Divas Salute a Year in Music

Andrea, Helen, Lakeisha and Kimberly doing it up celebration style in the studio with the end of the year Sophie's Parlor!



Andrea's Top 2010 Tunes
Sophie's Theme    3:13    Pam Parker    Imagine    R&B        
Bridge Over Troubled Waters    5:49    Aretha Franklin    Live At The Fillmore West    R&B     
Fertile Ground    7:41    Tia Fuller    Healing Space    Jazz             
Two Tears    4:34    Joan Armatrading    This Charming Life    Rock        
Obatala    3:47    Valdes    y los tambores bata de Jesus Pérez    Latin

Helen's Top 2010 Tunes

My Only Way Out Is In    3:04    Anne Heaton    Blazing Red
I've Got That Thing    2:56    Catherine Russell    Sentimental Streak
Higher Ground    5:35    Elizabeth Shepherd    Parkdale
Zulu Lounge    5:52    Freshlyground    Ma' Cheri
Deep Within the Corners of My Mind    3:19    Melody Gardot    My One and Only Thrill (Bonus Track Version)
Change    4:22    Mindi Abair    Stars
A Hazy Shade of Winter    4:48    Susan Werner    Classics

Kimberly's Top 2010 Tunes 

Sun Moon Child 4:20  Imani Uzuri    Her Holy Water: A Black Girl's Rock Opera

Unconventional 4:07 Lulu Fall  It's Official

Chameleon 4:10 Dezaray Dawn Chameleon EP

I Need Your Lovin 5:32 Teena Marie Greatest Hits

Lakeisha's Top 2010 Tunes 

Black Is 5:18 Lena Horne Lena Horne

My Mother's Daughter 5:02 Somi Red Soil In My Eyes

Lovergirl 4:10 Teena Marie Sinbad's 1st Annual Summer Jam & 70's Soul Music Festival Part 1

Prayer at the Crossroads 4:31 Sweet Honey in The Rock The Women Gather

Ponci Ponci 5:19 Brenda Fassie  African Classics

Read more »

Christmas Just Ain't Christmas...

Hey there! Happy Holidays? It is your Diva of the Day Kimberly C. Gaines. I took a small survey and it seems like people are just not in the holiday spirit. From family to friends people are trying to jump-start their holiday mood.

Hopefully some of the music on this play list will make you all warm and fuzzy and in a spirit of giving. It is my gift to you!! Make the most of this holiday and take advantage of this wonderful Lunar eclipse energy that is still lingering.

Name                                 Album                                     Artist

Winter Sun                         Chamber Music Society            Esperanza Spaulding

Istanbul                              Instanbul/DC                               Michelle Webb

Dear to Me                         Bravebird                                   Amel Larrieux

Menino                               Gilles Peterson in Brazil 

                                          Disc 2                                        4hero/Patricia Marx

Corcovado                         Adapt or Die: 

                                          Ten Years of Remixes               Everything But the Girl

Constant Questions            Two                                         Silhouette Brown

The Christmas Song            Carmen McCrea Sings Lover Man and 

                                            Other Billie Holiday Songs       Carmen McCrea

What Child is This                                                                Vanessa Williams

Surreal Moments                 Fractures                                Break Reform

Knives Out                         Exit Music: Songs With Radio Heads       Waajeed featuring Monica Blair

Unconventional                   It's Official                               Lulu Fall

Greatest Weapon of 

All Time                               Sunstorm            ZO! featuring Sy Smith

Make Me Stronger              Into The Wind                          Bei Bei & Shawn Lee featuring Georgia Ann Muldrow

The Other Side                    Jazzanova & Dirk Rumpff      Season Featuring Mimi Terris

Let It Snow                         Christmas Songs                    Diana Krall

White Christmas                                                                 Edyta Gorniak

Chasing After the Sun         4 Seasons                             Monday Michiru

Empires                                Learning From Falling               Lamya

Younger than Spring TIme   Lovely Standards                 Amel Larrieux

Naima's Love Song 

(DJ Spinna Remix)               Verve Remixed 2                  Betty Carter

Relax Your Soul                  A Rural Life                           The Rurals

Dream of You                     Demo                                     Grillade[gree-yahd]

No Use                               In Between                            Jazzanova featuring Clara Hill

Read more »

Ritual, the Transformative Power of

My theme this week is inspired by this song! Rain Dance by Valerie June.



Ritual lifts us out of our mundane existence into a transformational plane where change is of a higher order. We use candles (take care, cats and children!), music, breath, water, really - all elements, to put our brains into a state in which messages, creativity, and, ultimately, peace and unity can flow freely.

