soulBlog: Royce, Concert Additions, Albums on Radar

Royce

James Royce has a new band with a newer EP called “Black Rock.” I met him at Pointbreezeway at a Soulful Femme show. SF’s Stevee Wellons and Cheryl Rinovato introduced us, then gushed about him and his project.

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The EP Release Event was held at Cattivo in Lawrenceville. Stevee and Cheryl sat in, plus I saw B. Michael Smith on harmonica for the first time in a long while. Right before they went on, James and I talked about what black rock is, and it’s too bad that I didn’t have the Tascam recorder in hand. However, we have a phone interview tonight to cover that and more. Listen to The Soul Show on Saturday 6/8 for interview segments plus Black Rock tracks.

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Additions to Concert Calendar – see the Concert Calendar section of soulshowmike.org for details

• Ravi Coltrane, by Kente Arts Alliance
• Antonio Hart, by Kente Arts Alliance

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Albums on Radar

As PG columnist Scott-Mervis wrote in his fine article this week (https://www.post-gazette.com/business/bop/2019/06/03/Pittsburgh-is-suddenly-flush-with-concert-venues-what-now/stories/201905220113), artists now use album releases to drive concert attendance. Well this is concert season, so there is a lot of music coming out. Here’s a sampling of the current geyser that I’m paying attention to:

• Santana, “Africa Speaks” – he and Spanish vocalist Buika issued an amazing single from this album, and the album arrived in my box yesterday
• Esperanza Spalding, “12 Little Spells”
• Avery Sharpe, “An African American Musical Portrait”
• Ulysses Owens, Jr., “Songs of Freedom” – listen to the cover of Joni’s “Both Sides Now” by Alicia Olatuja
• Tanika Charles, “The Gumption” – a clear candidate for The Soul Show’s Top Ten Albums of 2019
• Theo Croker, “Star People Nation”
• Flying Lotus, “Flamagra”
• Marcus Lewis Big Band, “Brass and Boujee” – “Boxes” and “Fake It ‘Til I Make it” tracks are exceptional