No matter how long the days or short the nights, not enough time seems to sit between the notices of transitions; the passing of beloved artists from this realm to their forever existence.
First hitting the radio airwaves in 1978 with a self-titled album, Angie, Angela Bofill had the volume turned way up with her second album less than a year later featuring the ever memorable, I Try. In the early 90s, Will Downing added his sultry voice in his remake of the song, but nobody could match Angela’s special brand of musicality. A native New Yorker of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent, Bofill was influenced by Latin and R&B music. She would be one of the first Latina singers to find success in the jazz and R&B market. Inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2023, Bofill released ten studio albums in her career and also provided album backup vocals for the likes of Diana Ross and Kirk Whalum. Bofill died June 13th at the age of 70.
The life and legacy of renowned actor Bill Cobbs, who passed away on June 25th at the ripe age of 90, leads us to take more time to experience his screen performances. With fifty years in the business and over 200 acting credits, he is probably best remembered for his roles in The Bodyguard, Ghosts of Mississippi, Star Trek Enterprise, and all twenty-one episodes of The Gregory Hines Show (1997-1999). Among the many tributes to Cobbs, one statement summed it all up perfectly: “Bill carried a gravitas that made everything feel more important.” (No attribution)
Seventy years is how long Detroit vocal legend Abdul 'Duke' Fakir spent as an original member of the Motown trailblazing group, The Four Tops. When The Four Tops signed with Motown in 1963 after turning down a prior offer from label head Berry Gordy, the group had already been together for ten years. Duke and other original members Levi Stubbs, Renaldo 'Obie' Benson, and Lawrence Payton had honed their showmanship and repertoire that included R&B, pop, and country music. Between 1964 and 1967, The Tops had eleven Top 20 Hits, among them "I Can't Help Myself," "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch," Standing in the Shadows of Love," Bernadette," "Baby I Need Your Loving, and "Reach Out, I'll Be There." In 2009, Fakir received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He continued to tour with the group through the end of 2023, Fakir officially retired just this year. He earned his wings on July 22nd at the age of 88.
One of the great legacies of the Civil Rights Movement is the music it produced that became anthems of defiance, pride, and determination. Singer Bernice Johnson Reagon, an original member of The Freedom Singers, and founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock, leaves her own legacy as a prolific drum major of the freedom songs that encouraged and emboldened members of the movement. Being associated with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Bernice and the Freedom Singers traversed the South singing anthems of defiance, pride, and determination. Johnson Reagon, the mother of
singer/composer/musician Toshi Reagon, earned a doctorate in American History from Howard University and directed the Black American Culture Program at the Smithsonian. She was also producer and host of the NPR series on Black church music, Wade in the Water, which earned her a Peabody Award. In 2010, Reagon reunited with members of the Freedom Singers for a White House celebration of music from the Civil Rights era. At the celebration, President Barack Obama noted that "the Civil Rights Movement was a movement sustained by music." Bernice Johnson Reagon died July 16th in Washington, DC. She was 81.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.
Excerpted from When Great Trees Fall, by Maya Angelou
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