Sorry for the delay—we had serious technical problems but are finally up with a two hour investigation of old and new music. Gary Bartz and his Ntu Troop kick it off. Brother Ali, a rapper from Minneapolis follows and vocalist/pianist Andy Bey closes out this week’s journey into serious and uplifting music for the mind, the heart and the spirit—and you can dance to it or with it! Enjoy.

Dionne Warwick does classics. Amel Larrieux does standards. Billie Holiday gets remixed. This week BoL features three unique female vocalists.

We start off with the blues—Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Little Junior Parker, Johnnie Jones and Ray Charles. Then we do some experimental, Brazilian-based music with Nina Miranda and Cibelle. We close with Taj Mahal and The Pointer Sisters. Artists working out of a roots tradition, some as originators, some as re-creators, some as experimenters but all with a strong sense of self expression.

Can you smell Kool & The Gang? Can you taste Issa Bagayogo? Can you see the duppy conqueror (Bob Marley) rising in the remix? This is a week of funky music: from fat back to Afro-techno to one drop remixes. Ahhh Yeahhhh!

And now ladies & gentlemen, the national anthem. Sort of. Marvin Gaye & Jimi Hendrix. Plus, anothr Prince selection followed by Outkast. We close out the week with a dozen takes on the romantic chestnut "Misty"—Erroll Garner (studio & live),  Billy Eckstine, Johnny Mathis, Donny Hathaway, Ray Stevens, Etta James, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Carmen McRae with the Shirley Horn Trio, Ben Webster, Dianne Reeves, and Whirimako Black. Talk about diversity—check out this week at BoL.