“Give the flowers to the living” (or, in this case, daisies I suppose). I’m appreciative to URB Magazine for many reasons, not the least of which is that they gave me the opportunity to interview and profile some of my heroes, including De La... more info

Al Hirt: Harlem Hendoo (Soul In The Horn, RCA Victor, 1967) “Harlem Hendoo” is nothing short of a miracle of a song. When most of us first heard it looped on De La Soul’s “Ego Trippin’ Part 2,” I feel like our collective reaction was “w... more info

Last week, I had the privilege of being in conversation with Dan Charnas about his new book, detailing the life, career, and afterlife of James “J Dilla” Yancey: Dilla Time. The event was held on April 21, 2022, at Artform Studio in Highland Park... more info

Sometime around the release of “Swan Lake” but before the Melodica EP, Jeff “DJ Zen” Chang hit me with a version of the Radio Sole cassette filled with Solesides tunes. It was a mix of already out or soon-to-be-out songs by variou... more info

I’ve recently put Bill Withers’s “Stories” back in heavy rotation (Heat Rocks related) and have been chasing covers of it. Joey Dosik does one on his album from last year (and I love that he sings it acapella to open his gigs) but I also came... more info

I really should do more posts for the Soul Sides Sliced sub-site because…these are fun to do! Enjoy the latest: Breaking Down: The Souls of Mischief’s “A Name I Call Myself” (1993) more info

This tweet reminded me that I wrote about DJ Danger Mouse’s much-lauded mash-up album, Grey Album (combining Jay-Z’s Black Album with The Beatles’ White Album) back in 2004 for the SF Bay Guardian. As their archives are still slowly being br... more info

Michel Sardaby: Gail (from Gail, Disques Debs: 1976) Sardaby is a French-Antilles pianist whose 1970s albums are positively lush with both conventional and electric keys. I first heard this album at an old Bump Shop party in New York when Leon M... more info

I originally made this mix for DJ Phatrick’s old Devil’s Pie party. It was wildly fun to research and put together and I still listen to it from time to time, just ’cause. Finally decided to upload it to Mixcloud for public enjoyment. more info

Sunny and the Sunliners: Grazing In the Grass (From This Is My Band, Key-Loc, 197?) “Grazing in the Grass,” the mega-hit by Hugh Masakela, ends up on all manners of other people’s albums. It helps that, as an instrumental (originally), it ... more info