RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

The first time I had heard of Durand Bernarr was when I saw the clip of him racing to the stage during this year's Grammys to accept the award for Best Progressive R&B Album and delivering a humorously exuberant speech of joyous gratitude. But I must shamefully admit that I had not heard of Bernarr's album, "Bloom" which won him the prize. So I immediately set about listening to his record and now understand completely why he was the recipient of this honor.  

The Cleveland, Ohio native was surrounded by music, raised by parents who were involved in the business with his mother being a music teacher and vocal coach and his father was an audio engineer. After learning production by working with his father, Bernarr began his professional career posting videos on YouTube and released a mixtape that featured his versions of popular songs of the day in 2009. Another mixtape that was covers of Erykah Badu songs lead to him working with her as a backing vocalist. Bernarr went on to record some EPs and collaborate with various other artists as a featured vocalist or providing background vocals. He received attention with "Wanderlust" in 2022 and "En Route" was Grammy nominated for Best Progressive R&B Album in 2024. Openly queer, Bernarr is an artist to watch who is boldly pushing r&b in exciting new directions.





Taylor Swift has released the music video for her single, "Opalite" which came together following her appearance on the British chat program, "The Graham Norton Show" and features the guests that was on her episode; Karyn White has finally returned to music with "You Gonna Want Me Back" that has the r&b vocalist, who made a splash with her self-titled debut back in 1988, delivering a fresh, midtempo groove; No Na is an Indonesian girl group that is receiving attention on this side of the world thanks to their latest single, "Work" and their energetic music video.

Another artist I slept on was Rochelle Jordan and her third studio album, "Through The Wall" released last year. This collection is an explosive mix of funky progressive soul and sleek electronic sounds that will leave you exhilarated as you are dancing through the night. Born in London and raised in Toronto, Jordan has been creating music since 2012, releasing her debut album, "1021" two years later which featured fairly traditional r&b. But it wouldn't be until almost seven years later when she would return with her follow-up, "Play with the Changes" which was due to some health issues and a battle with her former label over her artistic expression. With this album, Jordan was able to experiment further with underground dance and house, finding that she was in her element. A performer who is not sonically aggressive, Jordan prefers to keep her luxurious beats smooth and steady to help elevate the dance floor.

And I will close by paying tribute to Chuck Negron, one of the vocalists of the pop-rock group, Three Dog Night, who passed away on February 2nd at the age of eighty-three. Born and raised in New York, Negron (whose father was nightclub performer, Charles Negron) sang in local vocal groups as a teen. He headed to Los Angeles after being recruited to play basketball at CAL State. His interests soon returned to music and in 1967, Negron, along with fellow singers, Cory Wells and Danny Hutton came together to form a musical group called Redwood, They were briefly signed to the Beach Boys' imprint record label, Brother Records. But during recording sessions, Brian Wilson was producing their demos and not happy with their sound. The rest of the Beach Boys soon wanted him to concentrate on their band's next album so Redwood was dropped. Not long after, these vocalists assembled their own backing band with Ron Morgan on guitar, Floyd Sneed on drums, Joe Schermie on bass, and Jimmy Greenspoon on keyboards and became "Three Dog Night" which refers to the practice of using dogs for warmth in the outback with "three dogs" indicating a freezing night. 

Beginning with their 1968 self-titled debut album that featured their first pop hit, "One" which was a cover of Harry Nilsson's song, Three Dog Night went on to have twenty-one top-forty singles including three reaching number one. But legal battles, internal conflicts and drug abuse, the band imploded by 1976. Negron had his own struggles with serious drug addiction, even living for a period on Skid Row in Los Angeles, before seeking recovery and finally getting clean by 1991. He found his way back to music, recording four solo albums including "Negron Generations" from 2017 which featured him with two of his daughters. Here are a couple of Three Dog Night songs that Negron sang lead vocals on:

CONTROL: THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY

I can't believe that it's been forty years (February 4, 1986, to be exact) since the release of the breakthrough album by Janet Jackson, "Control". I remember like it was yesterday when the first single, "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" was dropped, a blunt feminist anthem with a funky beat that was enhanced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' progressive production. More hit songs followed (with seven of the nine album tracks released as singles) and Jackson would no longer be in the shadow of her very famous brothers as "Control" went on to become a worldwide smash, selling more than ten million copies.

