The Carolina Chocolate Drops are at least as entertaining as the 19th minstrel shows they cop songs and style from -- and just as confounding to any strict analysis of American attitudes about what's called "race" -- as noted in my new column in City Arts - New York. … [Read more...]
Prince plays the blues – Chocolate Drops, Wynton, Clapton, too
The blues is big-time pop again -- processed to a triumphant apotheosis by Prince at Madison Square Garden as I detail in my new City Arts column -- (but did it ever go away? Here's the Artist with James Brown and Michael Jackson in 1983) -- reinvigorated in acoustic revivalist and hybrid form by the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who kick off a three-month US tour at Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series on Wednesday, Feb 2 -- … [Read more...]