, TEACHING
Giovanni is nearly a legend in her own right. Born June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tenn., she graduated from Fisk University in Nashville in 1967 with honors and began writing poetry inspired by the civil rights and black power movement. In 1969 Giovanni began teaching at Rutgers University. She also became a single mother that year and rearranged her priorities around her son.
Giovanni has been teaching writing and literature at Virginia Tech since 1987 and is a Distinguished Professor of English. She taught the Virginia Tech shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, in a poetry class two years ago. He was downright mean, she says, and she asked for and got his removal from her class. At the convocation commemorating the Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, Giovanni closed the ceremony with a poem with a repeating line: "We are Virginia Tech."
In 2007, she was awarded The Chicago Public Library Foundation's Carl Sandburg Literary Award for lifetime achievement, the first poet to receive the honor.
"I teased them and said, 'What, I'm the first poet? Carl was a poet,'" she says, laughing.
Giovanni has written more than two dozen books of poetry, illustrated children's books and essays.

LOVING TUPAC
She has remained true to, and inspired by black artists and they, in turn, have been inspired by Giovanni.
She collaborated with Tupac Shakur on "The Rose that Grew from Concrete" and admired the rapper so much she wrote a book, "Love Poems," in 2007 in memory of him.
She has a tattoo on her left arm. "It's a public tattoo" that says "Thug life" to honor Shakur.
She has said she would rather be with the thugs than the people who complain about them.
Giovanni has been immortalized in song lyrics: "Square Biz" by Teena Marie, "American Way" by the rapper Nas and "hey Mama" by Kanye West - "Can't you see, you're like a book of poetry, Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni.
"Turn one page and there's my mommy"
"Yeah, they give me a shout-out sometimes," Giovanni says. "People say that Tupac's generation doesn't understand history. Not true. The whole concept of their music is built on sampling and the whole idea of sampling is you have to know history."

GOING BATTY
In 2007, Giovanni may have received the most unusual shout-out of all: She had an Ecuadorean bat, "Micronycteris giovanniae" named after her.
Robert Taylor, a mammologist at Texas Tech - and a fan of Giovanni's - discovered a new species of bat and called Giovanni to see if she'd mind.
"I'm delighted and I'm thrilled. I appreciate any life form," she says.

I Gotta Find Peace of Mind

2008-01-17T16:27:00.001-06:00

Flashback: Rick James

2008-01-17T16:17:00.003-06:00

Leo Shelton: Author/Poet on OTB This Sunday

2008-01-17T15:59:00.001-06:00

Records
by Leo Shelton
from "Soul-full"
Available at www.tugsonpress.com

Voices rising
Collectively entrenched in history
Meant not to ever exist
But love and life re-written
In colors bursting
Like rainbows rehearsing
For milleniums and parades
Encouraging, uplifting
Drifting
Between what is and what is not
And what should or could be
Free!
Like renaissance returned
Redbone tones without apology
Shades and hues written and spoken and hollered
Told in italics
And Bold!
Prisms of life
And strife
And love
Paving ways for new voices lifted
Of her story
And her children's story
Of their voices rising
Rising through voices
Borrowed!

Don't miss my interview with Leo this Sunday!!! We will be discussing his three new releases: Soul-full, MBG (Men Who Are Black and Happen to Be Gay) and Rhythms: Poetry and Muse.

Dirty Laundry: Maurice Jamal on 'OTB' This Sunday

2008-01-17T15:45:00.000-06:00

Don't miss my interview with NAACP Image Award nominee Maurice Jamal about "Dirty Laundry" this Sunday at 9 AM or 7 PM EST on www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk. "Dirty Laundry" opens in Atlanta, Washington DC & Baltimore TOMORROW! Support this work!!!

THIS SUNDAY ON OTB: MAURICE JAMAL & LEO SHELTON

2008-01-16T22:12:00.000-06:00

Maurice Jamal
Leo Shelton

Don't miss this Sunday's edition of 'Out the Box'.

Our special guests will be NAACP Image Award Nominee MAURICE JAMAL (writer/director of "Dirty Laundry") and poet/author LEO SHELTON!

'Out the Box' airs at 9 AM and 7 PM EST at http://www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk/. You can join me for live chat during both airings at www.timdillinger.com/forum

Stellar Awards: More!

2008-01-16T17:37:00.000-06:00

Could we be happier about the Stellar Award Winners? I don't think so. My three favorite gospel CDs of 2007 won...Congrats again to The Clark Sisters, Tramaine Hawkins & DeWayne Woods!

Concert Review: Richie Havens

2008-01-16T08:21:00.001-06:00

WE ARE STILL STARDUST: RICHIE HAVENS CONCERT REVIEW
By Andrea Castro-Sutherland

As a human being who was conceived in the 1967 - "Summer of Love" and born in the 1968 - "Year of Revolution". I have a special affinity with all things 60s! So when I heard that Richie Havens was going to be rolling through Antioch, California and performing at the El Campanil Theatre, I was amazed and fortunate to get a front row ticket to see him live and in living color!

As a child, during our Friday night record parties, my Mother would school me on her love of music and a big piece of that curriculum was the Woodstock movie. I remember being transfixed by Richie Havens, the Woodstock Legend that opened the infamous concert. However, what the movie does not tell us is that Richie's set lasted almost 3 hours because the audience kept calling him back for more. It also fails to tell us that his now infamous song, "Freedom," was a spur of the moment, ad lib version of the old spiritual song, "Motherless Child", which Richie had to improvise on because he had run out of songs to perform. As a child, I sat mesmerized by this beautiful man with his unusual guitar chordings and the way he kept the Woodstock City entranced with his electricity!

That same electricity was in the air when I entered the El Campanil Theatre on January 5, 2008. There was a buzz amongst the crowd which, after a show of hands, held a great number of Berkeley residents that had driven out to Contra Costa County to see their Woodstock Hero.

After watching a clip of the Woodstock movie, Richie, and his side man, guitarist, Walter Parks, finally hit the stage and immediately, everyone was on their feet to greet him with a standing ovation. Richie began by quietly breaking down how things used to be in Greenwich Village, back in the days of the hootenanny or as we call it now, "open mic". He started out by playing a song written by a "poet friend" of his [Dylan] and explained how he later taught the same song to a "guitar player friend" of his [Hendrix] who then made the song famous. He immediately launched into "All Along The Watchtower" and I quickly went in, knowing we were in for some Church of the Acoustic Soul!

In between songs that were filled with his driving, rhythmic strumming and his voice that booms deeply enough to rattle your backbone, Richie spoke softly. He talked about all of us being connected and how we need to help each other because we are more alike than we are different.
Throughout the songs, Walter Parks' guitar solos complimented Richie's thumping, frenetic and rhythmic guitar work. About halfway through the set, Stephanie Winters joined them on cello. They immediately went into a version of the song, "Woodstock," that sounded nothing like the original composition by Joni Mitchell, nor the 60s anthem by Crosby, Stills and Nash. Richie took the experience to another level, slowing the song down so the poetry of the lyrics could shine center stage. They revealed that the more things change, the more they stay the same...and still..."we have to get ourselves back to the garden". I sat with tears on my face, knowing I had just heard a sermon by "a child of God"...60s style!

