GATO BARBIERI – SAXOPHONIST EXTRAORDINAIRE It is with great sadness that Soul Brother has to report the passing of another great. Saxophonist Leandro Barbieri, better known as ‘Gato’ passed away on 2nd April 2016 at the age of 83 following a bout of pneumonia. His nickname ‘El Gato’ (Spanish for ‘The Cat’) derived from his habit of slinking from one Buenos Aires Jazz club to another whilst a youngster. Born in Rosario, Argentina in 1932, he was surrounded by music and musicians from an early age. It was Charlie Parker, however, who inspired him to start playing the alto...
LEON HAYWOOD – A MELLOW KINDA FELLOW Soul singer, producer and songwriter Leon Haywood passed away in his sleep on 5th April 2016. He was 74. Born, Otha Leon Haywood in Houston Texas on 11th February 1942, he listened to blues extensively as a child and was playing piano by the age of four. An accomplished pianist he played with a local Blues band and accompanied the likes of Guitar Slim. In the early 60’s he moved to Los Angeles, where he continued playing with R&B/ Blues groups until he joined Sam Cooke’s band, with whom he remained until...
It is with immense sadness that we learned of the death of one of Soul and Funk’s greatest musicians, writers, producers and singers. Maurice White, founder of Earth Wind And Fire passed away on Thursday 4th February after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, with which he was diagnosed in the early 90’s. Earth Wind and Fire and Maurice White played a huge role in the development of Laurence’s and my love of our music. Maurice was born on 19th December 1941 in Memphis Tennessee. As a teenager he moved to Chicago, where he found work as a drummer...
THE POWER OF THE SOUL DRUMMER Listening to Idris Muhammad’s ‘Could Heaven Ever Be Like This’ – a long-term favourite of mine from the halcyon days of Robbie Vincent’s BBC Radio London show –was like being momentarily transported to Jazz Funk paradise - well for 8 minutes at least. That was way back in ’77, Idris’ drumming has subsequently become the stuff of legend and equally lauded by fellow drummers, Hip Hop samplers and Jazz and Funk music lovers alike. Sadly the drummer, passed away recently at the age of 74 of unknown causes, although he had been suffering from...
HENRY STONE – TK LABEL CO OWNER AND BOSS: RIP Few executives epitomized the music industry’s golden era more than TK’s Henry Stone. Henry Stone (nee Epstein) was a larger than life character, whose career spanned over 60 years. His CV is pretty impressive. For example, he helped discover Ray Charles and he was influential in kick starting the career of James Brown. Later in partnership with Steve Alaimo he set up Alston Records and then TK Records in the seventies, the latter became known as the home of the Miami sound. Stone was born in the Bronx...
BOBBY WOMACK – TRIBUTE Sadly we have lost one of the all time greatest Soul Singers , Bobby Womack at the age of 70. He was partly responsible for getting myself and many others into Soul music over 40 years ago. In the 60’s he was known as a Valentino, in the 70’s The Preacher, 80’s The Poet, 90’s The Last Soul Man and the 10’s Bravest man in the universe. Regardless of the tag, Bobby Womack was Soul personified. His Gritty Voice could express Emotions and feelings like no one else, and he has brought endless hours of...
HORACE SILVER JAZZ LEGEND AND PIANO MAESTRO PASSES… It is with great sadness that we, at Soul Brothers, report the loss of one of Jazz’s all-time greats – Horace Silver. He was 85. Horace (alongside Art Blakey and Hank Mobley) introduced me to the wonders of Hard Bop. The pianist’s music was always accessible, highly melodic and oh so damn funky (in a Jazz sense). For these reasons more serious minded Jazz musicians and critics tended to regard his work less favourably than some of his contemporaries - god forbid that Jazz should be enjoyable! He made his name...
GEORGE DUKE – TRIBUTE We are very sad to hear that George Duke has died aged 67. George was one of the most innovative and influential Jazz keyboard players and his music has delighted us for 40 years. He was also a great producer having produced many artists including Rachelle Ferrell. George leaves a music legacy covering 40 albums as a leader for us to enjoy for eternity. His classics from late 70’s to early 80’s like ‘Brazilian Love Affair’, ‘Follow the Rainbow’ and ‘Master of the Game’ we’re major albums in the Jazz Funk era, and his...
James Brown was one of the main artists that got us into soul music in the first place in the late 60’s/early 70’s, he was also the catalyst of the rare groove scene in the mid to late 80’s, and his music has formed the basis of 100’s of hip hop tracks. Without James Brown, Soul Brother Records probably would not exist. James career spanned over 50 years from the mid 50’s and he was still performing until shortly before his death. He was a charismatic live performer, I was lucky enough to see him perform many times in the...
We are saddened to learn of the death of one of the great singer/songwriters of our music, Terry Callier. Terry passed away on Sunday 28th October. His legacy will live on through the many great recordings he made throughout a long and varied career. Full tribute coming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0YwWU5wdEo
