As a journalist of over 30 years, lately I have been hearing more artists and musicians bringing back the hard-copy and I applaud them for it. Take the money away from unfair and unethical streaming platforms. Force them to take the back seat to an artist's talent and revenue. Without artists music, the streaming platforms would have nothing to stream. Imagine all at once, all high-profile artists and musicians refusing to place their music on mainstream streaming platforms and driving their fans to their own websites to download or stream. A coalition.

"With computers these days there is no way to play hard copies, they don't come with CD Rom anymore," Ronny pointed out.

We both acknowledged though that we still have CD Rom devices and a library of CDs and DVDs. Old school streaming!

"I think it's coming back. I saw on the news someone is opening another Block Buster type store," he added.

I asked Ronny, a native of my hometown of Baltimore, about his start as a Jazz guitarist and he said, "I debuted in 2002 and at that time I was still in the military. I got this desire to record, and I gave it a shot...it's been a learning experience."

Ronny Smith recently played at Blues Alley in Washington, DC (November 9th) and I asked him about that show which was coming up at the time of out interview.

"We gonna play some tunes from the album...bring that energy. I hired a horn section...using a section is much easier," he said when I asked about musicians to be at the show.

"Velvet Vibe" was released in July of this year and the deluxe edition - with addition tracks and hard copy - is coming out on the 6th on this month. The musicians on the new project include Jose Juvinao on bass; Dennis Fortune on keyboard; Erik Tulissio on drums; Asaf Finkelstein on piano, and the four-piece horn section he talked about called the Heartbeat Brass Band. I asked about any relationship he might have with the musicians he has on his "Velvet Vibe" album.

"I've recorded with some before. Like Dennis, he is a local from Philly," Smith said. "I usually pick musicians that I know..."

I enquired if he had an idea in his mind of what he wanted the "Velvet Vibe" album to be like when he started recording it and he said, "I did...I was always looking for a way to make melody and groove connect. So...I start with the melody and insert it in a groove...or visa-versa."

"Sometimes I start with no title and then sometimes I name it all the way at the end...like it ‘reminds me of...'," Ronny told me when I questioned how he names "instrumentals."

I kept probing because musicians fascinate me and asked how he remember instrumentals when performing them live after they've been released for a while, and he said with a slight laugh "I go back and practice it! After a while...when you create so many...you kind-of forget."

Ronny Smith said he has 100s of songs that he has recorded but once he hears the start of it, he remembers the rest.

The "Velvet Vibe' album is also in consideration this year for a Grammy nomination. It offers listeners an array of "energy vibes," such as on "Once Upon a Dream" which gives me a Nite-club "vibe"; "Late Train Home" gives me that joy-ride feel; "Heaven's Angel" is popping with nice vocals and awesome drum intro; "Night Wave" is bass driven that intertwines sweetly with Ronny's guitar, and his "Quiet Moment" has that Latin "vibe" to it. The original "Velvet Vibe" release offers 10 tracks and the deluxe edition provides 12.

Ronny Smith's #1 Billboard chart-topping credit came with his previous release titled "City Groove". www.RonnySmith.com

It was the demo for "Love Wins...Every Time" that pulled Melba in enough to want to record it. With the vocal skills that made her a legend, which has not diminished its volume, tone and flair, Melba's delivery on the "Love Wins...Every Time" single holds up to artist half her age. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

Melba debuted in 1970 with the single "I Got Love" (Mercury Records) which garnered her a Grammy nomination. I think she was about 25 at the time. Then in 1974 she released "This is It" - she is most known for that release. She broke out on the stages of Broadway in the musical Hair, the musical Purlie where she won her Tony Award, and in the musical Les Misérables. Note that on Broadway you must have the vocal lungs to project your voice!

"Yes, it is part of an album," Melba told me when I asked about the "Love Wins...Every Time" single. "It's to be released in a week or so...it's ridiculous!"

I asked her to give me more about the album, since it is "ridiculous" project and she said, "It has a duet, a great duet with Lil G from Silk called ‘Easy to Love.' The album was complete and about to be released, and my daughter said, ‘you need a duet.' That's what I am saying, this album is ridiculous."

"I wanted to share my wisdom, sing about, not just romance," Moore continued as we talked about her new project.

Melba hopes the listeners of her new album will gain something from her over 60 years in the entertainment business, as a singer/performer, wife and mother, businesswoman and musician that is shared in her choices of the songs for the album.

"The album looks like my entire life...every category (genre). I wanted it to be R&B but...," she said.

"My daughter put the team together...Rahni, (Beau) Huggins and the people that works under them," Moore explain when I probe for more on the new album. "They determined what was submitted to me. One song had a whole symphony. That's what I am saying...it's ridiculous. It's so diverse. It's me and my diversity."

Melba has garnered a total of four Grammy Award nominations in her lifetime. In 2002 the New York native released her third Contemporary Gospel album "I'm Still Here" and at the age of 78 in 2023 she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The "Love Wins...Every Time" single is written and produced by Rahni Song and Chloe Barjona-Dunbar, with Beau Huggins and Charli Huggins (her daughter) as executive producers. You can see Melba Moore perform this weekend (November 7-8, 2026) at the Blue Note Nightclub in New York City.

The four octave range legend is also an actress having credits that include Lost in Space, Cotton Comes to Harlem, and All Dogs Go to Heaven. Also, a musician, with a bachelor's in music education, Melba mastered the piano as a child. Moore comes from entertainers with her mother (singer) and father (saxophonist) being artists too.

"We all started piano lessons together," she recalled. "I went on to have formal voice lessons in high school...it's in my DNA!" www.IAmMelbaMoore.com