As a teenager, Jackson was largely focusing on acting, appearing in the television shows, "Different Strokes" and "Fame", and not really interested in pursuing music. But her father and manager, Joseph got her a recording contract with A&M Records. Jackson went on to release two albums, a self-titled debut in 1982 and "Dream Street" two years later. Both albums were collections of bubblegum soul that received scant attention and failed to give Jackson, who had very little creative control, much of an identity as a musical artist. 

After deciding to take charge of her career, the then nineteen year old first fired her father and then hired her label's A&R manager, John McClain to help guide her into the next phase. He introduced her to Jam and Lewis, who were former members of the funk band, The Time. The trio clicked and went to work together to create her next album with Jackson even co-writing and producing for the first time.

"Control" was made intentionally to appeal primarily to the African-American community with the feeling that if it crossed over to the pop charts, that would be an added bonus. And the album did have a major impact on both the r&b and pop charts. This was also during MTV and the age of the music video which helped bring even more attention to the singles, "Nasty", "When I Think of You", "Let's Wait Awhile" "The Pleasure Principle" and the title track, assisting them in riding high on the charts.

This album has since gone on to become a highly influential and groundbreaking collection, helping to usher in the sounds of contemporary hip-hop soul with Jackson now considered to be one of the preeminent female artists of popular music. Here is a reminder of the enduring legacy of "Control" and the extraordinary artistry of Janet Jackson:

THE 68TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

Last year, the focus was on the fires that devastated Los Angeles and this year during the ceremony of the 68th annual Grammy Awards, was the current administration’s immigration crackdown that has recently turned tragically deadly. "ICE OUT" pins were worn by many in attendance and several artists made subtle yet passionate comments during their acceptance speeches including Billie Eilish who accurately proclaimed that "No one is illegal on stolen land".

For his sixth and final time as host, Trevor Noah largely continued to focus on playfully teasing the starry audience, rattling off Grammy statistics and rousing the crowd to give a performer or winner another round of applause. One notable change is that Noah, no longer feeling constrained with concern about his future on the show, delivered more pointed political jokes with one reference to Trump and the Epstein files which has sent the President into a litigious tizzy.

As always, the Grammys ceremony is less about handing out awards and more about the performances that you won't see anywhere else. And this show did not disappoint. Bruno Mars kicked off the show with a guitar-driven version of "APT", his duet with K-pop star, Rosé before returning later his band, the Hooligans to perform his new single, "I Just Might". Justin Bieber delivered a literally stripped down performance of "Yukon" from his nominated album, "Swag" in just his underwear and socks. Sabrina Carpenter reliably brought her campy style to the show with an airport setting for her performance of "Manchild" while Lady Gaga went darker for a manic version of "Abracadabra". And just like last year, all of the eight nominees for Best New Artist were given a spotlight to perform on the telecast with some (Lola Young, Leon Thomas and the eventual winner, Olivia Dean) faring better than others (Addison Rae, Katseye and Sombr).

But the highlight of the evening turned out to be a lengthy, "In Memoriam" musical tribute. It began with a lovely rendition of "Trailblazer" by country music legend, Reba McEntire, accompanied by Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson, shockingly making her very first appearance on the Grammy stage. Then an all-star rock line-up that included Post Malone, Slash and Duff McKagan from Guns N' Roses, paid tribute to the late heavy metal artist, Ozzy Osbourne by blasting through with a rousing version of Black Sabbath's, "War Pigs". The set concluded with Ms. Lauryn Hill, who had not appeared on the show since 1999, leading a memorable tribute to D'Angelo and Roberta Flack that was incredibly packed with an impressive group of performers that featured Raphael Saadiq, Anthony Hamilton, Leon Thomas, Jon Batiste, Lalah Hathaway, John Legend, Chaka Khan and Wyclef Jean, who reunited with his former Fugees bandmate on stage to close with Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song".

