Weldon Irvine

Keyboardist Weldon Irvine looms large in the pantheon of jazz-funk, and he profoundly influenced subsequent generations of politically minded hip-hop artists. In 1966, he became Nina Simone's organist, bandleader, arranger, and occasional co-writer, including providing the lyrics for "To Be Young, Gifted and Black." With his own 17-piece group, records like Liberated Brother (1973) and Time Capsule (1974) honed his singular fusion of jazz, funk, soul, blues, and gospel -- a direct antecedent of what would later be known as acid jazz. Irvine went on to pen more than 20 stage musicals for the Billie Holiday Theatre, was sampled by rap acts including A Tribe Called Quest, and released his own hip-hop-inspired Music Is the Key in 1994. In 1999, Irvine called on Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Q-Tip for The Price of Freedom, a searing indictment of police brutality inspired by the death of Amadou Diallo.