I'll be interviewing Michelle Webb and Valerie June today. I HIGHLY recommend you go to see them live: Dec. 5 at Joe's Movement Emporium and Dec. 9 at the 5th & K Sts. location of Busboys and Poets.

These are the songs that I have selected to further elucidate the concept of ritual:

• Fire In the Rhythm, Carmen Lundy, Solamente
• Feelin' Good, Carmen McRae, Women Talk (Remastered)
• Waterfall, Cris Williamson, The Changer And The Changed: A Record Of The Times
• Bad Spirits (Bani), Dee Dee Bridgewater, Red Earth - A Malian Journey
• What a Difference a Day Makes, Dinah Washington, Compact Jazz: Dinah Washington
• Higher Ground, Elizabeth Shepherd, Parkdale
• Air, Erin McKeown, We Will Become Like Birds
• Fired Up, Freshlyground, Ma' Cheri
• I Made A Lover's Prayer, Gillian Welch, Soul Journey
• Expression, Joyce Cooling, This Girl's Got to Play
• The Air That I Breathe, k.d. lang, Drag
• The Whirler, Layne Redmond, Invoking the Muse
• Fire, Magdalen Hsu-Li, Fire
• Change the World, Magdalen Hsu-Li, Smashing the Ceiling
• Old Time Spiritual, Mary Lou Williams, Mary Lou's Mass
• Have A Little Faith, Mavis Staples, A Tribute To Great Women Of Style
• Quiet Fire, Melody Gardot, Worrisome Heart
• Change, Mindi Abair, Stars
• Sophie's Theme, Pam Parker, Imagine
• Zen, Rokia Traoré, Tchamantché
• Fire, Stephanie Rooker, Tellin You Right Now
• Breaths, Sweet Honey In the Rock, Breaths
• Prayer To The One, Sweet Honey In The Rock, Sacred Ground
• Strong, Valerie June, Mountain Of Rose Quartz
• Rain Dance, Valerie June, Mountain Of Rose Quartz
• Summertime, Michelle Webb
• Wildwood Flower, Michelle Webb

Read more »

Gratitude - Dual Divas

grat·i·tude

   [grat-i-tood, -tyood]  Show IPA

–noun

the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful: She expressed her gratitude to everyone on the staff.

Saying the word just makes you feel good. Today's show was all about being thankful. Divas Andrea Thompson and Kimberly C. Gaines expressed their gratitude for WPFW, life, and the ability to bring great music, new and old to our listeners. Take a look at the list below and find those songs that you are grateful for.

Track	Album	Artist
Sophie's Theme	Imagine	Pam Parker
New Beginnings	4 Seasons	Monday Michiru
Thanks Giving	Invention & Alchemy	Deborah Henson Conant
Today (Earth Song)	Red Star Sounds, Vol. 1: Soul Searching	Erykah Badu
Vier Frauen	Women's World Voices (Vol. 5)	Joy Denalane Feat. Sara Tavares/Chiwoniso/Deborah
Sun Moon Child	Her Holy Water: A Black Girl’s Rock Opera	Imani Uzuri
Gratitude	Alchemy - Music for Meditation	Dawn Avery
So Natural	Like This	Tweek
This Charming Life	This Charming Life	Joan Armatrading
What A Friend	Chamber Music Society	Esperanza Spaulding
Blue Skies [Unedited Version] [*]	After Hours with Miss D [Bonus Tracks]	Dinah Washington
I Live My Love	Cy Coleman Tribute Album – Final	Madeleine Peyroux
El Andariego	El Último Trago	Concha Buika & Chucho Valdes
A Taste of Honey	Dreaming Wide Awake	Lizz Wright
Moonray	The Late, Late Show	Dakota Staton
Super Life	Funk This	Chaka Khan
Sénié	Logozo	Angélique Kidjo
Menino	Gilles Peterson in Brazil Disc 2	4Hero/ Patricia Marx
Thank You	The Orchard	Lizz Wright
Make Me Stronger	Into the Wind (320)	BeiBei & Shawn Lee
Constant Surprises	Little Dragon	Little Dragon
La Mentira (Se Te Olvida)	En Este Momento	Claudia Acuna

Read more »

Singing in the Dark: Depression and the Healing Power of Creativity

I had a great show inspired by Susan McKeown's new album, Singing in the Dark. I'll be posting my interview with her this weekend!

