Déjà Vu
Jazz-fusion has been the one genre that has been largely ignored when artists reach back into the musical past. That is an unfortunate oversight that is now being rectified by several albums, must notably Déjà vu, George Duke’s aptly named new record, scheduled for release in August. Déjà vu is an appropriate title for this […]
Love and Rent
During the 2009 audition by The BGP (AKA The Brandon Ghorley Project) for America’s Got Talent, the group’s energetic pop with soulful flourishes immediately impressed the judges, leading one to declare that lead vocalist Ghorley was a star. However, the AGT journey for this trio was cut short before the quarter final stages. It was […]
Elevated
I was searching for what separates the songs that really work on Elevated, the new album by Dr. E, from the ones that don’t work as well. The answer came to me while listening to "Let Me Clear My Throat," which is an especially strong selection on this 13-track album. Dr. E is a college […]
Everything I Do (2010)
You can track the evolution of R&B music over a four-decade span just by listening to the Isley Brothers. The group had doo-wop and soul hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By the mid 1960s, the trio scored a major hit with Motown, but by the end of the decade the Isleys had […]
‘Justments (2010 Reissue)
Still Bill, Just As I Am, and Live at Carnegie Hall are appropriately considered the watershed moments in troubadour Bill Withers’ esteemed career, giving him most of his #1 Billboard pop and R&B hits. Still, later gems like Menagerie and the re-mastered deluxe edition re-issue of ‘Justments have been undeservedly ignored at the expense of […]
In Love With You
I got the feeling that I knew where Chris Youngblood’s heart was at after listening to his latest CD, In Love With You. The CD sports 15 tracks, with 11 of them (including two versions of the title track) being what can be called adult soul and R&B. The final four tracks take on a […]
Transatlantic RPM
Producer/songwriter/musician Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick has kept UK acid jazz alive since the 1981 release of Jazz Funk, nearly thirty years ago this year. Over the years, a parade of voices have journeyed through Maunick’s jazzier brand of soul, dance, and funk, a few even emerging as esteemed solo artists in their own right, including Kelli […]
Routes to Riches (2010)
It’s like listening to the Doobie Bros, Steely Dan, and Swing Out Sister all rolled up in one. Routes to Riches, the debut album from UK soul funk outfit, Mama’s Gun, is the kind of hidden gem that you smugly gush over to friends to keep that street cred as the go-to music connoisseur (Oh, […]
The Stanley Clarke Band
Stanley Clarke is one of the people who transformed the electric bass guitar into a marquee instrument. While the instrument always enjoyed a level of prominence in R&B and its offshoot genres because listeners love the heavy rhythm laid down by bass players, it often remained in the background. Being natural showmen, bass players like […]
Colorblind
The toughest album for any artist to create is the first disc after his or her breakout release. Think Peter Frampton’s I’m In You or Bobby Brown’s Bobby. That release is frought with peril because there is always the question: Did the artist just throw a lucky seven on the previous disc or is he […]
