Words and Music (Reissue) (2012)
By the time Tavares issued 1983’s Words and Music, now being reissued by the FunkyTownGrooves label, it was a group on the ropes. In just five years, the five brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts had gone from the toast of the R&B world — labeled a “supergroup” by Rhythm & Blues magazine — to becoming a […]
Memoirs of a Worshipper (2012)
A Gospel concert is never simply a concert. Of course, a concert in any genre is more than just a concert. These events are equally business transactions and marketing opportunities. That’s why you can’t walk two feet without bumping into a kiosk where a vendor hawks T-shirts, hats, posters and CD’s. It also explains why […]
Another Country (2012)
Referring to Cassandra Wilson as simply ‘a jazz vocalist’ is akin to categorizing Quincy Jones as a just ‘a producer’: technically, both terms fit, but they also simultaneously water down the performers’ versatilities and the levels of virtuousity that they’ve achieved after decades of proving themselves capable of delivering much, much more. In the case […]
This is Not a Dream (2012)
This Is Not A Dream, Willie Wright’s first release since 1978, is a bittersweet project. Fans of Wright’s 1978 Telling the Truth will be glad to hear from this plainspoken singer/songwriter and will certainly hear elements in the new project that will ring familiar. This Is Not A Dream, like Telling the Truth, features simple […]
The Bravest Man in the Universe (2012)
Bobby Womack’s new CD The Bravest Man in the Universe shines The Poet in a new light while also being quintessentially Womack. It’s pretty obvious from the first beat of the title track what’s new about this Womack project. Producers Damon Albam and Richard Russell employ the kind of modern production techniques that listeners might […]
Write Me Back (2012)
“I need you to believe in me,” singer/songwriter and producer R. Kelly begs, seeming to promise his listeners on the earnest hook from “Believe in Me,” one of the few contemporary songs off of his 11th studio album release, Write Me Back. The follow-up to 2010’s critically acclaimed Love Letter is the fourth in a […]
Presents A Praise and Worship Experience (2012)
Marvin Winans has a new mission that is connected to his old mission as a teller of the Good News of the Gospel through song. Winans is a member of one of Gospel music’s royal families. At least three generations of Winans have used Detroit as their base to make some of the most memorable […]
Pulse (Reissue) (2012)
Like Ray Parker, Jr. a half decade earlier, Greg Phillinganes came out of Detroit with a load of talent that blossomed while he was still a teen and made him one of the most sought after studio musicians in the world. “Discovered” by Stevie Wonder, Phillinganes worked with nearly every major artist of the late […]
Journey of Soul (2012)
It can easily be said that Cynthia Jones is as much a neo-soul artist as she is a gospel artist. Surely, she uses a strong neo-soul flavor to carry out her lyrical gospel message. But that’s the thing about Cynthia; she’s equally adept at being either gospel or neo-soul. In fact, it defines her as […]
Ready to Live (2012)
Jarrard Anthony is a creative guy. Musically, Ready To Live, Anthony’s new record, is a mixture of the kind of arrangements favored by today’s performers of R&B music but with an added quality: What marks Anthony as an artist with a fertile mind is his ability to imagine different ways to tell that age-old story […]
