Soul music doesn’t get better than seventies Aretha Franklin, and we follow that goodness with emerging Cape Verdean chantuese Mayra Andrade, and close out with 24 versions of Duke’s great "Prelude To A Kiss" featuring Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Sarah Vaughan, McCoy Tyner, Nnenna Freelon, Ben Webster, Billie Holiday, Sir Roland Hanna, Carmen McRae, Ellis Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, Brad Mehldau, Singers Unlimited, Roy Haynes Trio, Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra, Tito Puente, Mel Brown Quartet, Roberta Flack, Miki Hayama, Andy Bey, and Tommy Smith.
SEVENTIES ARETHA
All it takes to appreciate Young, Gifted And Black is ears and human emotion. This is Aretha at her best in terms not only of crafting soul-filled statements of her own but also in interpreting materials originally made famous by other artists.
Moreover, this album focuses on two core concerns: social justice and personal fulfillment in terms of finding and enjoying a romantic relationship. None of other albums creates such a balance. Most of Aretha’s other recordings either focus on romantic hardships or they bring us feel, good songs that bear little relationship to the day-to-day realities with which Aretha, as well as so many millions of others of us, struggled.
—kalamu ya salaam