Some 70's, 80's & 90's Soul and R&B Figures

Garland Green ~ 83 ~ American Soul singer and pianist

GARLAND GREEN ~ "JEALOUS KIND OF FELLA";


James Gadson - 86 - Drummer with American R&B band Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band

CHARLES WRIGHT & THE WATTS 103rd St BAND ~ "EXPRESS YOURSELF";


Harry Kim - 74 American trumpeter with Earth Wind & Fire

EARTH WIND & FIRE ~ "BOOGIE WONDERLAND";


Bryan Loren ~ 59 ~ American keyboard player with Nona Hendryx, Tavares, and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Fat Larry's Band, Cashmere songwriter with the Simpsons ("Do the Bartman"), Whitney Houston, Sting

TAVARES ~ "HEAVEN MUST BE MISSING AN ANGEL";


Steve Washington ~ 67 ~ Sax player with 1970's American Funk bands Slave and Aurra

AURRA ~ "ARE YOU SINGLE";


Monti Rock III ~ 86 ~ American Disco singer as Disco Tex & the Sex-O-Letts ("Get Dancin'")

DISCO TEX & THE SEX-O-LETTS ~ "GET DANCING";


Warren Tipton ~ 70's ~ Singer with 1970's Soul group the Chi-Lites

THE CHI-LITES ~ "OH GIRL";


THE CHI-LITES ~ "HAVE YOU SEEN HER";


Ronald LePreade ~ 75 ~ Bassist with the Commodores ("Machine Gun", "Brick House", "I'm Easy", "Night Shift")

THE COMMODORES ~ "MACHINE GUN";


THE COMMODORES ~ "BRICK HOUSE";


THE COMMODORES ~ "I'M EASY";


THE COMMODORES "NIGHT SHIFT";


Dexter Wansel ~ 75 ~ Keyboardist with 1970's Disco band MFSB songwriter and record producer

MFSB ~ "THE SOUND OF PHILADEPHIA";


DAVID Z ~ 78 ~ American drummer & keyboardist w/Funk band Lipps Inc ("Funky Town"), session musician w/Prince, Etta James, Billy Idol, BoDeans, Buddy Guy and Neneh Cherry

LIPPS SYNCH ~ "FUNKY TOWN";


Foster Sylvers ~ 64 ~ Singer with 1970's R&B group The Sylvers

THE SYLVERS ~ "BOOGIE FEVER";


THE SYLVERS ~ "HOTLINE";


Clarence Carter ~ 90 ~ Alabama R&B singer ("Patches", "Backdoor Santa")

CLARENCE CARTER ~ "PATCHES";


Peabo Bryson ~ 75 ~ South Carolina R&B singer

PEABO BRYSON & ROBERTA FLACK ~ "TONIGHT I CELEBRATE MY LOVE";


PEABO BRYSON & REGINA BELLE ~ "A WHOLE NEW WORLD";


Barbara Carr ~ 85 ~ American Blues singer

BARBARA CARR ~ "OOD WOMAN GO BAD";


Cassandra Wilson ~ 70 ~ American Jazz singer

CASSANDRA WILSON ~ "HARVEST MOON";


CASSANDRA WILSON ~ "LAST TRAIN TO CLARKSVILLE";


CASSANDRA WILSON ~ "TIME AFTER TIME";


Stephen "Cat" Coore ~ 69 ~ Guitarist and cellist with Jamaican Reggae band Third World

THIRD WORLD ~ "NOW THAT WE FOUND LOVE";


Sly Dunbar ~ 73 ~ Jamaican drummer (Sly & Robbie), record producer ("Underneath It All"), and songwriter ("Murder She Wrote")

SLY & ROBBIE ~ "BOOPS HERE TO GO";


Afrika Bambaataa - 68 - American DJ and rapper ("Planet Rock", "Looking for the Perfect Beat", "Renegades of Funk", "World Destruction")

TIME ZONE ~ "WORLD DESTRUCTION";


AFRIKA BAMBATTA ~ "RENEGADES OF FUNK";


AFRIKA BAMBATTA ~ "JUST GET UP & DANCE";


Rob Base ~ 59 ~ American rapper (Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock) and songwriter ("It Takes Two", "Joy and Pain")

ROB BASE & EZ ROCK ~ "IT TAKES TWO";


Blondy - 66 - American rapper (The Sequence) and songwriter ("Funk You Up")

THE SEQUENCE ~ "FUNK YOU UP";


Cleetis Mack ~ American rapper (Digital Underground)

DIGITAL UNDERGROUND ~ "THE HUMPTY DANCE";


Albert Mazibuko - 77 - South African choral singer with Ladysmith Black Mambazo

LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO ~ "SADUMELA INTOZABANYE";


Abdullah Ibrahim ~ 91 ~ (AKA Dollar Brand) South African jazz pianist (The Jazz Epistles) and composer

ABDULLAH IBRAHIM ~ "MANNENBERG"

Some Worldbeat Figures

Harry Belafonte - 96 - Jamaican-American Calypso singer ("The Banana Boat Song", "Jump in the Line"), actor and Civil Rights activist from the 1950's onward

HARRY BELAFONTE ~ "THE BANANA BOAT SONG";


HARRY BELAFONTE ~ "JAMAICAN FAREWELL";


HARRY BELAFONTE & ODETTA ~ "A HOLE IN THE BUCKET";


