Tag: composers

FIVE STAIRSTEPS SINGER CLARENCE BURKE JR. MYSTERY DEATH


Elder brother of  The Five Stairsteps, Clarence Burke,Jr. death is still shrouded in mystery. Family friend & long time manager Joe Marno said,the R&B singer died  last Sunday at his home in Marietta,Georgia. Burke resided there with his wife. With respect for the family’s request for privacy, no further information has been released surrounding the cause or circumstances of Burkes’s sudden death….

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Hipster Retro: Coming Soon Interview with Woodwinds/Percussionist Derf Reklaw


‘The Pharaohs were one of the forgotten treasures of ’70s R&B, a freewheeling jazz-funk congregation heavily influenced by Chicago’s jazz avant-garde as well as on-the-one funk and African motifs.’  Unfortunately, they recorded only one album before Earth, Wind & Fire frontman Maurice White (who played in an early version of the Pharaohs) hired several of…

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Kindred Spirits: Ndugu Chanceler


Kindred Spirits: Ndugu Chanceler  It’s not often you get an opportunity to actually watch the professional growth of a musician up-close through most of their career,but in the case of Leon “Ndugu” Chanceler,I did. There’s many good things about growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s or 60s..You had opportunities a kid from Shreveport, Louisiana…

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