tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123867362010-02-04T14:23:49.094-08:00Your guide to unsung Black departure albums. Fresh every Wednesday.Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-62059624979703173852009-01-14T00:00:00.000-08:002009-01-14T11:31:16.195-08:00

It's her prerogative, it's the way that she wants to live.Download Living My Life(mp3). Purchase this album: Amazon • THE SCENE: In 1981 singer-songwriter-model-living canvas Grace Jones crossed over from danceclub diva to mainstream pop star with her Top 40 album Nightclubbing, while its single "Pull Up To The Bumper" hit number 5 on the R&B charts. Finally, it seemed, the world was ready to

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-64899497806777075282008-12-17T00:01:00.000-08:002008-12-23T20:58:37.377-08:00

And have an uppity new year!

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-46698465819469634472008-12-10T00:01:00.000-08:002008-12-10T08:01:09.909-08:00

The Les Claypool of folk.Download Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town(mp3). Purchase this album: Amazon • THE SCENE: Les Claypool is reknowed both for his unique mastery of the bass guitar and his eccentric vocal style, a clenched piercing squawk that sounds like "Donald Duck: Delta Bluesman." He may never sing a duet with Boys II Men, but within Primus his voice and bass alchemize into a brilliance on

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-88054615875758740352008-12-03T00:01:00.000-08:002008-12-04T00:34:29.559-08:00

An odd duck in the perfect watering hole.Download Jackie-Ing(mp3). Purchase this album: Amazon • THE SCENE: In the last decade, Malian kora master Toumani Diabaté realized that the average music purchaser wasn't particularly aware of either Mali or the kora, so to raise his profile he subsequently recorded several cross-genre albums with many global artists. Since the kora (the West African 21-

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-90073242525155547132008-11-26T00:01:00.000-08:002008-11-26T09:05:27.699-08:00

The 204th best album ever made. Seriously.(No mp3s this week, cause he's all lawyered up.) Purchase this album: Amazon • THE SCENE: No matter your opinion of Prince's music, one has to admit that the composer of "Sexy MF", "Sex Shooter", "The Sex of It", "Sexuality", "Sexy Dancer", "Lovesexy", "Sex In the Summer", and "Sex" is extremely focused. At least until his short-term memory kicks in. In

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-49331247476086312702008-11-19T16:44:00.000-08:002008-12-03T01:41:31.045-08:00

Night of the living bass-head.Download Red (mp3). Purchase this album: Amazon • THE SCENE: On Chris Rock's MySpace page he posted a so-funny-it's-painful essay called the Only Black Guy Concert Review :"So far this year I was the only black guy at the Van Halen concert, the only black guy at the Cure concert, and the only black guy at the White Stripes concert. And later on this year I'm sure

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-12814527263670094922008-11-12T00:01:00.000-08:002008-12-02T21:08:26.458-08:00

Like Tigger on Red Bull.Download Unnecessary Thinking (mp3). Purchase this album: Amazon • THE SCENE: In 2002 the supremely abstracted emcee Busdriver released his critically acclaimed second disc Temporary Forever, a sonic snapshot of his madcap visions and theatrical flow. Trading the standard boom-bap for jazz licks he returned in 2004 with the dada-esque European-only Cosmic Cleavage.You know

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-20889228589924858922008-11-05T00:01:00.000-08:002008-11-05T10:51:46.152-08:00

It was twenty years ago today...THE SCENE: I'm in shock. The happy, goosepimply kind of shock, like finding cash in a forgotten pair of pants. A LOT of cash.The last time I felt this dizzying state of crumbling racial intolerance was in 1988. I was in an all-Black rock band at the time, which by definition meant our band were in it for the love, because there were no successful mainstream Black

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-75678195028449470552008-10-29T00:01:00.000-07:002008-12-02T16:06:50.865-08:00