HARRY BELAFONTE ~ "LA BAMBA";


Lester Sterling - 87 - Jamaican Ska saxophonist w/The Skatalites, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires

THE SKATALITES ~ "THE GUNS OF NAVARONE";


BYRON LEE & THE DRAGONAIRES ~ "JAMAICAN SKA";


Lord Creator - 87 - Trinidadian-born Jamaican singer-songwriter ("Kingston Town")

LORD CREATOR ~ "KINGSTON TOWN";


Junior English - 71 - Jamaican reggae singer

JUNIOR ENGLISH ~ "THE WAY WE WERE";


Peter Austin - 78 - Singer w/Jamaican Reggae & Rocksteady bands The Clarendonians and the Soul Lads

THE CLARENDONIANS ~ "SUNSHINE";


THE CLARENDONIANS ~ "DARLING FOREVER";


THE SOUL LADS ~ "FUNNY";


Michael Cooper - 71 - Keyboardist with Jamaican Reggae bands Inner Circle & Third World

THIRD WORLD ~ "NOW THAT WE FOUND LOVE";


THIRD WORLD ~ "JAH JAH CHILDREN MOVING UP";


Bernie Pitters - 70's - Jamaican born Toronto Reggae keyboardist and producer with Toots & The Maytals, Leroy Sibbles, Ishan Band, Sly & Robbie, Human Rights & Bruce Cockburn

TOOTS & THE MAYTALS ~ "SWEET & DANDY";


Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah - 65 - Jamaican/English Dub Poet, singer, author and actor

BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH ~ "TALKING TURKEY";


Denyse Plummer - 69 - Trinidadian Calypso singer

DENYSE PLUMMER ~ "NAH LEAVING";


Teté Caturla - 85 - Singer with Cuban vocal group Cuarteto d'Aida from the 1950's & 60's

CUARTETO D'AIDA - "CACHITA";


Germano Mathias - 88 - Brazilian samba singer

GERMANO MATHIAS:


GERMANO MATHIAS;


Juca Chaves - 84 - Brazilian singer and comedian

JUCA CHAVES ~ "BRASIL JÁ VAI À GUERRA";


Tito Fernández - 80 - Chilean singer-songwriter

TITO FERNANDEZ ~ "CANTOR DEL CAMINOS";


Dora María - 89 - Mexican folk singer

DORA MARIA ~ "SI TU TAMBIEN TE VAS";


DORA MARIA ~ "TABASCA";


Carlos Camacho - 73 - Singer with 1960's Puerto Rican vocal group Los Hispanos

LOS HISPANOS - "ADONAY";


Ismaïla Touré - 73 - Singer & musician with Senegalese band Touré Kunda (Talking Heads, Carlos Santana)

TOURE KUNDA ~ "EMMA";


TOURE KUNDA ~ "TOURE KUNDA";


Rigo Star - 68 - Congolese soukous guitarist and composer

RIGO STAR ~ "HMMAGE";


Mama Diabaté - 63 - Guinean singer and musician

MAMA DIABATE;


Stella Chiweshe - 76 - Zimbabwean singer and mbira player

STELLA CHIWESHE ~ "RWAVASEKURU";

Some World Beat Figures

Hugh Masekela ~ 78 ~ South African jazz trumpeter ("Grazing in the Grass", "Bring Him Back Home") and composer ("Soweto Blues") also played on the Byrds "So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star"

HUGH MASEKELA ~ "GRAZING IN THE GRASS"


HUGH MASEKELA ~ "STIMELA";


Steve Nisbett ~ 69 ~ Nevisian-born British reggae drummer w/1980's reggae band Steel Pulse who were also part of the ska-reggae crossover with the punk scene of the 1980's

STEEL PULSE ~ "KLU KLUX KLAN";


Irvin Jarrett ~ 69 ~ Jamaican reggae percussionist (Inner Circle, Third World);

THIRD WORLD ~ "NOW THAT WE FOUND LOVE";


C. K. Mann ~ 82 Ghanaian highlife singer guitarist

CK MANN ~ "AYAA MENSOURO";


RAS KIMONO ~ 60 ~ Nigerian Reggae singer

RAS KIMONO ~ "RHUMBA STYLEE";


Jack Costanzo (AKA Mr Bongo) ~ 98 ~ American Latin Jazz percussionist,bongos and conga player, w/Stan Kenton, Desi Arnez, Billy May Orchestra, Peggy Lee, Charlie Barnet, Harry James, Judy Garland, Patti Page, Ray Anthony, Martin & Lewis, Dinah Shore, Xavier Cugat, Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, and Eddie Fisher, Ann Miller.

JACK COSTANZO & ANN MILLER ~ "I'M GONNA LIVE TIL I DIE";



JACK COSTANZO ~ "MR BONGO";


Elisa Serna ~ 75 ~ Spanish anti-fascist protest singer-songwriter from the 1970's

ELISA SERNA ~ "SE VA A CAER EL PORVENIER";


Ellie Mannette ~ 90 ~ Trinidadian/American steel drum pioneer



Wilson Moreira ~ 81 ~ Brazilian sambista, singer and songwriter

WILSON MOREIRA ~ "SENHORA LIBERDADA";


Mighty Shadow ~ 77 ~ Trinidadian Calypso singer

THE MIGHTY SHADOW;