RIP Fontella Bass

Fontella Bass has died, aged 72. Reuters reports that "Bass died in hospice care in St Louis on Wednesday night from complications of a heart attack she suffered three weeks ago, her daughter, Neuka Mitchell, told Reuters. Bass had also suffered from strokes in recent years.

"She's going to be missed," Mitchell said. "Her big personality. Her love for family. Her big, giving heart and her cooking." She was known as the "queen of soul food" to her family, Mitchell said."

From the LA Times: Two sides of Fontella Bass -  "Any appreciation of soul singer Fontella Bass, who died Wednesday at age 72, must first acknowledge “Rescue Me,” the propellant 1965 R&B banger that became her signature. But equally vital in her -- and the American -- pantheon is “Theme de Yoyo,” her rousing vocal turn during the free jazz collective Art Ensemble of Chicago’s 1970 album “Les Stances a Sophie.”

The two works illustrate the range of the singer’s power: One is a gut-busting soul cry, the other a nine-minute thrill ride that drives funk and boundary-busting jazz through one instrumental climax after another.