Fontella Bass (1940–2012)

Sad news in the New York Times: “Fontella Bass, the singer whose 1965 hit “Rescue Me” was an indelible example of the decade’s finest pop-soul, died on Wednesday in St. Louis.”

I know Bass best from her work with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and (later) with her once husband Lester Bowie. The Art Ensemble’s “Theme de Yoyo” is a great synthesis of funk, free jazz, and metaphysical conceits.