Jamieson Diaries

Married | Mother | Millennial

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Happy Birthday, Billie!

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Today, Billie Holiday a.k.a. Lady Day, would have been 101 years old. I have always liked Jazz music, but my love for Jazz music really bloomed about 5 years ago. Naturally, Billie became one of my favorite jazz singers, ever. There is something about her music where you can feel the passion and/or pain in her voice, but she makes it sound like the most beautiful sultry voiced passion and/or pain you have ever heard. I am only 27 years young so Lady Day was well before “my time” as the older folks like to say lol, but quality music knows no age. I wish I could say I got to see a legendary musician such as Billie perform live, but I thankfully have her collection of beautiful music to listen to until the end of time. I will share my favorite Billie Holiday song with you called, Good Morning Heartache, below. I’m sure I’ve probably shared this song before at some point in time of my blogging history, but you can never have too much Billie in your life, especially this song. 😉

Happy birthday, Lady Day! I hope you’re resting easy.

Brie <3

[04.07.16]

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Nina Simone – Four Girls

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Doing some late blogging tonight because I’ve had Nina Simone on my mind lately. I’ve been listening to her music a little more than usual the last few days and decided to look her up. This upcoming Sunday would have been her 83rd birthday. Maybe this is why she’s been on my mind a little more than usual? Whatever it may be, I’m more than okay with it, because how can you go wrong with more Nina Simone in your life?

One of my favorite songs by her is “Four Women” because it reminds me of the beauty in Black diversity and how strong Black women are and always have been since the beginning of time. I especially loved the remake of this particular song by: Jill Scott, Kelly Price, Marsha Ambrosius and Ledisi at the Black Girls Rock award show in 2011.

If you get a chance to listen to this song tonight really take in the words and vocal abilities of the late Ms. Simone. I hope it inspires you to go listen to more of her amazing work to reacquaint yourself or introduce you to her music. Either way, enjoy it, and have a great rest of your night.

Brie <3

[02.19.16]

All Posts, Dear Diary, Music Favorites

Thank You Maurice White!

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Today, the world found out the co-founder and band member of the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire, Maurice White, passed away in his sleep yesterday. To say I feel sadness would probably be an understatement considering how much I adore the music EW&F shared with the world. If you haven’t been able to tell from my musical taste and blog posts I am a huge fan of old school music. I often tell people I was born in the wrong generation because my heart belongs to old school music. The hardest part about getting older is realizing everyone else around us is also growing older. This year has hit the music world pretty hard and it’s only February :-(.

I want to thank Maurice and his band mates for sharing their beautiful, classic, funky, legendary, soulful, and timeless music with the world. I may only be 27 years old but I know musical genius when I hear it. I also know how much you make me even more proud to be a September baby! 🙂

I will share some Earth, Wind & Fire songs with you all below. They have WAY too many hits to put them all on here so I will share my favorite ones.

Rest in peace,

Maurice White.

Maurice White

Brie <3

[02.04.16]

All Posts, Dear Diary, Music Favorites

Robert “Bob” Nesta Marley

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This upcoming Saturday would have been Bob Marley’s 71st birthday. If you haven’t been underneath a rock the last twenty plus years, you know how much influence Bob Marley had, and continues to have, on our culture. You can even count the multiple Bob Marley quotes you see while scrolling down your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter timelines every day.

As a young woman who loves being part Jamaican, and representing the Jamaican culture, I thoroughly enjoy how much people have continued to embrace Bob’s talent. When I’m not in the best of moods, I can always count on my Bob Marley playlist or Pandora station to lift my spirits. I will share my two favorite Bob Marley songs. The first one: “Is This Love” always makes me think of my husband and daughter. Reminds me as long as we are together, even with the bare minimum, I will always have and be surrounded by happiness and love. My second song: “Redemption Song” reminds me of how resilient and strong Black people are. Through everything we’ve seen and been through in our history and lives, we still stand. Bob also reminds us how real mental slavery is too. In light of it being Black history month this is perfect to share with all of you.

I wonder how much genius was left in this man when he passed away at such an early age? Can you imagine what music would be like if one of the greats, such as himself, were still around to make music? In a perfect world, the music world would be MUCH different, which means it could only be better. Rest easy and happy early birthday, Mr. Robert “Bob” Nesta Marley.

bob-marley2

Fun Brie Fact: While typing out Bob Marley’s full name I said it in my head the way Matthew from the show, A Different World, says it when answering a question at the Campus All-Star Challenge. I’m sure all of my fellow A Different World fans remember that scene too 😉

All Posts, Music Favorites

Throwback (Music) Thursday

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I didn’t realize Aaliyah and Sade share the same birthday until earlier this week. How I’ve never known this information before then I’m not sure, because Aaliyah and Sade, are two of my favorite artists. I’ve known for a while I wanted to share a throwback song for this Thursday’s blog post. Since their birthdays were less than a week ago it lined up perfectly for me to use one song from each of these ladies for timeless throwback music.

As a 90’s kid, Aaliyah was the definition of perfection so many girls like myself wanted to be. Her death is still one that hurts my heart all of these years later. Thankfully, as a musical artist, one thing that will remain forever is her music. On the other hand, I have always known who Sade was because my family listened to her music, but didn’t get into her music until I got older. I’ve heard the line “Sade makes music for grown folks” for many years, and it’s only since I have gotten older I understand what the adults meant. Sade makes music for people who are so deeply in love or have experienced deep love that it’s truly something a younger child wouldn’t grasp. In honor of their birthdays and throwback Thursday I will share my favorite song by each of these lovely ladies below.

P.S.- Apparently musical artists born on January 16th are drop dead GORGEOUS because…look at their faces!

Happy throwback Thursday, everyone! Enjoy the music and the rest of your evening.

