Bob Marley said, "One good thing about music is that when it hits you, you feel no pain."
The music of Maze featuring Frankie Beverly will forever provide pain relief, but the days of seeing their live performances are coming to a close. After five decades and nine gold albums, at the end of 2023, it was announced that frontman Frankie Beverly was retiring. This past March, the group embarked upon the I WANNA THANK YOU farewell tour, marking the end of an era that began in 1976 with their debut album, introducing the world to the uniquely sultry vocals of Frankie Beverly and songs like "Happy Feelin's," "Lady of Magic," and "While I'm Alone." The Golden Time of Day album was released in 1978, and two years later Joy and Pain came out, followed by another seven LP releases.
Announced tour dates include Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia stops. We're hoping more will be added to get a live dose of their special brand of "joy and pain" before bidding farewell to Frankie Beverly live.
We experience great pain and even more joy in remembering all the gifts shared by artist, author, activist, and inventor Faith Ringgold. Throughout her seven-decade career, Ringgold achieved a level of international acclaim that was rare for Black women artists. While working in many mediums, she was perhaps best known for her elaborate quilts. Hailing from a long lineage of quilters linking back to her enslaved great-great-great-grandmother, up to her fashion designer mother, part of Ringgold's practice was to create quilts to chart her travels. Her love of art, history, and the horrors of The Middle Passage, were all part of her quilted creations.
Ringgold's work was informed by her examinations of race relations and politics in America. This is evident in her American People series and the Slave Rape works. Her creativity amounted to an incredible body of work that serves as a window into the history of Black life in America.
Born October 8, 1930, Ringgold transitioned from this life at her home in Englewood, New Jersey, on April 12, 2024, at age 93. Fly on.