For nearly two decades now, Kirk Franklin has been a multi-platinum-selling purveyor of majestic fusions of gospel and contemporary music, and a mirror of Christian humanity boldly reflecting what one faith walking man can accomplish when he focuses on God and taps deep into the gifts He gives. Franklin is [...]

If Angie Stone had her way, she’d sit down next to every single one of her fans and pour out her heart – and soul – to them. She’d empower them with hard-earned wisdom; lessons learned from her very own heartache and happiness, mistakes and triumphs that hed her to three [...]

Rasheed Ali is an award winning musician, artist, and educator. He started playing saxophone and flute as a child and quickly mastered the family of reed instruments. He is also an accomplished keyboardist and percussionist. He has performed around the world along side some of the greatest musicians of the [...]

Since the runaway success of her 1990 debut album Circle of One (which went Platinum), and the impassioned hit single “Get Here” (the Brenda Russell composition that became an unofficial anthem of the 1991 Gulf War) Oleta Adams has inspired a growing legion of fans in the U.S. and Europe [...]

Regina Belle (born July 17, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter from Englewood, New Jersey. At a young age she began performing at Englewood’s Mount Calvary Baptist Church. She was introduced to the Manhattans by New York radio DJ Vaughn Harper and began working as their opening act. She recorded the [...]

Once upon a time there were great funk/R&B bands like Earth Wind & Fire, The Meters, War, Kool & The Gang, Slave, and numerous others who constantly broke down musical barriers. The musicality of these units was superior – they could rock or funk out as easily as they could [...]

When Lillie McCloud wowed the judges at her X Factor audition, it was a moment more than 50 years in the making. On the Sept. 11 season premiere, the 54-year-old McCloud, grandmother of seven, strolled onstage in a painted-on leather catsuit and belted out Cece Winans’ “Alabaster Box.” It left [...]

Over an illustrious career that has spanned four decades, Dionne Warwick has established herself as an international household name. Her reputation as a hitmaker has been firmly etched into public consciousness, thanks to the nearly sixty records that have made the charts since “Don’t Make Me Over” began its climb [...]

Philadelphia born percussionist James Mtume has done something unique in the music business: he has had a successful career while preserving his integrity. A successful session man, songwriter, bandleader, and producer, Mtume bowed out of the music business in the mid-’80s, when he felt the quality and history of R&B [...]

There are very few singers on the contemporary scene who have a unique, instantly identifiable vocal sound; there are even fewer who have the stylistic range to encompass both Jazz and R&B in their performances. Grammy-nominated Soul/Jazz diva Maysa, who celebrates her 20th year as a solo recording artist this year, marks that [...]