Angie….Wow. This has taken me a couple of days to digest. I had the pleasure of knowing this queen since the very beginning of my true musical journey. I was looking for a background singer and sax player for my first club tour and she walked into my life at an audition. I instantly knew that I was in the presence of greatness. We did a tour together and became family. Being from down south (as we called it) she reminded me of my grandmother and her people who were from a small town in Georgia. We bonded over music, humour, and southern cuisine which she cooked with great joy. She knew her food tasted better than everyone else’s and it did. She had a phrase that I loved, "Lenny, I am overly confident". She believed it and so did I. She went on to become Angie Stone and changed the face of music as a solo artist, becoming known as the queen of neo soul. She already had an illustrious past but this was now HER time.
As a black woman who was told she was not the right age, not the right look, etc she busted through and never looked back. The rest is history. Writer, producer, arranger, musician and master vocalist. The best of the best. I got to play on some of those great recordings and they are treasures in my mind and spirit. My deepest condolences to Diamond, Michael Jr and the entire family. LK