R&B singer/songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Brian McKnight performed at Amoeba Hollywood recently to promote his latest record, Genesis. Before the show we had a chance to sit down with McKnight and chat with him about his musical choices, which leaned heavily toward jazz. "To me, one of the greatest, iconic musical figures of the twentieth century is Miles Davis," McKnight said of the legendary trumpeter. He was particularly impressed with Davis' version of "My Funny Valentine," saying, "when you hear a recording of that, you realize what he has meant to the American musical landscape."
McKnight began his musical endeavors early, singing with his brothers in the church choir. In 1990, Warner Brothers signed his older brother, Claude McKnight III, and his band Take 6 to a record deal, inspiring the younger McKnight to shop his own demos around. He signed his first label deal when he 
was nineteen, working with Mercury Records subsidiary Wing Records. His self-titled debut was released in 1992, topping out at #52 on the Billboard Top 200 charts and yielding the top twenty single, "One Last Cry." McKnight recorded two more albums for the label, I Remember You (1995) and Always (1997), garnering his first solo GRAMMY nomination for the latter LP.
player and rock’n’roll pioneer was responsible for literally dozens of timeless hit singles from over half a century ago such as "Ain't That a Shame," “Blueberry Hill,” “I Hear You Knocking,” “The Fat Man,” “I’m Walkin’,” “Whole Lotta Lovin,” “I’m Ready,” “Blue Monday” and “Walkin’ to New Orleans.” The New Orleans, Louisiana born and perennially proud native, who grew up in the Big Easy’s Ninth Ward and always lived in N.O. (famously refusing to leave his home during Hurricane Katrina in 2005), died at his latter era Louisiana home located just seven miles outside New Orleans, according to a statement by his brother-in-law Reggie Hall who was his former road manager. So far no exact cause of death has been announced. 
head-nodding singing, that was often sprinkled with words he’d make up, led to him landing a record deal at age 21 with Imperial Records. His first big hit for that label was “The Fat Man” (also his nick name) recorded in 1949 and becoming a hit two years later. That track, like many of his later hits, was technically a "rhythm and blues" song. However this African American created music would soon after morph into and/or be considered “rock’n’roll.” That was back in a racially segregated era (both societal and music chart wise) when R&B music was adapted and revised for white audiences to become rock'n'roll. Routinely black artists’ music would be covered by white artists to be marketed with a white face to a mainstream audience. A prime example was Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” (aka “Ain’t It a Shame”) that comparatively soul-less white singer 
