Oran “Juice” Jones is an American soul singer who made the 1986/87 Def Jam albums Juice and G.T.O.: Gangsters Takin’ Over. He scored an R&B No. 1 with “The Rain” and also charted with “Curiosity” and “Cold Spendin’ My $ Money.” Background Oran Edward Jones was born March 28, 1957, in Houston and grew up […]
The Main Ingredient was an American soul-funk/psych group from Manhattan that first recorded as The Poets in the mid-1960s and as the The Insiders during that latter part of the decade. As the Main Ingredient, they released eleven albums between 1970 and 1981 on RCA Victor. Members: Luther Simmons, Jr. (vocals, 1968-77, 1979-81, 1986), Tony […]
Jimmy Jackson (1945–2003) was an American soul singer from Harlem who released the 1976 album Rollin’ Dice on Buddah Records. Background James Coit Jackson was born on August 1, 1945, in Harlem, New York. His mother sang gospel, and Jackson won an Apollo Theater Amateur Night contest at age fourteen. He appeared at the Apollo […]
Gloria Barnes is an American soul singer from NYC who released the 1971 album Uptown. Background Gloria Barnes came from Harlem, New York, and first recorded as Towanda Barnes. In 1966, Groovy Records issued her first single: “Oh Darling” (b/w “If I’m Guilty”), produced by Billy Frazier. By 1969, Barnes had entered the Vidalia operation […]
Sine was a soul-funk project headed by American producer/keyboardist Patrick Adams, who used the moniker for the 1977 Prelude album Happy Is the Only Way. Background Sine was the brainchild of Patrick Adams, a prolific New York keyboardist and producer. Adams was born Patrick Peter Owen Adams on March 17, 1950, in Harlem, New York. […]
East Harlem Bus Stop was an American soul-funk band that released the 1976 album Get On Down! on D & M Sound. Background East Harlem Bus Stop emerged in New York City in the orbit of D & M Sound, the New York label formed by producer-label owners David L. Miller and Marty Wilson. Miller […]
The Reflections were an American soul group from NYC that backed Melba Moore and released the 1975 Capitol album Love on Delivery. Members: Herman Edwards, Josh Pridgen, Edmund Simmons, John Simmons Background The Reflections formed in Harlem, New York City, in 1971 with singers Herman Edwards, Josh Pridgen, Edmund “Butch” Simmons, and John Simmons. John […]
Kashif Saleem (Dec. 26, 1956 — Sept. 25, 2016) was an American R&B singer, songwriter, and keyboardist from Manhattan who first emerged as a member of B.T. Express, joining the band in 1974 at age 17 and appearing on their first five albums. After leaving the band, he served as Melba Moore‘s keyboardist on her […]
Mingo Lewis is an American percussionist from N.Y.C. who briefly played with Santana and Return to Forever, followed by a late-Seventies stint with The Tubes. As a solo artist, he released the 1976 Columbia album Flight Never Ending. Background James “Mingo” Lewis was born Dec. 8, 1953, in Harlem, New York City. His father, Jimmy […]
Patti Austin is an American soul and jazz singer who released nine albums between 1976 and 1990 and scored major singles with “Every Home Should Have One,” “The Heat of Heat,” and the James Ingram duets “Baby, Come to Me” and “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” Her 2007 disc Avant Gershwin won the […]
Sylvia Striplin (born March 1954) is an American soul singer who released the 1981 album Give Me Your Love and sang beforehand with Aquarian Dream and Eighties Ladies. Background Sylvia Striplin was born in March 1954 in New York City and spent her early childhood in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. Her family relocated […]
The Voices of East Harlem were an American soul group that released four albums between 1970 and 1974 on Elektra and Just Sunshine and scored an R&B hit with “Giving Love.” Members: Gerri Griffin (lead vocals), Monica Burress (lead vocals), Bernard Graham, Wayne Garfield, Jerome Mack, Elaine Clark, Cynthia Sessions, Kevin Griffin, Claudia Moore Background The […]
Larry Willis (Dec. 20, 1940 — Sept. 29, 2019) was an American jazz-funk pianist and composer from Harlem. He emerged with Jackie McLean and Hugh Masekela, then spent 1972–78 on keyboards with Blood, Sweat & Tears. Willis later worked with Woody Shaw, Jerry González’s Fort Apache Band, and Roy Hargrove while maintaining a leader catalog across […]
