Black Messiah - D'Angelo and the Vanguard
Black Messiah - D'Angelo and the Vanguard  
Podcast: You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians
Published On: Mon Sep 14 2026
Description: D'Angelo's Black Messiah is one of the greatest albums of the 21st century. You can hear his musical influences all over it: Prince's arrangements, the Bee Gees' falsettos, Jimi Hendrix's guitar, Sly's groove. But the alchemy that makes Black Messiah so powerful could only come from one mind: D'Angelo, the artist who gave us Voodoo and Brown Sugar.Jazz pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin unpack D'Angelo's Black Messiah track by track, detailing what their trained ears hear in the music, and highlighting new textures, harmonies, and song structures you may have missed on the first listen. Plus, Peter shares stories about his friendship and working relationship with legendary trumpet player Roy Hargrove.------------------------------Adam shows you how to play D'Angelo's "Really Love". Get the lesson:https://yhi.link/really-love-------------------------------Learn to talk like a jazz musician. Download the Liner Notes FREE today: https://yhi.link/linernotes-6-------------------------------Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:https://openstudiojazz.com/------------------------------- Send us a message: https://youllhearit.com/------------------------------0:00 D'Angelo and the Vanguard - Black Messiah1:44 Ain't That Easy7:35 Questlove, Pino Palladino, and James Gadson9:35 1000 Deaths14:09 The Charade17:44 Where this album sits next to Sly, Marvin, and Prince19:33 Roy Hargrove, and the Peter Martin connection22:28 Sugah Daddy28:45 Really Love39:40 Back to the Future (Part I)44:05 Where does talent like this come from?!51:15 Till It's Done (Tutu)53:43 Prayer56:35 Betray My Heart1:02:55 The Door1:07:13 Back to the Future (Part II)1:09:25 Is this album backwards?1:11:11 Another Life1:17:00 Our favorite moments1:17:27 How snobby is this album?1:19:53 Is it better than Voodoo?