Big mixed gay blues singer current
Hear Them Talkin’ To Ya
Program notes for Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do: Songs of Lgbtq+ Harlem
Thursday, December 12 at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Harmony Center
“The World’s Most Glamorous Atmosphere. Why, it is just like the Arabian Nights!”—Duke Ellington, on first seeing Harlem in 1923
The concept for tonight’s reveal came to me a few years ago as I was listening to my favorite harmony anthology, The Sound of Harlem, with its superb tune selection and photographs from the peerless collection of Frank Driggs. Every path in this three-LP set rewards repeated listening, but on that occasion one in particular popped out: “Red Beans and Rice,” sung and played by Gladys Bentley. I knew she was the most well-known lesbian entertainer of the Jazz Era. I doubted an entire show could be built around her. Consulting Brian Rust’s recording compendium Jazz Records, 1897-1942 confirmed that she hadn’t made a lot of recordings, and I doubted there was an archive of her papers or any manuscripts (though she wrote a memoir that has not been found). A lot has been written about her as a historical figure. I was pretty certain that no one had written about her as a artistic arti
In Mathew V’s upcoming album, Anything Goes (out April 14th), the vocal jazz designer puts his own homosexual spin on classics including the first single off the album, “Big Spender” from the benchmark Broadway musical Sweet Charity.
Mathew V has been releasing singles and topping Canadian Radio and Billboard Charts since his debut album The Fifth. Now, he feels he has found his true calling as a vocalist. “I grew up training in opera, musical theatre and jazz,” Mathew V told GLAAD in a recent interview. “I entered into my career as a pop artist but I’ve been waiting for the right moment when I could return to this style of singing. I think this is where my voice instinctually sits. It’s been kind not having to clash those instincts and really lean into how my voice wants to sing.”
With his new album, he is not only leaning into his vocal jazz talent but is creating lgbtq+ space in a musical genre that is not known for being lgbtq+. In his own rendition of George Gershwin’s “The Man I Love”, he sings about exactly that: the man he loves.
GLAAD spoke to Mathew V about subverting the genre and how it is important – more now than ever – for queer arti
Queer Artists Who Shaped Music History
If this playlist seems like an abbreviated history of famous music from the last 200 years, that's because it is.
Looking closely at musical trends, it’s not hard to find a queer artist at the forefront, even if many of those artists had to hide vital aspects of their sexual and/or gender identities. While we live in a moment in which queerness is far more present in the cultural consciousness (with still quite a extended way to go), the queerness of numerous artists throughout history has often been harder to substantiate definitively. The artistic impact, however, is unmistakable.
Queerness by nature is not light to define. In evidence, that may be a feature, not a bug. As the poet Brandon Wint has described it, “Queer like, escaping definition…. Queer like the fearlessness to imagine what like can look like…and pursue it.” Given that fearlessness and imagination are crucial attributes of any creator, it’s not surprising that queer artists, for whom fear and fearlessness are daily facts of existing, have given the planet such gifts of imagination.
As we celebrate Pride Month, take a listen to the following playlist, and hear a small samplin
Openly Gay Bluesman Earl Thomas Will Woo You Appreciate No Other
Earl Thomas is a genius and a brilliant musician. He woos the audience in a way that no other Blues artist does. He is well traveled, and shares his gift of tune to us all worldwide. I am please and honored not only to perform with him, but also to call him my friend.
Kippy Marks: Please tell us about your work and achievements.
Earl Thomas: I would say my greatest achievement is that I am still standing after twenty-five years. I didn’t expect this whole “career in music” thing. It sort of fell into my lap. I didn’t grasp to dream of that one. Coming from a musical family where everybody is either a musician or a singer, and I’m not even the best one (!), no one ever told me that I could accomplish it, and so it never occurred to me to pursue a career as a professional singer. I knew I could lug a tune and that everybody at my college used to really appreciate it when I sang in the dormitory showers. But did I ever imagine that I would write songs for Etta James, Solomon Burke, Sir Tom Jones? No. So my greatest achievement, I consider, is that I “Forrest Gumped” my way into the business and made a go
LGBTQ+ Musicians: 60 Pioneering Artists You Need To Know
28: Laura Jane Grace (1980-)
Born in Fort Benning, Georgia, Laura Jane Grace had a tumultuous time growing up (significant events comprise dropping out of university and being arrested for challenging a police officer over a petty crime), before finding inspiration in the music of epic British anarcho-punk band Crass. By her mid-teens, the seeds had been sewn: she was punk through and through, and she formed her own band, Against Me!, in 1997, living with the community on the fringes of society until their critically acclaimed debut album, Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose, was released in 2002. Grace had been making allusions to existence transgender through her melody as early as 2005, and came out in 2012, with full endorse from friends, family and the band. One of the most pioneering Queer musicians of her generation, she continues to form music today, and remains politically active, having notably hosted the 2019 Serious Music Awards in Kentish Town, London, and endorsing the music charity Nordoff Robbins.
Must hear: True Transitioned Soul Rebel