Pick Six is a half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view.
Sheletta Brundidge, CEO of ShelettaMakes MeLaugh.com:
1 Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele, the Dakota livestream. After an emotionally draining and exhaustingly anxious 2020, I'm looking forward to healing, peace and joy with these two sensational, soulful sisters on Feb. 24.
2 Stokley, "Cascade." If you think old school R&B is dead, think again 'cause Stokley's new joint got me and my husband steppin' round the house like we used to do back before the kids, when we'd light up the dance floor at Arnellia's in St. Paul. You can't hear this song and sit still — the beat forces you to shake your booty.
3 Mary Wilson. After this original member of the Supremes died, I found a compilation of YouTube videos that served as a history lesson about a beautiful Black girl who was magical before the hashtag became popular.
Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:
1 Celebration of the Life of Debbie Duncan, Unity Minneapolis. What a moving salute to Minnesota's First Lady of Song. So many stirring musical performances and touching words, especially from Lowell Pickett, Peter Johnson and Debbie's sisters Colleen and Suzanne, reciting lines of the poem, "I Am a Jazz Singer," alternately in English and French.
2 Joy Oladokun, "Breathe Again." If you're trying to rebound from 2020, the Jan. 6 insurrection or even a relationship that's over, this song will give you solace and hope. The Nashville singer-songwriter performed it on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," accompanied by only piano, cello and violin.
3 Jason Isbell and Morgan Wallen. Isbell announced that he is donating all songwriting royalties of his "Cover Me Up" on Wallen's blockbuster "Dangerous: The Double Album" to the Nashville chapter of the NAACP. That's making a positive out of a negative. Meanwhile, the widely ostracized Wallen, after meeting with Black community leaders, has issued a five-minute video apology for using the N-word and urged his supporters not to defend him.