• I Will Not Be Broken, Bonnie Raitt, Souls Alike
• Autumn, Carla Bruni, No Promises
• Better Days, Carmen Lundy, Jazz and the New Songbook: Live At the Madrid (Live, Bonus Tracks)
• I'm So Lonesome I could Cry, Carrie Rodriguez, Carrie Rodriguez 10 Love and Circumstance (9th st.opus)
• Since You've Been Gone, Cathy Ponton King, Undertow
• Living In The Moment, Christian, Meg, The Best Of Meg Christian
• Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying, Clare Teal, Paradisi Carousel
• Song Of The Soul, Cris Williamson, The Changer And The Changed: A Record Of The Times
• Sanctuary, Donna De Lory, Sanctuary
• Open Your Eyes, Elizabeth Shepherd, Besides
• Just Getting By, Elizabeth Shepherd Trio, Start to Move
• Nothing Brings Me Down, Emiliana Torrini, Fisherman's Woman
• Human Angels, Freshlyground, Nomvula
• Heartbroken Me, Heather Rigdon, Young & Naïve
• A Foggy Day, Judy Garland, Magic Of Judy Garland
• Little Girl Blue, Kate Davis, Introducing Kate Davis
• Heal Me, Melissa Etheridge
• Who Will Comfort Me, Melody Gardot, My One and Only Thrill
• Some Lessons, Melody Gardot, Worrisome Heart
• Sally Sits Weeping, Mixte, Celtic - Women Of Song
• Break Down And Let It All Out, Nina Simone, Four Women: The Nina Simone Philips Recordings - Let It All Out/Wild Is The Wind
• Sophie's Theme, Pam Parker, Imagine
• Broken Hearted Melody, Sarah Vaughan, Golden Hits - Sarah Vaughan
• Cause I Feel Low Down, Sophie Tucker, The Last of the Red Hot Mamas
• Here's to Life, Suede, Dangerous Mood
• In a Dark Time, Susan McKeown, Singing in the Dark
• The Crazy Woman, Susan McKeown, Singing in the Dark
• Good Old World Blues, Susan McKeown, Singing in the Dark
• Turn Turn Turn, Susan Werner, Classics

Read more »

When all else fails, MOVE! Andrea, Your Diva of the Day

Thank you to all of our supporters of the station and here in Sophie's Parlor. Today I thought I would take some good wisdom and pass it along, when all else is not aligned, just MOVE!!! Any which way you can.

The selections below are verbal prescriptions for life, use them, follow them, debate them, remember them, laugh at them, smirk at them, whatever you do, act and now. Oh, before I forget move, like the moon has which should be full by the time we share time together in the parlor, Sophie's Parlor.

As always this listing is what will be played, maybe not in this order, plus be ready for surprises, they always happen while we are in the parlor! Your comments below this blog post is always appreciated.--Drea

1. Sophie's Theme 3:12 Pam Parker Imagine
2. I Release Me / Healing Space 4:55 Tia Fuller Healing Space
3. Wholly Earth 6:04 Abbey Lincoln Wholly Earth
4. Mi Primera Rumba Mega Mix 5:45 India Mega Mix
5. Timeless Portrait And Dreams 5:05 Geri Allen Timeless Portrait And Dreams
6. Lady Be Good 6:52 Patti Austin Avant Gershwin
7. Les Nubians - Makeda 5:25 Les Nubians All Mixed Up
8. Into The Cave (Softly As In A Morning Sunrise) 6:58 Hey Rim Jeon Mona Lisa Puzzle
9. Casualties Of Honey 5:11 SilHOUETTE Brown f/Lady Alma Two
10. Tendo do Amor 4:07 Margareth Menezes Women of the World International
11. Trouble Don't LastAlways 6:40 Incognito & Carleen Anderson With Ramsey Lewis Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool
12. Heading Back To New York City 3:59 Joan Armatrading This Charming Life
13. Morena Samba 3:38 Anna Canario
14. 04. Purpose 4:38 Dawn Avery Alchemy - Music for Meditation
15. Nostalgie Amoureuse 5:11 Zap Mama Twice Upon A Yesterday
16. A Message 5:10 Deborah Bond
17. Chasing Pavements 3:34 Adele Hometown Glory
18. Mind Adventures 4:46 Des'ree Women of the World International
19. Echo 5:36 Sweet Honey In The Rock Breaths
20. Love Trap 3:57 Susheela Raman Women's World Voices
21. Palo'e bandera 3:15 Paracumbé Tambó
22. Phoenix 5:31 Ayanna Gregory Beautiful Flower
23. Wild Is The Wind 5:37 Esperanza Spalding Chamber Music Society

Read more »