Jerry Butler’s baritone combined the soaring ecstasy of church, the rumbling rhythms of Chicago and the soul of his native Sunflower, Mississippi. Warm and plush but also cool, it won him the nickname ...

It's an exuberant documentary full of all-star conversations, framed around archival footage of an artist who remains an underappreciated giant. Early on in “The Makings of Curtis Mayfield,” H.E.R., ...