An Inescapable Voice on “Black Messiah”
Discussing vocalist/lyricist Kendra Foster in The New Yorker‘s Culture Desk blog:
Jazz fans learn early on that digging into the sideman credits can reveal treasures and musical genealogies. That young pianist backing Lester Young becomes Nat King Cole; the unknown saxophonist on those Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk LPs blossoms into John Coltrane. Most of the names involved in [D’Angelo’s] “Black Messiah” are familiar ones… However, I was particularly drawn to the work of one musician I did not immediately recognize (and the sole artist bringing a female perspective to this album’s all-boys club): the singer Kendra Foster.
Read the full article at newyorker.com.