Fresher than a gumbo popsicle.Download New Orleans (mp3). Purchase this album: Amazon • THE SCENE: In spite of the nearly infinite song possibilities of both jazz and hiphop, I find jazz-hop to be universally underwhelming. (Except for this one, but you knew that already.) Usually one genre is sprinkled on top of the other like salt on a bagel, resulting in either jazz songs with with b-level

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-27693808234139891202008-10-22T00:01:00.000-07:002008-12-02T15:47:59.948-08:00

Between Blonde and Pink.Download Fruitloop Daydream (mp3). Purchase this album: Amazon • THE SCENE: In 1995, rock band 4 Non Blondes had sold 6 million copies of their debut album Bigger, Better, Faster, More!, mostly on the strength of their unrestrained hit single "What's Up?" . But lead vocalist and songwriter Linda Perry couldn't stand singing it anymore, nor could she deal with Interscope

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-45479595733803885512008-10-15T00:01:00.000-07:002008-12-02T14:09:39.409-08:00

Give the koto player some.Download Myself When Young (mp3). Purchase this album: AmazonTHE SCENE: During the 1960s bandleader and composer Dorothy Ashby surpassed the novelty of being the only female jazz harpist by showcasing her fluid dexterity and harmonic syncopation across nine jazz albums. But for her tenth album she jettisoned her harp for an even more surprising instrument, the koto. The

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-78207482187602658392008-10-08T00:01:00.000-07:002008-12-02T13:36:01.368-08:00

Record company people are still shady.Download Johnny Died (mp3).THE SCENE: When we last left Q-Tip in 2001, Arista Records refused to release his album Kamaal The Abstract, deeming his ambitious fusion of hip-hop, jazz & rock "uncommercial". I imagine the conversation went something like this:Record Exec: "I don't think this album is going to sell."Q-Tip: "But every album I've made has sold over

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-17732752630162254822008-10-01T00:01:00.000-07:002008-12-02T11:20:41.669-08:00

The home of the tonally brave.Download The Good Life(mp3). Purchase this album: Amazon • THE SCENE: Although iconoclastic saxophonist Ornette Coleman is currently considered a genius (having actually won the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius” grant), in 1972 he was entering his third decade as Jazz’s most polarizing oddball. Was he really the shape of jazz to come, or an out-of-tune charlatan with

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-12960302657992263852008-01-02T07:12:00.000-08:002008-01-02T07:16:51.926-08:00

I'm still on vacation (thanks), so Uppity Music will return next week. I have a question for you though. I'm considering starting a Uppity Music forum, so all you UM fans have a place to congregate and enlighten. Would you have a use for a forum, and if so, for what?

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-81594030650781942862007-12-26T00:01:00.000-08:002008-12-02T06:16:34.509-08:00

Funk is…a ham hock in your egg nog.Purchase this album (Amazon).(The following is a repost, in honor of James Brown’s passing on Christmas Day 2006.)THE SCENE: In 1966 Christmas albums were strictly the domain of pop acts (think Nat “King” Cole) or smoothed-out rock acts (think The Beach Boys). James Brown was the first Black rock’n’roll or R&B artist to release an entire Christmas album, the

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-51964448404391833062007-12-19T00:01:00.000-08:002008-12-02T06:09:18.246-08:00

Friendly as a backhand. Download WTFF (mp3). Purchase this album (Amazon).THE SCENE: In 1992 Living Colour was surfing an unprecented wave as “America’s Favorite All-Black Rock Band™”. Their melding of social positivity and hard rock, combined with catchy lyrics, world-class musicianship and colourful imagery had led to gold records, hit singles, Grammy awards, sold-out tours, commercial fame

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-34701641456976384042007-12-12T00:01:00.000-08:002008-09-30T16:52:10.882-07:00

The antidote to Barney the Dinosaur. Download Throwdown (mp3). Purchase this album (Amazon).THE SCENE: After the triumphant success of OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below Hollywood rolled out the red carpet to André 3000, giving him the chance to appear in a string of extremely mediocre sequels and remakes (Four Brothers, Be Cool, Charlotte’s Web, yawn). But on the Cartoon Network he scored a