Richie ended the set with "Freedom" and all the beautiful, middle aged hippies went in with me this time. The cello player encouraged the crowd to clap along and they kept taking it up, faster and faster until it ended with a great crescendo. Then Richie gave us his best rock star guitar kick and left the stage. Coming back to another standing ovation, Richie ended the night with a moving double time version of the Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun". Church should always end on an upbeat note with hope for the future...or as Richie sang it..."Here comes the sun and I say, It's all right!"

At the end of the concert we found out that on the way from New York to California, Richie's plane had been hit by lightning. As we all shuffled out from a great evening of authentic acoustic soul, some folks suggested that the lightning bolt was responsible for the evening of magic and the electric vibe that swirled all about us! But I left knowing that is was because nearly 40 years later, we are all still stardust, all still golden...all still trying to get our souls free, just like Joni said...and "all connected," just like Richie said.

Stellar Award Winners Announced!!!

2008-01-12T23:08:00.000-06:00

A Stellar Night Reigns Supreme for The Clark Sisters
Gospel Icons Snag Four Stellar Awards Including “CD of the Year”

Newcomer DeWayne Woods Picks Up Three Stellar Statues

The Legendary Tramaine Hawkins Brings Home Two Stellars
and The Coveted James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award

NASHVILLE – It was another year of gospel music excellence as the 23rd Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards concluded at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on January 12.

A consortium of gospel dynamos dominated this year’s list of nominees with the innovative Clark Sisters, gospel newcomer DeWayne Woods and the legendary Tramaine Hawkins comprising the night’s biggest winners.

The Clark Sisters, credited with bringing gospel music to the mainstream, snagged four Stellar Awards for “Artist of the Year,” “Group/Duo of the Year,” “CD of the Year,” and “Traditional Group/Duo of the Year.” The group’s latest reunion recording Live-One Last Time has dominated airwaves and record sales.

Following close behind The Clark Sisters was gospel newcomer, DeWayne Woods. Woods’ project Introducing DeWayne Woods & When Singers Meet, picked up three awards, including “New Artist of the Year” and “Male Vocalist of the Year.”

In addition to sharing co-hosting duties, both Kirk Franklin and CeCe Winans received honors of their own. Franklin delivered a powerful performance of political satire with a spiritual twist, doing what he does best – bringing the crowd to its feet with his daring hit single, Declaration (This Is It), a song examining struggle and self-doubt in an effort to find inner peace. Franklin also sewed up his nomination in the “Special Event CD of the Year” category taking home yet another Stellar Award.

Winans was saluted by contemporary Christian artist Amy Grant and R&B singer Heather Headley with the Chevrolet Most Notable Achievement Award for pioneering work in songwriting, outstanding performances and record sales success in the gospel music industry.

In accepting the award Winans said, “I must thank my mom and dad for teaching me and my siblings about the greatest gift – Jesus Christ.” Later in the evening, Winans offered a stirring musical anthem.

Pioneers of traditional gospel, such as Edwin Hawkins and Shirley Caesar, brought their energy and encouragement to a new generation of artists with their strong presence and spiritual maturity. Acknowledged at this year’s awards program with The Walgreens Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones Legends Award were The Caravans and The Barrett Sisters for their long standing impact and influence on gospel music.

The legendary Tramaine Hawkins solidified her place in gospel history by receiving the distinguished James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award for her major impact in the development and advancement of gospel music. Her latest project, I Never Lost My Praise, garnered her nominations in four categories, in which she easily grabbed two for “Female Vocalist of the Year,” and “Traditional Female of the Year.”

Singer Smokie Norful accompanied by his piano and backed by a string orchestra delivered the soulful Run To You, giving the audience an intimate moment of reflection with God.

As in past shows, the Stellar Awards brought some of the best talent in gospel music to the stage. The show jumped off with an electrifying performance by Bishop Noel Jones and the City of Refuge Choir that brought the audience to its feet. The show’s opening number started what would be a grand night of inspiration and celebration.

Powerful high energy and moving performances by Beverly Crawford and Ricky Dillard turned the Grand Ole Opry House into a tabernacle of praise. DeWayne Woods, Marvin Sapp and the Rance Allen Group were also highlights of this year’s show, along with the legendary Clark Sisters and the gospel urban sounds of Fred Hammond.

A long list of who’s who in entertainment joined the celebration as presenters and special guests, including soul singer Anthony Hamilton; actor, writer and producer Tyler Perry; gospel artist J. Moss; actor and funnyman Anthony Anderson; stage play Meet the Browns performers David and Tamela Mann; Everybody Hates Chris actress Tichina Arnold; Kim Stratton; gospel hip hop artist LP; songstress Regina Belle; The View co-host and comedienne Sherri Shepherd; Shirley Murdock; gospel music newcomer Spensha Baker; “Why Did I Get Married?” actress Tasha Smith; Canton Jones; and Dietrick and Damita Haddon.

WINNERS LIST
23rd Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
The Clark Sisters, Live-One Last Time, EMI Gospel

SONG OF THE YEAR
P. Morton, Let Go/Introducing DeWayne Woods & When Singers Meet, Quiet Water/Verity/Zomba

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
DeWayne Woods, Introducing DeWayne Woods & When Singers Meet, Quiet Water/Verity/Zomba

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Tramaine Hawkins, I Never Lost My Praise – Live, Gospo Centric/Zomba

GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR
The Clark Sisters, Live-One Last Time, EMI Gospel

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
DeWayne Woods, Introducing DeWayne Woods & When Singers Meet, Quiet Water/Verity/Zomba

CD OF THE YEAR
The Clark Sisters, Live-One Last Time, EMI Gospel

CHOIR OF THE YEAR
Bishop T. D. Jakes & The Potter’s House Mass Choir – Live in Kenya, Grace The Kenya Experience, Dexterity Records/Rhino

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Donald Lawrence, The Clark Sisters – Live-One Last Time, EMI Gospel

CONTEMPORARY GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR
The McClurkin Project, We Praise You, Gospo Centric/Zomba

TRADITIONAL GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR
The Clark Sisters, Live-One Last Time, EMI Gospel

CONTEMPORARY MALE OF THE YEAR
Fred Hammond, Free to Worship, Verity

TRADITIONAL MALE OF THE YEAR
Richard Smallwood, Journey: Live In New York, Verity/Zomba

CONTEMPORARY FEMALE OF THE YEAR
Vickie Winans, Woman To Woman: Songs of Life, Verity/Zomba

TRADITIONAL FEMALE OF THE YEAR
Tramaine Hawkins, I Never Lost My Praise – Live, Gospo Centric/Zomba

CONTEMPORARY CD OF THE YEAR
J. Moss, V2…, PAJAM/Gospo Centric/Zomba

TRADITIONAL CD OF THE YEAR
Bishop Paul S. Morton, Still Standing, Light Records/Tehillah

URBAN/INSPIRATIONAL SINGLE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
DeWayne Woods, Let Go/Introducing DeWayne Woods & When Singers Meet, Quiet Water/Verity/Zomba

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
J. Moss, Operator/V2…, PAJAM/Gospo Centric/Zomba

TRADITIONAL CHOIR OF THE YEAR
Bishop T. D. Jakes & The Potter’s House Mass Choir – Live in Kenya, Grace The Kenya Experience, Dexterity Records/Rhino

