The House That Dizzy Built—And the City That Kept It
Hidden behind Georgetown storefronts, a candlelit room has spent 60 years turning dinner service into American music history—and fighting to keep the lights on
Close the Door, Open the Legend
How a North Philly baritone became the blueprint for modern R&B intimacy—and what it cost him.
Where the Bodies Go When the Music Hits
Ernie Barnes’s art didn’t just depict rhythm; it argued for it, insisting that everyday Black beauty belonged in museums, not margins.
When Neo-Soul Hit “Home”
“Far Away” didn’t sell perfection. It sold a life: rowhouse nights, work worries, and the stubborn decision to keep choosing each other.
The Man Who Made Oz Swing
Charlie Smalls wrote “Ease on Down the Road” as if Black America had always owned the yellow bricks. Fifty years later, The Wiz still lives inside his score.
Ease On Down The Road, Again
As Wicked returns America to the yellow brick road, The Wiz reminds Hollywood what happens when Black artists seize the map—and refuse to ask permission.
When the Cicadas Came Up Together
In North Carolina, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson recorded old tunes in the open air—where history has always had an echo, and sometimes a chorus.
Arrival Music
Three cities. Three songs: The quickest way to meet a place is to let its Black musicians introduce it.
Meet Me on the Moon
Phyllis Hyman’s most expansive ballad is a romance set in the sky—and a survival plan sung in plain sight.
The Christmas Stevie Wonder Wanted
Inside Hitsville, a teenage prodigy, two Motown songwriters, and a producer with a clock in his head built an anti-war carol that still sounds like tomorrow.