New York Lounge Funk
With only one previous album to its credit, Dreemtime recently rocked the legendary Bitter End nightclub in New York . Independent soul guru Phil Driver recently showcased tracks from the act’s sophomore disc New York Lounge Funk to a worldwide radio audience. All the praise from fans and critics is justified. Dreemtime’s mastermind, keyboardist Klive […]
Truly for You (reissue)
As the 1980s arrived, the Temptations were considered DOA. After a long slow decline on Motown followed by two overlooked albums on Atlantic, the group that had rightly earned the crown as the greatest male R&B group of all time was reduced to an oldies act, with only two original members and no hits left […]
Another Round (2010)
Possessing a sonorous, sexy baritone that keeps the ladies happy and enough street swag to remain cool with the fellas, Jaheim Hoagland has made a successful career by melding the two and becoming a successful singer and songwriter, responsible for four back-to-back hit CDs that contain some of the last decade’s most celebrated urban love […]
Soldier of Love
I find it interesting that Maxwell and Sade released albums within a few months of each other. I can’t say that Maxwell and Sade are exactly alike from a stylistic standpoint. Maxwell is the quintessential soul balladeer. And while Sade can get romantic with the best of them – witness torch songs such as "Is […]
The Contemporary Soul Songbook Volume 2
Phil Driver has returned with another collection of artists of varying ages and various takes on soul music. As detailed in the liner notes, this time around the women open and close the collection, and in between are men with love of their minds and warm sentiments on their lips. Whilst I am sure it […]
You Did It All
Some artists are a product of their modern environments, while others are clearly channeling their style from a former place and time. If you can’t tell by the cover, Ebony Evans is the latter, and her sophomore effort, You Did It All, displays that golden era of soul with occasional pinches of modern brash and […]
BlackMagic
His voice is from another age and time. With the self-assured swagger of Frank Sinatra, Jose James’ casual, effortless glide through song is something so rare in contemporary jazz that it cannot help but stand out. On BlackMagic, his second release on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recording indie label, James dims the hip hop and spoken […]
Spilt Milk
Oh those adult music fans. After years of neglect by the major record labels, they’re suddenly in vogue again, because — now this is quaint — they actually buy music, especially CDs, rather than simply download it for free. So artists like Michael Buble, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and the new club member, Susan Boyle, […]
Ollusion
As the former front man of the once white-hot boy-band B2K, Omarion was faced with the quandary that many younger performers from various genres find themselves up against: retaining their original audience while making creating a new legacy as a stand-alone solo artist. So far, he’s managed to be more successful than expected, with his […]
Hello World
For all of the magical dust surrounding the lineage and legacy of Motown, by the 1970’s some of the luster had faded, even for the most successful acts on the roster. Signing the precocious, yet undeniably talented Jackson 5 not only kept Motown in the black, it reinvigorated the famous brand to an entire new, […]