While he was unable to perform due to his contractual commitment for his upcoming half-time show on the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny still made a major impact on the show with him winning Album of the Year for "Debí Tirar Más Fotos", becoming the first winner with a Spanish-language recording. The thirty-one performer also won two more awards for Best Música Urbana Album and Best Global Performance. Kendrick Lamar also scored big by winning five of his nine nominations which included Record of the Year for his musical tribute to the late Luther Vandross that featured SZA. Cher, a recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award this year, made an appearance to present Record of the Year. While it ended up being a bit of a mess with missed cues and the winners unable to decide who would speak, this iconic legend looked incredible and contributed to an unforgettable night. And Billie Eilish along with her brother, Finneas made history by becoming the first artists to win Song of the Year three times.

This is the final year the Grammys will air on CBS after fifty-four years of broadcasting the ceremony. The show will begin a ten-year deal on ABC, Hulu and Disney+ starting next year and taking it through to 2036. Time will tell if this will just be a continuation of the show's traditions or begin an exciting new chapter for the Grammys.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 68th Annual Grammy Awards:

Album of the Year: "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" - Bad Bunny
Record of the Year: "Luther" - Kendrick Lamar with SZA
Song of the Year: "Wildflower" - Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Best New Artist: Olivia Dean
Best Pop Vocal Album: "Mayhem" - Lady Gaga
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "A Matter of Time" - Laufey
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Messy" - Lola Young
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Defying Gravity" - Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
Best Dance/Electronic Album: "Eusexua" - FKA twigs
Best Dance/Electronic Recording: "End of Summer" - Tame Impala
Best Dance Pop Recording: "Abracadabra" - Lady Gaga
Best Remixed Recording: "Abracadabra (Gesaffelstein Remix)" - Gesaffelstein, remixer (Lady Gaga, Gesaffelstein)
Best Rock Album: "Never Enough" - Turnstile
Best Rock Performance: "Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back to the Beginning" - Yungblud featuring Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman and II
Best Rock Song: "As Alive as You Need Me to Be" - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails)
Best Alternative Music Album: "Songs of a Lost World" - The Cure
Best Alternative Music Performance: "Alone" - The Cure
Best R&B Album: "Mutt" - Leon Thomas
Best Progressive R&B Album: "Bloom" - Durand Bernarr
Best R&B Performance: "Folded" - Kehlani
Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Vibes Don’t Lie" - Leon Thomas
Best R&B Song:"Folded" - Darius Dixson, Andre Harris, Kehlani Parrish, Donovan Knight, Don Mills, Khris Riddick-Tynes and Dawit Kamal Wilson, songwriters (Kehlani)
Best Rap Album: "GNX" - Kendrick Lamar
Best Rap Performance: "Chains & Whips" - Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell Williams
Best Rap Song: "TV Off" - Jack Antonoff, Larry Jayy, Kendrick Lamar, Dijon McFarlane, Sean Momberger, Mark Anthony Spears and Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay)
Best Traditional Country Album: "Ain’t in It for My Health" - Zach Top
Best Contemporary Country Album: "Beautifully Broken" - Jelly Roll
Best Country Solo Performance: "Bad as I Used to Be (from "F1: The Movie")" - Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "Amen" - Shaboozey and Jelly Roll
Best Country Song: "Bitin’ List" - Tyler Childers, songwriter (Tyler Childers)
Best Americana Album: "Big Money" - Jon Batiste
Best American Roots Performance: "Beautiful Strangers" - Mavis Staples
Best Americana Performance: "Godspeed" - Mavis Staples
Best Folk Album: "Wild and Clear and Blue" - I’m With Her
Best Jazz Vocal Album: "Portrait" - Samara Joy
Best Jazz Instrumental Album: "Southern Nights" - Sullivan Fortner featuring Peter Washington and Marcus Gilmore
Best Alternative Jazz Album: "Live-Action" - Nate Smith
Best Jazz Performance: "Windows — Live" - Chick Corea, Christian McBride and Brian Blade
Best Traditional Blues Album: "Ain’t Done With the Blues" - Buddy Guy
Best Contemporary Blues Album: "Preacher Kids" - Robert Randolph
Best Gospel Album: "Heart of Mine" - Darrel Walls and PJ Morton
Best Latin Pop Album: "Cancionera" - Natalia Lafourcade
Best Tropical Latin Album: "Raíces" - Gloria Estefan
Best Reggae Album: "Blxxd & Fyah" - Keznamdi
Best African Music Performance: "Push 2 Start" - Tyla
Best Musical Theater Album: "Buena Vista Social Club" - Marco Paguia, Dean Sharenow and David Yazbek, producers (Original Broadway Cast)
Best Comedy Album: "Your Friend, Nate Bargatze" - Nate Bargatze
Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording: "Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama" - Dalai Lama
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: "Sinners" (Various Artists); Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson and Serena Göransson, compilation producers; Niki Sherrod, music supervisor
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Includes Film and Television): "Sinners" - Ludwig Göransson, composer
Best Song Written for Visual Media: "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" - Ejae, Park Hong Jun, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (Huntr/x: Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami)
Best Music Video: "Anxiety" - Doechii
Best Music Film: "Music by John Williams" - John Williams
Best Album Cover: "Chromakopia" - Shaun Llewellyn and Luis “Panch” Perez, art directors (Tyler, the Creator)
Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical): Amy Allen
Producer of the Year (Non-Classical): Cirkut

