NOCHES DE FLORES NEGRAS

LUTHER VANDROSS ...

Remembering Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. on the date of his birth 20/4, singer, songwriter and record producer. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in-demand background vocalist for several different artists including Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Barbra Streisand, Ben E. King, and Donna Summer. He later became a lead singer of the group Change, which released its gold-certified debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner Bros. Record...s. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much, in 1981. His hit songs include "Never Too Much", "Here and Now", "Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power", "I Can Make It Better" and "For You to Love". Many of his songs were covers of original music by other artists such as "If This World Were Mine" (duet with Cheryl Lynn), "Since I Lost My Baby", "Superstar" and "Always and Forever". Duets such as "The Closer I Get to You" with Beyoncé, "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey and "The Best Things in Life Are Free" with Janet Jackson were all hit songs in his career. During his career, Vandross sold over 35 million records worldwide,and received eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times. He won a total of four Grammy Awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for a song recorded not long before his death, "Dance with My Father". R.I.P.

OLLIE BROWN ...

HAPPY 68th BIRTHDAY Ollie E. Brown 20/4, drummer, percussionist, record producer, and high-school basketball coach. A prolific session musician, Brown has performed on over a hundred albums in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Brown was also half of the American dance-pop duo Ollie & Jerry, which had a Top 10 hit with "Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us" in 1984. By 1976 he had already performed as a drummer or percussionist on dozens of albums, including I Can Stand a Little Rain... by Joe Cocker, 1990 and A Song for You by The Temptations, It's My Pleasure by Billy Preston, and Black and Blue by The Rolling Stones. In the 1970s Brown also performed on albums by Diana Ross, Van Morrison, Leo Sayer, and Sly and the Family Stone. Along with Billy Preston and pianist Ian Stewart, Brown was part of the Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas '75 and The Rolling Stones Tour of Europe '76. He also was an early member of Stevie Wonder's band Wonderlove. In the late 1970s Brown performed on Raydio's self-titled debut album.This led to a partnership with Raydio bassist Jerry Knight, who was also a prolific session musician. Together, the two formed the duo Ollie & Jerry, and recorded the song "Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us" for the 1984 breakdancing-themed film Breakin'. The song was successful, reaching number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984

BO WATSON & BOOTSY COLLINS ...