As The Crow Flies
With his relaxed Dylanesque singer-songwriter persona and his brand of rustic soul, Amos Lee catapulted onto SoundScan’s radar with his fourth album, 2011’s Mission Bell. Despite it being overshadowed by a drove of country-fried special guests, the #1 album and its accompanying lead single, “Windows Are Rolled Down,” opened up broader possibilities for a guy […]
Golden Gate Groove: The Sound of Philadelphia Live in San Francisco 1973
Leon Huff, Kenny Gamble and Don Cornelius were all at the height of their powers in the summer of 1973. Gamble and Huff were two songwriters, producers and music executives who happened to be shopping the right product at exactly the right time. Their fortunes were also connected to those of Cornelius, the Chicago cop, […]
Jump Start Music 3
DJ Ginger Tony has released the third volume in the Jump Start Music series. Previously volumes were released on the now defunct Soul Unsigned Records label, but 2012 has brought a new label home and a new album. The first question I needed answering was whether the new label meant a new sound, and a […]
Soul Independence
A compilation has arrived on the block, filled with choice tracks from independent and unsigned artists. I will admit that I am sometimes a little cautious about compilations claiming to be ‘soul’ music but which are, in actuality, actually watered down “urban” music, with 80% of the songs talking about various sexual fantasies, or how […]
Bodacious (reissue)
The success of Luther Vandross with his 1981 debut album Never Too Much opened the door for a golden age of strong male balladeers whose emergence rivalled the rise of the funk group that had begun a few years earlier. Lionel Richie, Jeffrey Osborne, James Ingram and others arose either from groups or from nowhere […]
A Love Like The Seasons
Since birthing Soul Basement in the late nineties, Italian producer/multi-instrumentalist Fabio Puglisi has thrived on an ever-changing cast of lead vocalists. A constant change in vocal talent could result in a musical identity crisis, but Puglisi’s brew of mellow jazz, folk, pop and soul riding on groove laden tracks were more than enough to sustain […]
Romance Language
Ever since the release of his album debut, Floppy Disk, in 1985, Memphis, Tennessee native Kirk Whalum has accomplished two enviable feats: incorporated multiple genres (soul, jazz, gospel and blues) into a trademark signature sax style and growing his fan base and resume in the process. Thanks to his quarter century of musicianship and long list of collaborators (Al Green, Luther Vandross, Whitney […]
Soundtrack For A Revolution (Review Two)
Bigotry, prejudice, rampant racism and inequality based on superficial qualities like gender and race: for every dizzying achievement that surged the United States forward, the ugliness of racism stalled progress, undermined its democracy and murdered the souls—-and lives—-and millions. Soundtrack For A Revolution, the documentary that spotlights the role of activists and the origins of […]
Soundtrack For A Revolution (Review One)
In 2004, I reported on a history trip made by about 25 Indiana University-South Bend students and professors who toured civil rights sites in four southern states. The history professors have taken a group of students on this trip – which is known as Freedom Summer – every other year since 2000. The students had […]
The Smooth Side of Soul (2012)
Flirty flute-playing, kinetic keyboard flourishes and, of course, those synergistic, scintillating runs with the sax: thanks to his expertise in composition and musical instrument multi-tasking, Najee has retained his place amongst his peers as one of today’s most popular and prolific jazz instrumentalists. And just like he’s done since his eponymous 1987 debut, Najee’s Theme, the native […]
