Popular Italy-based group Soul Basement was founded in 1997 with a lineup of Fabio Toriano (keyboards) and Cliff Lisette (vocals). The group debuted with the EP Cloudy Days in 1998 before breaking up. Toriano reformed the group with Alessya Piermarini in 2004 for the EP Time Is Ours, which achieved a fair amount of success, particularly in Europe, based on its single "L.O.V.E."
In 2005, Soul Basement added vocalist Simone Sheckles and released the album Little Hitches of Living, which also made waves in European soul circles and which featured the wonderful dance cut "What You Wanna Do."
Two years later, Soul Basement teamed with respected indie soul singer Marlon Saunders to working on a new album, The Awakening of the Heart. The disc received positive reviews and showed real development in the group’s groove-oriented sound.
By Chris Rizik