CONTEMPORARY CHOIR OF THE YEAR
Isaiah Thomas and the Elements of Praise, Isaiah Thomas & the Elements of Praise Live!, R.O.U. Records

INSTRUMENTAL GOSPEL CD OF THE YEAR
Ben Tankard, Let’s Get Quiet: The Smooth Jazz Experience, Verity/Zomba

SPECIAL EVENT CD OF THE YEAR
Kirk Franklin, Kirk Franklin Presents Songs For The Storm Volume 1, Fo Yo Soul/Gospo Centric Zomba

RAP/HIP-HOP GOSPEL CD OF THE YEAR
PAJAM Presents 21:03, Twenty One O Three, PAJAM/Gospo Centric/Verity/Zomba

CHILDRENS PERFORMANCE OF THE YEARJada Simone Clark, Maurette Brown Clark’s The Dream, AIR Gospel/Malaco Records

QUARTET OF THE YEAR
The Rance Allen Group, Closest Friend, Tyscot Records

RECORDED MUSIC PACKAGING OF THE YEAR
Denise Trotman Design, Art Direction and Design; Ronald Cadiz, Photography; Vickie Winans-Woman To Woman: Songs Of Life, Verity/Zomba

PRAISE AND WORSHIP CD OF THE YEAR
Maurette Brown Clark, The Dream, AIR

SPECIAL AWARDS

James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award
Tramaine Hawkins

Chevrolet Most Notable Achievement Award
CeCe Winans

Flashback: Reba Rambo

2008-01-12T09:35:00.000-06:00

Did you miss our feature on Reba Rambo? Click here!

Flashback: Cassietta George, "I Want To See Jesus"

2008-01-11T09:21:00.000-06:00

My mid-teens were spent absorbing the gospel pioneers. My discovery of Clara Ward (thanks to Mark Bego's biography on Aretha Franklin) then began a time of intense study. Thanks to my godmother, who was a walking encyclopedia of these artists, I would order whatever I could find in print...and dig through crates at used record stores with an unquenchable thirst to know all that I could about gospel's "golden era".

My godmother fed me incredible stories...and as I found more old music, her memory would be tweaked: Seeing Shirley Caesar in The Caravans, Ruth Davis singing HOARD, Mavis Staples, Clara Ward and her singers at their outrageous drag...and on and on.

It was when I listened "The Best of The Caravans", however, that one particular voice jumped out at me. As they sang their classic "Remember Me", the lead voice captivated me. It was aggressive, but not flagrant...Her phrasing was too beautiful to be anything but intentional...and then she let go...

And remember The Caravans, Jesus! Oh yes suh!

The cassette liner said that the lead was by Cassietta George. It was final: I had to have everything I could find by her.

I went to Spec's Music and there were many things available by her...and I ordered them all...but as the weeks went by, only one of them came in.

I would go on to play I Want To See Jesus continually. For years. To this day.

I have no idea who produced this brilliant collection of songs, as I do not have the vinyl copy of this album...I have the cassette, which merely lists the songwriter credits, but whoever produced this album, in my opinion, created one of gospel's quint-essential albums. As with the majority of the artists/albums that I love, it was largely overlooked (and out of print today).

I Want To See Jesus was an electric cassette for me.

First there was Cassietta's voice. Clara Ward's influence was evident in the tone and phrasing, but Cassietta had a pentecostal fire that Clara's Baptist upbringing didn't allow her, despite her fervent love for the Sanctified church. Cassietta's southern roots married with Clara's influence gave her a distinction from any of the other female artists of her era.

On this album, Cassietta came to sang. Recorded live with an energetic choir and an audience ready to have church, Cassietta couldn't help but deliver.

The album kicks off with Cassietta's composition, "I Want To See Jesus", showcasing her lyrical majesty, reminding us that her pen also brought us classics such as "Walk Around Heaven" (most recently re-recorded by Patti LaBelle) and the riveting "I'm Ready To Serve The Lord"). The song has amazing chords...and the choir pushes every bit of it's glory to the surface.

She shows her quartet influence with the uptempo "Don't Give Up" and "Will My Jesus Be Waiting", but takes the lyrically tepid "Jesus The Miracle Man" (not her composition, by the way) and make it an experience. The song fades just as she is bringing it to a boiling point.

Everything I've read about Cassietta describes her as a church wrecker...and she demonstrates exactly what that means with her re-working of two traditional tunes, "Use Me Lord" and "I'm Going To Work Until My Day Is Done".

Perahps both summarize the heart of Cassietta George. Both songs deal with the concept of fortitude in the midst of what is viewed as a wretched journey. She would deal with this concept and marry it with the afterlife time and time again in her own writing...perhaps that is the reason she was able to take these two traditional church songs and reinterpret that as if they were birthed from her own personal pen.

She takes "I'm Going To Work" and juices it like one would an orange, wrining every bit of emotion from it that she possibly can. She ab-libs over the choir, as they dramatically drag out the chorus", saying far more with her voice than she is with words...loosing everything that lies between the lines.

It culminates into what the children today now call a "Praise Break", and Cassietta tears through the traditional call-and-response, "Jesus".

This is the spirit of what gospel music once represented before it became a commercial commodity...Far before today's era where gospel artists actually have choreographers and stylists.

I cut my teeth on this album and it became a part of me. To this day, certain notes come out of me and I smile to myself and know that it's just Cassietta reminding me that I got it from her.

Go digging and find I Want To See Jesus...you won't regret it.

See her live in action in the 80s with The Caravans doing her signature composition, "Walk Around Heaven All Day".

Flashback: The Drinkard Singers

2008-01-10T23:32:00.001-06:00

You got it: Cissy Houston, Dee Dee Warwick and the family. Need I say more?

Highly Recommended: Rahsaan Patterson, "Wines & Spirits"

2008-01-10T23:26:00.000-06:00

I realize I'm way late on posting anything about Rahsaan Patterson's latest album, Wines & spirits, but I like to absorb an album before I write about it...and this one is deep.

A more detailed review of the brilliant Wines & Spirits by Rahsaan Patterson is forthcoming, but in the meantime...check this...and cop it now!

Flashback: Clara Ward

2008-01-10T22:51:00.000-06:00

I was 12 or 13 years old the first time I actually heard Clara Ward sing. I read about her in Mark Bego's biography of Aretha Franklin, quoting Aretha saying she knew she had to be a singer after seeing Ms. Ward cut up at a family funeral.

And after listening to "The Very Greatest of Clara Ward", a collection of her last recorded works, I understood how she could have inspired the Queen of Soul to sing.

Very little is available on CD of her work and even less on film, making this an undeniable treat.

Be sure to purchase "How I Got Over" by Clara's sister, Willa Ward-Royster, for an indepth insight into the life of this warrior woman who left us far too soon.

Flashback: Mariah Carey: "Vanishing"

2008-01-10T22:18:00.000-06:00

A big thank you to my brother Lenny for bringing over the latest Mariah Carey "Live" DVD and making me remember that it was all about Mariah's debut album for me. Nothing since then has really lit my fire like that one did...and after the big emancipation performance, I longed for something intimate and personal like the above clip from her first video, "The First Vision". Mariah with a piano, waving glory hands, with her amen corner in tow...singing what I still think is her most prolific composition...