NEW SOUNDS

HARRY STYLES

Harry Styles has laid low since his last album, "Harry's House", the wildly popular, critically acclaimed record that capped off his year by winning the 2022 Grammy Award for Album of the Year . Now the English pop star, a former member of one of the most successful the boy-bands of all-time, One Direction, has revealed that his next album is on the horizon. "Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally" is the peculiar title of his fourth studio album, due out on March 6th. Perhaps this title signals the musical direction of this upcoming record, based on the first single, "Aperture". 

The track (co-written by Styles with fellow British musician, Kid Harpoon who also serves as the executive producer of the album) is a slow-burning, techno-dance tune. The singer has revealed that the song was inspired by his grueling, almost two year touring schedule which didn't allow him much time to experience a personal life but made up for the lost time over the past year by traveling and partying. The video for "Aperture" has Styles being followed by a stranger who chases and attacks him before shifting to them performing some wild interpretive dance moves together.



JESSIE WARE

The British nu-disco diva, Jessie Ware has returned with a shimmering new dance-pop song, "I Could Get Used to This". Ware has expressed that this first single represents what the theme of her forthcoming sixth album (no title revealed to date) will be about: a celebration of love and romance set in a lush, fantasy world. She has collaborated on this project with some of the top producers working in Brit-pop right now like Miranda Cooper and Jon Shave of the team, Xenomania, Barney Lister and Sophia Brenan. The music video for "I Could Get Used to This" is a hedonistic affair, set in a celestial garden with Ware surrounded by sensuous dancers.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

It's not like we haven't heard from Bruno Mars. He has been busy as a part of some recent, wildly popular musical collaborations with Lady Gaga, Rosé and the super-duo, Silk Sonic with Anderson .Paak. But it has been ten years since his own last studio album, "24K Magic". That is finally about to change as Mars has just announced the upcoming release of his fourth album, "The Romantic" due out on February 27th. There had been rumors of this record coming over the last three years with producer, D'Mile recently joining the project and co-producing with Mars. The first single, "I Just Might" is another blast of retro funk that Mars puts his own special spin on, a sound he has been exploring for some time, particularly with Silk Sonic. Mars has also announced that he will be hitting the road with The Romantic Tour which begins in April and takes the singer through North America and Europe.



Following his recent foray into French pop, the Lebanese-American singer, Mika is back with an upcoming English-language album, "Hyperlove" and the second single, "Immortal Love"; The Swedish pop artist, Robyn has dropped another single, "Talk To Me" from her forthcoming ninth studio album, "Sexistential"; Ari Lennox has another song, "Twin Flame" that will be on the long awaited third album from the r&b vocalist, "Vacancy"; and PinkPantheress teams with Zara Larsson for a new version of the single, "Stateside" from her remix album, "Fancy Some More?":

The legendary Dolly Parton has rounded up fellow artists, Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah, and Reba McEntire, with a new recording of her 1977 song, "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" to raise money for pediatric cancer research at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital in Nashville. Parton had explained that she had originally written this as a "song of deliverance" when she was dealing with the pain from her break with longtime musical and business partner Porter Wagoner in 1974 in order to further her career. "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" has gone on to be covered by many artists since then including Parton herself who rerecorded this inspirational song two previous times before this recent version.

