Tracee Ellis' Mom Goes Disney, Miss Donna Does It One Time, Plus Tripping Out In The 90s, Savannah Gets Found And A B'way Darling Secret Song!

I just adore Tracee Ellis Ross, don't you? Who else can stab and vivisect Elmo, throw on his pelt and still look glamorous? This is how divas do. Oh, and I also like her mom, who I believe was in some girl group years ago and then went solo. Something like that.

Anyway-you-know-who-I'm-talking-about (gotta watch out for her pesky Internet trackers!), when Tracee's mom was in said girl group, they did a deep dive into Disney, of all things, and recorded several of their family movie hits in full Motown-mode, like "Spoonful Of Sugar" and "Someday My Prince Will Come." But apparently, the powers that be in 1968 were like, "Meh, I don't think so," and the LP was shelved.

Were they right? Probably, since the late-1960s were not, strictly speaking, the best time for a stylish Black singing group to perform songs from racist movies like "Song Of The South," even though they later appeared on a Disney TV special. But it's a fascinating time capsule. The ladies were at the top of their game, as were their Motown producers, who probably could have made even "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" sound funky and fine. Oh, wait, they did!

Speaking of funky and fine - how's that for a lazy afternoon segue? - give a listen to Miss Donna. 

"Whoooooo?" you say? And that's understandable, since she only recorded one LP in 1968 called "Donna Sings Dinah," a Damn Fine Donna Cheerful Exclusive! for you are yours. Plucked from obscurity by Redd Foxx, where she'd been performing to packed crowds at The Charade Club, she recorded this soulful collection of Dinah Washington hits. But nationwide fame would not come to Miss Donna, though she enjoyed a long career performing live alongside Charlie Parker, Gloria Lynn, Betty Carter and many other luminaries. Her bluesy solo turn is well worth celebrating. 

Remember the 1990s? Did you do ecstasy? It wasn't cut with speed back then (or so I've been told) (I loved everyone and everything...) (until it wore off...). 

The late 90s/early 2000s, as you may or may not recall, were a club-going golden-era of lovey-dovey drugs and smooth-ass electro-beats, and several CD collections captured the mood surprisingly well, like the Buddha Bar and Saint-Germain Des-Pres anthologies. To a lesser extent, there was the Mushroom Jazz series, which was highly variable from CD to CD - for me, at least; your mileage may vary - though they hit a terrific peak their fourth time out. As you listen, close your eyes and imagine it's 1995. At the time, there were less than a hundred-thousand websites - can you just?! - and no one had heard of Lewinsky or Pokemon of even Fox News. Feels pretty good, right? 

Confessions of a Would-Be Connoisseur: Before I stumbled upon this must-have overview of jazz and R&B great, Savannah Churchill, I'd never heard of her. Scandale!

But I'm up to speed now. And get this: unlike most Black singers of her day, Savannah didn't start singing and performing at her church - "Wait. what?" you say - but instead at her school, where she also excelled at violin. It wasn't long before she was wowing Harlem crowds at Small's Paradise, which was no small feat considering this was the still height of the Harlem Renaissance. Later billed as "The Sex-Sational Savannah," she became a top attraction nationwide and even appeared in a few movies, like "Souls Of Sin," a race film, as they were labeled back then, with wily street hustlers, comedy hijinks and songs performed by the sultry "Miss Regina," or Savannah.  

But really, it was the music that mattered for Savannah, and her vocals are both low-down and gorgeously lilting, which means she can be amusingly suggestive in songs like "Fat Meat Is Good Meat," the collection's opener, and intimately enthralling, as she is in tunes like "I'm Too Shy." She was frequently mobbed during her engagements at The Apollo and in Chicago, and it's not hard to understand why. I'm so glad I found her! 

Christ on a crutch, we're almost there, even though The Secret Song File keeps warning me that nothing will be sorted out at the close of election day. What's the color of freak out? 

Don't you wish you could do something fun to distract yourself, like hit a Broadway show or two? Luckily, a modern Broadway diva - she does a killer impersonation of Melania in her spare time - is here to rescue us. Hooray! Her spanking new CD is brimming with jazz and B'way tunes and a few surprising redos of pop hits, including one from The Jonas Bros., which really should not work at all, but it does. I know, right? Some things don't get worse, they get better. 

Let's just giggle and ask what day New Years falls on this year!

Chat and scream for ice cream in the comments, if you like!