THIS SUNDAY ON OTB: KHALIL AMANI

2008-01-09T08:16:00.001-06:00

The dissin' of homosexuality is a religious hoax, rooted in ancient Jewish culture, written by their priests for forged God's signature to give their sentiments authenticity and validity. A simple investigation into the matter makes one conclude that the Bible isn't the all-inspired Word of God, but rather an amalgamation of nameless/anonymous writers who concoted the homosexual myth in the name of their God for a specific purpose.

Khalil Amani in Hip-Hop Homophobes

Bold, right?

Well, get ready...

Khalil Amani joins me this Sunday on Out the Box...and the conversation is hard-hitting and much needed. We discuss his indepth exploroation of the scriptures and uncover the lies we have been told about homosexuality, which he breaks down in his book Hip-Hop Homophobes.

Will post a full review of this book later in the week, but in the meantime, check his myspace page.

Don't miss Sunday's Out the Box. Listen at http://www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk/ at 9 AM or 7 PM. Join me for live chat during both airings at www.timdillinger.com/forum.

Clinton Edges Obama in NH Primary

2008-01-09T08:02:00.000-06:00

Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer (from San Francisco Chronicle)
Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Armies of women who came out in force to support Hillary Rodham Clinton stopped the predicted tidal wave for Barack Obama cold in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday - a stunning upset that defied the polls and made her the Democratic "comeback kid" of the 2008 presidential race.

Clinton won the primary by 39 to 36 percent, injecting a sorely needed infusion of optimism to the campaign of the candidate widely dismissed this week as a has-been by media pundits. With virtually all polls suggesting the New York senator would go down to a major defeat Tuesday, her supporters braced for a double digit blowout by Obama - even as she was still reeling from a disappointing third place showing in Iowa last week.

On the Republican side, Arizona Sen. John McCain staged a comeback of his own with a convincing win over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 37 to 32 percent, and Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee came in a distant third with 11 percent.

The 280,000 Democrats who turned out was so overwhelming that some towns, like Portsmouth, Keene and Pelham, reported concerns about running out of ballots.

Clinton's surprise victory now sets up a dramatic one-on-one gender-dominated contest for the presidency between the first major party female presidential candidate and the first major party African American candidate seen as having a chance to win. And it guarantees that the Democratic presidential primary contest continues tooth-and-nail through Feb. 5, when Californians will weigh in during their "Tsunami Tuesday" primary.

"I come tonight with a very, very full heart," said an emotional Clinton, addressing supporters with her husband, former President Bill Clinton - who finished second in the New Hampshire primary in 1992 - and her daughter, Chelsea, at her side.

Clinton, who had been accused of being too scripted and cold, acknowledged a moment on the campaign trail which many said was a turning point in her effort - a rare display of emotion this week in which she teared up talking about her passion for the country and its future. But she also retooled her strategy, using her husband on the offense against Obama while holding more personal question-and-answer sessions with voters herself.

"In the last week, I listened to you," she said, "and in the process, I found my own voice."

"Now together, let's give America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has just given me," she said to cheers.

And Illinois Sen. Obama, addressing his own supporters in a concession speech, said that in New Hampshire - where for months Clinton was viewed as the front-runner - "we always knew our climb would be steep."

"You made it clear ... in this moment, in this election, there is something happening in America," he said. And he made it clear he intends to continue to draw distinctions between himself and Clinton, saying, "There has never been anything false about hope."

With les than a month to go before California's critical primary, the unexpected shift in the Democratic presidential race is certain to have a ripple effect in the nation's most populous state. On Feb. 5, Democratic-leaning California will award 441 Democratic delegates, a full 20 percent of all those needed to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

Underscoring the crucial impact of the Golden State's contest, Obama and Clinton are now expected to return to California - the nation's ATM for political fundraising - in the days surrounding the Jan. 19 Nevada caucuses, sources said.

Tuesday's primary dealt a second straight blow to former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who also aimed to present himself as a candidate of change, and came in a distant third in New Hampshire; the showing was just days after he came in a disappointing second to Obama in Iowa - raising questions about his viability and finances to take him forward to South Carolina, Nevada, Michigan and the Feb. 5 states.

Edwards insisted to cheers from supporters that he would stay in the race until the convention.
MSNBC reported exit polls showing that Clinton had a double digit lead among critical female voters of New Hampshire - compared to her loss by 5 percent among women in Iowa, which was considered a major sign of trouble for her campaign.

Older voters, also a larger part of the electorate, tended to support Clinton, while younger voters and men went for Obama, according to the exit polls, which showed more than a third of state voters made their decisions going into the final days of the election.

Some polls suggested that events that turned the tide for Clinton included the much-talked-about campaign moment in which the senator showed emotion, her voice cracking, talking about her passion for issues and more face-to-face question sessions with voters.

Michael Semler, a professor of political science at Cal State Sacramento, said Clinton demonstrated at that moment humility and feelings, but has had an enormously tough job in recent days, appearing on the ropes after her shocking third place Iowa finish.

"Today, this woman could pass any test as the most policy-knowledgeable person running for public office," he said. "But the public ... has been consistently depressed about the economy, they're worried about the direction of the country ... and they want to change their way of looking at the world - and Obama does that."

He said the New Hampshire outcome means that what is ahead is "a very close race in California - very close." The state is a place "where Bill Clinton still counts for something," he said, but the New York senator "has to demonstrate all the way through who she is - not Hillary Rodham Clinton, but 'Hillary.' "

On both sides, campaigns said they are ready for the California contest ahead.

Luis Vizcaino, spokesman for the Clinton campaign in California, said the campaign is energized for the Feb. 5 primary. He said Clinton's camp will be beefed up and hold dozens of statewide "Bring Your Own Phone" parties to rally supporters, while making an aggressive effort to round up early absentee primary ballot voters, both Democrats and independents.

"We feel extremely confident," said Vizcaino. "She still maintains a double digit lead here, and we launched a campaign that started in May with absentee voters.

"The campaign has the resources and infrastructure to win, and we're confident she will win California and be the nominee."

But Obama's leading supporters, including former state Controller Steve Westly, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, will hold a rally on the steps of San Francisco City Hall today to kick off their get-out-the-vote efforts here.

Westly said the Obama wave is cresting in California - and that his showing in both Iowa and New Hampshire "is going to have a huge impact on the elections in California and Nevada."

"The simple fact is that people are just now focusing on the election, and what they're seeing is a groundswell of support for Sen. Obama," he said. "You don't just win Iowa by giving great speeches."

Obama, he said, has "shown he has a right recipe. It's a combination of who he is ... he's been talking about change and optimism, and Clinton has said experience."

California Democratic Party campaign adviser Bob Mulholland said California Democrats have reason to be excited now about the outcome in their own state.

"I've always said who wins California gets the nomination, and it looks like Feb. 5 will be the Super Bowl of the Democratic primary season," he said.

TEENA MARIE TRIBUTE TODAY!!!

2008-01-06T12:42:00.000-06:00

Don't miss the 'Out the Box with Tim Dillinger' tribute to the legendary Teena Marie, co-hosted by Stephanie Renee and Andrea Sutherland! listen tonight at 7 PM EST on www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk!

Commentary on Teena Marie

2008-01-05T10:40:00.000-06:00

Where there is a woman there is magic. If there is a moon falling from her mouth, she is a woman who knows her magic, who can share or not share her powers. A woman with a moon falling from her mouth, roses between her legs and tiaras of Spanish moss, this woman is a consort of the spirits.

