Ack, Jon Lucien has died, age 65.He was one of my favorite singers. Possessing a deep deep voice with a little island lilt and an amazing musical sense he recorded three classic albums for RCA and two for Columbia in the 1970s, and a string of come-back albums for Verve, Shanachie and other small indies in the 1990s/2000s. The Columbia albums are not in print on CD, though fortunately the three RCAs ones are pretty readily available on a 2-CD set. His recent live album is as good as his old stuff.
At times kind of like a male Flora Purim his music was full of wordless vocals, Brazilian/latin grooves, and a real spirituality-tinged soulful jazz sensibility that was sexy without being cloying and false. Among his songs are an amazing anti-war anthem and a song proclaiming the romantic joys of chanting nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
He will be missed!
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