Who was Solomon Burke?
Father of 21 children (14 daughters and 7 sons), 90 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. Preacher. Mortician. Admired by Pope John Paul II. Recent guest of Pope Benedict XVI. Gospel singer. Country singer. Actor. Mentor to dozens of people who went on to become more successful and better known than their teacher. Guest on Jay Leno, Letterman and a hundred other television shows in North America, Japan, Australia and throughout Europe. Blues and soul for 50 years.
Yet many of our younger readers do not know his name.
That’s a shame. You should.
Goodbye Solomon, and thanks.
Try this YouTube video: Solomon Burke – Everybody needs somebody to love.
Barbados Free Press 
John Roachford, a Barbadian and international musician also passed from the music scene on Saturday.
The Modern Sound Quintet was formed by Rudy Smith, a Trinidadian Steel Pan drummer late 60’s in Sweden. This international group of musicians featured John Roachford (Piano) from Barbados, Sigfriend McIntosh (bass) from Surinam, George Allun (drums) from Trinidad and Kofi Ayivor (congas) from Ghana and Lars Samuelson (jazz trumpet) from Sweden. They released one album “Otinku” in 1971.