Ntozake Shange in Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo

And Teena Marie is one such woman. She casts her own unique spell over her listeners and admirers, turning us out, so to speak, with her own unique potion of all that is gypsy and gangsta, hedonist and romantic, and interweaving spirituality and sexuality in such a way that one wonders how they could ever exist seperately.

She is the epitome of realness...and has been since day one. She has always worn her heart on her sleeve and her albums have always felt more like chapters from an autobiography in process...leaving us feigning for more after each release. Maybe it's because she just feels every word so damn much. And you know she does because the emotion comes through the speakers like raindrops...like when she holds that note for what feels like a minute or so in "Cassanova Brown" or gives up the use of the English language and speaks in her own Ella Fitzgerald-inspired tounge as she wraps up "Tune In Tomorrow". It is like travelling on a space oddessy...it is multi-dimensional...and she takes us where no man has ever gone before.

She ruined the chance of any man ever living up to my expections. She verbalized every romantic notion I was afraid to put into words. She put the kind of love I've been searching for on vinyl...and the bar is high for any seeking entry into my life. Why? Because the love that Teena talked about was deep. It was far beyond anything that her contemporaries talked about. This love is epic. It is "sweet novella and passion crying out"...an 18th century kind of love that has much more of a pulse on romanticism than "You Remind Me Of My Jeep".

But let's be clear. She wrote more than just love songs. Her songs were political and so unpretentiously questioned the backbone of American culture as it related to race, feminism and spirituality. Only she could place Tupac, Chaka Khan and Jesus Christ in the same song, insisting that they could never lie (in "Makaveli Never Lied") or give as a 1 minute education on the slave trade ("The Red Zone"), interracial relationships ("Ask Yo Momma"), grieve the death of John Lennon ("Revolution") and school us on musical history ("Batucada Suite"). I like to think of her as the love child of Marvin Gaye and Nona Hendryx.

But what distinguishes Teena from every other white artist who has attempted to hang in the R&B/soul scene is that her foundation is not musical, it is cultural. She has lived and breathed the black experience and as critic Bob Davis put it, "went to the extent of totally discarding not only the culture she was born into, but also the privilage that goes along with it."

And those of us who really have been listening have known this from the very beginning. Whether it was by making us aware of her previous existances in "De Ja Vu (I've Been Here Before)", or the glorious declaration of individuality in "Irons In The Fire", the rap in "Square Biz" (with it's cultural shout-outs) or by reminding us "You know I'm the brown sugar covered wtih snow" in "Surrealistic Pillow", Teena has been a cultural anomoly of sorts--at least to white America. When she re-emerged in the mainstream, thugged out on the cover of 2004's La Dona, her core audience didn't flinch. But she provoked the scorn of mainstream publications such as Rolling Stone (who has never enjoyed her work). Why? Because she brought every double standard to the forefront: sexism, a strange, unspoken racism, and age-ism. It's as if when mainstream America sees her, they say (as Paul Mooney joked about white homeless people in his Showtime special): What a waste of white skin!

But that is why Teena is beloved. She marches to her own drummer. A 4'11-white woman-preaching a power-to-the-people gospel, spreading her own brand of black empowerment and feminism, reminding the women of color of their beauty--whether it be in "Sapphire" or "High Yellow Girl"--and expounding on her own connection in the poetry encased in her album jackets.

Tales of my people/tales of joy and pain/tales of debauchery/and sweet black rain/down on me/mello dramatics/i have been ordained/O.G. proper/siddhartha/baptized by flames/you don't have to like me/but you will show some respect/to mi familia/and the ancestors/and the legacy we've left

from La Dona (2004)

I am Queen of the Nile/the lion and every living beast submit tenderly/to me/for i am the last word momma/and the true first wonder of the world/I am a direct descendant/of the royal house of David/and the tribe of Judah/My blood is blue and my lineage long/they can destroy my records/but I keep coming back/for i am a symbol of what will survive

from Ivory (1990)

Nor has Teena resisted challenging the stereotypical gender roles assigned to men and women in American culture. From a professional standpoint, she was one of a handful of women in R&B to take command of their own production. She has produced every album after her debut (co-producing her sophomore album with Richard Rudolph, producing every album by herself after that). She has also rarely recorded a song that she has not written, asserting her own individual vision in a way few female artists even in 2008 do.

But she has continually defied the idea of a woman being subservient to a man or assuming a "traditional role". She once told an interviewer "I like guys, but not husbands." She seems to have known that she'd never marry even from her debut, declaring "I don't have time for babies and it's hard to keep a man" (in "I"m Gonna Have My Cake and Eat It Too") and she took a more dominant role in her relationships: May/December relationships (with Teena being the elder) in "The Ballad of Cradle Rob & Me", asking her lover "who are you to say what I did when you weren't around" in "Cassanova Brown" or enjoying physical pleasure seperate from her regular partner ("Sweet On You").

In her collaborations with other female artists, she has celebrated the comradarie with her girls and once again questioned the double standards of male/female relationships: If men can cheat...why can't I? Or even deeper, Is monogomy necessary? Beyond that, Why can't I flip the script and be the "top" in the relationship? Teena tackles these complex issues with such ease that their depth could be missed by a less conscious listener. Listen to "The Mackin' Game" from 2004's La Dona, "Ladies Choice" (from her most recent release Sapphire)...or "Crocodile Tears" from Naked To The World (1987) or her in-depth exploration of sexuality on the entire Passion Play album (1994). An even more blantant dive into these questions lies in the unreleased "Blackberry Playa", a daring tale of a same-gender loving relationship.

I first heard Teena's music in my late teens at the urging of my godbrother who felt there was a kindredness between us due to our life experience. Little did he know how much this music would revolutionize my life. Teena was asking the same questions as a woman that I was asking as a man. Through her work, I found the courage to begin asking my questions through my poetry and songwriting. She affirmed a 19 year old boy's life experience by simply being willing to share her own.

I admire Teena because she has been willing to allow her muse to follow her...and it is her muse that has her loyalty: not fans, not an industry and not a genre. Some of her albums have taken me years to finally get, but that is the mark of a great artist. Teena is still unfolding as an artist and there are many things I still want to hear: the long-awaited jazz album, a gospel project, and maybe we'll even finally witness Teena Marie, the actress.

But no matter what happens, I owe a tremendous debt to Lady T for simply being willing to live a life outside of any box or label and in turn sharing it with us through her music.

Don't miss OTB's tribute to Teena Marie THIS SUNDAY on http://www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk/ at 9 AM and 7 PM EST! Live chat during the morning airing at www.timdillinger.com/forum. Special edition co-hosted by Andrea Sutherland and Stephanie Renee.

THIS SUNDAY ON OTB: TEENA MARIE TRIBUTE

2008-01-04T09:02:00.000-06:00

Tune in on Sunday at 9 AM or 7 PM EST on http://www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk/ and hear me and my artist-friends Stephanie Renee and Andrea Sutherland discuss (and play!) the music of Teena Marie.