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-66608000685323657972007-11-28T00:01:00.000-08:002008-09-30T16:54:08.091-07:00

Take a breath. Download Gods and Goddesses (mp3). Purchase this album (Amazon).THE SCENE: Imagine you’ve been invited to a fine dinner party, where you are expected to share your latest art project. The woman seated to your left displays her bronze abstract sculpture. The man on your right shows off his new painting, a classic oil-on-canvas of a fruit basket. And you proudly produce, to everyone’

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-5981821372093086152007-11-21T00:01:00.000-08:002008-09-30T16:55:40.234-07:00

The original “F--- The Police”. Download Zombie (mp3). Purchase this album.THE SCENE: In 1977 the government of Nigeria was thick with corrupt brutish thugs, the type who denied civil rights to its populace as a matter of principle. Of the many activists who spoke out against the regime none was more popular than bandleader Fela Kuti, who released numerous top-selling albums criticizing the

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-35334476874927813442007-11-14T00:01:00.000-08:002008-09-30T17:04:02.519-07:00

The G stands for “green”.Download Who’s Clean (mp3). Purchase this album.THE SCENE: On the face of it, the mere existence of a Shock G solo album sounds preposterous. He’s the face and voice of Digital Underground as well its the main songwriter, pianist, producer, illustrator and conceptualist — possibly even its personal chef and Pilates trainer — so one would assume a group created in his

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-52829321442055062072007-03-21T00:01:00.000-07:002008-09-30T17:06:57.531-07:00

“Muh-muh muh-muh muh-muh muh-muh muh-muh muh-muh muh-muh.”Download Little Demon (mp3). Purchase this album.THE SCENE: In the 1950s opera-trained baritone Jalacey Hawkins struggled to make his mark in the music biz, eventually realizing there was no market for Black opera-trained baritones. Realizing that his ability to scream in tune could apply to other genres he remade himself as Screamin’ Jay

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-1172620529558798252007-02-28T00:01:00.000-08:002008-09-30T17:13:05.817-07:00

Preaches and verve. (Yes, I'm back. Thanks for hangin’.)Download Rebel Soul Music (mp3). Purchase this album.THE SCENE: When I was playing clubs with my band in San Francisco during the early ’90s, I found the soundchecks fascinating due to the number of soundmen who did not think we played rock music simply because I was the guitarist. After we played a rock song or two the point became moot,

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-1157516911771119482006-10-04T00:01:00.000-07:002008-12-02T13:20:27.801-08:00

There’s more to musical Black Jews than Sammy Davis, Jr.Download Mwana Talitambula (mp3). Purchase this album (Amazon).THE SCENE: Uganda of the 1890s was the place to be if you liked drama. One of the many African countries colonized during England’s “The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire” world tour, Uganda was inhabited by warring factions of Muslims, Roman Catholics and Anglicans. Semei

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-1157207575270261642006-08-30T00:01:00.000-07:002008-12-02T13:05:20.876-08:00

Executive branch pimpslap.Download Jagger The Dagger (mp3). Purchase this album (Amazon).THE SCENE: 1971. Post-hippie America was fracturing under the twin weights of the Vietnam Conflict and the harsh social policies of the soon-to-be-impeached President Richard Nixon. Gene McDaniels was a moderately successful smoothed-out R&B singer-songwriter whose growing political awareness had started to

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12386736.post-1156398194320833702006-08-23T00:01:00.000-07:002008-12-02T12:55:53.472-08:00

Skyscrapers of groove.Download For The Love Of Money (mp3). Purchase this album (Amazon).THE SCENE: The downtown scene of New York City circa 1982 was the nexus of punk, jazz and dance music yet few artists attempted to compile all three styles into one mega-style, citing reasons such as “technically impossible” and “virtually unlistenable”. Enter trombonist Joseph Bowie, who developed the

Mark Frenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245138881297857666noreply@blogger.com3