Soul Veteran Lamar Thomas wrote a book that tells the truth about the Blues, Soul, Rhythm & Blues and Rock N Roll

New York, NY  March 20, 2013

Vesta’s New Single, “Better Days” is the #1 Most Added Song On The National Urban Adult Music Charts This Week! Adds included: WDAS Philly, WBAV Charlotte, WTTH Atlantic City, WTUG Birmingham, WAGH Columbus-Ga, KOKY Little Rock, WMPZ Chattanooga, WKXI Jackson and WAKB Augusta.

Here are some really nice soul and funk albums that have just arrived from USA.

Records are great gifts to give or receive.

All these albums are in demand , in good conditions and are one-offs so please order early to avoid disappointment.

Records can be ordered on line, over the phone on 020 8875 1018 or collected from our shop in Putney SW15.

The artist Rick James has died. He was 56.

He was found at his home at 9.45 a.m., and apparently died from natural causes reports state.

Claim your FREE 13 track Smooth Jazz compilation ’13 for the holidays 2012'featuring Chris Standring, Marc Antione, Paul Brown , Shilts and other great artists when you purchase a smooth jazz album from Soul Brother whilst stocks last. Orders can be placed on line, over the phone or collected in store. limited to one FREE CD per customer. **Please mention the offer when you order**

We've only got 20 of these so be quick!

Click Here

Hereby two promotional clips of Lamar Thomas brand new singles 'Dry Water Wet Tears' and 'Someone (Lay it Down)'. These singles are taken from his forthcoming album. Please check this out press readmore to view the clip on youtube

I introduced a new structure for listing the albums and 12inches. You can now better view per period which albums an artist has recorded. Period 1980-1989 is the default, because these years are Black Music DB speciality. If you want see the albums/12inches of an other period you can click the appropriate years. The default album sorting order is by year (descending).

MarkB

Thursday, April 1, 2004; Page B06

Ernesto McKenzie Phillips, 50, a Columbia resident who was a musician in pop rhythm-and-blues groups and then produced a series of local entertainers, including singers Toni Braxton and Kimberly Scott, died March 25 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore after a stroke. He had hypertension.

Mr. Phillips, a native Washingtonian, was raised in Crownsville and graduated from Arundel High School in Gambrills. He was a self-taught guitarist, and during high school he attended the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore to study trumpet.

He was a graduate of Anne Arundel Community College and attended Howard University, where he intended to study medicine as his father -- a psychiatrist -- had. He decided instead to make music his career.

With his four brothers -- George, Lloyd, Orlando and Gregory -- Mr. Phillips formed Licyndiana, an R&B group named after his mother and his sisters. Ernesto Phillips sang and played guitar. He also wrote songs and did production work.

Singer Renee Diggs, who was Mr. Phillips's longtime companion, and musician-songwriter Kayode "Ky" Adeyemo later joined Licyndiana.

Mr. Phillips had greater success as leader, co-producer and primary songwriter of a successor pop R&B band called Starpoint, which included the same members except for Lloyd.

The band toured nationally, opening for such performers as Luther Vandross, and appeared on "Soul Train," "Solid Gold" and other television programs. Its album "Restless" (1986) sold more than 500,000 copies, according to news reports, and included the hit song "Object of My Desire."

At the 1990 Washington Area Music Awards, Starpoint was named best R&B/urban group. Mr. Phillips, on guitar, was named best instrumentalist.

The group disbanded about 1990 as members went in different directions professionally. Until his death, Mr. Phillips worked as a producer. He owned and operated Longevity Records and Pearl Studios, both in Columbia.

"I pledged that once we made it, I was going to prove there is a lot of talent in this area," he told The Washington Post in 1995.

His best-known find is Braxton, the Grammy Award-winning singer whom he met through a friend.

In recent months, he worked as a counselor for teenagers at Sheppard Pratt psychiatric clinic in Ellicott City.

Survivors include his mother, Ana Phillips, of Columbia; four brothers, George Phillips and Lloyd Phillips, both of Columbia, and Orlando Phillips and Gregory Phillips, both of Annapolis; and two sisters, Diane Laguerre of Elk Ridge, Md., and Lisa Phillips of Columbia.