Teri DeSario Revisited

2008-01-03T22:53:00.000-06:00

The first time I heard Teri DeSario was on a sampler that Word Records released in 1985 called Take 'Em With You. I was only ten years old, but there was something about the song that made it stand out to me. I saved my allowance and finally got Voices in the Wind. While I enjoyed the album, it's depth would not sink in until I listened again in my late teens.

Every listen since that revisitation has been a revelation.

I would scour the creates in used record stores until I found her other Word release, A Call To Us All.

I would daresay that these two albums have been the foundation of my personal theology.

Teri DeSario landed in the contemporary Christian genre after beginning her career with Casablanca Records as a disco diva. She recorded with Barry Gibb, but landed her first international hit duetting with KC of KC & The Sunshine Band on the Barbara Mason remake "Yes, I'm Ready".

Not much is known about the innerworkings of Teri's career as press has been slim to none, but she re-emerged in 1983 on Word Records' DaySpring label, producing two of the most important collections of spiritual music of the 80s.

I would like to be able to sit down with Teri and find out exactly what inspired such a unique, conscious spiritual perspective within the traditional Christian structure it seems she was in the midst of. Even moreso, I would like to know how she convinced a Christian record company to release these albums.

I would daresay that these are some of the first musical recordings officially released within the Christian music industry that share a perspective deemed as The Gospel of Inclusion, a controversial theology that has had those who align themselves with it deemed heretics (Most recently, Bishop Carlton Pearson).

In my mind, the Gospel of Inclusion is nothing that should be controversial...To me, it is more like common sense. The Gospel of Inclusion is very simple: we are already reconciled to God and we are loved by the Divine. But, that mindset is jarring to the Christian Hierarchy because it levels the playing field, establishing an equality, removing the need for a patriarchal authority, rather opening the floodgates for an individualized relationship with the Spirit Force.

When I was growing up, I was not aware of anyone preaching this doctrine...I didn't even know that it had a name, so hearing Teri DeSario sing:

There's a call to us all to love all humanity

Every race on the face of earth come to unity

Reach a hand to the Hindu mother

And a hand to the Buddhist father in love

Hold the hands of a Muslim baby

and you'll see we're all created by God

--in the image of God--

was the beginning of an awakening for me.

I listened to these two albums compulsively...like I did The Prodigal by Reba and The Turning by Leslie...I felt like there were hidden messages and only by listening and absorbing could I decode them.

While "A Call To Us All" transformed my perspective on monotheism, it also shook my perspective on humanity, my place in it, the commonality of the human experience and in the same breath, the diversity of it.

The mainstream Christian perspective seeks to convert, while this perspective, already sees everyone as one: unity in diversity.

Through thick and thin

the master weaves us in

Young and old

We are the colors of the rainbow

Our lives are short and long

but together we hold strong

in this everlasting tapestry

from "Tapestry"

Teri's gospel was incapable of unconsciousness. While she celebrated the beauty of the freedom of her belief, she also confronted the monotonous, generations-old perspective that made the Christian experience synonymous with war and fighting, Having grown up in the midst of the "spiritual warfare" era, hearing Teri's message was pivitol.

I don't wanna be a soldier

marching off to war

justified by a manmade cause

all in the name of the Lord

And I won't carry any banner

or step out proudly to the drum

or ravage others when I disagree

just to win and overcome

all in the name of the Lord

These lyrics are no less poignant 23 years later as we sit in the midst of a war instigated by a President who swears he is God's man, while a candidate who proposes a Peace Department is considered laughable. We have been so indoctrinated to live by a philosophy of war that the idea of pursuing a lifestyle of peace is comedic to those who do not have ears to hear. But Teri's ideals are a clarion call:

A haunting universal melody

One that's ringing out the theme of peace

Thought I may be slapped upon the cheek

I pray to love my enemy

All in the name of the Lord

But above all, these albums are documentation of Teri's quest for truth and honesty in one's spiritual quest...and how that quest impacts every aspect. "Voices In The Wind" explores core belief systems, proposing that, perhaps, we were not "born in sin and shaped in iniquity", as King David suggested, but rather, in the image of God.

As a surivor of sexual abuse as a child, and spiritual abuse throughout my life, "Voices In The Wind" was a breakthrough moment for me when I finally got it. "Voices" awakened all that was right and good inside of me, tipping the scale from focusing on all that I thought was wrong to the realization that everything was actually right.

I remember listening to this album with my friend Joann, parked in the front yard of her house, and being conscious that I had just had a realization: a dawning: that would never allow me to walk as a traditional Christian again. My eyes were opening and the consciousness was opening to me.

I have clung to these albums since that day. My steps have been influenced by them and I see the results of my steps mirrored back at me when I listen again, gaining further understanding of the path.

I have searched high and lo for Teri in hopes that I could extend an "attitude of gratitude" for two albums that were bold and daring in the 80s...and still would be in 2008. Albums such as these are birthed only on the wings of courage...a knowingness that the message will change the paradigms of the special ones whose ears are tuned and ready to catch the message. Like most lunar poets who fly through the galaxies, Teri has seemingly disappeared...saying what she needed to say and moving on...but I'd love 20 minutes to talk philosphy, poetry and spirituality with her.

So, hopefully she sees this, and knows that I'm one of the ones this work was intended for.

Self-knowledge is of such importance that even if you were to be raised to the highest heavens, I should not want you to stop your cultivation of it.

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

THIS SUNDAY ON OTB: TEENA MARIE TRIBUTE

2008-01-03T09:29:00.000-06:00

Tune in to "Out the Box" this Sunday, where my comrades singer/songwriter/producer Stephanie Renne and artist extrordinaire, Andrea Sutherland and I will be discussing the work of Teena Marie.

Of the many artists that I love and have studied, Teena is in the Holy Trinity of my influences. She is peerless as a poet, vocalist, producer and forerunner.

Listen at 9 AM or 7 PM EST at http://www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk/. Join me for live chat during the morning airing at www.timdillinger.com/forum.

The Best of 2007: Out the Box Commentary

2007-12-30T21:30:00.000-06:00

It's been a pretty, packed full year.

We have interviewed a slew of personalities: Khari Wyatt, Mohammed Bilal, Nikki Giovanni, Jason Eskridge, Charlene Moore, Bishop Yvette Flunder, Anam Owili-Eger, Bernadette Cooper of Klymaxx, Billy Porter, Joshua Gamson (author of The Fabulous Sylvester), celebrity make-up artist Rudy Calvo, Ron Wynn, Eric Robinson, Candi Staton, Martha Wash, Jimmy Scott, Ralph Terrana, Jimmy Scott, Ramel, Ainsley Burrows, Daryl Coley, author NM Shabazz, Sarah Dash, Norman Mayers of Nu-Soul Magazine, JW Richard, Sunny Hawkins, Karen Clark-Sheard, author LM Ross, Michele Kort (author of Soul Picnic: the Music and Passion of Laura Nyro), motivational speaker Spirit (twice!), actor/artist Benjamin Patterson, Rev. Kevin E. Taylor, actor Keith Hamilton Cobb, Cynthia Philpot (daughter of gospel legend Danniebelle Hall), Gavin Gregory, Rev. Ricc Rollins, acgtor Darryl Stephens (of Noah's Arc), Minister Gerald Palmer, Herndon Davis, Debra Byrd (formerly of Lady Flash and currently vocal coach for American Idol), author James Earl Hardy (our most downloaded show), DJ Baker of Da Doo Dirty Show, DeWayne Woods, Deniece Williams, visual artist Hank Willis Thomas, Tim'm West, Thelma Houston, author Lee Hayes, Ann Nesby, Marlena Shaw, TJ Brown, Shirley Murdock AND almost a full year of segments with Chris and Georgette Whaley of SOBO Magazine.

