Melanie Charles has unveiled her rendition of Betty Carter’s “Jazz (Ain’t Nothing But Soul),” a reminder of the lively spirit that lies at the heart of jazz music.
As Charles puts it, “There’s a spectrum of what [jazz] sounds like, and what that looks like, which is really beautiful. ‘Jazz (Ain’t Nothing But Soul)’ embodies my mission of ‘Making Jazz Trill Again.’”
She adds, “Written by Queens born Norman Mapp and sung by the iconic Betty Carter, it reminds us that despite the virtuosity Black American Music requires, it is quite simply for and by the PEOPLE. It’s speaking and walking in your truth. It is not the uptight museum music that has become popular amongst our jazz elite of today but a space to be free and unapologetically Black.”
The track appears on Charles’ first major label project, Y’all Don’t (Really) Care About Black Women, which is now set for release on November 12 via Verve. The forthcoming release is a love letter to the unheralded labor of Black women, containing reimagined works by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, and more.
Most recently, Charles debuted her renditions of Sarah Vaughan’s “Detour Ahead” and Marlena Shaw’s “Woman Of The Ghetto” to critical praise. FLOOD Magazine said, “Charles’ reimagination of Sarah Vaughan’s ‘Detour Ahead’ is an ode to resilience,” while Billboard added, “Breathing new life into a 1960’s anthem for empowerment, Melanie Charles delivers a charged performance of Marlena Shaw’s ‘Woman of The Ghetto.’”
On Y’all Don’t (Really) Care About Black Women, Charles leaves listeners with a powerful statement on what solidarity with Black women can look like. It includes not only care and attention to the everyday struggles that animate Black women’s lives, but also to the beauty and joy as well. At its core, the record is a call for a more intersectional vision of the world in which Black women can live more freely and express their full humanity.
Pre-order Y’all Don’t (Really) Care About Black Women.
Y’all Don’t (Really) Care About Black Women Tracklist:
1. God Bless The Child
2. Perdido (Reimagined)
3. Detour Ahead (Reimagined)
4. All Africa (The Beat)
5. The Music is the Magic
6. Pay Black Woman (Interlude)
7. Woman Of The Ghetto (Reimagined)
8. Jazz (Ain’t Nothing But Soul) [Reimagined]
9. Go Away Little Boy
10. What A Difference (Reimagined)
11. Beginning to See the Light (Reimagined)
