http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca RSS Feed for Inq Col Dan DeLuca en-us Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:11:14 GMT http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca/20081120_Born_singing__Almost.html WASHINGTON - Jazmine Sullivan has always been ahead of schedule. "I came out of the womb singing," says the powerful-voiced 21-year-old rising star, who grew up in Strawberry Mansion. Yes, the Strawberry Mansion. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca/20081118_Beyonc_stwo_sides__The_fierce__the_banal.html Album titles are so limiting. But . . . ellipses are a girl's best friend. So, taking a page out of Philadelphia singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata's 2008 disc, Elephants . . . Teeth Sinking Into Heart, Beyoncé expresses her dot-dot-dot duality with her new two-disc set I Am . . . Sasha Fierce (Columbia ***), on sale today. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca/20081111_Taylor_Swift__focused_on__great_songs_.html Taylor Swift is a country music sensation, a teenage godsend to a beleaguered music industry, and the hands-down winner of "The Star-Spangled Banner" singing competition during the Phillies' World Series sweep at Citizens Bank Park. (Sorry, Patti LaBelle and John Oates.) http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca/20081107_Usher_has_what_the_ladies_want.html Philadelphia can take credit for many an innovation, from the Butterscotch Krimpet to American democracy. Add to those the "ladies only" R&B tour, whose current practitioner, Usher, at the Electric Factory on Wednesday night, credited Philadelphia soul man Teddy Pendergrass for pioneering the heavy-breathing concept in the mid-1970s. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca/20081104_Back_to_the_belles.html NEW YORK - Before there was Labelle - the '70s glam/R&B trio of Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, who have just reunited with Back to Now, their first album in 32 years - there was Patti & the Bluebelles. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca/20081026_Still_drawn_to_comics.html Back in the 1970s, when Art Spiegelman was a "self-important squirt" and before he would go on to spend 13 years creating Maus, his two-volume Holocaust masterpiece, he was intent on breaking what he saw as the last comic taboo standing. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca/20081021_Carrie_Underwood_brings_country__sort_of__to_the_city.html Carrie Underwood's first album, 2005's Some Hearts, is the fastest-selling country debut in history. In her brief career, the 25-year-old American Idol winner, described as "a superstar who's won every award in sight," has hobnobbed with Ryan Seacrest and Oprah Winfrey, hugged African children on an A.I. charity special, and graced the covers of "just about every magazine out there," including Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly and In Style. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca/20081019_Rocking_the_house.html Amy Rigby and Wreckless Eric didn't rock out on stage during their three-hour show at Jen and Dave's house in Moorestown last weekend.... http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca/20081010_Nick_Cave_cuts_loose_at_the_Factory.html Nick Cave used to be so deathly serious it was hard to bear. But now, along with his dastardly mustache, booming voice, and biblical blues- and rockabilly-infused songs of love and death, the 51-year-old Australian has a crackling sense of humor. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dan_deluca/20081009_Art-rockers_show_some_new_moves.html Dear Science, the third album by the Brooklyn rock quintet TV on the Radio, is the sound of a boldly experimental band making its most exciting music to date..