As I sit looking at this list, I'm amazed at the weight of artistry represented and am proud to say that the vision I had for the show was very much realized this year.

The show was also the catalyst for making some decisions in my own personal and professional life, the most forefront being my public acknowledgement of my sexuality. My interview with Bishop Yvette Flunder, someone I've long admired, gave me the courage to take a step I had long avoided. I made my first public acknowledgement in a radio interview (on gospel radio, at that) with Minister Gerald Palmer (another Out the Box guest).

In the midst of that process, I was in pre-production on my first gospel recording, which will be releasing in August 2008. Friends and family from all over flew in to be a part of a service that I will never forget (and am so glad that we have it on tape!).

I was honored to have been the recipient of two awards this past year. I was the recipient of the first ever SOBO Magazine Music Award. Chris & Georgette presented me with this great honor at a brunch the weekend of my gospel recording.

Silawn Lewis created the Agape Indie Artist Awards and I received there nominations (Album of the Year, Single of the Year and MySpace Page of the Year). I was presented with the award for MySpace Page of the Year after my performance at Tim'm West's Front Porch Event in Brooklyn.It was an incredible year full of inspiring art...and I wanted to make mention of Out the Box's 2007 Best of List:

Book of the Year: Manhood: The Longest Moan by LM Ross

Album of the Year (Non-Gospel): (Tie) Blakkboy Blues by Tim'm West & On Some Other by Deep Dickollective

Gospel Album of the Year: I Never Lost My Praise by Tramaine Hawkins

Movie of the Year: (Tie) Lions and Lambs and The Great Debaters

Radio Show/Podcast of the Year: Da Doo Dirty Show

Trailblazers of the Year: SOBO Magazine

Who to Watch: Baron

Most Likely to Change The World: Bishop Yvette Flunder

OTB Playlist: 12/30/07: The Best of 2007

2007-12-30T21:08:00.000-06:00

1. Out the Box Theme--Lenny Hamilton--Unreleased
2. U Tell Me--Mid-1, Tim'm West & Tim Dillinger--Unreleased
3. Higher Love--Rahsaan Patterson--from "Wines & Spirits"
4. Let Go--DeWayne Woods--from "Introducing DeWayne Woods"
5. High Energy--Susaye Greene--from "Brave New Shoes"
6. When I See You--Fantasia--from "Fantasia"
7. The Moment--Anam Owili-Eger--from "These Subtle Declarations"
8. Gone--Tim'm West--from "Blakkboy Blues"
9. No Visible Scars--Count Basic featuring Kellie Sae--from "Love & Light"
10. Old School Medley--David Sosa and Kare Alford--Unreleased
11. Dunno What--Albright
12. You Get The Glory--Tramaine Hawkins--from "I Never Lost My Praise"
13. It's Like Air--Sunny Hawkins--from "More of You"
14. Head Over Heels--Brig Feltus--from "Love & Light"
15. Disrespectful--Chaka Khan and Mary J. Blige--from "Funk This"
16. What You Came To Do--Aretha Franklin and John Legend--from "Jewels In The Crown"
17. Cuz Ur Beautiful--Baron--from "Troubled Man"
18. Man of Me--Deep Dickollective--from "On Some Other"

Malcolm Williams & Great Faith: Everything

2007-12-29T00:13:00.001-06:00

Gospel Memories

2007-12-26T20:32:00.000-06:00

Beverly Crawford, me & Duranice "Done-Done" Pace

When Godmother Morgan and I went to our first Gospel Explosion in 1993, we did it in style. It was my graduation present to myself, so we stayed at the Doubletree Hotel in Nashville and had limo service to and from the airport.

Our flight home left at an ungodly hour in the morning: we had to leave at 4 am or something like that...so, Mother Morgan, Kelly and I dragged downstairs with our luggage (including hat boxes) to wait for our limo. A few seconds later, we were joined by my favorite Pace Sister, Duranice.

We chit-chatted and discovered we were on the same flight to Atlanta, so we invited her to join us in our limo, since her car had not arrived when our limo pulled up.

Imagine my surprise a few years later, when I ended up in Tallahassee, Florida with Beverly Crawford and Duranice was a part of the same revival. I was even more surpised when she remembered the limo ride.

Duranice gave me one of my favorite television moments of this year with the clip below.

If the embedded image doesn't work, click here.

Flashback: Kathy Troccoli, "Heart & Soul"

2007-12-24T15:16:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time, white people created unbelievably soulful contemporary Christian music.

I grew up in the generation before Crystal Lewis and two generations before the supposedly soulful Martha Munizzi. Sandi Patti ruled the inspirational category, Amy Grant was the Queen of Christian pop, and Leslie Phillips was dominating the female rocker slot, and then there was Kathy Troccoli.

She possesed (and to this day posseses) one of the most alluring, lushiously warm altos ever to grace a disc of vinyl. She was so distinct that the established Christian labels would not sign her when Amy Grant's management attempted to get her a deal. The Christians at the time felt that alto voices such as hers somehow signified lust and this brilliant talent was left without a deal. Michael Blanton and Dan Harrell believed in her so intesely that she was the reason they created Reunion Records.

Her debut album, Stubborn Love (1983), was a sparkling collection of infectious pop songs, including a dazzling cover of Ashford & Simpson's "You're All I Need To Get By" and the Amy Grant co-written title track. She showed the other labels exactly what they missed by passing her up, selling 150,000 units, a new feat for a debut Christian artist.

My godmother, Valerie, obsessively loved the Stubborn Love album, and it was through her that I fell in love with the voice of Kathy Troccoli.

Heart & Soul, however, was the album that I could not stop playing.

It was like Manhattan Transfer met Andrae Crouch with a dash of Michael W. Smith thrown in for good measure.

This was another one of the albums that my sister and I played until we wore the grooves out on the vinyl. From the funky syncopation of "Long Distance Letter" to the sunny jazz-pop of "Yes & Know" to the gospel-tinged "Mighty Lord" to the quint-essential power pop of "I Belong To You", we were enamoured with this album.

Kathy has never sung with more wreckless abandon. We identified with the freedom we heard in her voice and she inspired us, little munchkin junior singers, to find that place inside of us. We locked ourselves in my sister's room, singing along until we were tired. We knew this album so entirely, we could sing the musical accompaniment: the fuzzy guitars on "Hearts of Fire", the harmonica on "Mighty Lord" (not the mentioned the brilliantly executed wail by Donna McElroy) and the 80's synthesizer on "I Belong To You".

So when we found out that Kathy Troccoli, Michael W. Smith & Billy Sprague were coming to our local Christian bookstore for a record signing to promote their concert, we pestered our parents until they relented.

Kathy Troccoli was everything we, as little 9 and 10 year olds, had hoped that she would be. She was conversational, touchable, and as emotive in conversation as she was in her music. She let us hang out with her while she signed albums for others. Our parents went and hid in the book section while Hillary and I basked in the glory of Kathy Troccoli.

