The Chuck Smoot Experience

This list contains a listing of albums that had an impact on my in 2020. Note that these are not releases that necessarily were released in 2020, just things that I discovered, rediscovered or that resonated with me for one reason or another.

1. Sign O’ the Times Deluxe Edition – Prince (2020)

How could I not begin with this? LOL. My favorite Prince album (and IMO the BEST Prince album) was finally remastered and there were a lot of goodies on it. I mean ALOT. As I said after it came out, this edition was better than the Purple Rain edition simply for all of the extras. The absolute best thing on the entire release for me was (and still is) “All My Dreams.” Even as a bootleg, it has been in my top 10 Prince songs for years, so to have an “official” version of it is awesome. Also, “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker (with horns)” was a surprise because I had not heard that version before, so I was rather giddy to hear it. There are so many other gems on this release, it would be difficult to list them all.  However, it is worth noting that the Antwerp concert included is a precursor to the Sign of the Times movie, with a couple of differences. With over 8 hours of music, this has been something that has been on steady repeat.

2. What’s Going On — Marvin Gaye (1971)

When I was in active ministry, while writing politically or emotionally charged sermons, I almost always listened to this album. At the beginning of the pandemic, I lost about 5 or 6 people within a 2-week time span and I felt overwhelmed. Listening to this album came naturally. Marvin’s commentary on social injustice and upheaval coupled with hope for the future always seems to bring me a weird measure of comfort. While the title track, “Save the Children” and “Mercy, Mercy Me” are all songs that stand out, “Inner City Blues” is always the song that hits me in my musical core. Between the lyrics and vocals, it is my opinion that Inner City Blues is Marvin at his absolute best. Given that Rolling Stone recently updated it’s 500 greatest albums and named this as #1, it becomes more poignant that more than 50 years later, it is still an accurate social commentary.

3. Channel Orange — Frank Ocean (2012)

My son and one of my besties have been after me to listen to Frank Ocean for some time now. Over the summer, I finally decided to give him a try and I am kicking myself for waiting so long. I think Ocean is proof that good, quality music is still being produced. He channels many of the greats such as Marvin Gaye, Prince, Chuck D and others and wrap them in a modern bow that while remembering what music used to be, Ocean is showing us what music can become. I still need to explore this entire catalogue as I have only listened to this and Blond, but Ocean is certainly someone to pay attention to.

4. Junjo — Esperenza Spaulding (2006)

This is another in the “why did I wait so long” category. I have noticed Spaulding from a far and caught some things here and there but never really sat down and listened to her. It seems that I have a fondness for women bass players, given my affinity for MeShell NdegeOcello and Rhonda Smith. What I appreciate most about Spaudling is that I feel a lot of passion and earnestness in her playing. The arrangements she uses on this album are rooted in the best of traditional jazz but with the right amount of modern spin to make it feel new and interesting. Her skills as a bass played, whether upright or electric, are top notch and I believe those skills are showcased best on this album. Most certainly, I am wishing I started listening to her earlier.

5. More Than This: The Best of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music — Roxy Music (1995)

As a rule, I typically don’t do a lot of compilations or best-of albums. Obviously, every now and then I make an exception, this being one of them. This combination of hits from the group and the lead singer makes it somewhat difficult to ignore. I have been a fan of Roxy Music since the mid-late 80’s during my New Wave fascination and became familiar with Ferry’s solo work due to his presence on the 9 ½ Weeks soundtrack. While this collection only covers 20 songs, it highlights some of their best work, and Ferry’s vocals are consistent throughout the time period covered in these recordings (1972 to 1994). While a couple gems are missing (most notable Valentine, a solo Ferry effort) this gives a good examination of the impact of Roxy Music and why Ferry is one of the best crooners to come out of the 80’s. I found myself several times over the year really paying attention to “More Than This,” and while it’s a romantic based song, I couldn’t help but to think that given the state of the world this year, we deserved more than what we were getting. In that way, that particular song gave me a sense of hope (at times).