Brie <3

[01.21.16]

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25

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The title of this post should be self explanatory if you’ve been on the internet within the last 12 hours. However, if you are lost on the meaning of the number “25” on today’s date, it is the name of Adele latest album which was released, today, and it has been four years since she last released an album. I love Adele. She has a voice that can’t be faked and talent that can’t be imitated. She sings some of the most beautiful lyrics you will ever hear, whether the lyrics be beautiful in love or loss. If you haven’t listened to the album yet, I highly recommend you give it a listen A.S.A.P. I have personally listened to “Million Years Ago” about 50 times since earlier this morning. I feel her words to “Million Years Ago” in my soul, and it takes me away to another place in my mind. My other favorite songs/recommendations are “Remedy” and “All I Ask.”

In honor of today being “Adele Day” I wanted to share my favorite Adele song with all of you. This was one of my favorite songs to listen to in college and it’s a combination of beautiful vocals and nostalgia all wrapped up in one.

It also helps today is Friday, and in addition to the weekend we have great music to listen to. If you are like us, you are getting snow this weekend, which only makes it feel even more like the holiday season. Thanks for giving us beautiful music this season, Adele!

Happy Friday everyone!

Brie <3

[11.20.15]

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“Are You That Somebody”

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Today marks the 14th anniversary of Aaliyah’s death. Her death is one of those deaths that still hurts to think about to this day. Although I didn’t know her personally, what has always saddened me about her death was not only how she died, but how YOUNG she was when she died. Her life ended when most people are finally beginning to start their journey to figure life out. She died at the age I was when I graduated from college. Not only was she extremely young, she was beginning to take the industry by storm. From music to movies, Aaliyah was doing it all.

The day she died, my best friend Janelle and I, were on our way to the TRL Tour. Destiny’s Child, Eve, Nelly and the St. Lunatics, 3LW, and Dream were the performing acts. Each person/group mentioned her name and talked about how sad her death was to them. However, the one tribute I remember the most was Destiny’s Child. They held a moment of silence for her and dedicated their remake song “Emotions” to her and her family. I remember Beyoncé started crying during the performance.

Can we just take a second to talk about how much I wanted to dress EXACTLY like Aaliyah did? She is the queen of making the baggy tomboy look, sexy. And although we didn’t get to see it for very long, the complete transformation from the young sexy tomboy to the sexy grown woman was pretty awesome too. Just look at the difference of style:

Aaliyah Collage

I believe Aaliyah’s death had a huge impact on pre-teen and teenage girls, because of her seemingly beautiful spirit. Or as she would say she had “jazz personality, G mentality,” and it’s what made her so amazing to many of us. To remember her on this day, I’m sharing one of my favorite Aaliyah videos. Not only did I love the dancing and style in the video, this was and still is one of my favorite songs. For those of you who don’t remember, this song was on the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack as well :-).

One last thing before I leave: I still want the all black outfit she dances in at the very end. It’s sexy and it’s even more motivation to get my #OperationTrackBody back!

Continue to R.I.P. Babygirl!

Brie <3

[08.25.15]

All Posts, Dear Diary, Music Favorites

“Happy Birthday”

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Today is August 11th, which means it’s my Uncle Michael’s birthday. My Uncle Michael has been one of my father’s my entire life and I don’t know where I would be without him and all of his unconditional love. I wish I was there to celebrate with him and go get some good food from Claire’s Korner! In honor of his birthday, and Stevie Wonder being the greatest artist in the world, I will share the classic Stevie Wonder “Happy Birthday” song with all of you.

Happy birthday, Uncle Michael! We love you so much and pray God blesses you to see many many more!

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P.S.- we need to take more picture together. I had to go back to the wedding for a picture of us 🙂

Brie <3

[08.11.15]

All Posts, Dear Diary, Music Favorites

“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”

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I saw a preview for the new movie called “Amy” a few weeks ago, coming to theaters sometime this month. Today, is actually the 4 year anniversary of her untimely death in 2011. Although she had many demons, her battle with alcoholism is the one that ended up killing her. Despite her troubles, Amy was one of the greatest artists of my generation, in my opinion. I actually did not catch on to her music in-depth until after she had already passed away, and I’m still upset it took me that long to realize how amazing she was, musically. However, the beauty of music is, it lasts forever. Amy had a truly unique voice that is hard to find these days. I would like to share my favorite Amy song with all of you. It was never a popularly played one, most likely because it is a remake, but it’s for sure my go to Amy song that puts a smile on my face, and makes me sing my heart out.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

R.I.P. Amy

Brie <3

[07.23.15]

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“Good Morning, Heartache”

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I don’t know if I have mentioned it before, but I have realized how much I appreciate and love jazz music within the last few years. One of my absolute favorite artists of the jazz genre is Billie Holiday a.k.a. Lady Day, herself. She had such a smooth and sultry singing voice, and I only wish I could have been around to see her perform live. Not to mention she was absolutely beautiful. It’s amazing how someone with such a rough past was able to bring such beauty to others using her voice. There is an awesome, and historically known, jazz lounge in Chicago one of my roommates and I discovered in college called, the Green Mill. Many well-known jazz artists have performed at this lounge, and as I’m sure you have guessed, Lady Day was definitely one of them. As if this lounge couldn’t be more amazing, I found out Billie had performed there on multiple occasions and it’s been my favorite ever since. 🙂

Billie Holiday would have turned 100 years old, last week, on April 7th, and social media celebrated her with the hash-tag #BillieAt100. I added this particular song as my contribution to the hashtag remembering such an amazing songstress. This is my favorite Billie Holiday song and would like to share it with those of you who may have never heard it before, or would like to take another listen.

Happy Wednesday!

Brie <3

[04.15.15]