She was another one of the handful of artists who taught me so much in a two hour increment exactly how very intregal the relationship between the artist and the public really is. While we loved her music prior to the signing, it was her interaction with us that made us fans and supporters for life.

She would release her next album, Images, in 1986 and disappear from the music industry until the early 90s when she resurged with the pop breakthrough "Everything Changes" (via the album Pure Attraction, another blue-eyed soul gem). Every during her hiatus, we were wondering where she was...and even discovered that she had done background vocals on Taylor Dayne's debut album Tell It To My Heart under the pseudonym of Casey Warner, and under her real name on Taylor's hit "I'll Be Your Shelter" (from the Can't Fight Fate album).

I got to interview Kathy for Out the Box last December as she promoted her latest release, The Story of Love, and celebrated her 25th Anniversary in the Christian music industry. It's hard to believe that I've been listening since the very beginning, but also refreshing to know that she's still here, just as real as she was in the beginning and still killing us with that irresisable alto.

As with all of my favorite albums, it is one of her two albums that remains unreleased on CD. I will maintain that each of these albums represents a day that Christian music wishes it could forget, for in these works is a faith that anyone can relate to...there is no greater than/lesser than mentality. Heart & Soul revels in the relationship between the Creator and Humanity, perhaps best verbalized on the album's closer, "Island of Love".

The universe belongs to me/and this is where I'm meant to be

OTB Playlist: 12/23/07

2007-12-24T09:22:00.000-06:00

1. Out the Box Theme--Lenny Hamilton--Unreleased
2. Wonderful Counselor--Whitney, Cissy and Gary Houston--Unreleased
3. Joy--Natalie Grant--from "Believe"
4. Love You I Do--Jennifer Hudson--from "Dreamgirls"
5. It Don't Have To Change--John Legend--from "Get Lifted"
6. Christmastime Is Here--Billy Porter--available on iTUNES
7. What a Wonderful World--Eva Cassidy--from "Live At Blues Alley"
8. Art of Love--Laura Nyro--from "Walk the Dog...Light the Light"
9. Winter in America--Gil Scott-Heron-from "Winter in America"
10. River--Joni Mitchell--from "Blue"
11. In The Winter--Janis Ian--from "Between the Lines"
12. Happy Xmas--John Lennon and Yoko Ono--from "Imagine"
13. December 25--Rosie Gaines--from "Closer Than Close"
14. Love Has Come--Amy Grant--from "A Christmas Album"
15. Why Couldn't It Be Christmas Everyday--Bianca Ryan--from "Bianca Ryan"
16. I'll Be Home for Christmas--Kathy Troccoli--from "A Sentimental Christmas"
17. Dream A Little Dream of Me--KD Lang & Tony Bennett--from "A Wonderful World"
18. Embraceable You--Jimmy Scott--from "All The Way"
19. Put a Little Love In Your Heart--Isley Brothers--from "Brother, Brother, Brother"
20. Feels Like Christmas--Cyndi Lauper--from "A Hat Full of Stars"
21. Dear Santa--The Weather Girls--from "Success"
22. Overshadow Me--David & Nicole Binion--from "When Heaven Kisses Earth"
23. Peace On Earth--U2--from "All That You Can't Leave Behind"
24. Silent Night--Rotary Connection--from "Minnie Riperton: The Chess Years"
25. O Come, O Come Emmanuel--Margaret Becker--from "Christmas"
26. Merry Christmas With Love--Sandi Patti--from "The Gift Goes On"
27. Get All Excited--The Clark Sisters--Unreleased

Out the Box with Tim Dillinger

Review: Vanessa Bell Armstrong: Experience

I Hate To Break It To You...

Highly Recommended: O Magazine, November 2009

PODCAST EDITIONS: NEW!

OTB Returns

Condolences to the Bilal Family

CD Review: Labelle: Back to Now

Teena Marie: De Ja Vu

Terrence Howard: Shine Through It

We're Back...

WE REMEMBER: VINCE EBO

Flashback: Yoko Ono: Hell In Paradise

CD Review: Mid-One: Heaven Send A Synthesizer

Ledisi Covers Teena Marie

CD Review: Yoko Ono: Yes, I'm A Witch

Flashback: Davis Sisters; Twelve Gates

Yoko Ono: Yes, I'm A Witch

Flashback: Michel'le

Amy Grant: Angels (Grammy Awards, 1985)

Reba Rambo-McGuire: The Poet Has Flown: A Tribute To Dottie Rambo

Yes We Can Can! SANG MARIA

Speaking of Grace Jones (See Baron Review Below)

An Annoucement from Tim

CD Review: BARON: Celebrity

DREAMS: THE DERON REMIX: NOW AVAILABLE!!

Flashback: Reba Rambo: Confessions

Repackaged: Ashford & Simpson: Hits, Remixes and Rarities

Better Late Than Never: Robert Plant & Allison Krauss: Raising Sand

The One To Watch: Adele

CD Review: Alanis Morissette: Flavors of Entanglement

Q&A with Patsy Moore

CD Review: Patsy Moore: "The Most Private Confessions of Saint Clair"

Book Review: LM Ross: The Moanin' After

CD Review: Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything

"Out the Box" Updates

THIS SUNDAY: SEASON FINALE: REBA RAMBO-McGUIRE PART TWO

OTB Playlist 4/20/08: Special Guests: Angela Johnson and Tariq Walton

4/13/08 OTB Playlist

DOROTHY NORWOOD: THIS SUNDAY (3/30) ON OTB!

THIS SUNDAY on OTB: author LM ROSS

Noteable Quote

CD Review: Angela Johnson: "A Woman's Touch"

From a Reader About Reba Rambo-McGuire

CONCERT REVIEW: LIZZ WRIGHT

THIS SUNDAY: REBA RAMBO-McGUIRE

Coming in June!!

Ivory by Teena Marie

Noteable Quote

Happy Birthday Teena Marie

Flashback: Russ Taff

An Anointed Child: David Archuleta

THIS SUNDAY ON OTB (2/24): TIM'M WEST

Larry Norman: RIP

OTB Playlist: 2/24/07: BISHOP CARLTON PEARSON

This Sunday on OTB (2/24): BISHOP CARLTON PEARSON

Recommended Reading

The Grammy Highlight

A Reminder of the Call....

DON'T FORGET: TONEX ON 'OUT THE BOX' THIS SUNDAY

Blunder Woman? Essential Viewing

TONEX INTERVIEW: THIS SUNDAY ON 'OUT THE BOX WITH TIM DILLINGER'

Today's The Day: VOTE

Flashback: Tonex

Dorothy Norwood Tonight On TBN

FAB-U-LOUS!

1/27/08: OTB PLAYLIST

Deep Dickollective: "On Some Other"

Are You Ready? We Are

This Sunday on OTB: Church At Stonewall Inn???

Tim Dillinger: You Are My Joy

OTB Playlist: 1/20/07 (Maurice Jamal & Leo Shelton)

A Must View: Juba Kalamka

News Item: Nikki Giovanni

I Gotta Find Peace of Mind

Flashback: Rick James

Leo Shelton: Author/Poet on OTB This Sunday

Dirty Laundry: Maurice Jamal on 'OTB' This Sunday

THIS SUNDAY ON OTB: MAURICE JAMAL & LEO SHELTON

Stellar Awards: More!