MB Gordy

Roberta Donnay: Blossom-ing!

by Pierre Giroux
November 25, 2022

Pianist, vocalist and composer Blossom Dearie may have been diminutive in stature and voice but certainly never in talent. She began her career in New York in the mid 1940s and then moved to Paris in the early 1950s to form the vocal group The Blue Stars, which eventually morphed into the Swingle Singers. Returning to the US in the 1960s, she began a solo career and gained international recognition through her wry interpretation of unusual song choices as well ...

Roberta Donnay: Blossom-ing!

by Jack Bowers
November 8, 2022

Blossom-ing! is vocalist Roberta Donnay's tribute to one of the most memorable jazz singers who ever lived, Blossom Dearie. She does so via sixteen songs associated with Dearie including Billie Holiday's “Billie's (or Blossom's) Blues," retitled here “Roberta's Blues." After leading with that one, Donnay lends her tremulous little-girl voice (eerily similar to Dearie's) to one of Dearie's best-known themes, “Peel Me a Grape," before scanning the others. Unlike Dearie, Donnay doesn't accompany herself at the piano, ...

Interview: Berry Gordy Jr. (Part 3)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
June 9, 2011

Over the pat two days, some fans of Motown and Marvin Gaye have sent along emails insisting that Berry Gordy Jr., Motown's founder, was rewriting history. Their contention is that Mr. Gordy had blocked What's Going On in 1970 and 1971 and that he had heated arguments with Gaye over its release. Of course, we will never truly know what actually took place between them, since there are no documents, emails or video. For years Mr. Gordy has been vilified ...
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Interview: Berry Gordy Jr. (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
June 8, 2011

Meeting Berry Gordy Jr. while on assignment for the Wall Street Journal last week was quite a thrill. Having listened to Motown records since I'm a kid, it was quite something to spend an hour and a half with the person who built the label from scratch and developed the talent. And all of those skills Mr. Gordy learned on his own, without an apprenticeship or a relative in the business. This is not to say that I'm smitten by ...
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Interview: Berry Gordy Jr. (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
June 7, 2011

Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971) is one of my favorite albums. As I've posted in this space in the past, the album has an unmatched sophisticated and sensitive tribal jazz-soul feel and a powerful socio-political message. For those unfamiliar with What's Going On, the album's vision and success changed soul music, giving artists greater latitude to express their opinons about injustice, poverty, war, pollution and other topics controversial at the time. In today's Wall Street Journal (go here), I ...
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2010 Army 24 City I.A.M.Strong Concert Tour, Featuring Headliner, Leigh Jones, a Kerry Gordy Enterprises Artist.

Source: RioVida Networks
February 5, 2010

Leigh Jones shares her soulful R&B music with young US soldiers throughout the US and Germany. I..A.M. Strong, the Army's campaign, engages all Soldiers to prevent inappropriate behavior before it occurs. Kerry Gordy, the Leigh Jones manager, states: It is great to know that today's US Army offers programs to appeal to and to celebrate the noble character of our troupes.

Together we stand up and celebrate their willingness to intervene if needed, to act by insisting on mutually respectful ...
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Gordy Guiding Motown's 50th Anniversary

Source: Billboard Magazine
December 6, 2008

With archival releases, documentaries and even a Broadway musical on tap, Berry Gordy, Jr., says there will be nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from the celebration of Motown's 50th anniversary during the coming two years. Gordy, who founded the Motown empire after securing an $800 loan from his family on Jan. 12, 1969, tells Billboard.com that “I've been fighting to protect the legacy for 50 years, and now it seems that after 50 years we can go and ...
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