House music pioneer Frankie Knuckles’ collection of 5,000 vinyl albums has been digitized. The job was completed on the 10th anniversary of his passing by members of the Theaster Gates Rebuild Foundation. Knuckles made house music a cultural force as the DJ at Chicago’s Warehouse Club and then the Power Plant during the ’70s and ’80s. He was also responsible for remixing songs under Def Mix Productions with David Morales including “Change” by Lisa Stansfield. In 1991, his first album, Beyond The Mix came out and contained his signature tune “The Whistle Song.” He won the Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year Non-Classical in 1998 before the award was given for a specific work. Frederick Dunson, the founder, president, and executive director of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation said, “Frankie was not just a maestro on the dance floor; he was a guiding force, infusing his artistry with purpose and connection. Today, we honor his lasting influence and express our deepest respect for the unforgettable mark he left on Chicago and the world.”

Knuckles’s record collection will be used to educate the public about house music and for the Sunday Service dance parties at the Stony Island Arts Bank which Gates’ Rebuild Foundation restored. 

Corinne Bailey Rae’s thrashing “New York Transit Queen” is the first listen from her upcoming Black Rainbows album. The new music is inspired by Theaster Gates’s collection at Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago. Black Rainbows has songs, a book, visuals and exhibitions. She explained her creative direction in a press release: 

“I knew when I walked through those doors that my life had changed forever. Engaging with these archives and encountering Theaster Gates and his practice has changed how I think about myself as an artist and what the possibilities of my work can be. This music has come through seeing. Seeing has been like hearing, for me. While I was looking, songs/sounds appeared.”

Black Rainbows is described as coming from churches in Ethiopia, spellwork, and Black femininity. The album will be released on September 15th and Rae has plans to tour it in spaces such as New York’s National Jazz Museum, Yale University’s Schwarzman Center and University Of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. It was 2016 when Rae’s last album The Heart Speaks In Whispers was released.  In 2022, she appeared on the Al Green: Soul Legend tribute album on a cover of “Take Your Time” with Anthony Hamilton. Stream “New York Transit Queen” and watch the video trailer.