6. Black Radio — Robert Glasper Experiment (2012)

Someone else I didn’t start listening to when I should have. I had so many friends telling me about Glasper for so long. For some reason, I ignored them. Then quite by accident, I ran across the cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and I found it such an interesting take on that grunge rock classic, I had to listen to the whole album. And once I did, I was sucked in and went through the entire catalogue. All I can say is this dude is brilliant. While somewhat reminiscent of Guru’s Jazzmatazz series, Glasper effortlessly combines jazz, hip hop and R&B, showing the connections between the genres. He features my favorite hip hop artist, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) but also showcases Lalah Hathaway (who can sing the phone book) and MeShell. Even the appearance of Erykah Badu, whom I do not care for, is a pleasant experience with the cover of “Afro Blue,” originally made popular by John Coltrane. There is something culturally uplifting about this album. It’s musically very pro-black, but in a way that celebrates the complexities of black culture and shows us that music showcases the best of black culture.

7. Fetch the Bolt Cutters — Fiona Apple (2020)

I don’t know why I like Fiona Apple. But I do. From the first time I heard “Criminal” from her debut album, I have been drawn to her. She has an amazing voice, even though I don’t always like it. What I will say is that I don’t think she gets the credit for being an amazing songwriter and producer. Released in July of 2020, it was her first album in 8 years, a comeback of sorts. What gets me with this release is that is has some of the most unusual and unconventional drum and percussion tracks I have heard in some time. Coupled with her throaty, pleading, borderline angry vocals at time, the lyrics of the album scream for a freedom from oppression, repression and escaping the traps we find ourselves in. I think this album was an unintentional commentary on not only COVID but also the racial strife the country was experiencing over the summer. I found myself coming back to it collectively, find some solace in her intonations and vocalizations, along with wondering what in the hell was she using to create the percussion through most of the album.

8. Memories of Flying — Ingrid Chavez (2019)

I may not know why I like Apple, but I know why I love Ingrid Chavez. The former Prince protegee has been a favorite of mine for many years. While she does music, her truth strength is as a poet and spoken word artist. Her lyrics are couched in metaphors and similes and imagery where the meaning you get from her songs on first listen are different on subsequent listens. Ironically, the weakest song on this album is her tribute to Prince, “You Gave Me Wings.” The rest of the album, especially ”Snow-Blind,” “All The Love in the World” and “Light Rays” are the true standouts. Chavez is someone where you can feel her emotions on her albums, and it is obvious that she was in a good and happy place emotionally in the writing and recording of this effort. For that reason, this year, this album gave me hope.

9. New Moon Daughter — Cassandra Wilson (1995)

I honestly believe that Cassandra Wilson is one of the most underrated vocalists/singers in modern music, period. Her deep, throaty voice is able to convey the emotions of whatever she is thinking without fail. I first became enamored with her from her appearance on the Love Jones soundtrack (“You Move Me”) and from there, I tried to collect as much of her music as possible. This is my favorite of all of her albums and her cover of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” is one of my favorite versions of this song, tho her version is more evocative of Nina Simone’s version. Given the events of the summer, with all of the racial unrest, it spoke to me in a way that I both needed and wanted this past summer. Even thought this is probably has the darkest mood of all of her albums, it shines as a masterpiece of jazz based vocalizations. Also covered on this album is The Monkees “Last Train to Clarksville,” again showing that she can make anything her own, no matter the origins.

10. Strange King of Love — Love and Money (1988)

I have a love/hate relationship with this album and this group. Their imagery was unsettling for a time. I interpreted some of their lyrics as being rife with “devil worship” and even though my personal theology is a little different, sometimes it is still a bit uncomfortable for me. But once I get over that, I am reminded what a great album this is. The title track, “Halleluiah Man,” and “Jocelyn Square,” are another example of great European 80’s pop, but still with the punk sensibilities from the 70’s. This is truly an album that despite my better nature, I love this album and love listening to it when it comes around.

11. Letter from Home — Pat Metheny Group (1989)

This is one of my top albums of all time and I always turn to it when I need a sense of peace and reassurance. From beginning to end, this album evokes a sense of comfort and reassurance with me. While usually I am partial to piano and saxophone on jazz recordings, Metheney’s guitar synthesizer has created some of my favorite instrumental compositions over the last 30 years. I’m not going to highlight or mention any specific track because this is one of those albums that is best listened to from beginning to end. This is truly one of my comfort albums and we needed a lot of comfort this year.

12. A Tribute to Loleatta Holloway: The Salsoul Years — Loleatta Holloway (2013)

The only reason people say Donna Summer is the Queen of Disco is because she sold more records. But for my money, Loleatta is the true Queen of Disco. Her gospel influence vocals and bombastic voice have very few equals. Her releases on the Salsoul label still generate regular plays among house and dance DJ’s around the world. She is still sampled by hip hop and R&B artists on a regular basis, yet she does not get the credit she deserved. There are so many gems on this compilation, such as “Hit and Run” (but not the album version), “Love Sensation,” “Runaway,” “Catch Me on the Rebound,” and of course, “Dreamin’.” Because towards the end of “Dreamin,” if you aren’t moved to “stand up” and be taken to church, something is wrong with you. This showcases why House Heads and Disco aficionados still want to dance and bob our heads and lose ourselves in the vocals and music. There was no better compliment to her voice than the Salsoul Orchestra and those songs still stand the test of time.

13. Collaborations — Jill Scott (2007)

What can be said about Jilly from Philly that hasn’t already been said. She is a great lyricist, poet and vocalist. She knows how to express herself both through her voice and her lyrics. And while her solo albums are all great, this one, showcasing how she works with other artists truly show the greatness of Ms. Jill Scott. The highlight for me with this album will always be the duet with Common, “8 Minutes to Sunrise,” which showcases a shoutout to those of us who hung out in Hyde Park through the late 90’s. Her cover of “Good Morning Heartache” with Chris Botti is brilliant, along with her duets with Lupe Fiasco and Sergio Mendes. There is very little that she cannot do, and this shows that when it comes to collaborations (see what I did there) she can always hold her own.

14. Ride Like the Wind — Citrus Sun (2018)

Citrus Sun is a side project of the acid jazz band Incognito that is really just another version of Incognito. Same writers, same musicians and some of the same vocalists. All of the things that make Incognito one of my favorite bands are right here on this release. However, I was blown away by the cover of Christopher Cross’s “Ride Like the Wind,” featuring my favorite Incognito vocalist, Imaani. Leader Bluey Maurick has always excelled at creating amazing covers and this version ranks up there with his top covers. The Krabi Suite, covering the last 5 tracks on the album is another piece of what makes Incognito great, where each of the tracks (in my opinion) are addressing a different emotion (love, loss, fear, joy and hope). This is why this ranks as one of the best Incognito releases and why Incognito continues to be an amazing band.

15. Maggot Brain – Funkadelic (1971)

What can I say about Maggot Brain that hasn’t been said already? To be honest, nothing. So let me be repetitive. Eddie Hazel’s guitar work on the title track is nothing short of brilliant. It is easily one of the best guitar performances ever. Period. No debate. It is emotional, it is soaring, it is redemptive. There are not enough words to describe the immensity of this track and how it has influenced so many who came behind him. It is simply an amazing song, amazing album and listening to it will not allow you to view guitar work the same.

16. Hadestown – Original Broadway Cast Recording (2017)

As most everyone knows, I got engaged this year. The highlight of my year, no doubt. When we first started dating, we were trading music…LIKE YOU DO. And she shared this with me. Let me say, I don’t like musicals. I am not a Broadway fan. Most musicals bore me to tears. When I was first asked to listen to this, my fiancée explained to me why this soundtrack resonates with her so much and why she wanted me to listen to it. And I got it. I still get it. While I cannot listen to this without thinking about her, I also hear the great vocal performances, the New Orleans inspired jazz, and the invoking of the gods. Listening to this album is comforting primarily because it reminds me that in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of social upheaval, that while I lost friends and family members this year at unprecedented rate, this year I also got to ask the this amazing woman to marry me and for some crazy ass reason, despite everything, she said yes. If that couldn’t comfort me, nothing could.

I know I haven’t posted anything here in a while and apparently, I need to do some maintenance. However, I had to post this.

If you had told me this time last year that I would be doing a surprise proposal in the midst of a pandemic, in the aftermath of racial unrest, I would have called you a damn dirty liar.

But it happened. Nicole and I met last year and it was as close as I have ever experienced to love at first sight.

We have been together since last September, living together since March (mainly due to COVID issues) and on July 4, at one of my favorite places in Chicago, I got down on one knee and proposed.

With the help of our family and friends, we were to completely pull the wool over her eyes and give her a proposal that she both deserved and wanted.

So stay tuned. It’s gonna be a great and lovely ride.

While I putter around the dust here and revamp my website (FINALLY!!), please check out my first book, “The Jewel of the Midwest: A History of Alpha Phi Alpha in Illinois.”

This book covers the beginnings of Alpha Phi Alpha in Illinois, some of our more distinguished members (past and present), and a history of some of the college and alumni chapters in the state.

Also covered, the origins of Kijafa, how Project Alpha began, the origins of the “Ship” designations, and much more.

Available in paperback and Kindle versions. Only $25.00.

 

I offer this to celebrate the life of Elmo Smoot, my father who made his transition on June 10, 2018.

My father was born in Louise, Arkansas to his parents, Ralph and Willie Mae on June 4, 1935. I never knew my grandfather. In fact, my only memory of my grandfather was at his funeral when I was 9 or 10.

My grandmother, on the other hand, was a different story. I have many fond and wonderful memories of her. Memories of the mason jars full of fruit preserves lining the walls. Threatening me and my cousins when we were acting out. And just her general kind and somewhat genteel nature. And being confused, when I was really young, because everyone called my dad Brother. I didn’t understand at the time it was a Southern affectation. I just thought it was weird that everyone, including his mother and step-father, called him Brother. For a northern kid like me, that was just weird.

I always tell people that I am half southern and half northern. That I partially grew up in Memphis. Until I was about 15 or 16, I spent every summer in Memphis with my dad, my grandmother and my aunts and cousins. I learned a lot about life during those times. And those southern sensibilities have never quite left me.

My father and I had an interesting relationship, to say the least. Oh sure, we loved each other. But there were times were there were problems. Despite those problems, my dad did his best and did what he could to instill in me certain things.

I remember when not too long after he married his third wife, Mary. I was at the house and I was about 11. He decided that day he was going to teach me how to BBQ. Because, every self-respecting Smoot man must learn how to cook. It is a trait my own son has learned and is on his way to mastering.

One morning he woke me up and told me he had purchased a couple of slabs of ribs. And he told me I was going to cook them. I was nervous and unsure, but I did. I messed up a couple, but he showed me how to regulate the temp on the coals, how to check the meat, when and why to baste, how to use seasonings and other stuff. It was a skill, he thought, that I needed to have.

If anyone knew my father, you knew that his ability to cook was legendary. I maintain to this day I have never had a better smothered chicken than my father’s. He put love and care into his cooking. It is something I that have tried to emulate in my own cooking.

Even though my parents divorced at an early age, some of the memories I have of my father from that time still make me realize I was fortunate. I remember when I was about 4, my father was exited. He kept talking about when this red fox would be coming on TV.

Now, I was confused because my father didn’t like cartoons and he didn’t always like me watching them. So why he wanted to watch this fox that was red on TV was confusing and more so, why he was so excited. As some of you have already guessed, he was referring to when Sanford and Son premiered.

That was a go to show for him. We always watched it, and I will always remember one day at his apartment when I was about 8 or 9, sitting in our underwear, him drinking a beer, me drinking kool-aid, watching Sanford and Son. That day, it was just me and him, nothing or no one else. Just us and that black and white tv. All was right with the world. I was with my dad. It was good.

Unfortunately, it didn’t always stay that way. But we tried. We did our best. But the reality is, we are both Smoot men. And some of you know what that means. It means we are stubborn, opinionated, and always right. Well, me moreso than anyone else because I am always right, but you get my point.

So my father and I butted heads. Often. Our mutual stubbornness often was in conflict with each other.  That and the fact that we lived in different cities, it became a barrier. A barrier we never recovered from.  Yet, when it is all said and done because of or in spite of that barrier, I am my father’s child.

I don’t have a ton of regrets in my life, but that we never removed that barrier, is one of my primary regrets. It always has been. And sadly, it always will be.

Yet, there was one constant. I know he loved me. And I loved him.

I’ll never will forget the day I was at work, when I was running a youth program, when out of the blue, my father called me. It was obvious he was crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said nothing. He said a couple of other things I didn’t really understand, but then he ended the conversation, telling me he loved me. It weirded me out a little bit because the only time I had ever known him to cry before that was the first time he held Christian. As weird as it was then, I’d give anything to get that call again.

My father was truly an interesting man. I always marveled at his friendships when I was younger. He had a group of loyal and reliable friends. His best friend, my Uncle Calvin, was an outstanding man and the two of them together were something to behold. They were truly two peas in a pod. In fact, because of how they were, you really would have thought they were brothers. And now, I have my own version of Uncle Calvin.

His relationship with Olia, a woman who taught me so much in her own right. That relationship showed me that men and women can truly be friends. Growing up, she was an aunt, a confidant, a babysitter, but I understood from an early stage that she had my father’s back and he had hers. And now, I have my own version of Ollie.

And then there was Oscar and Big Money and Ferguson, all men I grew up around and men who showed by example with my father the strength of Black Male friendships. And now, I have my own versions of Oscar, Big Money and Ferguson.

 

I think my membership in my fraternity and my membership in the Masonic lodge was sparked by the examples of friendship I saw demonstrated by my father and his friends. He provided for me a practical example of how men, especially black men, can form lasting bonds based on fellowship, camaraderie, common interests and for the betterment of all.

In most of the organizations I have belonged to, I always rose to a position of leadership. It was something I realized a long time ago was ingrained in me from a young age, in part because of my father.

When I was in 2^nd grade, I was “elected” president of my 2^nd grade class. What made this interesting to me, even at the time, is that my mother was the president of something, I forget exactly what, but my father was also president of the local Lion’s Club chapter. I remember, even then thinking, wow, all 3 of us are presidents. To my 2^nd grade mind at the time, that was REALLY cool.

And then there was a bridge stuff. He used to jokingly say, or at least I assumed he was joking, that he didn’t understand how I never became a bridge player given his activities with bridge and my mother’s activity. Now, the perennial argument between my parents of not only who was the better bridge player, but who taught who how to play bridge is something that was never settled. But it was always a fun argument to watch them go back and forth about.

But I was very proud of my father’s accomplishments in the bridge world. Anyone who knows me has heard me mention once or twice that my father was at one time ranked as one of the best bridge players in the country. I remember when he told me about playing bridge with the actor Omar Shariff and how that game went. I was very proud of him and proud of how high he rose in the bridge world.

It was something he excelled in, and while I was never all that interested in bridge, I was actually proud of him for his accomplishments in that area.

As I begin to close, I want to bring up one more thing.

I remember when I first went into ministry and I called my dad to tell him about my intentions. Imagine my surprise when he told me something he had never told me before. That at one time, shortly after he graduated from high school, that he had an interest in going into ministry himself.

My father and I never talked much about religion or spirituality or the specifics of our faith. Yet, I knew it was there. When he was living in Chicago, he was a dedicated member of my home church. In fact, so much was that ingrained that when I preached my trial sermon, my father actually went to the wrong church. He was so used to our involvement with my home church he forgot I was delivering my trial sermon at a different church.

Ironically, aside from Christian, church was the thing we talked about most. We spoke at length about his activities with the church. It was, at least to me, his way of talking about his faith by talking about his activity within the church. Whether it was helping to set up, or catering, or helping out the pastor or minister in question, his way of talking to others about his faith was performing actions that were aligned with his faith.

I am reminded of that old saying my grandmother used to say all the time: “I would rather see a sermon in action than hear one.”  In his own way, my father preached his sermons through his dedication and faithfulness to the church.

When I resigned from the pastorate, in one of the few direct statements he made to me on the subject, he urged me to hold on to my faith, to not be mad at God (because I was), and to find other ways to fulfill my calling. It was around that time that he talked to me again about his own call and how he wished he had gone into ministry himself. The important thing at that time for my father, was that I didn’t lose my faith.

Which brings me to the 11^th Chapter of Hebrews, verses 1-4, where it says:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.  By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

The way I see it, my father isn’t truly dead. Because of his faith, because of the impact he had on others, because of the way he made others feel, he lives on.

The one thing my father did used to talk to me about on a regular basis, was about being a Black man in today’s society. He talked to me about how it was his belief that there would come a time where collectively, things would improve. He would talk to me about the struggles that were present, not always in regards to himself, but in regards to others. He had faith that one day, things for Black men wouldn’t be so difficult. He had faith that one day, the treatment he received as a child growing up in Memphis would no longer be common place. He used his faith in those things to share with me his perspective and his experiences growing up as a Black Man in the south during Jim Crow. It is a perspective that I appreciate.

Because faith is one of the few things that we have that is all ours. Our faith belongs to us and us alone. We can allow others to damage it or we can allow others to bolster, but it is always up to us, in what we allow. No one can damage our faith unless we allow them to. And indirectly, that was a lesson I always got from my father. Given his upbringing, he had every reason NOT to have faith. But somehow he did. He kept his faith in God, he accepted Jesus, and he knew from where his help came.

I believe that God gives us the ability to embolden our faith, but we have to make the first step. I believe my father took those steps. I believe that God shows us how to maintain our faith, but we have to want to keep it. My father kept his. I believe that God makes it possible for us to have faith, even when there is no earthly reason to have faith. Somehow, in some way, my father kept his faith.

It is by faith, I believe, that my father was the type of man that he was. The type of man that took care of his mother and his sisters when no one else would or could. The type of man who formed these amazing friendships and bonds with people. The type of man who took the faith he had to excel in an area where black men were not always present. And the type of man who had faith that through me, he had a grandson who would grow up to be happy, successful and the type of Black Man all of us could be proud of.

It is that faith, my father’s faith, given to him by God that I will hold on to. It is that faith that will carry me on through these days of grief and sorrow. It is the faith that God has given us all that I will use to tell the story of my father, Elmo Smoot. A good man. A man that I loved. A man that I miss terribly. A man that I didn’t tell enough how much I loved him. A man I didn’t thank enough for what he showed me and tried to teach with me. A man who I never got the chance to tell him I’m sorry.

But God knows. God knows all. God gave me a good father. God gave me a good man. And it is through the faith of my father that I will always strive to be the best father I can be, and one day maybe, be the best grandfather I can be.

All because of faith. Because when it is all said and done. David said in Psalms, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

I’m weeping right now. Because I miss my father. But the joy comes because of my faith, of his faith, the faith that God has given us. The faith my father had in me, in us all.