D'ANGELO: GROOVE IS IN THE HEART

The uncut conversation with the singer/songwriter from Finding the Funk

Few contemporary artists have quite the mystique of Michael Eugene Archer, better known as D’Angelo, a singer and songwriter who’s released only three studio albums since 1995, each a significant moment in music. Yet they seem like a tease since when he debuted with ‘Brown Sugar’ we’d anticipated at least twice that amont of new music. That said, D’Angelo has, in his words and his choice of covers (find 1998’s ‘Live at the Jazz Cafe’), proven to be quite the historian of soul, funk and anything with a groove. When we sat down in New Jersey in 2012 D’Angelo was still two years away from releasing ‘Black Messiah,’ but was touring with a crack band and, instead of playing keys on stage, he strapped on a beautiful guitar that was a signal of a different direction. Some audiences, deeply invested in the soulful gospel of the first two LPs, were either disappointed or indifferent. Others realized he had evolved between 2000’s ‘Voodoo’ and were thrilled with the expansive, edgy sound he was pursuing. The bottom line was that D’Angelo was a true artist with all the challenges, to himself and his listeners, that represents. Black music has gone into a slew of different directions since 1995 but D has always gone his own way. In the process he’s rewarded folks with some truly memorable performances. Through he’s always looking forward, its built on a rock solid foundation of soul, gospel, jazz and funk. We got into the weeds on various bands, sounds and albums. And watch until the end. There’s a treat awaiting.