(July 18, 2020) Over the years, musically gifted dads like Stevie Wonder, Brian McKnight, Ben Harper and Gregory Porter have been inspired by the transformational event that is the birth of their first born child to put in music and lyric the emotions that us mere mortals struggle to express.
These musical expressions of the joy, love, humility and sense of responsibility that they feel flips the script on the prevailing narrative that often takes up space when the discussion turns to Black fatherhood. ‘Studio’ Steve Wallace adds his name to the list of these talented fathers, as he takes a step back to find the express musically feelings on seeing his daughter, now seven, for the first time on the lovely ballad “Angel.”
We at SoulTracks have been familiar with the work of the prolific Wallace for more than a decade. He’s an ambitious brother – something I learned when I reviewed his self-produced album AND film Urban Soul back in 2009. The Bandcamp promotion for new album The Adventures Of… notes that this is his 13th record. In the past, he’s done a blues record and a project that fuses hip-hop and opera. “Angel” shows that Wallace has found the right balance between fatherhood and work. Check the tune out here.
By Howard Dukes
Steve Wallace – “Angel”