And finally, I would like to pay tribute to a couple of musicians we lost recently: Carl Carlton, a soul music hit maker, died on December 13th. The Detroit native had been recovering from a stroke he had in 2019. Carlton was seventy-three. He began his professional career as child, first performing under the name "Little" Carl Carlton, a publicity stunt that brought attention to Stevie Wonder who had achieved success around this time. After signing to a recording label, Carlton released some singles with the song, "Competition Ain't Nothing", becoming popular in the UK northern soul scene in 1968.

But his real breakthrough would come six years later with his version of "Everlasting Love" (which was first a hit for Robert Knight in 1967) reaching number eleven on the Billboard R&B chart and number four on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. A royalty dispute with his new label, ABC Records would prevent Carlton from recording for a period of time. He would join a new label and find his way back on the charts in 1981 with the single, "She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)". This popular funk song would reach number two on the r&b chart, earn Carlton a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance and continue to be a staple for soundtracks and music sampling.

Chris Rea, the British blues rocker, passed away on December 22nd at the age of seventy-four. He had been struggling with several health issues since the turn of the century which included pancreatic cancer, diabetes and a stroke in 2016. Born in Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, Rea bought his first guitar in his early twenties and self taught himself how to play. A fan of the blues and American rockers, Rea became a member of the rock group, Magdalene and would begin singing after the vocalist failed to show for a gig. In 1973, Rea went on to form his own band which lead to him getting signed as a solo artist to Magnet Records. His debut album, "Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?" was released in 1978. The first single, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" was only a minor hit in the UK but went on to reach number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earning him a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Rea would go on find greater success in his native country, recording twenty-five studio albums throughout his career with several charting songs on the UK pop chart. But Rea would never tour in North America, preferring to remain closer to his family than away from them for months at a time.

TO WHOM THIS MAY CONCERN

Jill Scott began her career during the neo-soul movement in the late 90's, honing her craft and creating with fellow musicians, The Roots, Eric Benet and Common. By the time this Philadelphia-raised performer released her debut album, "Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1" in 2000, Scott emerged as a fully formed artist. This thrilling collection would reveal her singular vision through spoken word poetry, experimental jazz, hip-hop beats and sophisticated soul.

This would begin Scott's seemingly overnight success, enjoying wide critical praise for her recordings and mesmerizing global audiences with her tremendous gift as a live performer. Besides music, she would have an impressive career as an actor, appearing in many film and television projects. Scott would go on to record five studio albums with her last being, 2015's "Woman" although she would make the occasional appearance as a featured artist for other musician's songs and embark on a couple of concert tours since then.

Now after long ten years, Scott is finally back with new music. "To Whom This May Concern" is the title of the upcoming album due out on February 13th. Scott has recently explained that the reason for the long delay is that she needs to wait until inspiration strikes before she can create music. And from the smooth sounds of the first two singles released from the album, "Beautiful People" and "Pressha", Scott is clearly still in fine form and creatively stimulated. She has also assembled rap artists, Ab-Soul, JID, Tierra Whack and Too Short to collaborate with her on the new record.

MTV (1981 - 2025)

After over forty years, MTV has officially ended 24/7 dedicated music programming throughout Europe on December 31, 2025 with only reality programs being aired on the channel. This has occurred largely because viewers have shifted to favor streaming platforms instead to watch videos. For the time being, MTV will still feature music videos in Asia and the US in a weekly block. I must admit it has been many years since I actually turned to MTV to watch videos but it's very sad to hear about the end of an era of actual music being on this groundbreaking channel.

Since it's launch back on August 1, 1981 with the first video played was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles, MTV quickly became a highly influential channel that helped introduce new music stars with inventive visuals, enhancing their images and inspiring the culture. Guided by television personalities known as video jockeys or "VJs" to introduce the clips, MTV would expand internationally, launch the MTV Video Music Awards, feature special events and live concerts with the channel at it's peak in 2011 being in 99 million households.

The world has evolved considerably since MTV first hit the airwaves with social media, streaming and other distractions to fill-in for the activity of turning to a specific channel to only watch music videos. But I would like to thank MTV for opening my eyes and broadly widening my musical horizons. I know for certain that without the channel, I would not have heard certain genres of music (new wave, for example and later hip-hop) without my MTV. MTV helped make each song that they played an event, enriching, in some cases, songs that greatly benefited from having a video to heighten the appeal of the tune.

And to pay tribute, here is the video that would kick-off MTV and regretfully bring the channel to its conclusion: