Uhuru Radio: Spotlight on Jesse Belvin and Melba Liston

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Host Jalali Norman Otis Richmond shines the spotlight on Jesse Belvin and Melba Liston. Also - Dr. Gerald Horne, author of Mau Mau in Harlem: The U.S. and the Liberation of Kenya discusses his work. Horne is John and Rebecca Moore's Professor of African-American History at the University of Houston. He has published over two dozen books, including From the Barrel of a Gun: The United States and the War Against Zimbabwe, 1965-198...0. Melba Doretta Liston (January 13, 1926 to April 23, 1999) was an American jazz musician (trombone, compositions, musical arrangements). Her collaborations with pianist/composer Randy Weston, beginning in the early 1960s, are widely acknowledged as jazz classics. Jesse Belvin was killed along with his manager/wife Jo Ann on Feb 6, 1960 in Hope, Arkansas, the home town of William Jefferson Clinton. Etta James called Belvin "The most gifted of all...even now I consider him the greatest singer of my generation. Rhythm and blues, rock and roll, crooner, you name it. He was going to be bigger than Sam Cooke, bigger than Nat Cole." Belvin was a prolific songwriter who wrote R&B classics like "Earth Angel", "Goodnight My Love", and "Guess Who". When The Penguins recorded "Earth Angel", 11-year-old Barry White was the pianist on the recording session.