by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Threads: @stlmarlonwest IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest) Thanks to our Editor-In-Chief, Lori Lakin Hutcherson, for reminding me that it April is Jazz Appreciation Month. So, to that end, I’ve assembled this collection of new and recent Jazz releases. Most of these track have been released in 2024. None of them is older than five years old. These tracks encompass a wide range of styles and showcase the creativity and artistry of today’s jazz musicians. This collection features rom compelling compositions to virtuosic performances, by the likes o ..read more

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest) Happy Music Monday! In the weeks since Beyoncé’s recent Country releases, there’s been much debate on her Country bona fides, though the sista has never been shy about voicing her Texas pride. From Beyoncé’s history with the genre, from the song “Daddy Lessons”, from her 2016 album Lemonade, to the Stetsons worn by Destiny’s Child, many Country devotees ignore her roots and those of other Black artists. While talking to a good friend and colleague last week, he pointed out that it’s not musician ..read more

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest) Back in the fall of 1981 when I was in my first semester at Columbia College, I became friends with a fellow from a Chicagoland suburb. He was a dyed-in-the-wool Rolling Stones fan. One afternoon their version of “Just My Imagination” played on the radio near us. I recall mentioning it was a Temptations cover, and with some level of indignation, he told me that Jagger and Richards wrote EVERY song The Stones performed. I was shocked. We were decades away from being able to Google such ..read more

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest) Happy MLK Holiday and Music Monday. Here is our first playlist of 2024. “MLK Day 2024” is a collection of songs and music from across the globe. They are tracks devoted to struggle, liberation, and celebration. I’ve included songs like “You’re A Winner,” “How I Got Over,” and “A Change Is Gonna Come” that were the real-time soundtracks to the America’s civil rights struggle in the 1960s. There’s tracks from the turbulent 1970s and ‘80s from Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Freda Payne, Gil Scott-Her ..read more

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest) Happy Holidays, you all. We are half way through Hanukkah, with Christmas and Kwanzaa coming up quick. We’ve offered several funky and soulful and jazz and reggae seasonal playlists over the years. Search Spotify by “marlonwest” and they are all still there to enjoy this Yuletide Season. This Music Monday offering features holiday-themed songs that have all been dropped in 2023. There are new tracks from new and emerging artists like Cliff Beach, Samara Joy, Fitz and The Tantrums, and the ever ..read more

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90) Welcome to the holiday season, Good Black News family!  We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving – and are counting down the 25 days of Christmas now that it’s December. In what’s become a holiday tradition, we’ve updated our now massive Black Christmas music Spotify playlist with a whole heap of new songs. The month of November was spent searching far and wide across the internet for new releases, old classics now on Spotify, and other tunes and artists we missed in previous years. So here it is – a refreshed and revived “Ultimate Soul of the Season ..read more

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest) Happy Monday, y’all! I’m back with another collection in my “Afro” playlist series — “AfroBeatles.” Earlier this month the first new Beatles song “Now And Then” dropped with the help of master filmmaker, Peter Jackson, and the surviving members. It is the first new release from the group in 45 years. The Beatles are rightly known for the unmatched songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Towards their later years, George Harrison and Ringo Starr also pitched in with originals ..read more

K Dot is making his mark on the world of music yet again. According to Variety.com, Grammy Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free‘s company, pgLang, is teaming up with philanthropic organization Global Citizen to create a major music touring circuit across the continent of Africa. The initiative’s kickoff event Move Afrika: Rwanda,  is slated to take place Dec. 6 with Lamar as the headliner. Additionally, over the next five years, pgLang has committed to curating more “Move Africa” shows, with an expansion to producing shows in Rwanda’s neighboring cou ..read more

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest) Happy first Monday of October, you all! It’s Halloween time once again, and I’m back with another Funky Halloween Music playlist for this spooky season. Here is 13 hours of more Soul, Reggae, Funk, Jazz, and movie soundtracks. Open in Spotify I freely admit to casting a very wide net for this playlist, including tracks simply featured in The Blackening, Nope, Get Out, Us, The Master and others. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Beyoncé, Gravediggaz, The Weekend, Ella Fitzgerald, Little Simz, Exuma ..read more

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest) Happy Labor Day, y’all! It is no toil for me to offer up another playlist on this holiday Monday. After June’s AfroBowie collection, our editor-in-chief, Lori Lakin Hutcherson, suggested a few more in a series of collections of rock musicians inspired by and in collaboration with Black artists. So here is the second offering: AfroZeppelin. While David Bowie championed and collaborated with Black music-makers throughout his long career, Led Zeppelin’s connections were not as overt. Open in Spoti ..read more