Angela Bofill

My friend Phil Dorsey, whose thebocx.com offers wonderful music, played an Angela Bofill song yesterday. I had not listened to a Bofill song in over two decades. I associated her music with a first marriage that didn't work out, and I did everything possible to not revisit that period. That even included music from the time that I enjoyed. They were memories and associations I put in my deepest freezer.

For reasons I don't understand, I was open to listening to Bofill's songs yesterday. Her classically trained, three-octave voice and emotional range gave her songs old-school musical authority. Some of her earliest material, such as Under the Moon and Over the Sky, went in intriguing directions. And she was a rare musical curiosity at the time: a Bronx Latina who crossed over to R&B.

Unfortunately, her very strengths worked against her. Her initial fan base, attracted to her jazz, R&B, and Latin dexterity, abandoned her when she went for Clive Davis' handling. Her style fell out of favor, once popular music taste decisively moved towards rap, and she was condemned to music's margins.

I read some online accounts, and a Bofill Facebook page, that stated she suffered strokes in 2006 and 2007. Tragically, Bofill did not have health insurance. Some fund-raisers have taken place, and one can only hope this angel of the night finds the financial means and emotional wherewithal to persevere.